Surviving the Game *** (1994, Rutger Hauer, Ice-T, Charles S Dutton, , Gary Busey, F Murray Abraham, John C McGinley, William McNamara) – Classic Movie Review 3524

Rutger Hauer, Ice-T, Charles S Dutton, Gary Busey, F Murray Abraham, John C McGinley and William McNamara star in Ernest Dickerson’s robust and entertaining action thriller remake of Richard Connell’s famous prize-winning short story The Most Dangerous Game, which was first published in Collier’s on January 19 1924 and first filmed as The Most Dangerous Game (1932).

Ice-T plays Mason, a homeless man who is hired as a survival guide for a group of wealthy businessmen (Hauer, Busey, Abraham, McGinley, Dutton, McNamara) on a hunting party in the Rocky Mountains. He’s got a terrible shock coming! He is totally unaware that they are mad killers who hunt humans for sport and that he is to be their latest prey. But they do not count on his ingenuity, cleverness and will to survive the game.

The good cast and crisp, fast-moving direction help to keep it crackling along for a pacey, exciting 96 minutes. Ice-T makes a good hero and Hauer, Abraham and McGinley give rich portraits of evil as the bad guys. Eric Bernt’s fairly classy script may be better on quirky character development than convincing dialogue, but it’s still very serviceable.

Connell’s short story The Most Dangerous Game has often been filmed, including The Most Dangerous Game (1932), A Game of Death (1945), Run for the Sun (1956), John Woo and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Hard Target (1993) and Surviving the Game (1994).

The derelict land where Mason is seen living in the old camper van is now a Bank of America car park.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3524

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