Death Ring (1992 Video) User Reviews

It predates the very similar but more popular "Surviving The Game" (1994) by two years. Death Ring was first!

[tarbosh22000 · 5/10 · 14 May 2010]

From the director of "Hell Comes To Frogtown" comes "Death Ring", a movie, despite the impressive B-movie cast, could have used the talents of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

In this complete and total knockoff of "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932), Mike Norris portrays local lunkhead Matt Collins, an ex-Special Forces soldier who can't find his place in the world. So he spends his time competing in events such as "The Survival Of The Fittest" competition.

In this unexplainably televised event, which is a cross between rock-climbing and Army basic training, bored (really bored) evil rich dude Danton Vachs (great name) (Drago) (another great name)first sees Collins and kidnaps him and his girlfriend Lauren (Isabel Glasser) who were trying to spend a lovely day at the batting cages. Luckily, "Skylord" Harris (McQueen) witnesses the whole thing before being knocked unconscious by Vachs' goons. Did we mention his name was SKYLORD HARRIS? Because his name is Skylord Harris.

Skylord is now on the case trying to track down his best friend Matt. Little does Skylord know, they have been spirited away to a creepy island and Collins is forced to play "The Most Dangerous Game" with a multi-racial group of hunters: a Mexican, an American Indian, an Asian, and an Italian, all go about hunting Collins in their own ethic-stereotyped ways. When Collins dispatches Mr. Chin, in a flash of brilliance, he posthumously re-dubs him "Mr. Dead".

Vachs has a control panel set-up so he can communicate with his minions while they hunt Collins. (and so Collins can spit snappy one-liners to Vachs deep in the woods.) Vachs minions also drink snake blood and the titular "Death Ring" is a real piece of jewelry worn by Vachs.

Exactly one hour into the film, we finally get our first "Swayze Sighting". Don plays John Blackwell, a leftover from Vachs' previous hunting party. He and Collins team up to get revenge. After searching one tattoo parlor named "Tattoo", Skylord sees the design of two overlapping triangles (like they are fast-forwarding their wrists) he remembers at the time of the kidnapping.

We won't give away the ending, but let's just say it involves a "fan favorite death" and heads are gonna roll!

Basically playing the same role as he did in the execrable "Money To Burn" (see review) with fellow castmate Don Swayze, we can only surmise that McQueen himself is a man dead-set against sleeves of any kind. Including his car, which is a jeep. Doors are too close to sleeves for this guy! It is "death before sleeves!" as Skylord sleevelessly saves the day in his rockin' helicopter.

This "New generation of action stars" (as the box only lists their last names, as if that would fool potential renters) is really close to "Lone Tiger" syndrome: where a movie that is chock full of B-movie favorites does not guarantee a good movie. That being said, "Death Ring" is basic stupid action fun.

It predates the very similar but more popular "Surviving The Game" (1994) by two years. Death Ring was first!

The end credits admonish you to not just "read the novel", but in what has to be a movie first, to "eat the popcorn". If anyone out there has read the official Death Ring novel or eaten the official Death Ring popcorn, please write in today.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty & Brett

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"Inform the guests. The game is on".

[lost-in-limbo · 4/10 · 25 December 2021]

How's this for ya. Norris, McQueen, Swayze and Drago. But it's not who you would think... or even dream of. So If you cannot get the headlining stars. Do the next best thing. Get their lesser talented family. And sell the film that way. You're not lying plastering their surnames across the poster. At least you got Billy Drago. Disappointedly though, looks like Frank Stallone and Joe Estevez weren't available.

An ex-solider (Mike Norris) along with his girl, are kidnapped after the attention he receives of winning a survival of the fittest contest. Soon he finds out he has been chosen as the next target for a life and death manhunt on a millionaires (Billy Drago) island. While his best mate (Chad McQueen) is doing everything possible to find out who kidnapped him.

