Elimination Game (2014)

Pretty Good

Absolutely the worst movie.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Stop me if you've heard this plot before. A soldier is charged with a crime he didn't commit and is sent to jail. There he's offered his freedom if he plays a game of survival that is also a hit TV show. He must survive, out in an arena of sorts, while being stalked by a group of deadly killers. Meanwhile a woman uncovers the information that he's been framed. He turns the tables on the stalkers one by one and makes it to the end after having proved his innocence.That's right, it's "The Running Man" or as this movie would like to think something really original. the original Turkey Shoot was a low budget movie where in a fascist world, a group of prisoners who are beaten and tortured by their guards are given the option of playing a game to regain their freedom. But whereas that was kinda fun in a very low budget way, this just feels derivative in a really low budget way.Dominic Purcell plays the main character with all the charm and nuance of a side of beef. I don't think there's one point where he shows a genuine emotion unless it's blank rage. Some of the original cast from the 1982 version show up in cameos like Steve Railsback, the hero of the original, is now one of the killers. It's kinda fun to see them knowing their history but it gets old rather quickly.There's just no reason for this movie to have been made. It's a remake that steals practically everything from another movie in an attempt to be a little more original than the original one was.

7.4 of 10. While not equivalent or parallel to the Hunger Games (it's something that could easily be happening now as opposed to sometime in the future), it does involve a reality TV game show with what modern society considers attractive media personalities where the participants are being hunted by each other, aka an "Elimination Game", all in a world where war is being heavily promoted and the show's primary heroes are vets.The cast works well. Nobody seems obviously out of place. Available technology also is believable for a parallel Earth type of fiction.Fortunately, it's not a film trying to setup sequels. It functions and wraps up nicely as a single, complete film. Unfortunately, there's a little too much equivalent of pro wrestling bullet dodging and inexhaustible bullet supplies at times.

The original Turkey Shoot is a fun Ozploitation film that rattles along at a fair pace and never seems to take itself too seriously. This remake is a po-faced turgid mess that is so badly directed even Uwe Boll would shake his head in disgust. Dominic Purcell can be good in the right role, but in this he looks downright ashamed to be here. And I don't blame him. The guy clearly needs a better agent. Long story short, he plays a wrongly convicted war criminal that is entered into a Running Man style TV show where he has 90 minutes to get to a destination whilst avoiding various assassins. And trust me that sounds far more exciting than it actually is. The film is a mess. The camera work is appalling, the direction is laughable, the script is infantile and there are huge chunks of narrative presumably missing. The action is badly filmed and choreographed, the characters are mere outlines and the acting ranges from poor to middling. Purcell himself seems half asleep. Not even worth a watch for curious fans of the original. Avoid like the plague.

The end credits to TURKEY SHOOT had an excellent choice of font. They were, in fact, the only entertaining part of this turkey of a movie.The producers could never ever pay me enough money to willingly watch this movie again.Even if you are a fan-boy who enjoys blood-fest gore movies that are over-long, badly-edited, un-scripted, TURKEY SHOOT is still a complete waste of time, and will leave you with ninety minutes of your life, forever lost.Rick Tyler is the latest target, on a brutal kill or be killed, live reality cable television game show. Dominic Purcell is Rick Tyler. Robert Taylor is Ramrod, and he is one of the many antagonists (a sniper who never ever misses his target). Robert Taylor gives a credible performance with the uninspiring and very wooden dialogue, that failed to mimic the natural cadence of speech, and is the only saving grace of TURKEY SHOOT.If only the embarrassing screenplay had dialogue that allowed you to suspend disbelief. Performances by the ensemble cast included stilted dialogue, and unwieldy turns of phrase, all delivered by the actors without showing any sign of emotion.We are supposed to think that this film was shot somewhere in the United States. Memo To continuity: Why during the film do we see cars with Melbourne Victoria number plates?!At the media screening TURKEY SHOOT did not have a lip-synchronized sound track. Presumably this was an anti film piracy measure. Hopefully this situation will be remedied for the film's commercial release.Starring: Dominic Purcell (Killer Elite, Prison Break), Viva Bianca (X, Spartacus) and Robert Taylor (Longmire, Focus)Directed by: Jon HewittAustralianl Release Date: December 4thRun time: 90 minutesRating: MA15+02 December 2014 this is the first published review of TURKEY SHOOT at www.IMDb.com