Big Game

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with 13-year-old deer hunter, Oskari (Onni Tommila), and his dad, Tapio, looking at the wall full of picture frames of a man as a deer hunter. Oskari picks one of the picture frames, that is his dad as a hunter when he was teenager.Somewhere in Finland, the Kimmo's Safari's helicopter carrying the terrorist named Hazar. After they land the helicopter, the Kimmo's Safari's helicopter pilot realized that the men he carrying are the terrorists. Hazar told the helicopter pilot to run for his lives. However when the helicopter pilot is in about one mile distance, Hazar fires bazooka to him as a missile test. Hazar sends his fellow terrorist a text message that the missile test was successful.In the mountains, Oskari takes a test of strength of pulling of a bow string (without an arrow), however, he failed to reach its full strength. The leader of the deer hunting says that he will not ready to be a deer hunter but his father asserts that his son is ready to be a hunter. The leader addresses to his men about his bravery of being a hunter and inside the forest. Oskari drives his small tractor through the woods for hunting.Meanwhile, aboard in the Air Force One, U.S. President William Alan "Bill" Moore (Samuel L. Jackson) is heading for Pre D8 Summit is Helsinki, 45 miles left. Suddenly, the control room receives an alert of a possible missile shot down in their plane. However, both plane and jet escorts were unable to countermeasures because someone's jamming their control. The men quickly brought the President to an escape pod and it deploys out safely. The rest of the service agents are parachuting down from the plane but Morris (Ray Stevenson) shoots a secret agent after curiously asked that there is something wrong to them - their parachute not deploying. Few minutes after Morris parachuting down, the missiles fly past to him and hit the Air Force One.Oskari is driving his small tractor in the woods when he sees the bright light flashes in the sky. In horror, Oskari quickly runs away from the bright light which is actually the downed Air Force One is on fire. Its debris almost struck Oskari.Morris was landed into the woods, turns out to be traitor, he alerts the terrorist that the plane was down. Oskari then sees a pod and suspiciously approaches to it. Upon approaching, Bill writes the combination (which is "1492" ) - for opening the door - in the moisturized window. After Oskari enters the combination, he quickly runs away from it, believing that the pod was came from other planet. Bill goes out and yells to show himself. Oskari shows himself and suspiciously aims his bow to Bill. When Bill tells him that he is the President of the United States, Oskari proves him by showing his passport. Oskari now trusts him.Meanwhile, in the farmhouse somewhere in Norway, a farmer sees the beacon landed outside his house. Shortly, the helicopters arrive but when they searched it, it is not escape pod. The escape pod and the beacon must been separated.Morris, Hazar and his men found the escape pod. As Hazar opens it, they find empty. Bill wants to go to the nearest town using his small tractor but Oskari not allows Bill to drive himself in. Instead, Oskari drives and tells him to sit in the wagon while they heading to the place that is marked by X on his map. Morris sees the small shoe footprint, stating that someone helped the President out. Morris also tells Hazar that the bullet was buried 2mm from his heart (as we see his scar in the chest in the beginning of the film) and if something hits it, it will kill him.Bill and Oskari arrives in the place and he calls it, "a perfect place to hunt". They will camp here all night until morning and they chat each other. The next morning, it's Oskari's birthday and time for him to hunt. Bill suddenly wakes up when he hears Oskari imitating deer sounds. Oskari sees a shoe that is belong to Bill (the shoe was fell after the AF1 was shot down). Oskari then sees a freezer and when he opens it, inside is the dead deer and the note embedded in the arrow. The note says happy birthday from his dad. Upon Bill climbing through rocks, he sees his three dead men, turns out the cable ties preventing the parachute from deploying. Bill now realizes that Morris betrayed him. After he retrieved the gun from a dead man, Bill sees Morris and his men and he hides behind the rock.Oskari is disappointed when his father killed the deer for him as birthday. Oskari told Bill that he is not ready to be a hunter. Bill then puts a badge onto Oskari for rescuing and protecting him, and it's a reminder for him. Bill realizes that his plane is not an accident, it is shot down and Morris and his men are there for hunting him. In case he is being hunted, he told Oskari to go in separate ways but Oskari worries about his safety. Shortly, Morris approaches upon them. Bill decides Oskari to go away for lives. Bill tries to shoot Morris but he forgot to cock the gun. Morris manage to fight Bill.Meanwhile, in the Pentagon Headquarters, they find the President