FilmCriticLalitRao When the power of a TV camera is considered to be immense, what would happen if all of a sudden numerous TV cameras are employed to cover an event from all possible angles ? This is the most fundamental question which any viewer might be compelled to ask while watching "Le Prix Du Danger". This Yves Boisset film questions the role of TV especially the notion which accuses TV of legitimizing senseless violence in the name of entertainment. The role of violence and its impact on human lives has also been discussed in this film. A man is the worst enemy of another man in all spheres where money is involved. This assertion seems to be true as a lucky contestant has to beat killers hell bent on killing him. There are huge financial rewards to be obtained if the contestant is able to escape unhurt in a deadly game of life and death. One might say that poverty drives some reckless souls to sacrifice their lives for money. It is also interesting to learn about the reasons which drive ordinary people to become killers. With excellent performances by all leading actors namely Michel Piccoli, Marie France Pisier, Gérard Lanvin and Bruno Cremer, "Le Prix Du Danger" is an important film with concern for existential problems which have always troubled humanity. It is directed by Yves Boisset who has helmed many thrillers in France.

John Seal I'm going to be a philistine and admit to enjoying The Running Man more than The Prize of Peril. I also preferred The Most Dangerous Game, The Tenth Victim, and Series 7: The Contenders. In fact, of all the films I've seen in which people are being pursued for sport, this is the worst one. Perhaps the film would improve if it were available in French--the English dubbing is appalling--but the film is technically graceless, featuring ugly Eastmancolor cinematography and an unattractive and uninteresting cast. Even Michel Piccoli is unable to save the film, which is neither intellectually vigorous enough to 'make a statement' nor camp enough to simply entertain.

dbdumonteil Robert Sheckley is a great sci-fi writer whose short stories are witty and absorbing.Yves Boisset was definitely not the kind of director who could do him justice.Yves Boisset could succeed in treating committed subjects (the Algeria war in "RAS" or racism in "Dupont -Lajoie".But in "le Prix du Danger" ,he's shooting us a line!The lead is an unambitious actor,Gérard Lanvin,who has made turkeys by the dozen (only "une Semaine de Vacances" and "Une étrange Affaire" are above average in his filmography)He is here no more than Van Damme and co.Michel Piccoli and Marie-France Pisier are supposed to provide the movie with an intellectual alibi,but their cardboard characters and their underwritten parts do not help.A faux pas: there were many of them in Boisset's eighties' career.

Gangsteroctopus Even though the version I saw on video was dubbed, this is still a really well-made and relevant film about violence and the media. "The Running Man" with Arnold Schwarzenegger is a big pile of s--t compared to this film. (I wonder if Steven King ripped off the Robert Sheckley novel that this movie's based on for his 'Bachman' book.) One of the guys hunting down the hero is played by the butcher from "Delicatessen"; he gets his in a particularly nasty fashion (recalling F.Murray Abraham's demise in "The Name of the Rose"). The video is out of print (Lightning), but if you can track it down it's well worth the time and effort.