Survival Quest (1988) Reviews

• Terrific Film

  WritnGuy-22000-09-01

  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.

• An excellent, exciting and unjustly overlooked action drama survivalist winner

  Woodyanders2007-05-08

  A motley assortment of six city folks -- sullen, moody convict Gray (Dermot Mulroney), bitter divorcée Cheryl (an incredibly cute Catherine Keener), amiable old guy Hal (the wonderful Ben Hammer), insensitive macho jerk Jeff (Dominic Hoffman), smartaleck Joey (the hilarious Paul Prevenza), and feisty babe Olivia (the gorgeous Traci Lin) -- embark on an arduous and demanding wilderness adventure. They are whipped into shape by rugged, but compassionate instructor Hank (the always great Lance Henrikson). Things go well for a spell until the group runs afoul of a rival squad of brutish paramilitary goons led by hard-nosed ramrod fanatic Jake (a frighteningly intense Mark Rolston). Our intrepid bunch find themselves in considerable jeopardy after an altercation with the squad and wind up running through the woods for their lives. Writer/director Don Coscarelli, who also gave us the terrific cult horror comedy treat "Bubba Ho-Tep" and the fantastic "Phantasm" pictures, does an expert job of creating characters who are both exceptionally well-drawn and genuinely likable. He also deftly maintains a steady pace and stages several thrilling action scenes with rip-snorting aplomb. The bang-up cast all deliver top-notch performances, with especially stand-out work by Henrikson, Mulroney, Keener, Hammer, Provenza and Rolston. Daryn O'Kada's lovely, golden-hued cinematography, the breathtaking forest scenery, a nice bit by Reggie Bannister (Reggie in the "Phantasm" films) as a charter plane pilot, and the rousing harmonic score by Fred Myrow and Christopher Stone are all likewise fine and impressive. But what makes this movie so special and touching is the engaging chemistry and heartwarming camaraderie that develops amongst the main group of delightfully vivid and appealing protagonists. A real sleeper.

• Solid thriller from cult director

  Krush_Burner2010-11-13

  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.

• Lance Henriksen the action hero

  asgard-52011-03-08

  Survival Quest is one of the few Lance Henriksen starrers that happened during the eighties. This time he gives a great unexpected performance as a good guy, who runs a survival school and leads a group of assorted city people through the wilderness. Eventually they cross paths with a military man played by Mark Rolston who leads a survival class of his own. Don Coscarelli pulls out fine performances from everybody and the script is so well done that every character that's supposed to matter does. Aside from the acting, the film relies on such inexpensive things as breathtaking vistas and avoiding clichés (for the most part). The only thing that downplays the whole experience is the music one'd expect from a Hallmark family movie. Definitely the strongest Coscarelli effort outside of Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep.

• Way above average action entertainment.....

  merklekranz2009-07-13

  "Survival Quest" has enough originality and inspired photography to maintain interest throughout. What separates this film from similar, inferior efforts, is the strong character development. At first, things move rather slowly, as we get to know the strangers from the city who have signed on for the survival course. Once the paramilitary squad begins stalking them, the action comes at a rapid pace. The acting is above average for a low budget film, especially Lance Henriksen and Mark Rolsten. This ranks right up there with a similar little known hunted in the woods film, "Hunter's Blood", and is recommended viewing for action fans. - MERK