'Death Ring' is a straight-to-video, b-action staple of little imagination and probably looked much wilder on paper than what entirely transpired. Still there's a clunkiness to its story progression, and along with certain performances sorta carry it through. The premise treads a familiar path of the most dangerous game formula. And it's not particularly a thrilling exercise, as it's very slow to get going, especially when it came to the island manhunt. Everything picks up in the last half-hour, where it comes into its own. Even though it's low-rent action. Throw in some dodgy booby traps, sloppy one-one-one combat, daring helicopter rescue and a head decapitation. It gets better as it goes along.

Luckily Drago effortlessly chews it up whenever on screen and runs rings around everyone else. His interaction with Branscombe Richmond (who's sorely underused) is a vicious exchange. Was probably the best moment within the stodgy first hour. While Don Swayze is credited, he comes on late and doesn't get up to much. As he sorta tags along, while Norris goes to town. Norris gets a couple decent encounters especially with Donegan Smith (the most memorable of the hunters). Another cameo was Dennis Lipscomb, as a satanist leader. Quick, but devilishly amusing walk-on scene mainly involving the sub-plot of McQueen's character.

An okay watch, but I wish it didn't hold back. In the end I'll rather re-watch Avenging Force, or Hard Target, and Surviving the Game. Even Deadly Prey did it better.

It's alright film take your time there's no hurry

[Bezenby · 5/10 · 23 March 2009]

Who'd have thought that twenty-years after this film was made, Michael Jackson would end up looking like Billy Drago? Death Ring is of 'those' films. # You know, a cheap knock-off action movie which is kind of like that more famous film starring those more famous people. This one stars the brothers and sisters and pets of more famous people, including Patrick Swayze's brother Ralph or whatever, and he's a very strange looking man indeed.

But he's not the hero. The hero is a 'Norris' – brother of Chuck? Son? Cousin? I don't know, but I do know this – when this guy emotes it's like watching a four-year-old have a tantrum. In the movie he's an athletic ex-green beret who's roped into a deadly game of cat and mouse by Billy Drago, where he's hunted on a island by four guys for a grand prize – the Death Ring…which looks pretty rubbish for a prize.

It takes eons before we even get to the island. When we do, it takes even longer for the hunt to start, although we do get a bit of violence when Billy kicks a guy's brains out for being too impatient (the guy did have a point). Things eventually do get going, but then we keep cutting back to hero's buddy who's doing detective work in order to find the island. Meh – This had a lot going for it, what with the devil worshipper sub-plot, the quirky hunters, and that Swayze guy's bizarre features, but it also has the most ridiculous amount of padding I've ever seen in a movie. Most of the action takes place in the last half hour, and it's pretty good, but the journey there just takes too long.

It looked as if the version I watched was slightly cut too.

"I Knew it was Going to be Bad" "I Just Didn't Know it was Going to be that Bad"

[JSplend954 · 1/10 · 23 January 2014]

When I looked at the credits, I noticed several popular names like Mcqueen, Norris, and Swayze. Unfortunately, they were all siblings of the more recognizable and much more talented actors.

Death Ring is about a sport where people hunt humans for pleasure and entertainment. It takes place on an island and Billy Drago is the promoter of the event. Mike Norris plays Matt Collins, who was an ex military- special forces unit, and also the winner of the survival of the fittest competition. Collins is the human prey in the manhunt. There's a reason this movie went straight to video "It sucked" - Plain and Simple.

The only positive thing I could say about this movie was the performance of Billy Drago playing public enemy #1 Danton Vachs. Drago was excellent in his role as the lead villain, as he kills a disrespectful guest with a fork, at the kitchen table as they were preparing for dinner.

There were so many incidents that were so ridiculous that you couldn't help but laugh.

When Norris is preparing to counter attack the hunters, he puts mud over his eyebrows and on his chin in an attempt to camouflage himself. Moments later, he gets confronted by a villain and he has no camouflage on him.

The Asian Hunter has three ninja stars as weapons. He gets a visual on Norris, and he throws the stars at him during three sequences. Each one of them barely misses Norris's head, but they each hit the dead center of a tree.

Drago has some sort of militia group guarding his house. Well, as far as their shooting abilities, the phrase "He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn", would be giving them too much credit. The safest place to be when they were firing their assault rifles was to stand right in front of them. Chad Mcqueen is flying a helicopter in an attempt to rescue Norris and his fiancé. Mcqueen is approximately fifty feet in the air, in a stationary position above the mansion. The Military Personnel are opening fire at the plane. That group couldn't put a hole in a stationary target thats practically right above them.

