''Beta Test'' is a 2016 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written, produced, and directed by Nicholas Gyeney. Gyeney described the film as a cross between ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Ale ...

'', ''

Gamer A gamer is a proactive hobbyist who plays interactive games, especially video games, tabletop role-playing games, and skill-based card games, and who plays for usually long periods of time. Some gamers are competitive, meaning they routinely ...

'', and ''

The Firm The FIRM (stylized as The FIRM) is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. The original "The FIRM" videos are best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training. History In 1979, Anna Bens ...

''. The film stars

Larenz Tate Larenz Tate (born September 8, 1975) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as O-Dog in ''Menace II Society'' and as Councilman Rashad Tate in ''Power''. Tate's other films and television series include the fil ...

Manu Bennett Jonathan Manu Bennett (born 10 October 1969) is a New Zealand actor. He is primarily known for portraying characters in epic fantasy works, such as Crixus in the TV series ''Spartacus'', Allanon in '' The Shannara Chronicles'', Slade Wilson / ...

Linden Ashby Clarence Linden Garnett Ashby III (born May 23, 1960) is an American actor and director. On television, he portrayed Brett Cooper on the final two seasons of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox soap opera ''Melrose Place'' (1997–1999) and Sheri ...

, and

Yuji Okumoto is an American actor of Japanese descent. He is best known for his role as Chozen Toguchi in ''The Karate Kid'' franchise. He has also appeared in such films as ''Real Genius'' (1985), '' True Believer'' (1989), ''Contact'' (1997), ''The Truman ...

. The film was released on July 22, 2016.

Plot

While testing the latest first person shooter from global game developer, Sentinel, video game champion Max Troy discovers the events happening within the game are being reflected in the real world. He soon determines that the game's protagonist is real-life Orson Creed, an ex-Sentinel employee who is being remotely controlled by the corporation for reasons unknown. As virtual and real worlds collide, Max and Creed must join forces to unravel the conspiracy before the game's sinister events escalate and overwhelm the city.

Cast

as Orson Creed *

as Max Troy *

as Andrew Kincaid *Kevon Stover as Zane *

as The Surgeon *Brandy Kopp as Tech Support *Sara Coates as Abbie Creed, Orson's wife. *Edward Michael Scott as The Professional *Edi Zanidache as The Runt *Bill Sorice as Interviewer *Stefan Hajek as Slackjaw *Adrien Gamache as Caleb Angelo *Mark Riccardi as The 2nd Professional *Angela DiMarco as Lillian Brandt *Angela Okumoto as Reporter

Production

Development

Gyeney started developing ''Beta Test'' in the summer of 2014. Gyeney provided information on the film stating "this film has 127 scenes and with yType-A personality, I have a very specific vision."

Casting

Gyeney stated, "I'm not

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

", while indicating that there would be no auditions or screen tests for the film. Scripts were sent out to actors whom Gyeney was familiar with, and those of whom liked the script with interest of being in the film were cast.

was cast as the protagonist, Max.

as the hero video game character, Orson Creed. And,

as Kincaid, the primary villain of the film.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

was conducted in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. It took place over 19 days starting November 7. 2014 and finishing on November 26, 2014. Seattle was chosen as the place to shoot the film because it is Gyeney's hometown and he believed "shooting such a movie in the Northwest will diversify the local film community, which is mostly dominated by indie dramas. It could lead to an entire wave of action-oriented material being shot here, which would bring tons of work to local stunt teams and stuff that is totally nonexistent right now." Gyeney stated, "the longest long-take fight sequence currently on record is three-and-a-half minutes, and it's held by the Korean movie 'Oldboy.' Our goal is to destroy that record."

Animation

Video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

footage was needed to be developed for the film after principal photography was completed. It began in December 2014 starting with the character, Creed.

Release

The film was released on July 22, 2016. In their review for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', Frank Scheck praised the film for being "impressively choreographed and filmed", though criticized the film for choosing technology over realism, as well as exploiting real life tragedies such as

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. He also criticized the "outdated visual style" of the graphics, which would be noticed by hardcore gamers, whom this film is targeted towards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beta Test 2016 films 2016 action thriller films 2016 science fiction films American science fiction action films 2016 independent films American independent films Films about video games Films set in Washington (state) Films set in Seattle Films shot in Washington (state) 2010s English-language films 2010s American films