and the terrorists who known by one of the President Secret Service Agent, Herbert (Jim Broadbent). All throughout, they're being tracked for their safety.The men forces Bill to get in the freezer. However, Oskari oversees them and the President being put in the freezer. The freezer was carried by the helicopter. Oskari manages to save the president. Oskari jumps off the cliff and stows away to the freezer. A pilot sees stowaway boy in the freezer, trying to save the President. The helicopter descends its altitude to get the boy away from it. Oskari loses the freezer but manage to chase and he cut the rope, allowing it to escape. Morris, in the helicopter, shoots them and Oskari quickly gets in to the freezer. The lid of the freezer protecting them from raining bullets. Oskari decides to roll down the freezer into the cliff just moments after Morris gets on the ground. They ended up in the middle of the lake.Both Bill and Oskari think that they lost them. Shortly, they found the wreck site of Air Force One near them. In the Pentagon, they found the AF1 crash site. Herbert gives the coordinates of the crash site to Hazar and gives a plan to him to kill the President.Bill and Oskari sees the helicopter approaching upon them and they manage to enter the wrecked plane. The plane inside is almost quite intact (the lights are still on and some computers in the control room are still on also). Afterwards, they hear pounding and creaking sound coming from the roof. Suddenly the explosive blown to the roof, allowing Hazar to infiltrate the plane. Hazar then activates a bomb to six minutes left. The fight progress between Bill and Hazar. Hazar manage to strangle Bill to death but Oskari pounds Hazar in the head. Hazar then tries to shoot Oskari using the same gun (that Bill uses and forgot to cock), but also he forgot to cock it. Bill kicks him, throwing a gun onto Bill, this time allowing him to shoot Hazar. Almost 90 seconds left in the bomb, Bill and Oskari manage to escape from the plane through ejecting in the pilot's seat. As they deployed the parachute in their seats, Morris - in the helicopter - is in front of them. Oskari then fires an arrow and hits his chest. The arrow pulls the bullet - buried inside his chest - into his heart, Morris fall to his death and accidentally fires a gun onto the pilot. Shortly, the bomb goes off.Meanwhile at the same time in deer hunters' camp, the US Navy forces the hunters to held hostage until the President reportedly alive. Afterwards, they sees the parachute landing in the background. It is Oskari followed by Bill climbing at the top of the rock. Oskari introduces the President to his dad and the rest of the hunters recognize the President is in the newspaper.In the Pentagon, all of the employees rejoicing the President's salvation. Herbert reveals that Hazar knew him for 15 years and he is a former CIA operative. In order to not to trace back with him, Herbert kills the vice-president by shoving him in the feet. But before he leaves the restroom, Herbert puts some liquid soap in his shoe and in the floor to give the impression that the vice-president was slipped on the floor.The film ends with the hunting leader takes a picture of Oskari and Bill. Oskari's hero of saving the President become known in the press. The newspaper article of Oskari saved the president are putted in the picture frame in their house.

Tags: comedy, murder

Review:
Samuel L Jackson is the disgruntled President of the United States who is the target of an attack that leaves him crash landed in the forest of Finland aided only by Oskari, a Finish boy trying to prove himself as a hunter and as a man.
Looking at the other reviews, there seems to be a miscommunication about what type of film this is.So this reviewer will be crystal clear: from the moment film first went into the camera, this project was intended a family/kids film destined to appear on cable channels all over the world either on a Saturday matinée or in the after-dinner hours.Aside from Sam Jackson (whom I have been calling in my reviews since the 1990s "the most overexposed actor in film history") everyone else is second tier B movie material.This is not die-hard "puberty edition." This is about fathers and sons and everything else is secondary to that.So, now that we are crystal, it is really not bad.
Jackson is the President of the United States and is shot down in Finland where the men and real men and the 13 year old boys are out in the wilderness trying to prove that they are real men.The President of the US of A is just a foil for this Finnish story about Oskari who, on turning 13 must go out into the wilderness to bring back some game.
His grandfather killed a bear at the same age, but maybe Oskari is not up to the task?But then the President of the US of A turns up while being hunted by terrorists and Oskari is there to prove that being strong is not about muscles but about willpower.So finally we get a story where the US is not all powerful, but seriously doesn't Finland have an air force that could scrambled to search the area?
