AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

thekarmicnomad What this film has going for it (opposed to most low budget movies)is the people involved seemed to actually give a damn about it.The cast is superb, the camera work and lighting is way above what I expected, the writing superb and the sick parody of existing realty shows is outstanding. In short: totally watchable A large portion of the movie is made up interviews from the contestants (the bits I normally fast forward on real reality shows) but they are well acted, superbly scripted and totally engaging.The production team hasn't tried to over-extend itself and makes skillful use of pre-shot footage and the cut sequence graphics are simple but clean.It reminds me of the UK Office in that a lot of the acting is very subtle, characters faces are calm masks but their hands (just visible edge of shot) tremble with anxiety.Don't expect slow motion, explosions, CGI or bullet-time. The action is thin but when it comes it is gritty and exhilarating.One note about the one star reviews: I must admit I would not have been impressed if I had paid to this at the cinema and not seen it free on TV.

johnnyboyz It's a brave film, I'll give it that but Series 7: The Contenders is just too casual and at times, oddly uninspiring nor interesting when it comes to the pinch. I can only assume that writer/director Daniel Minahan is American and wrote this low-budget, purposely amateurish looking piece at a time and in a world where reality TV is quite probably the bane of television. Coming from the United Kingdom, we get a show entitled Big Brother once a year in the summer which usually turns into one long, hot summer slog as every night we tune in to see what pointlessness unknown's to us have got up to.For Britain, that's about as far as it goes but America perhaps take it several steps too far; they glamorise their reality stars and take it to a level that is beyond sensibility. Programs such as 'The Hills' and many real-life, MTV, 'spring break' (whatever the hell that is) set programs covering the actions and re-actions of American teens; all of whom do not, it would seem, have a care in the world. This sort of material threatens to leak over to our screens but mercifully; it is limited to only the digital networks and not the mainstream, free-to-air channels. And so comes Series 7, a film posing as a TV programme that we are directly watching but comes off as a failed piece of entertainment more so than it does an attack on reality TV.Series 7 may fall short but it is only a marginal fail, in my opinion. By the time the film enters its final stretch, I feel we are supposed to feel genuine compassion for the characters as they come to terms with their feelings but if we are not supposed to and are to remain focused on the satire then the film has failed on an even larger scale because we are wasting our time watching it. This is due to the satire that has been introduced, arrived and then left in exchange for what I presume to be mere guilty entertainment. The biggest problems with Series 7: The Contenders is its logic but this may be deliberate since a lot of reality TV shows (and their competitors) have logistical problems. These can range from the straight forward continuity errors such as the blowing out of a tire of one competitor's vehicle before having it intact the next scene to the passage of thinking of certain characters.The film comes off almost like a Dogme '95 film what with its use of natural lighting, real life settings, utilisation of props found on the location and hand held camera. The film does contain voice-overs and inserts found footage but even Scandinavian Dogme films break the rules now and again - and they invented the movement. The primary error with the film is that despite trying to look like a reality TV show, you never get the convincing feeling you're watching one. This is due to a lack of consistency on the character's respective behalf's. The idea is that several random people get drawn to take part in a free for all death match across a randomly selected city using guns or whatever they like to kill the other competitors: last one standing wins. Brilliant idea, you think but when characters such as Tony (Kaycheck) are stupid enough to remain in their homes despite knowing they're in the game, only leaving when they come under fire from other competitors, you know you're watching something that has something to say on a certain subject (reality TV) but is not putting in enough effort to make it a subjective experience.There is a distinct lack of empathy (perhaps deliberately so) towards Dawn (Smith) when she tells us her father is 'buried around here, somewhere' before insulting him. Later on, we must like her enough to support her when the film enters its final acts. Then there is the flaw in the overall idea of the film: if last competitions victor is brought back each time then that person will be continuously living a life of killing, etc. until they are killed themselves – that cannot be right, can it? Then there is the issue surrounding the theological reason for the programme. The government within the film's universe comes up with this idea that there must be a contest in which the last competitor left standing wins and they use guns to kill each other. Surely in a country like America, what with its gun culture; its frequent shootings and gun crime, such an idea would be in poor taste. So we are to believe the government is promoting the use of firearms as a means of entertainment instead as a means of protection – which is also in bad taste.I know it sounds like a contradiction but the most disturbing things amongst all this low budget but high realism violence are actually the scenes with Jeff (Fitzgerald) and his wife and how certain elements within his life affect the overall situation of the game. But it is a small element of drama that quickly turns into routine romance that we've seen in films such as Natural Born Killers, True Romance and Badlands. Indeed, more bizarre still; try watching this film which is 'government run' on a commercial television channel: a government produced TV show that is interrupted by adverts? Now you're really starting to take the cake.

