''Turkey Shoot'' (released internationally as ''Elimination Game'') is a 2014 Australian dystopian

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 uni ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by

Jon Hewitt Jon Hewitt (born 1959) is an Australian film director.

and co-written by Hewitt and

Belinda McClory Belinda McClory (born 1968) is an Australian film, television and stage actress, mainly known for her role as Switch in ''The Matrix''. McClory was born in Adelaide, Australia. Her father was a police officer, giving her insight to the life of ...

. Shot in Australia, the film stars

Dominic Purcell Dominic Haakon Myrtved PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". ''Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is a British-Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Lincoln Burrows in ...

Viva Bianca Viva Bianca (born Viva Skubiszewski; 17 November 1983, ; ) is an Australian actress best known for her role as Ilithyia on the Starz network series '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'' and '' Spartacus: Vengeance''. Bianca graduated from the Weste ...

, Robert Taylor and McClory. Inspired by the 1982 film of the same name directed by

Brian Trenchard-Smith Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, ...

(who served as an executive producer on this film), it features appearances by two cast members from the earlier film, Carmen Duncan and

Roger Ward Roger Ward (born 1936) is an Australian actor who has had a considerable career in film and television, noted for "tough guy" roles in which he often did his own stunts. Biography Ward was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1936. His care ...

, as well as the voice of producer Antony I. Ginnane as television network head

Charley Varrick ''Charley Varrick'' (a.k.a.''The Last of the Independents'' and ''Kill Charley Varrick'') is a 1973 American neo-noir crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. ''Charley Varric ...

Synopsis

In the near future,

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

Commander Rick Tyler is sent to

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

to assassinate its leader. After apparently completing the mission he finds himself in a prison charged with war crimes for murdering the population of a village during the currently ongoing "World War Africa" and his mission apparently failed as the Libyan leader is still alive. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he is given a temporary reprieve to appear on a popular

reality television show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

called "Turkey Shoot" where he is pitted against a series of professional killers voted for by the audience. If Tyler, who has no weapons, survives three levels of hunting he will receive a pardon.

Cast

as Commander Rick Tyler *

as Lieutenant Commander Jill Wilson * Robert Taylor as Sergeant "Ramrod" Llewyn *

as Meredith Baxter *

Nicholas Hammond Nicholas Hammond (born May 15, 1950) is an American-born Australian actor and writer who is best known for his roles as Friedrich von Trapp in the film ''The Sound of Music'' and as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the 1970s television series ''The A ...

as General Charles Thatcher II * Carmen Duncan as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Sheila Farr *

as Colonel Saif al-Muammar, the Libyan Dictator *Suzannah McDonald as Teena Fine *Juan Jackson as Tom Faye

Production

Jon Hewitt co wrote and directed the film. He said "I loved ''Turkey Shoot'' but I did not want to remake it. This is a complete reinvention." " he originalwas a bit cheesy and camp," he added. "We're playing it for real. There's no camp irony." Hewitt admitted that he was also influenced by '' The Running Man'' (1987). He said the film:

Tries to deliver what its target demographic would want. I’ve still got my moments of heady violence and exploding heads. We just wanted to make a serpentine thriller that delivered the goods to a pretty undemanding audience, but had some meat on its bones... We speculated sooner or later people are going to be putting their lives on the line for entertainment on screen.

He later elaborated:

We wanted to make an Australian action-adventure film for a relatively undemanding international audience, speaking the universal language of genre, but Belinda and I wanted to put a bit of meat on its bones and give it a satirical edge and comment on the state of the world at the moment. You know, to ask ‘Why are we actually at war?’ is one theme. Nobody seems to be actually talking about it. Are all these wars going on for the benefits of the countries or are they going on for the benefit of Google through YouTube and CNN and stations like that? Those are making a gazillion dollars. They're the worst offender. We wanted to speculate on that but put it in the subtext that people also want some sort of stalk and chase thriller could get into it as well.

Investment came from a number of sources including Screen Queensland and the Post Lounge, who did visual effects.

Liam McIntyre Liam James McIntyre (born 8 February 1982) is an Australian actor, best known for playing the lead role on the Starz television series '' Spartacus: Vengeance'' and '' War of the Damned'' and as Mark Mardon / Weather Wizard on ''The Flash''. He ...

was originally announced for the role of Rick Tyler."SPARTACUS'" Liam McIntyre goes on new "TURKEY SHOOT" ''Fangoria'' 17 May 2013
accessed 25 January 2014 However he had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict and was replaced by Dominic Purcell. Shooting began in Melbourne on 5 February 2014.
accessed 25 January 2015

Release

The film was given a limited theatrical release in Australia.Michael Bodey, "Film release strategy: The Mule and Turkey Shoot are different animals", ''The Australian'', 3 December 2014
accessed 25 January 2015 Hewitt:

Theatrical eleaseis over for about 90 per cent of any film made anywhere in the world. You just have to look at what's released in cinemas now to understand that, but we are still compelled and forced to release every Australian film that gets made to give it a theatrical release, because of the way things are financed. So that's led to a lot of negativity because there's a lot of movies that just won't work theatrically. Theatrical is whole different thing now, it's about tent-pole movies and blockbusters and tent-pole art-house films – there's no theatrical play for movies like ''Turkey Shoot'' or '' The Mule'' or most Australian films.... The reason we haven't gone for the whole shebang – the simultaneous everything – is that I don't want the film available digitally until it's exploited in the US. Otherwise we are going to screw ourselves on an international sales front. That's the reason we haven't done it.Emily Blatchford, "Turkey Shoot director counts on overseas deals to find audience", ''If Magazine'' 10 December 2014
accessed 25 January 2015

Reception

The remake of ''Turkey Shoot'' received negative reviews from critics and audiences, earning a 20% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. *"What should be a rollicking bullet train of big screen excess is instead an amateurish, borderline incoherent actioner starring Dominic Purcell, whose dead eyes and stiff physicality is perhaps the most telling aspect of this bumbling reheat." — Brian Orndorf, BluRay.com *"There's also a lack of suspense, with events following the predictable pattern of a much-played video game." — Stephen Romei, The Australian *"Most of the film consists of padding: lengthy introductory spiels from the TV studio, repetitive computer graphics, flat expository dialogue scenes." — Jake Wilson, Sydney Morning Herald *"The action sequences are poorly rendered and its satirical edge is blunted by its borrowings from sharper films such as '' Rollerball'' and '' Starship Troopers." — Russell Edwards, SBS.com.au

References

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...