I recently remembered a terrific book from my youth, with a tiny bit of Google search I found it again, "Deathwatch" by Robb White, now deceased, but the book lives on. Another quick search with my local library, and I had the ebook borrowed and downloaded. Technology! The book is much more gruesome than this movie. The prospector has his lungs blown out his back, Madec used Ben's rifle to put two more bullets in his neck. Madec offers Ben all kinds of money and rewards to help bury the prospector, Ben refuses, and that's when Madec suavely turns homicidal; and the premise becomes "nobody will ever believe that one human could do what I'm going to do to you". Ben's feet turn to hamburger in the stones, he suffers extreme dehydration, his lips and tongue all peel, and he somehow evades Madec long enough to climb the butte, and find the guano encrusted water pool inside. He recuperates over the next week, practicing with the slingshot and killing birds for his bird sushi meals. Later on he hides under the sand with the slingshot while Madec painstakingly climbs the butte, after 8 days out in the desert, to confirm that Ben has expired or else finish him off. Ben searches Madec's camp for the jeep keys, the bolt for his rifle, or any useable resource, but Madec had taken all that stuff with him. In desperation Ben burns down Madec's tent, Madec comes running back, and Ben nails him in the knuckles with a BB from the slingshot. Madec takes four more shots reaching for his dropped rifle before he realizes Ben has defeated him. Ben takes Madec to the jailhouse, Madec is sent to hospital, and Ben is arrested! Anyway that's the book, which has a better, more cohesive story. There are a few big problems with the movie. First, the acting is pretty bad, Madec made no sense (why is he hunting, why does he need a guide, why does he inexplicably turn homicidal - the reasoning is all very weak). Ben, I had no sympathy for, he seemingly had no motivation. (Why is he still living in town, how is he a good guide, why are him and the sheriff so easily bribed, why do they make any deal with arrogant asshole Madec.) At the end, Madec fumbles his cartridge presumably because of old age incompetence, Ben grabs his opportunity and nails Madec in the head with his slingshot, Madec goes down with one shot. That was completely unrealistic, it was the dead of night, it was pitch black outside, Madec had enormous spotlights trained on Ben, and Madec was shooting out his sunroof, from behind those lights. Ben would never have been able to see Madec under those circumstances! Also, Madec is tossing dynamite sticks at Ben out in the desert, are they really so isolated that nobody is around to notice this behavior? The premise, by the way, was that the prospector was out there where they didn't expect him, so why is there no expectation that there could be anybody else around? It was a real treat to see this book made into a movie starring Michael Douglas, too bad it was done so unimaginatively.

PROS: Hands down the best part of this movie was the acting. I haven't seen acting this good in such a long time. The genuineness and rawness the actors showed was incredible. The characters shared bonds that initiated much of their decisions. The environment was a character in this film. You don't often find that the setting/scenery in which the movie takes place to be so influential, but in this case the environment really acts as though it is its own person. The desert had character development and personality. It played a key role in what made this film what it was. The other thing to point out would be how unparalleled the story ark was compared to any other film I have seen. There was man vs. wild and man vs. man and those two attributes were very well articulated throughout the film. CONS: The one thing for me would have to be how confusing the end of the movie got. I was stuck with the legitimacy of the storyline. The whole film you were gifted with an exceptional idea and setting, but at the end you get a very unwelcoming slap in the face when the movie tries to add stuff that it really didn't need. The extra bells and whistles weren't able to enhance the film which is what their goal was, but in fact it actually drew away from the pureness and integrity of it.www.chorror.com

Greetings from Lithuania."Beyond the Reach" (2014) is nice little flick for some boring evening. It has nothing special, nothing original, nothing really great yet it is an enjoyable thriller, but with a bad ending, very bad ending. Michael Douglas was the first and only reason why i saw this flick in the first place. He does not disappoint, but sadly there is almost absolutely nothing to do in here for THIS caliber actor. Jeremy Irvine is quite good in here, but the role doesn't requires much except for physical suffering. Overall, "Beyond the Reach" was nice little flick. I enjoyed for what it was, but the ending was terrible. That wouldn't happen in real life not in a million years. Who wrote THAT bad ending?

Beyond the Reach might evoke memories of films such as The Edge, Surviving the Game or any other one which borrowed the "human hunt" concept. Inside that narrow sub-genus, Beyond the Reach isn't the best one or the worst one, because despite offering good performances and impressive natural settings, it didn't leave me very satisfied due to a screenplay which loses credibility as the actions of the characters get more absurd, until reaching an absolutely forced and improbable ending. Or, better said, "endings", because Beyond the Reach is one of those films which don't know when to end, and need to throw us twists until the last moment in an effort to seem more ingenious or transcend the simplicity of a formula which didn't need such a flourish to leave the spectator satisfied. Needless to say, the result is exactly the opposite. On the positive side, we have the competent performances. Michael Douglas shows charisma and absolute credibility in his role, while Jereme Irvine also makes an efficient work, while being able not to get darkened by Douglas' overwhelming presence. I also have to mention the amazing Merecedes Benz G63 AMG 6x6 driven by the character John Madec; its design is imposing, like the son of a trailer and a Humvee, with so many functions and compartments that it's the closest I have seen to a Batmobile in the real world... even though I don't know whether Batman would have a kettle integrated to his vehicle. He would probably prefer to inject himself vials of caffeine, or something like that. Anyway, going back to the point, Beyond the Reach didn't bore me, and Douglas and Irvine make a solid work in their roles, but the whims of the screenplay and its absurd conclusion avoid me from recommending it with too much enthusiasm... except as a commercial of Mercedes Benz. I was truly left impressed by the G63, but I prefer my Volkswagen for the urban environment.