Coming at the tail-end of one of the most provocative eras of film, European new wave, and featuring Italian cinema's premiere leading man of the time, Mr. Mastroianni, The 10th Victim exciting movie, given its year of release. The concept, that a group of over-bored members of a somewhat Utopian society spend their time hunting and being the hunted in the then-futuristic 1990's, works well, while the Italian backdrop is, as usual, a treat. While at times aping better Italian filmmakers of the time such as Fellini, the movie chugs along into a somewhat twisted relationship between hunter and hunted - the female component of this equation being played by Ursula Andress, yow!. Themes of a desensitized society, anonymity, and a thrill-seeking populace would re-emerge around the early 90's in America with cult obsessions over serial killers, a groundswell of violent video games/movies/television,and the formation of underground social cliques and groups such as gen x and "grunge" culture, whose attitudes towards sex/society/money/politics differed radically from the norm. The Tenth Victim may not have been on the spot prediction-wise, but its themes were accurate to the future scape it was attempting to create.

It's the 21st century and they have a licence to kill. There is developed a lethat game : ten participants begin the manhunt against one another and the sequential eliminatation of opponents results in one winner . Then , a gorgeous huntress (Ursula Andress) agrees to murder a "victim" (Marcello Mastroianni) to get a major TV sponsorship advert . The winner of each round is awarded with a prize and the survivor after ten rounds, wins one million dollar award . It's Murderously Funny! . The Fun Lies Dead Ahead! . The Motion Picture that gives comedy something to shoot at!. An unusual comedy about things to come... and ways to go! . A bullseye view of guns and lovers . A hilarious sex farce! - But the instinct to kill is still human...A must see for Ursula's pistol-bra scene alone! She'd love to kill him - and kill... to love him! Stunning, Shocking!! The Instinct to KILL!!

This exciting film contains action , thrills, suspense, humor with tongue-in-cheek and a little bit of violence . An unusual Sci-Fi comedy set in the more civilized world of the 21st century, there is no such thing anymore as war . A weird little Sci-Fi movie that has achieved a minor cult status thanks to droll acting from Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress and in an suspenseful , intriguing plot taken from the novel by Robert Sheckley who also wrote Condorman , Freejack, The Prize of Peril and Escape from Hell Island , being based very loosely on the novel of the same name . Set in the 21st Century, where a human vs. Human "Big Hunt" is used as an alternative to war , but things go wrong when romantic entanglements between the two protagonists complicate matters . This is amusing mess without much sense , and the setting is the near future and pop culture has embraced a killer game that is performed for keeps . Stars Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni giving sympathetic interpretations . Being accpmpanied by a fine support cast of Italian actors , such as : Elsa Martinelli , Salvo Randone , Massimo Serato , Milo Quesada , Luce Bonifassy , George Wang and brief appearances from Pier Paolo Capponi , Massimo Righi , Guido Pernice , and Jacques Herlin .

It contains an anti-climatic and unappropriate musical score by Piero Pieccioni . As well as atmospheric and colorful cinematography by cameraman Gianni Di Venanzo shot on locations from Rome : The Colosseum, Piazza Navona , Piazza di Siena, Ostia, Titanus Appia Studios, Rome, Fiumicino Airport, Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland and Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan , Pennsylvania Station, New York City, USA . This offbeat motion picture was regularly directed by Elio Petri . He was an expert on political cinema and thrillers , such as : The Assassin , Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicicion , The Working Class Goes to Heaven , We Still Kill the Old Way . Rating : 5/10 . Only for Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni fans. Rating : 5/10 . Average .

Elio Petri was best known for directing movies dealing with politically charged topics (notably the Oscar-winning "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion"). That makes it all the more surprising that he directed the wacky sci-fi flick "La decima vittima" ("The 10th Victim" in English). It has a plot similar to Norman Jewison's "Rollerball" - in the future, war gets replaced with a gruesome sport - but we in the 21st century will probably have to agree that the main reason to see it is Ursula Andress. If you found her bikini in "Dr. No" to be a sight for sore eyes, wait 'til you see some of her outfits here!

It's not any sort of profound movie and doesn't pretend to be. Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni have great chemistry. It's a safe bet that woman turned millions of boys into men in the '60s (as did Elke Sommer, Britt Ekland, etc).