An adventure film, clearly aimed at a younger audience, with Air Force One crashing down somewhere in a Finnish forest and with the US president trying to saving himself with the help of a Finnish boy who just happens to undergo a local ritual so he can prove himself to the male population.
And he is the only reason I found it mildly entertaining, even though he could not save the movie.Samuel Jackson (does he actually take ANY role that is pitched to him?) is far from his best and his character behaves highly inconsistent.
The ones who play the villains stay campy as they should, and there is a surprising amount of other great actors here who aren't nearly as memorable as its stars, but they did their job solidly, anyway.Big Game is a lot of fun, with a variety of amusingly odd ideas that come off great for a mindless action experience.
It's no coincidence since Cliffhanger was directed by the first and so far only (but not for long, seems like it) Finnish-born Hollywood action director Renny Harlin, and the writer-director of Big Game, Jalmari Helander (whose second feature film this is), Finn himself, was a young man dreaming of becoming a filmmaker when Harlin had his heyday in late 80's and early 90's with movies like Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, and Harlin was a big deal in Finland (and I guess in Hollywood too) at that time (not so much anymore).Big Game is a love letter to the movies of Helander's youth.
Yes, it's predictable, clichéd and formulaic but at the same time heartfelt, joyous and mostly fun (also relatively short with 90 minutes with no really dragging moments), and part of the fun comes from being familiar with the tropes the movie plays with and the willingness to embrace them earnestly**.It's a film made by someone who watched Hollywood action movies as a kid and played the scenes of those movies in forest with his friends with sticks as machine guns*** and Big Game is direct continuation of that kind of childlike attitude to movies.
What are your feelings towards these kinds of old school action movies and whether you are willing to embrace the cliché and take a more childlike perspective to the movie will probably determine whether you will appreciate Big Game or not.I personally thought it was fun to watch, even if it didn't bring anything really new to the table (in fact it found the old leftovers and served them with fresh dressing).
Movie like this could be really stiff and boring if done poorly (it has actually pretty impressive action scenes with such small budget), or armpit-fartingly tryhard and unfunny (Snakes on a Plane), but thanks to the cast - especially Samuel L.
Jackson ("Get these *beep* terrorists out of these *beep* Finnish mountains!)**** and young Onni Tommila whose unexpected relationship carries this movie through the more cliché-ridden landscapes - and the earnestness of the director, it managed to breathe some life into the already-done-to-death tropes of the genre and gave the world what it didn't know it needed: Spielberg-flavored Renny Harlin!6/10 (little above average, fun to watch)*Co-produced with UK and Germany and shot in Germany, with largely German crew.**Clichés are not clichés (used too often) without a reason.
Though his role in the film should see this kind of cinema reach a wider audience which can only be a good thing .When you have 90 minutes to spare and feel like some mindless entertainment you could do much worse than thisIf you enjoy this film then seek out Rare Exports you will be rewarded with some great cinema.
Finnish director Jalmari Helander's action-adventure throwback to the 80's and 90's, Big Game is a hugely enjoyable film for all ages.When Air Force One is shot down by terrorists leaving the President of the United States William Allan Moore (Samuel L.
Jackson) stranded in the wilderness of Finland, there is only one person around who can save him: a 13-year-old boy called Oskari (Onni Tommila), who is coincidentally in the forest to prove his transition from a child to a teenager by hunting down a deer and showing it to his kinsfolk.
Of course, under the circumstances, the two characters meet.What follows is an entertaining if preposterous and campy action film complete with mega explosions & wide panning shots and plenty of character moments too, particularly in the comparatively slow first half.The pairing between Onni Tommila and Samuel L.
However, one thing that doesn't work is the political drama/backstabbing in the Pentagon, which ends up feeling unnecessary and needlessly convoluted.Overall, while the action tends towards the preposterous, Big Game charms and beguiles for a satisfying movie experience..
On route to a pre-G8 summit meeting, the U.S. president's plane is brought down by a seeming act of terrorism into the dense, mountainous Finnish Lapland, played here by the German Alps much like Norway substituted for Finland in writer-director Jalmari Helander's debut feature RARE EXPORTS.
Jackson) finds his only hope of escaping the mountains and forest is a 13-year old boy (Onni Tommila, the star of RARE EXPORTS) undergoing his first solo hunt as a rite-of-passage into manhood.
