Survival Game

My review was written in October 1987 after a screening in Parkchester in the Bronx.

Its title quite misleading, "Survival Game" is a would-be action pic that ends up as a silly exercise in '60s nostalgia. Chalk it up as yet another video title receiving a token theatrical release.

Mike Norris, Chuck's similarly action-prone son, toplines as a kid who enjoys attending the War in Peace Survival Camp on weekends, where folks participate in gung-ho war games. Via a car accident, he becomes involved with Valley Girl-esque Deborah Goodrich, whose dad, Dave Forrest (played by Seymour Cassel), is just getting out of stir after serving a 17-year stretch related in his druggie activities in the 1960s, in which he foisted the hallucinogenic Forrest Fire on the public.

The FBI and Forrest's ex-partners are all hounding him as to the whereabouts of $2,000,000 in drug money, which he claims never existed. Both he and daughter Goodrich are kidnapped, but Norris and his military mentor Sugar Bear (Ed Benard) come to the rescue.

With lame action scenes and very low-speed chases, flat pic is constantly pushed towards campiness by script's references to '60s jargon and a soundtrack filled with oldies by such groups as Bubble Puppy and the Kingsmen. Herb Freed's listless direction reaches its nadir in a prolonged foot chase through city streets and a department store that is presented silently except for "Louie Louie" blasting pointlessly on the soundtrack.

Norris and Goodrich make an attractive couple, while Seymour Cassel obviously enjoys himself, but it's a long way downhill from t=his hippie-esque starring role in "Minnie and Moskowtitz". Film might have had a chance to work if scripted as a romantic or screwball comedy, but the need to sell it internationally as an actioner has resulted in an unpalatable mishmash.

When you have a man and a woman running together from one or more different groups of people or doing something else together in a movie with comedic elements, it always makes for a fun movie for some reason, especially if it's from the 80s or 90s. It's a very likeable movie to watch. This is another one of these movies that doesn't deserve a 3/10 on IMDb because there are some really awful and low quality movies with a rating of 3/10 and this is far ahead of those, so it should obviously have a higher rating. It's a proper movie that's competently produced and is highly watchable, unlike many other movies wth the same rating.

Boy, have I been seeing some real action turkeys lately! Last week, I saw KICK OR DIE. A few days later, I saw LIGHTBLAST. And now, nothing could've prepared me for SURVIVAL GAME after pressing "PLAY" on my VCR. That was when I started to choke on my sandwich real bad. It's probable that Media, distributor of this film, wanted to cash in on the Chuck Norris movies with heavy publicity. The same goes for this one, with Mike taking over his father's place. I guess the Norris family tree wouldn't have been the same without him. He may seem painful with only a single blow to the abdomen, but I say "Nice try, kid!". High-impact action thrills are not what's in store, sorry to say. It's another duplicated rip-off of tough and buff "strong dude" flicks from the 80s, and does worse by the minute. An embarrassing moment comes to mind the scene with Mike and his girlfriend getting chased by criminals in a department store while the song "Louie, Louie" is playing! What's with the father getting drugged up by memories of LSD? It's best that you forget this one entirely, even if you're a Norris fan. Quite awful! Another way to drain out some precious time!