Java_Joe
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.
videorama-759-859391
First off the bat, I expected much more from this. Remakes tend to be much more glitzy and exciting, especially as far as horrors go, the remake of Straw Dogs, another example. What we have here is one mess of a film, which has heavily borrowed from The Running Man. The team behind the solid Indie crime flick, Redball, are back, where Hewitt, has just slumped lower after that weak sex flop, X. We even have some of the old players from the original. This does move in much different directions as the original, as the horrible Purcell, once part of the CIA, was framed and made to take the fall for slaughtering innocent civilians, women and children. Now a prisoner, he used in a game show, ala Running Man, minus the suspense and thrills. Surviving two stages, the best player, so far, of course, he's sprung from the show, by a former lover, work colleague (the hot Viva Bianca) which furthers the story. Just with Sound Of Music's recent passing of Liesel, (Hammond) who played Frederich, plays Thatcher, here, but with a different character, to that of G.P's Michael Craig, in the original. It's a fine performance, as with many here, (Bianca, McClory, donning a fantastic and polished American accent) except for our clunk head lead. There are a couple of gruesome bits, a head exploding scene, and a suicide one. It ends somewhat similar to that at the end of that 2001 movie, Series 7, but the whole film spells mess, disappointment, and some real crappy photography. The highlights of the film are our two over enthused hosts of our death survival show. Hopefully Hewitt, can one day, return to the kind of film making he did so wonderfully, with his baby, Redball, where here he's almost B grade, ground level.
puffydawg
Whilst we are in the season of remakes galore, i stumbled across this remake of the original turkey shoot. Whilst this movie does try to do good and stick to a well known story of person gets caught, person get sent to prison, corrupt officials put person into TV game show for ratings, it just feels well lacking. it does pay homage to some of the originals characters ie thatcher the main antagonist in the original and to actor steve railsback it also is showing the original playing on a TV actually in the movie but no where near as good. go see the original turkey shoot, very controversial and was an R20 when it came out and was extremely violent.
ingsley
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