The boy, we're shown, doesn't share his father's legendary skill for hunting—his talent with a bow and arrow tending to land shots well short of their targets—but when it becomes apparent that the president is being stalked, MOST DANGEROUS GAME style, by a team of slick big game hunters led by a Saudi psychopath (Mehmet Kurtulus) who has paid an exorbitant sum of money for the privilege of stuffing and mounting his prize, the duo must both learn that being tough is equally as crucial as looking tough.Meanwhile, back at Pentagon HQ bunker, the vice president (Victor Garber), his aide (Felicity Huffman), a top general (Ted Levine) and an intelligence expert (Jim Broadbent) pound their fists, actually shout lines like "Dear GOD!", order in Chinese take-out, analyze a wall of gigantic satellite monitors and generally deliver Helander's shallow, wholly-derivative and often groan-inducing dialogue with as much professional aplomb as they can muster.
With actors like these, all of whom Helander was no doubt able to attract on the charming eccentricity of RARE EXPORTS, audiences bring a lot of subconscious baggage to the table when watching them on deliver mostly and unnecessarily expository dialogue, having seen them play countless similar roles over the years, in effect filling in the blanks left by the writer.
As a first performance starring alongside a legend like Samuel L Jackson definitely isn't a bad thing and he does a pretty decent job.
He pulls off the president really well actually, i can believe this guy would make a good president.At the end of the day Big Game is a fun throw back to 80s action movies that isn't perfect but serves as an incredibly enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes.
Despite some super cliché scenes/dialogue, Big Game mostly works.It was better than I expected and although, it's not as good as Jalmari Helander's previous effort Rare Exports, BG delivers on it's B-movie premise with a blockbuster amount of grandeur.
Comic book violence with gleaming visuals apart, this Finnish action-adventure has doses of ridiculousness scattered all over the place.A young lad (Tommila) from a pre-modern Finnish hunting community bumping into POTUS (Jaskson) who has just been betrayed by his security chief, and rescuing him from the clutches of those who seek him is not called coincidence, but a result of a brainstorm conducted by few half developed brains that were enticed with the prize of big money.The plot is hardly convincing, let alone logical.
There are some other minor stretches of belief, mainly for the sake of action scenes and establishing the alpha characters, but not enough to ruin the film, just lesson the immersion.The end result is a more realistic, hunting-based, less fantasy-based coming of age story for a boy becoming a teen..
Big Game is an action movie directed by Jalmari Helander and stars Samuel L Jackson, Ray Stevenson, Onni Tommila.
Gosh they make you love this kid ,, the movie has a sensational emotional and catchy story , yeah it felt a bit short (The writer here does mostly writes a short movies) like i kinda wanted to see more of that kid's bravery but still it went all fine,, the plot is really good ,they don't spoil it all in the trailer like most of the new movies ,, okay you know they eventually save the president but they wanted you to more engaged with the How of the story itself and that's what actually happen, and you will see the thrill, you'll see the action and you'll see just the proper amount of Samuel L.
The story is simple yet delightfully far-fetched and over-the-top: 13-year-old Oskari is in the middle of performing a traditional Finnish manhood ritual when Air Force One gets shot out of the air on its way to Helsinki and crash-lands near the boy's hunting turf.
I've just wasted 2 hrs of my life or at least that's what it feels like this film is not cliffhanger this film is not Spielberg either like some have said its not fun either...not sure were some of these reviews come from but they are that far from the truth its laughable ...anyway watch it at your peril, the acting is very budget the fight scenes if any are worse than budget in fact this film is lower than budget terrible i could not give the film a higher score than 1 because i feel i have been cheated into believing this was a good watch now my brain feels numb...Jackson please be careful on your next choice of films bud or you will loose your street cred.
Should be more careful, no excuse.One cliché upon another, comic book dialogue, a series of stupid moves from the bad guys, endless reinforcement of the idea that "we, the US, are the most powerful country," a bland middle-eastern villain, lack of motif for the terrorists' (that word has been mentioned 100X) actions...Common.I can see a 11 year old buying this, but even so there's just too much junk.The music feels transplanted from sci-fi and epic films, Alien meet LOTR...Inapropriate.Down right condescending, and what an Unbelievable waste of 8.5m dollars.
Overall Big Game was a fun action movie, very enjoyable.
Instead, it was muddled by too many scenes of the American actors, too little character development and way too much action for what the movie was supposed to be: a forest adventure and a clash of cultures.