james_norman1981 I don't know about you but I'm pretty much 'realitied' out. If I see another behind the scenes, fly on the wall or real people confined to a televisual prison program I think I might well have to tear up my TV licence... and with Big Brother 7 (I think) on its way here in England that might well happen (although, now that I think of it, BB 7 might well end up sharing some unintentional similarities with Series 7 of the Contenders... more on this shortly).To tell the truth, I have never liked any reality TV shows. Instead of showing you something positive they seem to rejoice in the negative and encourage only the worst sort of backstabbing, vindictive and childish behaviour we should be discouraging, rather than rewarding. Unfortunately the trend doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon and this is a very worrying possibility.In recent years there has been a counteract against the reality TV boon, best personified cinematically in Battle Royale (which is close if not quite a reality TV satire) and, bang on the money, Series 7: the Contenders (henceforth Series 7). There are other voices of sanity out there, particularly in books (see Ben Elton's Dead Famous for a brilliant example), which seek to satirise reality television, but only the medium itself can really show us where the end will finally happen, television and real life of course...Series 7 represents a logical step in reality TV. With audiences losing interest in physical and psychological hardship of volunteers, an alternative will have to be found. Therefore why not have a lottery based killing game where five people, along with a sixth champion of the previous game, must compete to slay each other within the limits of a small town in American. As I'm sure you can guess, this barbaric program has yet to be made but it is highly likely that television executives have thought long and hard about the possibilities... it wouldn't take a genius to think of the boost in ratings that, for example, Death Row inmates given a chance to win their freedom if they kill five of their fellow cons in some sort of last man standing style battle royal. Those men would all be scheduled to die anyway, so why not make it for entertainment rather than just justice...? Such a possibility, very fortunately, hasn't yet come to fruition, nor am I aware of any attempts to do so, but one only has to imagine such a show to see that it would be very possible to make it and, moral concerns aside, it really would sweep all before it for audience popularity.Series 7 represents such a program to the nth degree and, very accurately, portrays the emotions a disparate group of the lottery 'winners' might feel upon being selected. I won't dwell on the film itself, simply because I don't want to spoil the humour and utterly spellbinding violence it creates, particularly the juxtaposition of both aspects... you find yourself giggling at an 8 month pregnant woman's attempts to psych out a 50 year old nurse, only to feel the laughter die in your throat as the same woman garrotes, drowns and shoots three people, amongst others, seconds later...The closeness of Series 7 to the formats of other 'reality' shows is striking, from the hideous melodrama, 'I'm going to win' speeches and sad, pathetic individuals more needing sympathy and a bit of cash than the fame they crave. When this is held up alongside the same people brutally killing each other it makes for a very real and chilling portrayal of reality television, particularly in America though by no means limited to that country. These people don't have to fight. They don't have to kill each other. THey certainly don't have to put up with being videoed, attached to GPS monitors and hooked up to microphones 24/7. If it was me I'd blow the cameraman away and go from there... but these people obey the rules of the game, even though the show purports to have no rules, and hence are hostages in a very real sense.This is best demonstrated by the subtle allusions to the fact that the game may well be fixed. By a staggeringly remote chance, Dawn (the pregnant woman) ends up face to face with a former school friend... one of the competitors claims the show is faked... one man suffers a 'self inflicted stab wound to the back' while fleeing... and footage of various situations disappears and must be 're-enacted' by actors. These are just some of the issues mentioned but, as we are supposedly watching the TV show rather than a film about the show, the details aren't explored, which is a place the film falls down a little. Other problems are the TV gimmicks, like sudden 'what will happen next?' montages every 10 minutes or so. Sure, this would happen on TV, but in a film (I saw this at the cinema) it gets quite annoying. However, these quibbles are mostly minor. Anyone who is addicted to reality TV shows and people who genuinely despise them will find something here, although they might not like what they see. As for the Series 7 scenario...? Just how implausible do you think it is? I only ask because, in one of the series of Big Brother in Australia, one of the 'cast,' while making out with another member of the cast, asked her whether she was excited. When she gave her answer he then picked up a knife and held it to her throat.'How about now?' he wondered. This man was subsequently taken out of the BB house but the question remains... how far will TV executives go with reality TV? Series 7: the Contenders shows us the depths to which it could stoop eerily accurately.

joshua-kennedy Despite the potentially fascinating premise, Series 7 is weak attempt at attacking reality television. Aside from its bargain basement production values, which present an eyesore 10 minutes in, the overall tone of the film is misguided. Several reviewers have attacked the acting in the film, but I think the real problem is this lame attempt to make the film into a farce. Aside from the fact that the jokes are not funny (a pregnant woman swears a lot, a young girl gets a bunch of guns), it doesn't gel with the overall tone of the film. Had the makers actually made Series 7 to bear a striking resemblance to actual reality TV-colorful yet hollow edits, lame sound effects, sweeping camera motions-maybe their point would have been more solid or at least more palatable. Instead Series 7 meanders through the already harried world of death and game show. You can just imagine the director slapping himself on the back for stating the obvious