MovieChat Forums > Surviving the Game (1994) Discussion > How could Ice-T's character be so strong...

How could Ice-T's character be so strong and smart?

posted 4 years ago by TheMan18 (13130)
9 replies | jump to latest

Hi.

Seriously, even though I'm well aware this movie wasn't intended to be realistic and a suspension of disbelief is indeed required for it, but still, I kinda wonder...

How could Ice-T's character, a down on his luck, homeless, incredibly poor and struggling, underfed etc character, ultimately be so strong and smart as later portrayed in the film, given how he wasn't in the army or anything to that degree?

How could he outrun a bunch of strong and trained men with vehicles and automatic weapons? How could he fight some of them to death and win? How could he disassemble a weapon and a professional killer fail to notice? How does he not get tired with all this running? And how does he even manage at the end to find transport and bring himself back to home location from a highly remote and little known place and succeed so well?

What do you think? At least Jean Claude Van Damme's character in "Hard Target" (1993) was in the army.

[–] Obifuntoknowme (1144) 3 years ago

You answered your own question - it’s a film so suspend your disbelief.

[–] TheMan18 (13130) 3 years ago

True, but even with that errr mantra, it was still at least a little far fetched and I wondered if others also though so or knew otherwise?

[–] TheMan18 (13130) 3 years ago

And films like "Hard Target" (1993) and "Die Hard" (1988) ALSO required suspension of disbelief and were "only movies" but I believed what happened in them a little more than here but maybe, you know...

[–] aavfreak (3366) 3 years ago

I agree. I'd prefer some different backstory. Someone who demonstrates the skill he did, the strength, endurance, quick wit, and savvy thinking is unlikely to end up a starving homeless man like that, regardless of his previous training or background.

I don't need a military backstory, I just can't reconcile his competence as the prey with his helplessness as a homeless bum.

[–] scannerdarkly (1397) 2 years ago

The Vietcong defeated well trained and heavily armed forces! And those people were peasant farmers.

I think Mason allowed himself to be a bum and gave up trying to move forward in life as a form of punishment for letting his wife and child die. He felt responsible for their death as he knew "the building was a death trap" long before it went up in flames.

Mason was then put in a life or death scenario involving psychopaths, and this is the point where a man rises to the task or simply folds. What makes him such a fascinating character is that even though he already gave up on life he actually rises to the task and goes full on survival diehard mode! I think he was a smart and quick witted person and even his friend Hank the old timer veteran mentioned this to Mason "You're young, you got a good head on your shoulders, you still got your whole life ahead of you! Im gonna turn your path around and get you back on the horse if its the last thing I do"! And Hank succeeded, because Mason did learn some tricks and advice from his friend Hank and it shows with not firing a gun if you havent checked the barrel. It doesnt show more than that in the film, but I like to think Hank told Mason all kinds of survival tips and old stories. They were friends, and hungout all the time. Old timers have a lot of wisdom usually and will share it with folks who spend time with them.

Also remember Mason got to live in that old building with his family rent free because he acted as the on call maintenance man. That job entails all kinds of work and you gotta know a mish-mash of construction, hvac, and plumbing to be able to do that job. So Mason would have more problem solving skill than the regular joe who doesnt have to fix things for a living. That kind of job puts you in the thought process of looking at "how can this be fixed or overcome"? Building being decrepit and owner not caring makes me think Mason had to jerry-rig solutions all the time.

[–] MaximRecoil (4782) 2 months ago

"The Vietcong defeated well trained and heavily armed forces! And those people were peasant farmers."

No, they absolutely didn't; not even close. The idea that the US lost the Vietnam War is a modern retcon, i.e., it's bullshit regardless of what Wikipedia says.

The U.S. lost about ~58,000 soldiers while killing about 600,000 NVA/VC soldiers (which is a low estimate; the high estimates exceed a million). The U.S. never lost a major battle in Vietnam, for obvious reasons (far superior mobility and fire support). The U.S., North Vietnam and South Vietnam all signed the Paris Peace Accords (a peace treaty officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam), which means, the war was over, obviously. North Vietnam reneged on the treaty soon thereafter, which means, they started a brand new war that the U.S. decided not to take a combative part in.

[–] scannerdarkly (1397) 2 months ago

Okay.

The WILL of the Vietcong was much higher than the those of the U.S. Soldiers, to the point where the U.S. just gave up. Whats the point of being over in Vietnam if in order to win the war we have to kill the entire country? It was a pointless war.

My dad told me that the Vietcong use to have the rifleman charge and behind them were those running barehanded or with spears and simply pick up the rifles of their fallen comrades to keep going. They won by sheer willpower and determination to never stop fighting us.

Theres a video you can find on youtube were the U.S. kept bombing a bridge, and the Vietcong kept rebuilding it, over and over and over. These people would not stop. Basically unwinnable if your opponent is like that.

Perhaps I could have used a better analogy, as Mason won by attrition yet no sacrificing on his part.

Now back to the main topic on hand. What did you think I wrote about Mason? Mason didnt win by sacrifice like the Vietcong did, but he mainly fought each opponent one on one when he could and built booby traps and distractions, used camouflage, used fear even. He wasnt arrogant like the Hunters, and never underestimated them like they did. He ultimately became their reckoning.

Is this one of your favorite films? It has been mine for many years now. I could rank it into my top ten easily

[–] MaximRecoil (4782) 2 months ago

"The WILL of the Vietcong was much higher than the those of the U.S. Soldiers, to the point where the U.S. just gave up."

The US didn't just "give up." Again:

The U.S., North Vietnam and South Vietnam all signed the Paris Peace Accords (a peace treaty officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam), which means, the war was over, obviously.

"They won by sheer willpower and determination to never stop fighting us."

Except, they didn't win. Again, a peace treaty ended the war that the US was involved in militarily.

[–] scannerdarkly (1397) 2 months ago

You dont want to talk about Surviving the Game, you just want to argue and put me down and bask in how "wrong I am". I reckon this'll be the last time you see any response from me. You could prove me wrong though, but I doubt it. Either it'll be silence from you, or some kind of insult. Time will tell.