The first thing I thought of was Running Man when I saw it.
I haven't seen Rollerball from 1975... but I've read and watched some clips online that also came to mind.
Like playing games to death.
There are a lot of surprises, mysteries and twists in this series. Hunger Games and Running Man were pretty straightforward. While those are dystopian films, Squid Game is set in current era South Korea. It's a secret series of games run by billionaires. I haven't seen Battle Royale but there appear to be some similarities. Squid Game is enjoyable since a lot of the characters are likeable despite their many flaws.
shareBattle Royale is definitely superior to this.
shareI just saw Battle Royale and I enjoyed it. I don't think there is much of a comparison between Battle Royale and Squid Game. The Battle Royale dubbing was pretty bad and the standoff with the antagonist was lame when he jumped up to answer his phone after getting shot.
shareBattle Royale was done 20yrs ago before all these same types of shows became way too common and the ending didn't suck unlike this one.
shareI hate to be "that guy" but the original book for Battle Royale was considerably better. While there were some scenes straight out of the book in the movie which were excellent (girls in the tower for one), the added subplot regarding the creepy teacher (director of the film too!) and the main girl didn't work for me at all and just came off as weird.
shareThe books are usually better than the movies. The BR act doesn't make sense to me since potential contributors to society are being sentenced to death. I could see sending the failing students off to the island BUT they sent a whole class off to the island. If I were a cruel dictator in a dystopian future, I would send kids to the island if they were suspended THREE times or if they flunked out.
shareDefinitely a good point! I think it has more to do with scaring the population by picking anyone than anything else, but I think your idea would have worked a good bit better!
shareWhen I first heard of Squid Game, which I haven't seen yet, the first thing I thought of was Battle Royale, which I've seen twice years ago----saw the director's cut the second time, and it was still disturbing as hell. I also thought of The Most Dangerous Game (1932) which is like the grandfather of people being hunted by a crazy hunter type of film. It also naturally made me think of this 1965 Italian cult satire film called The Tenth Victim, which was the first movie about a game show in which the participants have to hunt down each other for a grand prize. So yeah, the idea of Squid Game isn't original, but I'd like to see a Korean take on the subject matter anyway. The creator/writer of the show says he's working on a second season of the series, btw.
shareThe cast of Hunger Games and Battle Royale were mostly young and pretty. The cast of Squid Game are of multiple generations and some are even ugly. I also like Squid Game since it provides a few glimpses of South Korean culture when they are not in the game.
Ursula Andress was in the Tenth Cut so I'd watch it just to see her. Some of my favorite survival movies were Death Race, Highlander and The Running Man. Rollerball is another one that I loved as a kid but I found it hard to re-watch as an adult due to the body count. Lord of the Flies is another good story but I haven't seen a film or tv version of it.
The OP and others on this thread remind me of my dad's refusal to see Gladiator since he had seen Spartacus. I'm looking forward to the second season of Squid Game.
Yeah but done better.
shareYeah but done worse.
shareYeah but done.
shareYeah butts.
shareYep - all of these films are quite similar --
Then you have films like SAW/CUBE
Then you have rich chasing one poor person as a hunt - I can't recall the names of the films, but there's a bunch of 'em.
I suppose, the good thing is that they are not quite remakes/sequels, but they sure as hell are similar enough to make you realize that they were all derived from the same formula.
And you have that movie with woketards hunting republicans :D
Well, most stories follow the same "formula" anyway ... look at all MCU/CD movies as an example.
Yeah, the basic premise is the same. But, you know, the basic premise of random guy acquires superpowers, dawns a costume, and gets entangled in a battle with a villainous foe is a basic premise to a lot of things also. They're each still pretty good in their own unique ways, however (well, sometimes). Ditto with this.
Incidentally, there's also a pretty cool Stephen King novel with a similar premise called The Long Walk (it was actually the first novel King ever wrote). It's about a bunch of teenage boys who enter into a contest where they have to walk without any rest, slowing down, or stopping lest they be shot dead. The last person left alive wins. I'd love to see it turned into a movie at some point.
"it was actually the first novel King ever wrote" correction: that was Carrie (at least published, he might have wrote the draft for The Long Walk but since it was not published until 1979 we don't know how the draft looks compared to the published form so technically ... ).
https://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/profile-stephen-king/
I was going by what I remembered from The Bachman Books (that's the version of the book that I own). I went to look back at it just now, just to be sure, and in his introduction, he says "I wrote five novels before Carrie. Two of them were bad, one was indifferent, and I thought two of them were pretty good. The two good ones were Getting It On (which became Rage when it was finally published) and The Long Walk." Apparently, it was completed in 1967 and he submitted it to a competition. They rejected it, however, and he decided it must not be good so he stashed it away until he published the collection of books that I've quoted from. But you're right in that it wasn't actually his first published.
shareThanks for the info.
I'm still not sure which "style" I like more (although they are not too different). Bachman or King ...