Surviving the Game is a 1994 American action-adventure film directed by Ernest R. Dickerson and written by Eric Bernt.
The film stars Ice-T, Rutger Hauer, Charles S. Dutton, John C. McGinley, William McNamara, Gary Busey, and F. Murray Abraham.
Flying to a remote cabin surrounded by acres of woods, Mason meets the rest of the hunting party, all of whom paid $50,000 for the privilege of being there.
In addition to Burns and Cole, the party includes Doc Hawkins, the founder of the hunt and a psychiatrist, Texas "oil man" John Griffin, and wealthy Wall Street executive Derek Wolfe Sr. and his son Derek Wolfe Jr.. On the first night, all the men are having dinner and chatting.
Mason receives cigarettes from Hawkins, who relays a story from his childhood when his father forced him to fight and kill his dog as a lesson in being a man.
He finds none, and instead makes the discovery of the hunters' secret trophy room: the preserved heads of victims from previous hunts.
The hunt resumes and Mason begins to use his wits to beat the hunters, luring them with lit cigarettes to lead them in the wrong way.
Griffin is freed by Mason, and returns to the group, having decided to not continue the hunting, but is murdered by Cole to prevent any future legal conflicts.
Days later, Burns is back in Seattle, preparing to leave his current identity, hoping to escape both Mason and the legal responsibilities resulting from the failed hunt.
"[3] Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle was critical of the script's characters and overall message as being "out-of-whack and sophomoric" but gave credit to the actors portraying them and the production team for being a vital element in Dickerson's filmmaking, saying: "He has a definite flair for action pictures but the stunning contributions from cinematographer Bojan Bazelli add immeasurably to the movie.
"[4] Gene Siskel gave it a thumbs-up review on his TV show, but while Roger Ebert thought it had a lot of good elements (especially Ice-T's performance) he could not recommend the film.