Stop me if you've heard this plot before. A soldier is charged with a crime he didn't commit and is sent to jail. There he's offered his freedom if he plays a game of survival that is also a hit TV show. He must survive, out in an arena of sorts, while being stalked by a group of deadly killers. Meanwhile a woman uncovers the information that he's been framed. He turns the tables on the stalkers one by one and makes it to the end after having proved his innocence.That's right, it's "The Running Man" or as this movie would like to think something really original. the original Turkey Shoot was a low budget movie where in a fascist world, a group of prisoners who are beaten and tortured by their guards are given the option of playing a game to regain their freedom. But whereas that was kinda fun in a very low budget way, this just feels derivative in a really low budget way.Dominic Purcell plays the main character with all the charm and nuance of a side of beef. I don't think there's one point where he shows a genuine emotion unless it's blank rage. Some of the original cast from the 1982 version show up in cameos like Steve Railsback, the hero of the original, is now one of the killers. It's kinda fun to see them knowing their history but it gets old rather quickly.There's just no reason for this movie to have been made. It's a remake that steals practically everything from another movie in an attempt to be a little more original than the original one was.

7.4 of 10. While not equivalent or parallel to the Hunger Games (it's something that could easily be happening now as opposed to sometime in the future), it does involve a reality TV game show with what modern society considers attractive media personalities where the participants are being hunted by each other, aka an "Elimination Game", all in a world where war is being heavily promoted and the show's primary heroes are vets.The cast works well. Nobody seems obviously out of place. Available technology also is believable for a parallel Earth type of fiction.Fortunately, it's not a film trying to setup sequels. It functions and wraps up nicely as a single, complete film. Unfortunately, there's a little too much equivalent of pro wrestling bullet dodging and inexhaustible bullet supplies at times.

Like a parody of Hunger Games parody, or utterly horrendous video game concept, Turkey Shoot is devastatingly unappealing. It doesn't even produce enough basic elements, such as decent editing or consistent plot. Furthermore, it tries to employ heavy core moral aspect with overly enthusiastic way beyond its incapable production. There's a slight gruesome action, though not well made and most likely won't even entertain fans, let alone casual viewers.Rick Tyler (Dominic Purcell) is falsely convicted and then thrown into survival game for audiences' pleasure. Well, fake on-screen ones, certainly not real life audiences of normal people. There he must fight for his life and prove his innocence.The movie tries to depict the redundancy of reality show with corny delivery like Hunger Games. However, it becomes actually unappealing. They repeated these faux news stereotype several times, and this is no doubt a torture to watch. It's not an overstatement that surviving this is as dangerous as playing the actual game.With script and plot suffering with poor presentation, it relies heavily on the action, which will also disappoint. There's barely any continuation for the combat scenes. People would repeat the same motion as though they're lagging or the movie cut awkwardly and forget a few shots. You must have seen poor choreography where hits don't land, this movie takes it farther with random shots of random motion, then glue them together.Even viewers with fortitude for cheap effect or story will waver. This is one game you would want to quit as soon as possible, or just don't start in the first place.

The original Turkey Shoot is a fun Ozploitation film that rattles along at a fair pace and never seems to take itself too seriously. This remake is a po-faced turgid mess that is so badly directed even Uwe Boll would shake his head in disgust. Dominic Purcell can be good in the right role, but in this he looks downright ashamed to be here. And I don't blame him. The guy clearly needs a better agent. Long story short, he plays a wrongly convicted war criminal that is entered into a Running Man style TV show where he has 90 minutes to get to a destination whilst avoiding various assassins. And trust me that sounds far more exciting than it actually is. The film is a mess. The camera work is appalling, the direction is laughable, the script is infantile and there are huge chunks of narrative presumably missing. The action is badly filmed and choreographed, the characters are mere outlines and the acting ranges from poor to middling. Purcell himself seems half asleep. Not even worth a watch for curious fans of the original. Avoid like the plague.