Beyond the Reach (2014) User Reviews

Not bad for boring evening but with a terrible ending

[851222 · 7/10 · 10 December 2015]

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?

Old-school-young versus the new-technology-old

[Blue-Grotto · 7/10 · 12 October 2014]

Occasionally we all get needy. So Ben, a young hunting guide, may perhaps be forgiven for taking a large bribe from an arrogant, ridiculously wealthy and fearless client. The two descend into the Mojave Desert wilderness in order to hunt bighorn out of season. There are many red flags to this, yet Ben's girlfriend just left for college and he is left considering if solitude and poverty are in his future. Deep into the desert it is not long before an incident occurs that sets Ben and Madec, a C.E.O. with a sport utility vehicle that costs over half a million dollars, at odds with each other. It is the old-school-young versus the new-technology-old in a delicious thriller. Michael Douglas, starring as Madec, returns to his stock and trade as a depraved and greedy man who lets no one get in the way of himself and his obsessions. Douglas gives a fine performance, yet he can't carry the film on his own. It is far-fetched, shallow and disjointed at times. The film is, however, compelling and fulfilling in its story and the possibilities it presents. It gives truth to Melville's saying that "an utterly fearless companion is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward." Seen at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

Good Movie, But One Ending Too Much

[ARTaylor · 7/10 · 30 July 2016]

I read the book Deathwatch by Robb White back in middle school. I always thought it was a good story that deserved a movie. It wasn't until I saw the trailer for this that I learned this was actually the second adaptation of the book.

Beyond the Reach follows Ben, a down-on-his-luck young man who wants to go to college with his girlfriend but can't afford it. He is hired by ruthless businessman Madec who weaseled his way into a bighorn hunting permit. When Madec accidentally shoots a drifter he attempts to cover it up and begins hunting Ben through the desert.

The movie is largely faithful to the book. Of course, the book focuses on the inner dialogue of Ben as he struggles to stay alive which is hard to translate to film. The movie at least maintains the psychological part of the story with a few brief moments of "action," wisely keeping it a thriller.

Michael Douglas does a terrific job playing the villain. There isn't really much for him to do in the story but he makes every moment he's in much more interesting. Jeremy Irvine also does a great job given that he spends most of the time alone in the desert running around.

My only real problem is the ending. (Only paragraph with SPOILERS) The book ends with Ben taking Madec back to town and both are arrested. Both are questioned and the authorities believe Madec's story since Ben's sounds crazier. But then they examine the dead body and find Ben's story is true. The movie tacks on a jail escape scene, that makes little sense, and a scene with Madec breaking into Ben's girlfriend's home ending in a big shootout. The whole movie before then was a psychological thriller and this scene goes against that. Keeping the original ending would have maintained the battle of wits between these two characters.

For the most part, I enjoyed the movie. I liked how the book was adapted. I just wish it ended about five minutes earlier than it did.

Watchable as a movie, but somehow idiotic plot

[Dr_Sagan · 1 June 2015]

An old rich guy who likes to hunt pays a young scout to help him find some big game out in the desert. Something goes wrong and the two start a conflict that can't end well.

Michael Douglas still has a solid presence in the screen and you get to see some wild landscape. But the actual plot after the "thing" that will go wrong seems like ridiculous to me and to the people I know they saw the movie. Lots of hasty decisions without thinking.

Anyway, this isn't going to the Oscars but it is somehow watchable and 90 minutes pass relative quickly if you don't mind the, in my opinion, incoherent plot. As a plus you get to see the new Benz 6X6 before it reaches the production line. Reportedly costs more than half a million.

Likable yet flawed

[movies-by-db · 6/10 · 23 August 2015]

A small scale thriller in a very wide setting. The Mojave dessert. Off course this film is predictable yet it still had it's surprises and it has a brilliant turn from Michael Douglas as the pervertedly rich and megalomanic exec out on a hunting trip. He is nicely countered by the young guide he takes along as they soon run into a whole heap of unexpected trouble.

This is mostly Jeremy Irvine's film and he does a fine job but it's Douglas who shines in his role. It's almost as if Gordon Gecko has finally made it big and is now wasting his days and money shooting big game all over the world.