The funniest part was when one of the hunters is looking at a map in an attempt to locate Collins. It looked like he was reading a traffic map. O'k, he really has no idea as to where Collins is, he doesn't pick up any clues or prints, and its an island with no streets. What's the point in looking at a map? It certainly wasn't a map of the island.

I'm amazed that someone can actually write a script like this, proof read it, and actually go through with it.

dons beard

[duff-7 · 2/10 · 11 January 2001]

Death Ring must be watched to check out the quality of Don Swayze's facial hair. Rubber shares must have went through the roof looking at that jaw. It may be just dirt on there but if its real then why have we not seen more of this kind. He appears to have made his home in the jungle where surely he is the king. With a cast that most Hollywood execs would be creaming for this movie is a must have in any self respecting DVD collection. SPOILER (In my opinion this film cannot be spoiled) An all time classic scene is when the helicopter takes off at the end and all the dead bodies below are perfectly laid out in a circle. Only Don could cause mass destruction with such style.

Great way to kill a boring rainy night at home!

[Carycomic · 20 June 2003]

*Spoilers ahead.* The guy who plays Voss is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for the comic-strip-style role of sadistic criminal mastermind! Tying for a close second would be Temple, the thrill-seeking criminal lawyer (can you say "redundant?"); and Ms. Ling, the sultry-but-sinister "administrative assistant." I just wish they hadn't killed off Branscombe Richmond's character, so early. Mr. Cross would probably have confessed to being a Miami Beach druglord, who started out as the dope-smuggling son of an alligator poacher (or something)! Final analysis? 2.9 stars

A dull b action film with not much postive

[tylerrosin · 4/10 · 21 December 2023]

While the premise of the film offered a glimmer of intrigue, the overall execution left much to be desired. The plot, though somewhat interesting, struggled to shine through the film's low-budget production and lackluster editing, resulting in an underwhelming viewing experience. The fight scenes, while passable, suffered from the constraints of the movie's financial limitations, making it difficult to suspend disbelief.

One of the film's significant shortcomings was its subpar acting, with performances that failed to elevate the material. The dialogue choices, at times unintentionally comical, added to the overall sense of mediocrity. Unfortunately, the main lead's portrayal lacked the depth needed to convey a genuine sense of danger, undermining the tension the plot attempted to build.

In the midst of these drawbacks, Billy Drago emerged as a notable exception. His portrayal of the antagonist injected a degree of life into the film, proving to be the standout element. However, even with his commendable performance, the movie failed to capitalize on his character, leaving much untapped potential.

Regrettably, the climax failed to deliver the anticipated excitement, further cementing the film's status as a lackluster B-action movie. It's a forgettable addition to the genre, lacking the compelling elements needed to make it a noteworthy watch. In the grand scheme of action cinema, this production falls squarely into the realm of mediocrity, offering little to justify investing your time.

The only film worse than Deadly Prey I've ever seen

[i_am_bryony · 1/10 · 12 April 2012]

As an aficionado of bad movies, I was hoping for a lot more from this, but the director seems to have gotten ideas well above his station and actually tried to make this piece of crap work. None of the actors, apart from Don Swayze, are actually any good and Drago is so camp and OTT as the bad guy that it actually transcends bad acting and morphs into something thats painful to watch. He was never much cop, but this is such a bad performance that I put my head under the duvet at least twice. Norris is so wooden that he is out-acted by the baseball bat, and thats as good as the supporting cast get (apart from Swayze). Add a dash of racial stereotyping that borders on outright racism and you can see why I bought this as part of a 4 movie DVD collection for £1. The only thing that made this watchable was the Icamans hilarious wig and moustache combination. 0/10, but I can't go lower than 1

It's all relative...

