The Big Game

I'd never heard about this one – despite featuring the likes of Stephen Boyd, Cameron Mitchell and Ray Milland! – before I happened upon it at a local DVD rental outlet: I even had to look out its original title since the DVD was a German edition; however, realizing its sci-fi elements, I opted to check it sooner rather than later.

Well, what a disappointment it turned out to be! Though the confusing and tedious plot ostensibly revolves around a radar system which is able to motivate soldiers into becoming fighting machines (and, to prove this point, a group of them are brainwashed into thinking a bunch of approaching cars are really army tanks!) – shades of THE MANCHURIAN CANIDATE (1962) – it's much more of an espionage/adventure film, though hardly exciting or even engaging (director Day, who cut his teeth on several popular spy/sci-fi series during the Sixties, was clearly uninspired by the material at hand)! In fact, much of the running-time is wasted on scientist Milland's Hong Kong-based son – who's seduced by France Nuyen and kidnapped by a rival organization coveting the invention.

Though Boyd and Mitchell interact well together and are involved in the climactic action sequences, this is among the lowest points of their careers that I've seen – of course, the same applies to an ageing Milland (whose role is thankfully brief). About the only plusses to the film are a typically lush score by "Euro-Cult" stalwart Francesco De Masi and a scene onboard a ship in which Mitchell is attacked in the bathroom when he's mistaken for Boyd (who apparently plays a character everybody fears and is out to get him!). Incidentally, the DVD quality was rather sloppy as the audio dropped out on a number of occasions throughout.