User Reviews

THE BIG GAME is a low rent thriller with a few science fiction touches. It was filmed in South Africa and like many films of the era it manages to fit a few ageing faces in the cast. The story is about a new prototype machine which has the power to control the minds of men, thus making it an invaluable weapon of warfare. Unfortunately, the whole first half of the production is slow beyond belief and belongs to a couple of youthful characters who are entirely boring. The real fun comes in the second half when the respected elders come into play, with the highlight being Cameron Mitchell's bloody encounter in the bathroom. Ray Milland has an early cameo as the mastermind while Stephen Boyd plays a really hard-assed character. The ship-bound action of the climax is quite well done, certainly more so than those boring early scenes.

To be honest, I wasn't ever really interested in seeing this movie, I only got it as part of a DVD set called "The Action Man Collection", which includes a 1960's Margaret Lee film (anything I can find from that decade with Margaret Lee in it, I'll pick it up) and the impossible-to-find-on-its-own spy film "Peking Blonde". But hell, "The Big Game" has Ray Milland in its cast, so I decided to give it a chance anyway, even if a film with Ray Milland not being included in Leonard Maltin's book (and I'm talking about the old editions, not the new ones which eliminate movies left and right) was an ominous sign. The film is not as bad as I feared: it has solid production values (apart from a stock footage explosion near the end), international locales (Italy, Hong Kong, South Africa, and the open sea), and a mostly decent cast (by the way, Milland's role is small, as you might have expected). The main problem with the film is its "hero", played by Brendon Boone, who is not only unengaging, but a sniveling wimp as well, AND almost directly responsible for many deaths of innocent people. The film needed more female characters, in my opinion, though at least there's a nice twist about the one of those who's in any way significant (France Nuyen). ** out of 4.

Clearly, "Corridors of Blood" director Robert Day and his writers bit off more than they could chew with this modern day thriller that features sci-fi mind control elements. You'd think that the security surrounding this operation would have been air-tight. The loose thread is the playboy son of a brilliant scientist, Jim Handley (Brendan Boone of "The Hanged Man"), who gets duped by Chinese Communists led by the devious dame (France Nuyen of "The Joy Luck Club") and her associates who want the technology that Jim's father, Professor Pete Handley (Oscar winner Ray Milland of "The Lost Weekend") has created. Our heroes are aboard a ship heading to an island to test the equipment when Jim helps the villains climb aboard the ship and nearly take it over! The way that the Chinese get aboard the ship foreshadows the methods of the Somali pirates. Like the Somalis, these black clad minions cruise out of the blue and climb aboard without a trace of trouble. Mind you, this is after Jim has informed his father's bodyguards, Leyton van Dyk (Oscar winner Stephen Boyd of "Ben Hur") andBruno Carstens ( Cameron Mitchell of "Texas Detour") about them. Again, the plot simply doesn't make sense. You'd think Leyton and Bruno would have arranged a reception for the commandos after Jim let them reach the ship. Instead, our heroes do nothing, and the Chinese Communists gain access and start shooting everybody in sight. The 'nobody wins' ending leaves a bittersweet aftertaste. Director Robert Day keeps things cracking in this above-average, 90 minute nail-biter.

This Italian production is a largely unknown film with many surprisingly well-known names, if not major stars. The plot bounces frequently between a couple of story lines for the first half of the film, and can be both boring and complicated at times.

To summarize, a rich American, "Professor Handley" (Ray Milland) designs a machine capable of controlling minds. In order to show how this machine can bring about world peace(?), he goes to the US military(!?) and shows how it can keep peace by making men do a demolition derby before soldiers start blowing up their cars (This display of peacekeeping would satisfy the most devoted pacifists). The professor's assistants, Leyton Van Dyk (Stephen Boyd, in the twilight of his career) and Bruno Carstens (Cameron Mitchell, in one of the 20,000 movies he was in during the 1970's) decide to send this machine to Australia via a fishing boat. Before you scoff at that, consider this: would the soviets EVER have imagined this is what they would do with such a machine? Going along on the cruise are two sons of Professor Handley, Jim (Brendan Boone) and Mark (Michael Kirner, who easily gives the best performance in the entire film). Well, brother Jim happens to be a US diplomat that was seduced by "the other sides" sexy female spy Atanga (France Nuyen).

As you can guess, there is a big battle on the fishing boat, and thanks to Mark Handley's tremendous gun play, the world is safe from oppression. Despite some good action in the finale, the best moment in this movie is when Mark Handley receives golfing lessons from Bruno. Actors Michael Kirner and Cameron Mitchell have a great chemistry in this movie, and that alone is enough reason to check it out! My only warning to anyone viewing this is to prepare to suffer through the first 40 minutes, especially the scenes with Brendan Boone and France Nuyen. The payoff in the film's second half, and any Michael Kirner scene, make the hard parts worth enduring.

I guess the machine has been effective at keeping peace, because to my knowledge nobody has successfully invaded Australia since this movie was made.