pHo
Oct 2001
pjeer?
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 Review: Series 7 - The Contenders (2001)
Series 7 : The Contenders
imdb : ?0251031
imdb rating : 6.9/10 (1,326 votes)
oke.. bit of background history as usual  i heard about this film as it was being released, and i wanted to see it sooo bad. so do any theaters around here bother to show it ? nope. when the dvd finally comes out can i afford it ? nope. did i think of rental? nope! so finally, after hitting the january sales, for the price some of £7.99 ($15) i have my movie !
right.. lets begin.
first of all, series 7 is a satirical movie based around the whole "reality tv" concept thats flared up the last few years, think of it as The Running Man (the book, rather than the movie) versus Battle Royale. personally i fucking hate reality tv, and anyone on it. i've considered applying to appear on big brother, then pissing in the fridge, buggering the chickens and leaving fecal matter in everyone elses bed. i will be champion supremo. but enough about my criminal past...
6 people are chosen at random, forced to enter the game and given a 9mm pistol and told to be the only survivor. they have no choice over the matter, so the only thing to do is comply. main character is dawn, an 8month pregnant contender who has already won the last 2 series'. every other character is made different enough to make them interesting, altho the majority are pushed to the background, whilst the story focuses on dawn and jeff (who is dying of cancer)
the movie is made to feel as realistic (whilst purposely being totally over the top) as possible, and totally shot handheld whilst interspersed with narrative voiceovers and flashy promos. the whole thing is played as a 'marathon' as if it was a warmup for series 8 (ie a cutdown "best of" to get the blood pumping) and it certainly does the job. it feels totally correct, and when the disc started i was totally surprised how well the atmosphere is portrayed. the acting isn't wonderful all the time, but you get used to it, and you feel gripped to the tv.
its a clever film, without doubt. everything done is so purposeful, for example.. the title means a lot. "series 7" says to you, "this is not a new concept, we've been running for 6 series' already, the public are used to this, this is the norm" so nothing inside the film to the "intended viewers" seems outrageous, but every single second we're thinking "OMG ! how could this happen?!", but i guarantee you, sooner or later there will be a tv show thats not that far off these ideas.
the best part about it is, we manage to see a reality show where it very purposely points out the bad things about these shows. unfortunately, theres a lot of people in the world who are too stupid to see how tv controls them and how things are shown in a certain light to appear differently to the truth. but here its bang in our face. one quick segment i like is when a character tries to run away and is apprehended. the narrator claims his "knife wound in the back, paralising his entire body, was self inflicted" when it was plainly obvious that this couldn't have occured. its only quick, so people will miss it, but thats exactly the type of details this film is all about.
but of course theres problems, but luckily the dvd edition can answer these in a way (the svcd rip wont be good enough for this one im afraid!). first of all.. during an important scene, the eldest character starts to rant about how the whole game is a fix and its faked, but is shot fatally. excellent! a conspiracy theory that will build up towards the end and be a great twist! ahem. nope, thats the only reference to it whatsoever. playback of the original footage shot (included as a "Rants and Raves" extra) shows the eldery character seems to be obsessed with conspiracy theories , and goes into more depth and starts claiming the contestants are actors etc. theres no real explanation why he does this, as its totally ludicrous as he's already beaten one person to death, so its probably for the best it was removed, alas not all of it was, and it tries to lead you into thinking a storyline exists when it doesnt.
another problem is the ending. i knew the ending would have to be damn damn good to pull it off correctly, and for the first 5 mins of the showdown i thought i was to be in for a treat. but no. the producers of the show claim footage was destroyed and they would recreate the event using actors. great! at the end of the movie we'll see the original footage and find out that the recreation is a total scam to trick the viewers! er no. the recreation is all we see, and no original footage is shown, except in the trailer for s8 we see a character deny a murder, and another character who simply wouldn't have survived in hospital alive. not quite enough for me. lets hit the commentry track..
commentry states the edit was changed at the end, which might be a clue. but also that its been made so its up to the viewers interpretation about whats really happened. luckily, extra scenes are here to save the day, and the "what really happened" ending is included, and i feel a lot more satisfied. WHY they didn't include this after the film i dont know, but its something that needs to be seen.
so the few flaws aside (and they aren't a grumble, with a film that handles a complex matter like this and actually manages to tell the story without a problem you have to expect a few minor discrepencies) i think this is a great movie. satire at its best,.. and best means violent! the character of jeff didn't really get as much sympathy from me as dawn, but maybe thats a personal thing and others would play it the other way around. i certainly hope so, as this'd add even more depth to a great film.
in a way you wish all reality tv was like this.. then you realise its a good thing it isn't
8.5/10 . fuck big brother, fuck survivor.. roll on series 8 haha
** if you read, please vote for the review using "Rate Thread" **
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