TURKEY SHOOT
Australia, 2014, 90 minutes, Colour.
Dominic Purcell, Viva Bianca, Robert Taylor, Belinda Mc Clory, Nicholas Hammond, Carmen Duncan, Roger Ward, Suzannah Mc Donald, Juan Jackson.
Directed by Jon Hewitt.
Turkey Shoot was originally an exploitation film from Australia in the early 1980s, directed by Brian Trenchard Smith who made a number of these films. It was produced by a young entrepreneur, Antony Ginnane, who brought a number of overseas actors to perform in sensational melodramas, often with more than a touch of sex and violence. For those interested in Antony Ginnane and his influence on the Australian film industry in the 1980s, the best source is the documentary by Mark Hartley, 2008, Not Quite Hollywood: the Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation. This includes scenes from the original film, interviews with Ginnane, explaining why he made these films and the impact they had (and with a manic Quentin Tarantino being interviewed about his love for these films).
Whatever the ups and downs of Anthony Kinane’s career (he was not beloved by many in the Australian industry), in 2014, over 30 years later, he has produced a remake of Turkey Shoot. It has been written by Jon Hewitt (himself an enthusiast of Ozploitation) and his wife, Belinda Mc Clory, who has a significant role in this remake.
Instead of a camp for misfits and their being subjected to death hunts back in the 1980s, we are introduced to a futuristic world of Reality TV. This time, a ruthless producer (Mc Clory) approaches a prisoner, Rick Tyler (a tough Dominic Purcell) who had previously, as we have seen, been sent into Libya to assassinate the President, succeeding, but the media indicating the mission was a failure and so World War: Africa has been instigated at the wish of the American President.
There have been attempts on Rick’s life while in prison but now he has the opportunity to stay and be victimised or appear on the huge-ratings’s TV show, Turkey Shoot, which opens with all the razzmatazz of American television, has two grinning and vapid hosts who chortle on about death as if it was something trivial.
Most of the film is about Rick being hunted like a turkey by expert assassins from around the world, especially Ramrod (Robert Taylor) who was with him when he allegedly massacred women and children. There is a lot of macho posturing – including a woman assassin from Japan.
A lot of complications ensue, with a Rick cleverly evading his attackers and eliminating them. However, he is summoned to the dying General Thatcher (Nicholas Hammond, 49 years on from The Sound of Music) who is having something of a deathbed conscience-crisis. He thinks that world World War: Africa has gone on too long and has degenerated into a military and moral mess. Rick is assisted by a military officer, Jill (Viva Bianca) – who can also pilot a helicopter as well as form a romantic attachment to Rick.
While the film has relished a whole lot of violence, by the end, it wants to have its cake and eat it: shows violence, then regrets it and makes a plea for a better more peaceful world.
The film has a great deal of energy, but its prospective audience is those who love computer games (and see similarities between this film and Battle Royale, Death Race as well as The Hunger Games).
And there is a touch of nostalgia as Rick watches television in his room – and what is showing, nothing else but a clip from the original Turkey Shoot, reminding us that Michael Craig, Carmen Duncan (who appears as the President in the present film) and Noel Ferrier with the stars in those days!
1. The original, exploitation film of the 1980s? An adaptation for the 21st century?
2. The title, the hunt, the violence, the victims? The audience watching?
3. Australian locations for American situations?
4. The outdoors, the television station, the shoot, hospital? The musical score?
5. The introduction, the mission to Libya, Rick and his assignment, the dictator, the sexual innuendo, his being shot? The covering up of the truth?
6. The American President, the mission, an excuse for war? The role of General Thatcher? The war and the passing of the years, World War, Africa?
7. Rick, in prison, the attempts on his life, his skills, the accusation of his role in the massacre?
8. The television executive, the harsh personality, ambitions, the options with Rick, the choice of Turkey Shoot?
9. Turkey Shoot, hunt to the death, a reality TV show, lights, razzmatazz, the hosts and their comments, their giggles – laughingly inhumane?
10. The rules, the deadlines, the target? The range of assassins, featuring them, their personalities, violent skills?
11. Rick, his achievement, being returned to prison, the very high ratings?
12. The second level, the presentation of the killers, the death squad, Rick destroying them? Ramrod, the discussions, the truth about the massacre? Rick getting out?
13. Jill, military, going to the hospital, the discussions with Thatcher, dying? The change in the mission? Believing Rick? The helicopter, the rescue?
14. Jill and her orders, hiding Rick, in the hotel, their relationship? Rick visiting Thatcher? The talk, Thatcher’s change of heart, his killing himself?
15. The television, Rick and his popularity, the confrontation with Ramrod, killing him? The public in their response?
16. The television producer, wanting to take risks, a judgement about the situation with General Thatcher, her instincts paying off, the high ratings?
17. The change of heart at the end, the film taking an anti-war stance, despite all the mayhem throughout the film and the perceptions on Reality TV and the public?