S. president from terrorist.Though most action movies have a large amount of cheese flavored into it, you can't help to break out the Kool aid smile watching a 13 year old boy name Oskar roam around the forest like Rambo, jumping onto moving helicopters, and taking on terrorist.
Not that I have not seen him sort of do it in Django and Old Boy but that was slightly more comical than this role as the man who should not have been president, according to the terrorist.Though a kid is the protagonist, the movie is for anyone who loves a good action movie that does not take itself too seriously, like the Expendables.
Thankfully, the poachers in this action movie are far from Internet access.When terrorists shoot Air Force One down over a forest in Finland, President Moore (Samuel L.
Obviously, he is sorely in need of money, or else he lost a bet (or both.) I cannot image any other possible explanation for why he would participate in a ridiculous film like this one.I understand that this film, about a young Finnish boy defending the President from assassins, was intended as a family-friendly version of "White House Down," and so the violence and language would be greatly toned down from the usual Jackson level (although he does manage one interrupted "mother f**ker," his apparent signature phrase.) But getting rid of blood and f-bombs does not mean one also must abandon common sense and good writing.This train wreck comes CLOSE to the "so bad it's good" category, but doesn't even manage that.
This film is an effort by Europeans to produce something in the vein of "Air Force One" or "White House Down": a work written and directed by a Finn (Jalmari Helander), shot in Finland and Germany, pairing a well-known American actor (Samuel L Jackson playing it by numbers) with an unknown child Finnish actor (a strangely inert Onni Tommila), and music from a Slovak orchestra.
The Finnish twosome have followed it up with this ultra cheesy B-movie action flick that feels like it was devised as DIE HARD in the Finnish wilderness.The film features an always engaging Samuel L.
One of the most 80's like films of recent times, Jalmari Helander's (director of the fantastic Xmas horror Rare Exports) Big Game is the type of movie John Carpenter would've made in his heyday and would've made well but in the year 2016, Big Game sadly doesn't feel either that big or doesn't bring enough game to take the film forward for a touchdown.Taking far too long to get into the stuff we paid money to see, Big Game's simple set up of the president as played by the typical Samuel L.
Jackson finding himself stranded in the Finnish wilderness after Air Force One has been shot down only to find himself teaming up with young hunter Oskari (played by the conveniently fluent in English Onni Tommila), only flirts with acting upon its premise of high explosive thrills and kills and for a majority of the films runtime you'd be wishing that people would stop talking and let the action speak for itself.When Helander lets the action do the talking, Big Game can all of a sudden showcase some impressive visuals and neat action ideas but for a film with such an over the top premise the over the top action sometimes feels to far removed from reality whether its Oskari's ability to jump onto moving cargo being carried by a helicopter or bad guys all of a sudden not being able to aim their guns, Big Game's set pieces often peter out into uninteresting scenarios despite the seemingly ripe opportunities to be a true action blast.One of those Samuel L.
The President of the United States of America emerges from an escape pod that was jettisoned upon the destruction of Air Force One. They are forced to work together when terrorists enter the forest to capture their own special prize.'Big Game' rises above your average run of the mill action film.
Anyway, he done a good job by making the film feel very authentic but there just wasn't enough elements to the storyline.Budget: $9million Worldwide Gross: $4.6millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their action/adventure movies about a young boy who helps the president fight against terrorists after his planes crashes in the Helsinki wilderness.
It might be (again) a trend in "Hollywood".Anyway this is a movie that actually delivers in terms of action and the satisfaction of the audience.A 13 y.o. boy follows the tradition of his village in northern Finland and as apart of an initiation he must camp in the woods and bring a big game (like a deer) back to his father who is a great hunter.
Jackson as the President of the United States, then the Finnish-produced action throwback, Big Game, will be worth your time.
Time you could have spent re-watching Showgirls.Take a couple big name stars, give them a script written by a sixth grader about POTUS getting shot out of the sky and rescued by a loser Finnish kid and you have the movie.The story is that of the President of the United States being shot down in Air Force One over Finland.
If you liked "Air Force One" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," you'll like "Big Game" because it starts off as the former and morphs into the latter.Generic bad guys are hunting Jackson, who is President of the United States, and a fourteen-year-old Finnish boy through the dank and chilly forests and over the gray rocks of Never Never Land.It's not worth much attention.