The Tournament

Solid, hyper violent, action, with several twists and turns!
Languishing in development and production hell for what seems to be an eternity, Scott Mann's film THE TOURNAMENT finally gets a proper DVD release Oct 20th. The "combat death game" genre has been inundated with several films throughout the years such as BATTLE ROYAL, BLOODSPORT and THE ULTIMATE GAME. THE TOURNAMENT makes its mark by delivering a knockout punch with over the top action and enough plot twists to keep the viewer interested.

The story opens seven years ago with Ving Rhames character in a final bloodbath in a sordid meat packing company with two other assassins vying for the title of "World's Greatest Assassin". The scene is ultra sadistic, chaotic and bullets are flying like candy from an out of control mechanical Pez dispenser. As soon as Ving wins the battle, the environment rapidly shifts forward to the present day and the next tournament begins.

The present day battle, taking place in England, centers on 30 contestants all vying for a 10...

Deserved a wider release
The Tournament is one of those action films you've never heard of but is actually superior to the PG-13 trash that passes for Hollywood action these days (I'm looking at YOU, Die Hard 4). It barely got into cinemas for a week in October 2010 and you shouldn't let it slip away.

Robert Carlyle plays a washed-up priest who is caught up in a once-every-seven-years competition in which 30 of the world's best hitmen are pitted against each other in an unsuspecting, random town. The location this time is Middlesborough, England and the 24-hour bloodbath paints the town red before the climactic last-man-standing finale. Among the many hitmen are the gorgeous Kelly Hu and the burly Ving Rhames. There's not much time for character development, but the main trio work well off each other in between the brutal action scenes.

The Tournament does use some CGI blood effects in a few shots, not as awful as it usually is, but most of the gore is good, old-fashioned make-up. And...

Good Movie
Simply put: Good movie. Lots of action. Worth watching. Better than a lot of movies that made it to the big screen...

PS: And Kelly Hu Is totally gorgeous...

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