The story has plenty of tense and painful moments and some glorious views of the surroundings. The ending however was pretty abrupt. Without going into detail: I was okay with the ending... until it went on. Those last minutes were just so ridiculous they almost ruined the film. It just did not fit the mood of the rest of the story.

Apparently this story has been done before, some 40 years ago, don't know which film, but I know I've seen it more recently starring Lance Henriksen and Luke Goss. The film "Bone Dry". Very comparable, at least as nice as this one and without the ridiculous ending.

So overall pretty good, great turn from Mr Douglas but just walk away at 85 min. 6/10

This movie isn't really anything amazing but it is entertaining & very watchable. I did like this & its not a bad rent

[cosmo_tiger · 6/10 · 5 May 2015]

"Beyond this point there will be monsters." Ben (Irvine) is a master tracker and guide who has been hired my Madec (Douglas), a rich businessman. After leading him out to a barren desert wasteland Madec's true colors come out. Now, facing a dangerous situation, Ben must find a way out, alive and in time to warn others. This movie isn't really anything amazing but it is also entertaining and very watchable. I did like the movie but one thing kept bugging me about it the entire time. Michael Douglas is a sharpshooter and ruthless, yet the entire movie revolves around him trying to kill Ben. I would think one shot could do it...on the other hand if that happened there would be no movie. All that out of the way though the movie is tense in some parts, but becomes somewhat repetitive and loses steam toward the end. Again though, I did like this and this is not a bad rent. Overall, nothing amazing, but it is entertaining enough to keep you watching for the entire hour and a half. I give this a B-.

Douglas back in a part that fits him, but the end is just terrible.

[peterp-450-298716 · 4/10 · 12 June 2015]

"We had a deal. And where I come from, a deal is a deal."

It's so much fun to watch a movie in which two individuals chase each other and a cat and mouse game begins resulting in a battle to the death. Recently we saw two Hollywood stars try this theme in "Killing Season". It wasn't exactly an impressive film and after a while the ping-pong game between the two opponents started to irritate. For "Beyond the reach" an old class act of Hollywood was recruited. Only this time it's a unilateral hunt pattern that's being showed here. Unfortunately, the film collapses like a failed soufflé at the end. For once it's something that most film critics unanimously agree with. This time there are no diametrically opposed camps with contrarian views. This film had a promising start with chilling tension and an acclaimed chemistry between the two main characters. But the absurd and completely messed up ending screwed it completely and made absolutely no sense.

Madec (Michael Douglas) is a pedantic rich man with an arrogant attitude, who acts as if the whole universe turns around his own little person. He arrives in a tiny village along the Mojave desert to hunt a bighorn (probably a missing trophy on the wall). Ben (Jeremy Irvine) is hired for this task. He's a young guy who's well known as the best tracker in that environment. Before you know it, they are on the move in a giant fairground attraction on 6 wheels (worth $ 500,000 and imported) equipped with satellite telephone, espresso machine, microwave oven and a remote-controlled music system. Madec has spared no expense for this trip and is also equipped with a Steyr Scout 308 imported from Austria. In retrospect, he's also quite generous when it appears that he doesn't really have a permit to shoot down the rare animal. Madec is a typical snob who thinks everything is for sale. Until the hunt ends in a catastrophe and he accidentally shoots the local desert dweller Charlie. Charlie is someone Ben knew for a long time already and probably learned him some tricks of survival and how to live in the wilderness. How it proceeds can be guessed easily. Ben suddenly becomes the hunted one in this relentless, scorching desert.

The last movie I've watched with Douglas starring in, is "Last Vegas". Overall this wasn't a bad film and I watched it with pleasure. Yet Douglas fits better in a role as a charismatic manipulator and overwhelming bastard. A role as in "Falling Down" or "Fatal Attraction". It was a pleasure to see him again shining as a sadistic,unassailable bad ass. Irvine also meets the expectations and apparently spent several hours in the gym. His upper body is more muscular than the one he showed in "The railway man." His character stands in stark contrast to that of Douglas. An orphaned young man whose girlfriend just left him to start her studies at the university and for whom everyday life is financially more difficult than that of Madec. His battle against the elements in the desert was realistic and proved again he owns some excellent acting skills. Also the people of the makeup department deserve a pat on the shoulder.

