Surviving the Game
| Surviving the Game | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Ernest R. Dickerson |
| Produced by | Fred C. Caruso |
| Written by | Eric Bernt |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Stewart Copeland |
| Cinematography | Bojan Bazelli |
| Edited by | Samuel D. Pollard |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.4 million |
| Box office | $7,727,256 |
Surviving the Game is a 1994 action thriller film directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, starring Ice-T, Rutger Hauer, and Gary Busey. It is loosely based on the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. Although not successful during its theatrical release, it has since developed a cult following.
Jack Mason is a homeless man from Seattle who loses his only friends—a fellow homeless man and his pet dog—on the same day. Dejected, Mason attempts to commit suicide when a soup kitchen worker, Walter Cole, saves him. Cole refers the man to businessman Thomas Burns, who kindly offers Mason a job as a hunting guide. Despite his misgivings, the lure of a well paying job causes Mason to accept.
Flying to a remote cabin surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods, Mason meets the rest of the hunting party, all of whom paid $50,000 for the privilege of being there. The party includes Doc Hawkins, the founder of the hunt, a psychotic psychiatrist who specializes in psychological assessments, Cole, Texas "oil man" John Griffin, wealthy executive Derek Wolfe, Sr., and his son, Derek Wolfe, Jr., who is at first unaware of the true purposes of the hunt. The first night all the men are eating a nice dinner and engaging in conversation. Mason receives a pack of cigarettes from Hawkins and learns a little history about the man. Hawkins relays a brutal story from his childhood when his father forced him to train and then fight his dog as a lesson in being a man.
The following morning Mason is awakened with a gun in his face by Cole, who explains that the men are not hunting any animals, but rather Mason himself. Mason is given a head start with only the time it takes the others to eat breakfast. Mason quickly flees the area, but comes to a realization and turns back. The hunters finish their meal and set off after him. Wolfe, Jr., is horrified at the thought of killing a man, but is pushed into it by his father. The hunters race off into the forest, but by now Mason has returned to the cabin in search of weapons. He finds none, and instead makes the disgusting discovery of the hunters trophy room behind a locked door: the preserved heads of the victims of previous hunts.
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Wikipedia