If you’re anything like me, you complain a lot about the fact that there is never anything on tv worth watching. You sit down after a hard day’s graft, with a cool drink and a need to unwind. You switch on the TV and are left yet again frustrated by the number of uninspired gameshows and never-ending repeats of Friends and Frasier. What I want is some big budget, high octane, blood sports to entertain me. Something where violent death-row inmates are pitched in a bloody battle for survival over four stages of increasingly brutal challenges. And I want… er… dinosaurs.
The Jurassic Games is the brainchild of writer/director Ryan Bellgardt (Gremlin 2017, Army of Frankensteins 2013). Bellgardt has gathered together his band of brothers (Christy, Swanson, Hoyt and McKamie) in order to bring to life this new filmic offering. Imagine The Hunger Games (2012) mixed up with the Schwarzenegger action-fest that was The Running Man (1987) and you will have a pretty good idea what to expect from this film.
Some bright spark has devised a live gameshow where nasty criminals are pitted against each other, and of course dinosaurs, in a series of challenges in order to win their freedom. It’s a no-holds-barred fight for survival, and viewing figures, that ends when only one man or woman is left standing. We all know how exciting a good public execution is but imagine how much more exciting it would be if you could watch it on a big screen with all your friends and family in the comfort of your home or local bar. How about action figures of the competitors so your kids can recreate their favorite death scenes? The Jurassic Games dominates the viewing figures and is by far the most popular show on television. It would be a shame if one of the competitors was actually innocent and not really a criminal at all… oh dear.
Right from the start, The Jurassic Games is bloomin’ good. I was really impressed with the quality of everything. Awesome adrenaline fuelled score by David Stone Hamilton, great visuals and cinematography by Josh McKamie, an action-packed and fun script by Bellgardt and Christy, and a brilliant cast. Seriously, everyone is on their A-game, and the result is a great movie. Special mention to some of the guys and gals in front of the camera, Adam Hampton as the wrongly accused hero figure, and Katie Burgess as the standout evil bad-ass. Coincidentally, Ryan, I did pick up on that little reference where Hampton says to Burgess, ‘You’re not much older than my daughter’, when they actually did play father and daughter in Gremlin, Ha… just me? Well, I chuckled anyway.
On a side-note, Katie, if your reading, I especially loved the swift knee to the balls as Adam was being hung by the neck, absolutely brilliant scene.
Now to the serious bit, how many bananas to award? Well, maybe it’s something to do with the herbal tea I’m drinking, or maybe I’m losing my mind, but The Jurassic Games played to all of my sensibilities. I was thoroughly entertained. Drum roll please… 5 Bananas!!!!!!
Discover Jurassic Games for yourself now at Amazon
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