The highlight of the film is undeniably the acting of Douglas. The sadistic game that he plays in the sweltering desert and how he enjoys seeing his prey slowly but surely reaching the end, is absolutely top notch acting. The absolute worst part is the denouement. Not that it's inconceivable (because everything can be bought with money), but it's so abrupt. An excellent movie with an intriguing interplay that's being performed for more than an hour, is being reduced into a pale third-rate thriller in sheer 10 minutes. Was there a plausible ending, than this would have been a masterful film.

More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

Good High Drama in the Desert

[bob-rutzel-239-525430 · 6/10 · 19 June 2015]

Ultra wealthy businessman , Madec (Michael Douglas), needs a new trophy, a long horned sheep. He hires Ben (Jeremy Irvine) as a tracker to hunt in the Mojave Desert. He thinks he spots a long horned sheep and fires, and he and Ben see that Madec has killed Charlie (Martin Palmer) who lived and roamed in the desert. Madec makes a deal with Ben to cover this up. The way he does this is quite clever. Ben agrees then changes his mind. Madec makes Ben take off his clothes to walk the desert hoping Ben will die.

As Ben goes off into the hot burning desert (Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!) Madec tracks him in his $500,000 SUV, his rifle, and with binoculars as he needs to see Ben die; and we keep hoping Ben will find something to get out of this predicament.

The rest of the movie shows Ben struggling to get away from Madec and we do see some surprises so it's not as boring as one might suspect.

The acting is good all around.

The ending isn't what I expected, but it'll do. (5/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Soft stuff only.

Beyond me

[rasgeoff · 4/10 · 6 June 2015]

Its a shame Michael Douglas feels the need to make this simplistic, sardonic movie - He is a great actor and this is way below his standard. Jeremy Irvine shot mor ebullets (and he didn't shoot many) than he spoke words. Giving his girlfriend his gun at the beginning of the movie was a big fat tell, you just know that gun is going to be used at some point in the movie.How about the last minute. The acting between Ben and Laina is so manufactured, there is no emotion and their lines are so cheesy The movie had an extremely small cast made only $45,895 Its beyond me how they are going to pay Michael Douglas. Oh and the simple story is about and rich old man following a young tracker in the wilderness hoping he dies from heat stroke. The star of the movie is a 6 wheel Mercedes Benz SUV.

When logic and prediction isn't an issue, you'll get a decent thriller.

[Reno-Rangan · 6/10 · 4 June 2016]

When the big production houses along with the great filmmakers and young stars turning towards the comic books and dystopian themes, what do you think the yesteryear legends are doing.

It is very sad to see the 70s, 80s and the 90s icons are discarded like a trash, but they're trying their best to keep the star status by doing small scale films from the lower rated and debuting filmmakers. That's the best shot they've got which obviously won't do well at the big screens. So that's where this film too comes in.

As usual Michael Douglas was good, but the story had many possible ways to travel and that's where the viewers raise their voice by saying it should have been like this, like that or why would he do that.

Overall, its a decent entertainment that is kind of closest theme to 'No Country for Old Men'. The entire film revolves around just two men and sets in the desert. So a minimal cast film.

Based on the book 'Deathwatch'. A simple story, but quite interesting film characters. Filled with fairly predictable stuffs yet the performances and very suitable locations are what draws us in.

It's a right kind of project for Michael Douglas for his age, but the 'War Horse' actor was also good in his role. An average film, or maybe just above that. If you skip it, you would miss nothing, but if you give it a try, I think that's not a bad idea too.

6/10

Man vs Man vs Wild

[quincytheodore · 5/10 · 22 April 2015]

There's an allure of two men engaging in high stake wit battle. Beyond the Reach has simple premise to produce interesting suspense. The desert setting gives a specific barren and demanding background for survival of the fittest. Unfortunately, the movie loses momentum in midway point as the plot holes are mounting against them. These illogical scenes hamper any suspense the movie has built up from the first half, and unless audiences have generous suspension of disbelief, the last act is completely underwhelming.

Story follows two men as they both hunt in the desert. Ben (Jeremy Irvine) is a guide for Madec (Michael Douglas), right from the start they don't mesh together that well. When an accident happens, their interests clash and things escalate out of control. For the role of powerful ambitious man, Michael Douglas can't be a bad cast as he has repeatedly performed well as such character in many other movies. However, the script gives his character several bad decisions which are contradicting his action merely five minutes ago.

