Das Millionenspiel (roughly translated as "The Game of Millions") is a 1970 West German made-for-television sci-fi action film directed by Tom Toelle, based on the short story "The Prize of Peril" by Robert Sheckley, and starring Jörg Pleva, Suzanne Roquette, and Dieter Thomas Heck.
Provides examples of the following tropes:
- Actor Allusion: The show's host Thilo Uhlenhorst is played by real-life game show host Dieter Thomas Heck.
- Deadly Game: Like the original short story, the film posits that shows where people literally risk their lives have become extremely popular, and one of the most popular involves the contestant being hunted by criminals who have been given permission to kill. Viewers can call in to offer advice and help to the contestant—or to his hunters!
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: A gameshow candidate has to survive contract killers, while the audience may help him. Or help his hunters.
- Immoral Reality Show: The eponymous show, in which contestants have to survive seven days on the run from a team of professional hitmen in order to win a grand prize of one million Deutsche Marks.
- Pop-Star Composer: Krautrock legends Can provided the film's score under the name Innerspace Productions. Despite considerable demand, however, the music was never officially released until 2012, when the main theme appeared on The Lost Tapes, a compilation album containing previously unreleased material by the band.
- Setting Update: Whereas the original short story was set in the U.S., the film is set in what was then West Germany.
