The Tournament (2009)

A tournament is watched by dozens of wealthy men betting on which one of the 30 assassins will survive the next 24 hours "kill or die" and claim the USD10,000,000 prize. It takes place in an English town with plenty of CCTVs.

Director:

Scott Mann

Writers:

Gary Young, Jonathan Frank

Stars:

Ving Rhames, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Hu

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Carlyle	...	Father MacAvoy
Kelly Hu	...	Lai Lai Zhen
Ian Somerhalder	...	Miles Slade
Liam Cunningham	...	Powers
Ving Rhames	...	Joshua Harlow
Sebastien Foucan	...	Anton Bogart
Craig Conway	...	Steve Tomko
John Lynch	...	Gene Walker
Nick Rowntree	...	Eddy Cusack
Rachel Grant	...	Lina Sofia
Bashar Rahal	...	Asa Sadi
Andy Nyman	...	Tech Eddie
Iddo Goldberg	...	Tech Rob
Scott Adkins	...	Yuri Petrov
Camilla Power	...	Powers Assistant

Storyline

Every seven years in an unsuspecting town, The Tournament takes place. A battle royale between 30 of the world's deadliest assassins. The last man standing receiving the $10,000,000 cash prize and the title of Worlds No 1, which itself carries the legendary million dollar a bullet price tag.

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Plot Keywords:

tournament | assassin | money | last man standing | prize | 

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Taglines:

Death by elimination

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cameo: Nick Rowntree, one of the 3 writers of this film, has a cameo as 'Eddy Cusak,' the assassin in the Parking Garage.

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Goofs

A common mistake in cheesy action films is when characters fire endlessly without ever reloading or running out of ammunition. That happens a lot in this film, one example being when Slade uses a pump action shotgun in the stripper club. He fires ten shots in total, but even the biggest pump action shotguns have an absolute capacity of eight+one (eight in the tube magazine and one in the chamber).

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Quotes

Gene Walker: What's the matter, Mr. Harlow? Are you out of bullets? Why, here, have some of mine!
[opens fire]

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Alternate Versions

German retail version is cut by ca. three minutes to secure a "Not under 18" rating. The version released in Austria/Switzerland is cut as well (the killing of the dog).

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Hit by a Bus Scenes in Movies (2016)

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Soundtracks

Get Freaky With Me
Composed by Fabian "R-CANE" Schlosser
Performed by R-CANE

User Reviews

Believe me, Middlesborough never looked better....

There are only three other reviews here so far: two give this 10 (Err... two different named reviewers, identical reviews, duplicate memo to PR team please....idiots) and the other 1 so let's assume some will love this and others will hate it. I'll try to review it....

Plot: pretty easy sell, every seven years the top assassins hold the tournament; they kill each other until the last survivor wins it all; all organized, tracked, and betted on by billionaires, of course.

The whole thing is kind of like no limit hold'em.... but they can't all dodge bullets, baby. Think Tekken and you're not in the right area, it is better than Uwe Boll and that ilk.

Not quite lineage as Guy Ritchie (Obviously) but only needing Jason Stratham this is exactly what is says on the box: an out and out kill or be killed cartoonish film.

Filming is good, nothing too dark or menacing but just nice.

It's not Battle Royale but if action is your thing and you liked Death Race 2000, Shoot Em'Up or Wanted then you'll be happy enough.

Any gripes about morality are irrelevant here, this is in a moral vacuum, and so are plot holes, logic, or how heads explode like watermelons, this is either your type of film or you should really it avoid totally.

Yep, it's violent - limbs fly, people die in well, imaginative ways - but it is not horror.

It's all well put together, nicely cast, and creates enough interest; better than just hunt or be hunted there is a real plot and even character development...

Oh and great to choose Middlesborough, seriously one of the ugliest, most desolate pile of concrete crap evaar...ha ha....shooting it up the kyber pass can only improve it....

This is a movie to watch with mates and wince and cheer to....

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK USA Bahrain

Language:

English French

Release Date:

25 July 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Tournament

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$493,459

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mann Made Films, Sherazade Film Development, Storitel

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1