Jeremy Irvine is a good actor, he performed admirably in War Horse and also Woman in Black 2. He's a decent cast, and at first half it's easy to relate to his ordinary character as Ben. Problems arise after the two men trade trickery for their own interests. While the battle of old versus young and the gap of technology might produces a few thrilling moments, the rest of the plot suffers from irrational choices. The plot holes culminate in a bizarre last act, which nullifies any buzz it may have produced.

Visual is presentable, the desert carries the sense of desolation and helplessness adequately. The two main characters don't have the best on-screen spark, though their exchanges of verbal and genuine blows are pretty convincing. Their relationships outside their ordeal in the desert aren't well established and as the movie tries to wrap up, these mismatches and irregular plot twists make the ending hard to take it seriously.

Beyond the Reach is at its peak as men fighting each other and the element, unfortunately it doesn't translate well beyond that and it definitely doesn't end on high note.

What's with all the hate?

[Tammarazzi · 10/10 · 18 February 2023]

What's with all the hate? Sure there was some predictability, but a few plot twists changed it up. It wasn't what I expected. It was better. I felt I had to give it a review to try and up the rating because of the low score. I would say it's an 8 but I'm giving it a 10. It's hard to find even half decent movies to watch these days and in my opinion, this was well worth the watch. Another reviewer said it was a "B" movie. Have you watched a "B" movie? This was definitely not one. The cinematography was fantastic. The acting was excellent. Other reviewers were saying that it was boring, predictable and unbelievable with poor acting. I found it exactly the opposite. The story was well written, and plot was very believable. Research how a person can die in the desert and how to survive in the desert. As for it being boring? It kept me on the edge of my seat once the action started. The suspense was there and "Ben" being a top guide, of course he's expected to know how to survive in the desert and I enjoyed his cleverness and the secret survival stashes. The desert was his backyard after all, along with the old guy who left the maps and stashes because he literally lived in an old mine in the desert. And all of the hate over the ending? Really? It was unexpected and satisfying. What more could you ask for? These days even favourite series have ridiculous endings that frustrate and aggravate. I thought it was great. And Michael Douglas always plays an excellent villain.

Definatelly watchable

[mr-michelcardoso · 6/10 · 18 April 2015]

Saw this in hope of being an OK action thriller since Mr. Douglas is in it and since i'm a great fan I had some expectations!

Starting of kind of slow, telling the story of who Ben is and how he lives in a small town in the Mojavi desert. When his girlfriend leaves for college in Denver he picks up hunting job from the local sheriff hunting down coyotes! Little does Ben know, but after a while it is not coyotes that are being hunted but himself!

A warrior like chase starts off with Ben being the warrior of all warriors! With survival tactics like nothing ever seen before he literally wins the chase and destroys the competition!

Definatelly a good movie to watch ONE time...

What a joke

[Sdmnr · 1/10 · 21 December 2020]

The whole movie is a joke. The plot is so predictable just by watching the first 20 minutes. Here is a summary of the movie, without spoilers: Normal mission gone bad, the whole plot can be completed just by pulling the trigger, apparently archaic weapons= guns, water heals wounds and exhaustion, the finale is... what it is. I don't recommend this movie, it's literally pointless!

good survival thriller

[antoniotierno · 21 August 2018]

It starts off seeming a mismatched buddy comedy but soon turns into a tale of blackmail and self-preservation. Ben wants to fess up and take it to the feds. Madec, with his mind on a pending deal with the Chinese, wants to cover the whole thing up, and sets out to silence Ben. So in the end the story evolves like a terrible chase but both the actors give a good performance and the filming locations are charming as well. This cat-and-mouse chase across the desert that follows is fairly entertaining to begin with but unnecessarily drawn out, leaving far too much room for Douglas to plug with cartoonish quips and daft machismo. Overall the story works, though ending up to be predictable, especially in its final part.

One Twist Too Many

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 17 April 2015]

It seems odd a film starring Michael Douglas has received such a limited release . Douglas as you may remember was one of the biggest names in Hollywood . The characters he played were rarely likable but always manly , perhaps too much so . But if you wanted someone to play an Alpha male control freak Douglas was the guy to hire and with this film BEYOND THE REACH he still shows what he's good at

!!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!!

