I remember watching this on VHS with a friend who was obsessed with Christopher Lambert and thinking it was quite interesting and I would like to see it again. And walking through a Collector's shop there it was, the dumb title grinning at you on a now oversized looking VHS cover. I made the purchase. Let's whack it in the player and see if this was actually worth the $3 Australian I paid for it.
So we start with Ice T (he's in this) a major player in a crime syndicate who's invited 100 hardened criminals (and one seemingly innocent girl), who have all wronged his syndicate, to fight to the death inside a prison facility that is to be opened the following day. Only the last three (at least they resisted the temptation to say "There can be only one") will walk away with $10 million. "What if we don't want to play?" one of the criminals asks. "THEN DON'T." Ice T answers shooting him in the chest.
This is a pretty intelligent film given the subject matter. There are a lot of alliances made and the fighting, while artsy, does try to trend towards realism. Though there are a few scenes where director Albert Pyun (B-movie go to guy) can't help himself. The ending is surprisingly well thought out and satisfying. The main issue here is the lighting, it's usually far too bright and the walls are all white and grey. Darkness would have worked better. It would be interesting to see what David Fincher or Quentin Tarantino (for very different reasons) would have done with this.
This is a good little movie. Decent story and passable performances. Smarter than I thought it would be. Hard to get hold of, but worth a watch.
So we start with Ice T (he's in this) a major player in a crime syndicate who's invited 100 hardened criminals (and one seemingly innocent girl), who have all wronged his syndicate, to fight to the death inside a prison facility that is to be opened the following day. Only the last three (at least they resisted the temptation to say "There can be only one") will walk away with $10 million. "What if we don't want to play?" one of the criminals asks. "THEN DON'T." Ice T answers shooting him in the chest.
This is a pretty intelligent film given the subject matter. There are a lot of alliances made and the fighting, while artsy, does try to trend towards realism. Though there are a few scenes where director Albert Pyun (B-movie go to guy) can't help himself. The ending is surprisingly well thought out and satisfying. The main issue here is the lighting, it's usually far too bright and the walls are all white and grey. Darkness would have worked better. It would be interesting to see what David Fincher or Quentin Tarantino (for very different reasons) would have done with this.
This is a good little movie. Decent story and passable performances. Smarter than I thought it would be. Hard to get hold of, but worth a watch.