Series 7: The Contenders (2001)

Regisseur:

Daniel Minahan

Drehbuchautor:

Daniel Minahan (writer)

Premierendatum:

25. Mai 2001 (Italy)

Genre:

Komödie | Reality-TV | Thriller

Werbezeile:

Real People In Real Danger

Plot:

A TV program selects people at random to kill one another for fame and their freedom.

Plot Keywords:

Reality Spoof | Shot In The Back | Shot In The Chest | Shot In The Arm | Suicide Attempt

Filmpreise:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

The Ultimate Reality Show

Besetzung

Brooke Smith	...	Dawn
Mark Woodbury	...	Dairy Mart Clerk
Michael Kaycheck	...	Tony
Marylouise Burke	...	Connie
Richard Venture	...	Franklin
Donna Hanover	...	Sheila
Merritt Wever	...	Lindsay
Glenn Fitzgerald	...	Jeff
Angelina Phillips	...	Doria
Tom Gilroy	...	Dawn's Cameraman
Nada Despotovich	...	Michelle
Stephen Michael Rinaldi	...	Craig
Alex Yershov	...	Nathan
Danton Stone	...	Bob
Joseph Barrett	...	Doctor

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violent content and language.

Länge:

86 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Dolby Digital

Altersfreigabe:

Portugal:M/18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:R | Canada:18A | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | South Korea:18

Drehorte:

Danbury, Connecticut, USA

Firma:

Blow Up Pictures

Dies und das:

Writer/Director Daniel Minahan's childhood friend, Dawn Lagarto, is given a "Special Thanks" credit. He originally wrote the story using her name for the main character. When it came time to start filming the producers had legal concerns regarding the use of a real person's name, but actress Brooke Smith felt an affinity for the name and wanted to retain it for her character. Minahan called the real Dawn Lagarto and got her blessing to use the name. The real Dawn Lagarto is not an unwed mother, has never participated in a reality TV series, and has never killed anyone.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: The truck's tires are perfectly intact, despite during the helicopter shots sparks flying up and the commentator telling us his tires had blown out and he was riding on his rims.

Dialogzitate:

Jeff: I've got nothing to live for, but I don't wanna die.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Ausschnittsweise enthalten in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2001-03-03)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Love Will Tear Us Apart

The Ultimate Reality Show

This is the ultimate show of its kind - six people play a 'Survivor' game, but this is real survival - they will kill one another until only one survives. They are selected by chance, we have no clue why, and there seems to be no price. The only thing the winner earns is getting enrolled in another mortal round.

The formula works pretty well for the first half. Good, fast filming, credible acting, interesting characters. The problem is that by the second half the needed development of the characters does not happen, and for lack of anything else the script falls into previsible melodrama. It's a miss, but still the film is worth viewing, and it really says something about our sensation thirsty society.