Based on a novel by Robb White BEYOND THE REACH has already been adapted to media back in 1974 as SAVAGES a television movie when America made very impressive and thrilling TVMs . The concept of the premise wasn't all that original when White wrote his novel being a remake of sorts of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME and THE NAKED PREY . The premise involves Ben a young trekking guide being hired by a businessman called John Madec to take him on a hunting expedition to the Desert and because of a fatal accident Ben finds himself being stalked by Madec

Frenchman Jean Baptiste Leonetti does very well in showing us the inhospitable environment of a dry merciless arid desert . The best time of year to watch this is on a cold winter evening because you actually feel the heat blazing out of the screen . Ben being slowly tortured to death by the cruel , burning sun is what works best in this thriller though it should be noted that after a while you start noticing Leonetti overdoes the close ups a bit too often but this is only a minor criticism and for the most part you know you're watching a very good thriller . There is a major problem and that is the production team don't keep faith in the simple premise of "Man being hunted in the desert" and when the film reaches its natural climax there's an extra ten minutes nailed on at the end that feel they belong in an entirely different film all together which is rather perplexing and means BEYOND THE REACH ends up becoming a good thriller instead a very good one

Not Bad

[moffittsd · 7/10 · 26 April 2015]

I have definitely seen worse movies that I paid good money to watch in theaters. I really don't know why this got bad reviews.

The action was pretty good for what they had to work with out in the middle of a desert. There is really no place to hide when you are trying to run away from a millionaire mad man with a 4x4. The ending did seem like it was a little thrown together though.

The casting was really well picked. Paul Hill really fit his part well.

The landscape for this movie was amazing. If you want to see some awesome desert scenery of New Mexico this is the movie to watch. A lot of the movie was filmed in the Farmington and Shiprock New Mexico area.

Good ad for selling a truck

[yonhope · 5/10 · 2 April 2016]

Michael Douglas is OK as an actor but this movie should be called Beyond Stupid. Several times the movie becomes unbelievable. Good scenery throughout. The ending, as noted by others here, is awful. This is one of those endings where somebody said to the writer "We gotta finish this tomorrow. Give me a couple of pages with very little dialog."

The movie actually had a good basic plot with some OK characters.

Andy Griffith made a movie with a similar plot long ago and it was better.

For a good desert movie I would recommend Lawrence of Arabia. For a movie with a good ending I recommend Some Like it Hot or Casablanca. For a more believable movie experience I recommend Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

I liked this movie otherwise another routine desert thriller

[jordondave-28085 · 6/10 · 1 February 2023]

Adapted from the book by Robb White called "Deathwatch"which upon looking at the poster itself the set up is quite long, showcasing on front of a trailer Ben(Jeremy Irving) having some money problems with girlfriend Laina (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) before he visits sheriff (Ronny Cox) for a gig as a guide for game hunting in the desert for a customer and wealthy business man, Madec played by Michael Douglas who's also credited as one of the producers. Once reaching in the middle of the desert and on foot we learn more and more about the 2 characters as we learn that Madec does not even have a proper license to hunt around the area who then offers Ben some bribe money to look the other way. He reluctantly accepts as he realizes he still has money problems. As soon as both men spot something above the mountains after waiting long hours, trigger happy Madec shoots at it without verifying at what he was shooting at. And it was during then Madec offers Ben a much more prosperous deal involving a possible cover up. Ben then made things much worse for himself once he begins to renege on the deal he had made with Medec as soon as he caught Ben making a single attempt to call authorities who then with his rifle pointed at him to strip down to his shorts before trolling him through the desert. With Ben's desert expertise will he be able to survive this? Particularly with his bare feet through the hot desert without drinking any water? The only thing I am going to say is that without some luck. And his somewhat familiar settings about a certain someone Ben knows about who conveniently also happens to live in the desert the star may not have survived it at all. And although some of the main critics did not like this movie I was still entertained and that to me is good enough.

I set an all time personal record with this movie

[tylerc-stevens · 1/10 · 5 June 2016]

This movie is so bland I was able to predict the ending with the first 2 minutes. The characters are forgettable, Michael Douglas is far from believable and the story line is something out of a bad B movie. Except this is a bad B movie. The best part of this movie is watching a weird Mercedes SUV vroom around with sound efx that were taken from a Harley Davidson on a steroid meth cocktail. If you want to watch some no-name walk around the desert half naked while Micheal Douglas drinks scotch, go for it. Make sure you have your phone in hand so you can scroll through FB or IG while this borefest is looming in the background. There are way better movies to Netfix and chill with.

