Coventry
Don Coscarelli is quite a popular writer/director among horror and cult fanatics, but the vast majority of his fans always only refer to his classic works "Phantasm", "Bubba-Ho-Tep" and – occasionally – "The Beastmaster". Almost nobody ever mentions the obscure piece of backwoods/survival thriller called "Survival Quest" even though it benefited from decent production values and a very appealing cast featuring names like Lance Henriksen, Mark Rolston and (in their earliest roles) Dermot Mulroney and Catherine Keener. From a more substantive point of view, on the other hand, I can definitely understand that "Survival Quest" quickly got somewhat forgotten in the plenitude of 80s action movies, as the script is surprisingly (and disappointingly) tame and polished instead of raw and shocking. In spite of all the great potential and similar role-model classics that set a great example (like "Southern Comfort", "Rituals" and even "Deliverance"), Coscarelli doesn't have the courage to break through any taboos and serves a dull politically correct thriller with a pitiably low body-count. Survival Quest is the name of an adventurous wilderness program intended for city folks who are only used to luxurious accommodation and expensive fancy food. Wildlife expert Hank (Lance Henriksen) welcomes a new and very diverse group, including an arrogant young man, a recently divorced woman, a young girl about to get married against her will, an elderly man and a young convict forced to participate by his parole officer. Nearby, however, military drill instructor Jake (Mark Rolston) is running a boot camp to harden a platoon of soldiers. When he pushes his men over their mental boundaries, Private Raider goes bonkers. He attacks both Hank and Jake accuses the convict of being the culprit and mobilizes the rest of the squad to violently hunt down the rest of the group. For a backwoods action/thriller flick, "Survival Quest" is intolerably clean and civilized. There aren't any perverted characters, attempted rapes or nasty booby-traps, and even the sequences with the grizzly bear seem to belong more in a Walt Disney movie. The filming locations are astonishing and the survival tests during the first half of the movie are entertaining to look at, but as soon as the film is supposed to turn into a harsh and suspenseful thriller, the whole thing becomes one giant disappointment. Forgettable and not recommended.
Krush_Burner
Well, it's not "Phantasm", but it's still a good 1980's movie from Don Coscarelli, who is a very interesting author. Although the basic idea is looks like a remake of "First Blood" in which one John Rambo is replaced by a group of regular people and sheriff with his officers is replaced by a bunch of military, the story itself is quite good. We see how these two groups are moving from indifference to confrontation and then whole conflict becomes a run for survival for ones and hide-and-seek game for others. Lance Henricksen is good here - nothing special, but just a good actor in adequate role. Also, there's a lot of action, some shooting and fighting, but keep in mind it's a thriller first, not an action or horror, and I hope you'll not be disappointed.
WritnGuy-2
An Easy Video near me was going out of business, and selling movies cheap, so I raided the place and amongst some other cheesy, just for the hell of it bought movies, I picked this up, recognizing names such as Lance Henrikson (Pumpkinhead), Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend's Wedding), and Catherine Keener (8MM). With somewhat low expectations, I watched the film this afternoon, and was pleasantly surprised.Henrikson plays Hank, a guide for Survival Quest, testing people's abilities in the wildnerness. The group he is given this time includes a convict, a divorced woman, an older man, and others. He leads them into nature, forcing them to rely on courage, wits, and strength to survive. Also venturing into the woods is a paramilitary group, an extreme version of the Survival Quest group. The main characters are led through the woods, up mountains, across rivers, deeper and deeper into the wild. They begin to get to know each other, and work together as a team. A constant threat is the military group, who don't look fondly upon Survival Quest. Then one day Gray, the convict (Mulroney) and one of the military trainees meet up in a life-threatening confrontation. Trying to break it up, Hank is shot accidentally by trainee. Gray escapes, and the trainee sets up the scene as to appear as if Hank were a threat, after the military leader, Jake (Rolston), gets involved and injured. Then a hunt is on, as the military trainees chase down the Survival Quest group with rifles and knives, in a bloodthirsty rage for vengeance.The movie is so interesting because of the way it plays out. The action doesn't really start until about an hour in, but the film is in no way dull up to that point. In the first hour, we get to know and like the protagonists, as they overcome their fears and learn basic survival in the wilderness. In fact, by the time the action starts, you're content with the plot being about just this group taking the course. But then, when it starts to get really exciting, the movie gets even better, because the threat of any of these great characters getting killed is tragic, since we like them all so much. Personally, I thought the characters of Hal, the old man (Ben Hammer) and Cheryl, the divorced woman overcoming some ever-present weaknesses (Catherine Keener), were my favorites, though I liked all of them. The actors all do great in their roles, each becoming likeable characters and strong in each way. The action is great, as well. One scene, when the escaping group need to cross a raging river, with the paramilitary group close behind, is almost unbearable in the suspense. One good thing about this is that the plot never loses itself in mindless violence. The violence is focused and part of the story, and really, only occurs when necessary. For the most part, the action of the movie is more concerned with these characters escaping, and surviving. You never just let your brain go to sleep and watch mindless eye candy, and that's rare for action movies.
One last thing to note is the absolutely gorgeous setting in the Rocky Mountains. You never feel like you're watching a nature movie, but the setting is portrayed so breathtakingly well, and looks so great in every scene. I definitely recommend this to action/adventure fans, but mostly to drama fans. The movie is thoroughly entertaining, and definitely worth a look if you can find it.