[fmarkland32 · 5/10 · 11 January 2007]

Mike Norris stars as an Ex-Green Beret who is possibly the deadliest man alive, however when Billy Drago kidnaps Norris and his girlfriend, Norris is forced to partake in a hunt, in which he is the prey. His only hope comes from police officer Chad McQueen who uses a chopper to locate his best friends as well as a survivalist expert Don Swayze. It's hard to believe that everybody headlined in this movie is a relative of a far more famous actor. (Exceping Billy Drago) That being said Death Ring is a competent Most Dangerous Game rip off, with some decent action sequences, some moderate suspense and far better acting then what you would expect. However the most entertaining thing about this feature is Billy Drago who gives a performance so cheesy, that he overall steals the show. However where as Death Ring is better than average for a B.movie, it however pales in comparison to Hard Target and Avenging Force, however it does remain far more enjoyable than Aaron Norris' Overkill. Then again though, what isn't? Also from the director of Hell Comes To Frogtown, who sadly doesn't put in a chainsaw wielding frog.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

a definite must see of untalented relatives

[party pat · 7/10 · 28 January 2006]

If this movie had Joe Estavez and Frank Stalone, I would have creamed my pants. But this cast of closely related to actual good actors is still more than most. Chuck Norris' son is captured and taken to an Island to be hunted. Yeah Its a Most Dangerous Game plot, but it has Dan Swazey. He looks kinda like his brother except incredibly creepy and very leathery. Someone said it looked like ET may have been his father. The Norris/Swazey tag team is even better than the Dennis Rodman/Van Dam but not as good as the double dose of Arnold in the Sixth Day, and they are an ass kicking machine. Dans best line "I'm back from the dead and I'm going t kick your ass." If you find this movie watch it, it rulz, thats right with a "z".

It's "Don" and Billy Dragon owns

[terminatortron · 10/10 · 30 December 2006]

I consider this to be one of my favorite movies, for the mere fact that it's so incredibly bad. It's not enough that the action is lame, or the plot so ridiculous. It's the fact that Don Swayze wouldn't need guns to kill an army of highly trained assassins, duh, he'd use his powerful acting abilities! Like in 'Trapper County War', he sniffed girls hair and threatened to kill them, that to me portrays a dangerous individual..so cerebral... Anyways, speaking of 'The Don', when I first watched this I was waiting for Don to come into the movie, and when the hero falls into the cave I said "Wouldn't it be cool if Don Swayze lived in the cave?". You know, just one of those stupid comments you make when you watch stupid movies. Low and behold however he did!! He'd been living there for something like 3 months off of rats and berries...ugh. Not even Billy Drago could save this movie, that says a lot. Buy it only if you love watching crap...like me.

Action Packed film worth renting!

[Slurpee7 · 10/10 · 6 April 1999]

I have always enjoyed the films of the Norris family (Chuck, Mike, and Aaron). When I rented Death Ring, I expected it to be an above average film. However, I was surprised. It is, in my opinion, one of the best B-films ever made. It is loaded with action, has a plot which is very easy to follow, and had good acting. Mike Norris did well in Delta Force 3, and continued with this talent throughout Death Ring. He is a very underrated actor who deserves to be in first-run movies. Given a chance, he is very likely to succeed at the box office. Billy Drago portrays this film's villain, and he did well too. He has the talent that makes his characters very antagonistic, and in the case of Death Ring, very engrossing. He has you siding with the protagonist even more. The locales used in this film were interesting as well.

Drab take on an old formula

[Wizard-8 · 11 November 2016]

As others here before me have pointed out, what we have here is yet another take of the old "Most Dangerous Game" formula. I have seen a number of other examples of this formula, and while "Death Ring" isn't the worst example I have seen, it's all the same well below average. No one in the cast is particularly noteworthy - Mike Norris is only adequate at his best, and Billy Drago seems to be phoning in his performance. The biggest problem with the movie, however, is how slow and unexciting it is. It takes almost half of the movie before the "game" starts, and once the halfway mark is reached, none of the action is really all that exciting. The movie as a whole really feels sluggish and without energy or enthusiasm from anyone in front of or behind the camera. Except for the director of photography - he managed to give the cinematography for this cheapie a very professional look. If you want a GOOD take on this old formula, seek out the movies "Raw Courage" (a.k.a. "Courage"), "Avenging Force", and "Surviving the Game" instead.