Benjamin Cox Think back to the early years of this century when reality TV was everywhere and all-consuming. "Big Brother" had aired in the summer of 2000 and dominated the tabloids while "Pop Idol" and "Survivor" both debuted the following year to equal success. But the backlash was already beginning and it started with this razor-sharp parody that took the genre to its logical conclusion. But this doesn't just illustrate the problems with reality TV - it shines a light on the depraved, fame-hungry individuals who will literally do anything in order to get on TV for their fifteen minutes of fame. Catching up with it again today, I was reminded not only of how far ahead of its time it was but also how scarily accurate it was. One suspects that it's only a matter of time before such a chilling scenario appears for real.The film is presented as a series-long broadcast of a show called "The Contenders" in which five randomly chosen people are each given a gun and thrown into a battle to the death with the sixth entry, the winner of the previous series. For this, the seventh series, current champion Dawn (Brooke Smith) is heavily pregnant and determined to be victorious again as her freedom is due once she wins. Returning to her hometown, she is pitched into battle with college student Lindsay (Merritt Wever), unemployed thug Tony (Michael Kaycheck), Christian nurse Connie (Marylouise Burke), paranoid conspiracy theorist Franklin (Richard Venture) and cancer patient Jeff (Glenn Fitzgerald). As the series progresses and the body count rises, each contestants secrets are revealed in front of the nation. Will Dawn survive for the sake of her unborn child or will another of the Contenders take her crown? "Series 7: The Contenders" is a spot-on parody of the countless shows of this nature that pollute our screens on a daily basis. Writer/director Daniel Minahan's use of graphics and narration (provided by Will Arnett) perfectly apes the genre so well that you have to remind yourself that it is a movie and not an actual show. The mostly unknown cast also add to the illusion that this is really happening - Smith's foul-mouthed mother-to-be is a brilliant character and you root for her throughout, even if her morals are somewhat twisted. But then again, this feels like a slightly different America - when she blows away an old guy at a cash desk, few of the other people present bat an eyelid because they see the TV cameras there and realise it's a show. And without meaning to, the movie also parodies those desperate souls who wish to partake in these ridiculous shows. No detail is too graphic and no secret is too big to be splashed in front of the cameras, all for the sake of entertainment. I loved the moment when the previously loyal Lindsay confronts her pushy parents and even stabs one of them and then, seconds later, she's expressing her undying love for them. The film reeks of hypocrisy, as it should. It leaves the same nauseating taste in your mouth that most reality shows do.There will be some who don't get the joke, probably those people who believe that the likes of "The Only Way Is Essex" and "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!" are documentaries. But I can't stand these reality shows which have about as much reality in them as a Mark Rothko exhibition. "Series 7: The Contenders" remains a solid and stark reflection on a subculture of TV and TV viewers that have abandoned reason and logic in the pursuit of audience numbers, even if it smashes the point home over and over again. The movie does have a very strong 'indie' feel to it (or 'low budget' if you're being unkind) and it's impossible to listen to Joy Division again without thinking of the movie. But I have a lot of respect for this movie and would recommend you try and watch it. And whatever you do, please keep telling yourself that it's just a movie...

charlie lafferty Series 7 is what I'd like to call a "thrilledy" or a comedy/thriller. It's a movie about a fictional reality television show called "The Contenders" that takes six people and forces them to fight to the death. Five of the contenders are newly, randomly chosen people who are pulled from a "lottery." They are handed a gun as a way of welcoming them into the show. The sixth contender is the winner from the previous season of the show. It is the Hunger Games before the Hunger Games even existed. Although the contenders aren't necessarily children, young people are not ruled out of the lottery. For instance, one of the contenders in the show is a 17 year old girl. The movie goes from being darkly hilarious to just plain dark as the show's contests show no mercy in killing the other one, no matter who they are.Shot mockumentary style, the movie is very fun and constantly keeps the audience on the edge of their seat; there's no telling what's going to happen next, who's going to die, or who's going to eventually come out on top. Although the ending is a little lackluster, overall the movie is very worthwhile. There's also a cameo by Will Arnett before he was Will Arnett! (And all I really mean by this is before he was famous). Hilarious and dark, Series 7 is not only a great movie, but its also a very interesting look at human beings and what we call entertainment.

mithnar Wow.If you can "suspend reality" well enough to wade through the goth/punk/Emo overtones then enjoy.This has been described as "action & adventure, Dark Comedy and Thriller". This is what happens when a posturing art/film goth punk with delusions of talent is given backing. "A mewling abomination" is the politest thing I can say about it.This movie is NOT a satire, dark comedy or any other posturing garbage that is spewed. I'd love to take any of the idiots responsible for this atrocity out into the real world for 2 weeks and give them a grand tour of the real world just to open their eyes but I don't think they'd learn.

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.