It was an okay movie

[randy-132 · 7/10 · 18 February 2019]

The story line was predictable, including the ending. But I thought it was an okay movie. I'm thinking Michael Douglas financed this flick cause he wanted to play the bad guy, which he did well in it.

Wall Creek, or Wolf Street?....

[FlashCallahan · 5/10 · 30 April 2015]

Madec is a cold-hearted and very wealthy businessman who hires a young tracker named Ben to go into the Mojave with him in order to shoot rare game.

Early in their hunt, Madec accidentally shoots a man, and, not wanting to spend time in jail, or screw up a multimillion-dollar deal he is trying to finalise, he concocts a plan to pin the man's death on Ben.

This leads to a gruelling cat-and-mouse chase through harsh conditions....

Douglas was born to play the pretentious, money is everything corporate type, he won an Oscar playing one, so why not go back and do it again and again? This has to be the seventh or eighth time he's played this stereotype, he's as venomous as always.

For the majority of the film, its Douglas chasing Irvine, always having the upper hand, in his $500,000 vehicle, top of the range rifle, and of course clothing.

Irvine on the other hand, spends the film shirtless and shoeless, his running seeming more and more futile as the film progresses. But he knows The Reach, and it's secrets.

If there was ever a metaphor for 'money is power', then this is the film that delivers it to you like a big wooden hammer. Douglas should be wearing a shirt saying 'rich fat cat', Irvine should wear one saying 'poor and uneducated'. Except Douglas has his shirt.

So we have Douglas having the most gentlemanly man-hunt, making himself a cocktail between chases, and listening to classical music.

It's like Wolf Creek had an evil child with Wall Street, and Douglas was there for the birth.

It's a decent thriller......up until a certain point. And this certain point ruins the whole movie. It's as if the studio heads saw the finishing product and thought 'no, it can't finish like this, we need to finalise it, in a really stupid way'. And they did just that.

So if you want to see a decent thriller, do yourself a favour, and turn it off just as a helicopter flies away, and that's not giving too much away.

But it looks stunning throughout, and it's always good to see Douglas playing a complete moron.

raw fear

[cmovies-99674 · 8/10 · 8 October 2017]

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

Not to shabby

[subxerogravity · 6/10 · 3 May 2015]

So Michael Douglas still has the pull to get a movie in theaters that stars himself. Very good, cause a small picture like this needed a name to get into theaters

Mike D plays the villain and he plays it well. Rich, white, and thinks he can get away with anything. Almost like Gordon Gecko. It's the archetype everyone loves to hate.

Douglas is a hunter who accidentally kills a man on a hunting trip and tries to cover it up but his tracker is young and honest and when framing him as a co-murderer doesn't work, he decides to hunt the most dangerous game of all.

It's the type of movie that tries to mess with your mind as Douglas plays a character who does not seem that evil on the surface, but shows his spots as the movie goes on.

It's a very small movie with a very small cast and it's quite impressive how they fill the time. Thumbs up!

Don't waste your time

[TechnicallyNuts · 1/10 · 23 November 2019]

This isn't a B movie. It's so much worse. Ed Wood made movies better than this. Lame story, lack of believable characters and 85 minutes of filler for a 5 minute story. The movie lacks credibility almost right away. No guide will take you out on a hunt without verifying that you have the permit. And no hunter would ever leave his rifle behind with the guy who just killed a person due to pure stupidity. This was one of the worst efforts by Michael Douglas (Madec) I have ever seen. Jeremy Irvine did a better job with his character (Ben) even though several times his behavior was just not believable. And the escape from jail near the end was just completely without any believability. He would have been in a locked cell. In the end when Madec shows up to murder Ben in his bed was just poorly scripted. No believable motive for Madec's behavior. Then Ben's girlfriend pulls the gun out of nowhere like a pro, shoots Michael Douglas and then just drops the gun. Pathetic. It was late at night and I was too lazy to change the channel is the only reason I even watched the whole movie. Hopefully you will read this review and spare yourself from the mental pain this movie would almost surely cause. Then again maybe you're going to love this movie. I for one did not.