Pretty Good

disgusting, overrated, pointless

Amateur movie with Big budget

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

I've given the 3 solely for the excellent short story on which this is based. For jaded wealthy people, the ultimate bet is on a human's ability to survive. You produce your candidate, place your bet, put all the competitors on an island, then set the hunters on them - it's a winner-takes-all survival game. Great plot, but, oh dear, what a mess has been made of it. The film quality is blurry and often strangely-coloured, the editing is jumpy, the fight scenes phenomenally and cartoonishly unrealistic, the sound often not good, and the acting is mostly wooden, with the possible exception of Michael Rooker (Merle from 'The Walking Dead'). It is also full of random banks of cloud groaning across the sky ! On the other hand, the house where the rich gamblers congregate is very pretty.Really not worth wasting your time on, I'm afraid.

Bas Rutten was a legend in international UFC and he makes his debut as a world-class action star in The Eliminator. The Dutch fighter is ruggedly handsome and built like the proverbial brick lavatory. Spending the whole movie in tight fitting under armor (when he's not shirtless) this film showcases both his ripped physique and awesome fighting skills.Re-working the "Most Dangerous Game" plot one more time, we find Varley (Rutten) a some-time cage fighter trying to pay off some gambling debts by winning a speedboat race run by the shady Dawson, played by Michael Rooker. When Varley wins the race - after causing another competitor's death in a fatal crash - Dawson realizes he's got just the rough and tumble guy he needs and drugs him. Varley and six other badasses wake up on Dawson's private jungle island where they will be hunted for sport by trained military personnel until only one remains. The game is watched by seven rich degenerates that have each sponsored one of the hunted and who stand to win $25 million if their man is left standing. Of course, the seven are encouraged to also kill on another to improve their own odds.From a fortified mansion on the island's highest point, the game is monitored, as each night teams of hunters are sent out to kill as many of the hunted as they can. One thing this flick has going for it is the quality of the fighters cast as the seven hunteds. Jamal Duff, a former N.Y. Giant football standout at 6'8, 305 lbs of black intimidation, plays Darius, a prisoner snatched from death row. Latino muscleman Marco Ruas, at 6'2, 240 lbs, isn't far behind, playing the Colombian killer Salvador. The only other "good guy" on the island is the cop Jesse, played by Paul Logan -- a familiar action star with the kind of good looks and sculpted body that landed him his own centerfold in Playgirl . The lovely Santha, played by Danielle Burgio, combines beauty with lethal fighting skills. Even the anonymous hunters in their skintight spandex uniforms are built young studs.With trained killers like these stalking the island, the death matches come fast and furious. Varley and Jesse team up to ice Salvador with the big Dutchman holding the powerful latino so Jesse can drive a homemade spear into his chest. When the beautiful Santha joins them, Jesse isn't so sure about her motives, but Varley is smitten with her sexy good looks. Later, when they all strip down to wash off in a stream, you can see she's also got an eye for Bas Rutten's chiseled physique. Alone, she begins to make love to him causing Varley to close his eyes in ecstasy. The next second Jesse appears to dispatch Santha with a chop to the neck. Varley is furious until he sees the knife that was in her hand. He thanks his buddy for saving his life and Jesse tells him to "stop thinking with the wrong head." Varley and Jesse continue to make their way to the mansion, slaying the hunters they encounter. Darius and Varley finally square off in an epic fight and it takes every ounce of Varley's strength to break the black muscleman's neck. When they reach the mansion, the two manage to take their revenge on Dawson and his henchman before fleeing the island in a stolen helicopter. All in all, this movie delivers on the action and definitely makes us want to see big Bas Rutten kicking ass in another one.

this film fails in every way! a very thin and worn out plot/storyline, discarded guns thrown away and randomly appearing again, dead people moving around the set. And the CG is all bad, static fog, birds with cardboard wings, a wall that would make an Australian TV-show producer laugh his head off... when all this is said, i wish i could give the movie only half a star, but the fights, and the hysterical laugh-outs gives it just "the right stuff" for another half a star! All in all... this movie sucks... i know this is the lowest form of critique, but there isn't really much good to say about it!THX for viewing!

"Original" is a word that doesn't get used enough when reviewing movies, and I'm definitely not going to use it here.This movie has way too many similarities to Ice-T's and Rutger Hauer's "Surviving The Game" and Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Hard Target". The other reviewer says it resembles Japan's "Battle Royale" as well, but I have yet to see that one. One of the better things about this movie is seeing real Pancrase, UFC and other MMA fighters in this type of action movie. I liked seeing the armbars and other submissions thrown into the fight scenes, as they did in this movie. There was also a nice fight scene between Bas Rutten and Marco Ruas. I also liked how they kept the women, even the stronger ones, weaker than the men in most cases. This is how it would be in real life, and that's what I liked seeing in the movie (Nothing against women in general, but let's face it, with this group, there's not many women that could keep up with these characters).The plot of this movie has far too many similarities to the movies mentioned above. I'll keep the review spoiler free, but just a quick plot run through. There are 7 captured "contestants" who are hunted at night, with the last man alive winning a cool $10,000,000. I don't have to say anything else, as I'm sure most of you can take it from here.One thing I felt the movie could improve upon was with the villain. Movies nowadays don't have strong or mean enough villains. You should be walking out of a movie thinking, "What a bastard that guy was! I'm glad he got what was coming to him." Not just this movie, but most movies these days are like that. Watch "Stone Cold" main bad guy and you'll see what I mean. Enough on that rant.Anyhow, I'd like to see Bas Rutten do more action movies, but I feel he'd be a better villain than hero. He did do much better here than I thought he would. I think this movie is worth a rental if you get the chance. I give it a 6.5 out of 10.