The Tournament (film)

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Movie
German title The Tournament - Battle Royale among killers
Original title The Tournament
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 2009
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK not approved for young people (abbreviated)
SPIO / JK : no serious risk to young people (abbreviated , indexed, Germany)
SPIO / JK: unobjectionable under criminal law (abbreviated, Austria / Switzerland)
SPIO / JK: unobjectionable under criminal law (re-examination 2013)
Rod
Director Scott Mann
script Gary Young ,
Jonathan Frank ,
Nick Rowntree
production Keith Bell ,
Gina Fegan ,
Glenn M. Stewart
music Laura Karpman
camera Emil Topuzov
cut Robert Hall
occupation

The Tournament is a 2009 British action thriller . The film starred Ving Rhames , Ian Somerhalder , Kelly Hu and Robert Carlyle . The film was also the directorial debut for Scott Mann .

action

Every seven years there is an extraordinary competition in a completely normal city, closed to the public. A competition in which 30 of the best contract killers in the world compete for a cash prize of 10 million dollars and the honorable title of "World's Best Killer". The last survivor wins. However, if more than one participant is still alive after 24 hours, all will die. The competition is organized by Powers, who is the showmaster for all celebrities present. These put sums of money from $ 100,000 upwards on the competitors, who have transmitters implanted so that they can be located at any time. In order to be able to follow the event, the images are diverted from all surveillance cameras in the city and shown to the audience.

Among this year's participants are the Chinese Lai Lai Zhen, the Texan Miles Slade, the French Anton Bogart, the Russian Yuri Petrov and also the defending champion Joshua Harlow, who wants to avenge the death of his wife Mary.

While the killers fight for the title, the alcoholic priest Father MacAvoy inadvertently gets caught between the fronts. He accidentally swallowed the French Anton Bogart's station and now has to fight for his life himself. He gets help from Lai Lai Zhen, who only takes part in the competition so that she can retire with the prize money. Joshua Harlow finds out who murdered his wife as the film progresses. It was Lai Lai Zhen who had received the order from the promoter Powers to get Joshua Harlow, who had retired after his victory, to participate again. Harlow blows himself up and Powers at the end of the film. Lai Lai Zhen and Father MacAvoy are the only ones to survive the competition. At the end of the film you can see that Father MacAvoy is working as a priest again and has overcome his alcohol addiction.

Attendees

Joshua Harlow

Harlow is the clear favorite of the tournament with odds of 2: 1. The reason for this is that he won the last tournament seven years ago. He only returns to avenge the murder of his pregnant wife, as he rightly suspects her murderer among the participants. At first he thinks Slade is the murderer, but learns from him that Zhen killed his wife. At the end he places them in a chapel that is not under video surveillance. When he found out that Powers had commissioned the murder, Joshua just removes her surveillance chip. The game ends as Lai Lai Zhen is believed to have died. That's why the organizers think Harlow is the winner. At the award ceremony that follows, he blows himself and Powers up with the reactivated chip.


Lai Lai Zhen

Zhen was abandoned after birth and left to die. At 17, the Triads recruited her as a hit man. With the profit, she plans to retire. During the tournament you can see that Zhen is discovering her human side and is willing to renounce the profession of killer. During the tournament, with an odds of 10: 1, she was not necessarily the favorite, but survived as the only one of the professional killers.


Father MacAvoy

MacAvoy is rather unsuitable because he is an alcoholic priest and happened to get into the competition. He swallowed Anton Bougart's tracking device, who uses it as bait. He is protected by Lai Lai Zhen after she realizes that he is not one of the killers. Powers unceremoniously enters him as a candidate with an odds of 500: 1 for the game. Towards the end of the film, after several failed attempts, he manages to get rid of the tracking device and thus survive. The last scene shows him giving a sermon in front of full benches. Lai Lai Zhen was among the audience.


Anton Bougart

Bougart is a formidable athlete who jumps from roof to roof. He is the only one who gets the idea to move away from the tracking device, which makes it practically invisible to others. This is how he manages to kill some of the unnamed participants. He uses Father MacAvoy, who swallowed the tracking device, as bait. Towards the end he is killed by Joshua Harlow.


Miles Slade

The crazy young Texan is an outsider bet with odds of 25: 1, but unpredictable. After a shooting in a nightclub, he even manages to briefly capture Harlow. The prominent sponsors take a liking to the madman. For example, he cuts off the index finger of each of his victims as a trophy. He dies after the organizers explode his chip after Zhen tried to let him live on the advice of MacAvoy.


Yuri Petrov

Petrov is a Russian all-round talent. So he's always armed to the teeth. Zhen kills him with his own hand grenade when she meets MacAvoy in his church.


Eddie Cusack

He misinforms Harlow that Slade shot his wife. Harlow then shoots him after a ruse in a parking garage.

criticism

"Brutal action film full of bloodbaths and unusual killings that are, after all, staged quite imaginatively."

- Lexicon of international film

"If you don't mind cynicism and logic blunders, you will be well entertained: Despite the small budget, the Brit hit offers better action than many Hollywood blockbusters."

- Cinema

synchronization

role actor German speaker
Miles Slade Ian Somerhalder Gerrit Schmidt-Foss
Father Joseph MacAvoy Robert Carlyle Thomas Nero Wolff
Joshua Harlow Ving Rhames Tilo Schmitz
Lai Lai Zhen Kelly Hu Ghadah Al-Akel
Powers Liam Cunningham Erich Rauker
Gene Walker John Lynch Stefan Staudinger

publication

There were initially three different German-language versions of the film, all of which were shortened by 1 to 3 minutes to different degrees. The version for Austria and Switzerland also had a German approval. The film was only released in full in German in Austria in 2011. The film was also released unabridged in Germany on July 23, 2013, after the Ascot Elite label decided to start an uncut series on the occasion of the release of Alexandre Ajas Maniac .

Trivia

  • The film is set in the English city of Middlesbrough . However, much of the film was shot in Bulgaria.
  • Ian Somerhalder and Kelly Hu each play one of the participating killers. Both also star in the Vampire Diaries .
  • The film had its world premiere in Kuwait on October 8, 2009.
  • The budget for the film was $ 8 million.
  • Nick Rowntree plays Eddy Cusack and is also a producer.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Approval for The Tournament . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2009 (PDF; abridged version).
  2. ^ The Tournament. In: Cinema . Retrieved July 31, 2014 .
  3. ^ The Tournament. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on November 8, 2012 .