The Tournament

When I first learned about this movie and its premise, I thought "What? Someone actually ripped off an Albert Pyun movie?!?!" Actually, the Pyun movie that's ripped off is MEAN GUNS, one of Pyun's better movies... though still not that great. I actually thought that these filmmakers had a good chance of improving on Pyun, so I gave this movie a try.

To be sure, this movie is not a masterpiece. There's barely a plot here, and most of the characters are thinly sketched out (the priest's sad situation, for one thing, is never explained.) However, what weaknesses the movie has are made up for considerably with the action. Whew, this movie is almost non-stop action! And the action scenes are pretty well done, with a mix of different kinds of action (martial arts, gunplay, and my favorite, a freeway chase.) Blood squirts, bodies explode, this movie has it all. You might think that this action becomes numbing after a while, but amazingly it keeps your interest up. So if you happen to be in the mood for a non-think kind of entertainment, THE TOURNAMENT will probably satisfy.

There are only three other reviews here so far: two give this 10 (Err... two different named reviewers, identical reviews, duplicate memo to PR team please....idiots) and the other 1 so let's assume some will love this and others will hate it. I'll try to review it....

Plot: pretty easy sell, every seven years the top assassins hold the tournament; they kill each other until the last survivor wins it all; all organized, tracked, and betted on by billionaires, of course.

The whole thing is kind of like no limit hold'em.... but they can't all dodge bullets, baby. Think Tekken and you're not in the right area, it is better than Uwe Boll and that ilk.

Not quite lineage as Guy Ritchie (Obviously) but only needing Jason Stratham this is exactly what is says on the box: an out and out kill or be killed cartoonish film.

Filming is good, nothing too dark or menacing but just nice.

It's not Battle Royale but if action is your thing and you liked Death Race 2000, Shoot Em'Up or Wanted then you'll be happy enough.

Any gripes about morality are irrelevant here, this is in a moral vacuum, and so are plot holes, logic, or how heads explode like watermelons, this is either your type of film or you should really it avoid totally.

Yep, it's violent - limbs fly, people die in well, imaginative ways - but it is not horror.

It's all well put together, nicely cast, and creates enough interest; better than just hunt or be hunted there is a real plot and even character development...

Oh and great to choose Middlesborough, seriously one of the ugliest, most desolate pile of concrete crap evaar...ha ha....shooting it up the kyber pass can only improve it....

This is a movie to watch with mates and wince and cheer to....

I saw this in 2009 n revisited it recently on a DVD which i own. Action fans should definitely check this out. The plot - A group of sadistic gamblers makes wagers on 30 of the world's most deadly assassins who band against one another in a battle royal. Debutante director Scott Mann did a terrific job considering the budget. The action is non stop. There are shoot-outs, gun play, bloodbaths in unlikely venues, severed limbs, exploding bodies caused by booby-trapped tracking devices, plenty of explosions, car chases, kicking, punching, heads exploding off like melons, severed limbs, wild stunts, a bus/truck chase, nudity and gore. Its really a *ucking shame that this film didn't got the recognition it deserves. The star cast is decent, the hot n attractive Kelly Hu (her sex scene from Farmhouse man), Ving Rhames, Robert Carlyle, Liam Cunningham, Scott Adkins n Sebastian Foucon (the guy from Casino royal). There's an excellent free running sequence courtesy of park-our expert Sebastian Foucon.

When I saw the trailer for this film I immediately thought The Tournemnt had potential to be one of best action films of the last years, unfortunately that's not the case. The premise is very interesting even if flawed; every seven years somewhere in the planet(usually in a random city) a tournament between the world's deadliest assassins takes place. 30 assassins fight against each other in a bloody battle royale hoping to survive. The last one standing wins the tournament and receives a cash prize and more importantly the title of world nº1 assassin. This is obviously a receipt for lots of action,fighting,blood,death and so on... But as much as I love the concept, the movie felt short of my expectations...there are a couple of well done fighting scenes but overall the action in the film is not nearly as spectacular as the trailer led me to believe, it's just not impressive at all considering other action films that have been done before, and the few twists in the story are very easily predictable. The acting was average, while Ian Somerholder and others did a good job, Ving Rhames, for instance, was constantly over-acting. The tournament could have been amazing,instead it is a forgettable movie with a few more or less known actors that doesn't deliver what it promised.

5.5/10

Wow. I was expecting a mediocre executed movie but it turned out to be awesome from the first minute in. I don't know why the movie gets so much negative feedback here.

When you watch the movie it's very clear that the makers were inspired by "Battle Royale" and "Terminator 2". A solid cast: Ving Rhames (always bad-ass), Robert Carlyle, Ian Somerhalder (who does surprisingly well!) and a action-packed small role for Scott Adkins. Guns, gore, boobs and loads of stunts & action!

Highly recommended for action-fans!

7/10