Saturday 22 January 2011

The Tournament: Blood, Guts, Exploding Heads … And Stuff

You know, I’ve got to admit, I was knackered, after work, last night.

Seriously knackered.

And a touch naughty, as well.

After all, I had been meaning to tell you about the little known straight-to-DVD film that Kevin D, Movie Night Adrian and I managed to catch, Thursday night …

But managed to while away some of the time constructing the movies for the next few days Teasers.

Oh, and playing Nucleus, one of the games included in Pangea Soft’s Pangea Arcade.

Yes, I know I’m supposed to be laying off, but I do have a stupidly daft high score to try and beat … !

I forget the exact number, but I’m impressed, I know that … … … … …

Lets get moving on, shall we … ?

Yes, I think I should …

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At any rate, Adrian, Kevin and I all managed — Thursday — to get together to catch the straight-to-DVD film that is The Tournament.

And, yes, before you say anything, I know that the phrase ‘straight-to-DVD’ is usually accompanied by the word, ‘clunker’, but bear with me, here …

You see …

Well …

No, wait, let me give you a brief summery, first …

The Tournament sees an unnamed group of powerful — and wealthy — individuals getting to together every seven years, and organising what they call the tournament: a blood-sport played over 24 hours with 30 of the planet’s best hitmen, assassins, special forces types, serial killers and dribbling psychotics as contestants.

The prize … ?

$10, 000, 000 in cash.

The thirty players go in: the last person to walk alive out of whichever city is hosting the tournament …

Gets the moola.

The twist in this years event is that the GPS tracking devices each has implanted about their persons are set to explode at the end of the contest …

There’s another twist, as well: one of the contestants has worked out how to remove his tracking device.

And slipped it into the coffee being drunk as a hangover cure, by a nearby priest.

One who’s not actually involved in the game …

Of course, the organisers are all making side bets.

You guessed, hadn’t you … ?

The fact the film is set in Middlesborough is practically a side issue …

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Now, I’ve got to admit, there’s been other movies made with this sort of idea in mind: the recent remake of Death Race gets a mention usually, along with the more recent Ghost Machine.

Of the two, I’ve only seen Ghost Machine.

Personally … ?

I actually think that while both were entertaining enough, given the choice … ?

I’d say that The Tournament is the better movie of the two.

After all, it’s got something more of a heavy-weight cast to it, a touch more polish …

And a lot more exploding heads … !

The Tournament Keeper: ★★★☆




Director

Scott Mann

Writers

Gary Young


Jonathan Frank


Nick Rowntree


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