The Game: What Happened to David Fincher’s Most Underrated Movie?
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- Over the past three decades, few filmmakers have mastered their craft better than David Fincher. With a fastidious eye for framing and a deep focus on directorial details, Fincher has fashioned some of the most precisely orchestrated cinematic outings since his big screen debut in 1992. Yet, for most avid cinephiles and casual movie fans alike, Fincher will almost always be most associated with Se7en and Fight Club in the 90s and perhaps The Social Network and Gone Girl in the 2010s. If that’s an accurate assessment, then it begs the question - what is David Fincher’s all-time most underrated movie? While the recent release of The Killer is a worthy candidate, and a serious case can be made for Zodiac, The Game continues to be a criminally unheralded psychological thriller that, upon repeat viewings, toys and torments the audience with devious plotting and duplicitous tricks as only Fincher can forge.
Often considered the first post-modern mainstream movie on record, The Game has deservingly garnered a lot more love in the past 25 years than when it was released in 1997. With that in mind, there are a ton of fascinating factoids and interesting tidbits behind the scenes of The Game that even hardcore fans of the film may not be privy to, including the movie’s origin, the inspiration for the project, major casting, and character changes, filming locations, on-set injuries and mishaps, alternate endings, Fincher’s ultimate displeasure with the result, and a lot more, let’s leap off the roof and find out What Happened to David Fincher’s The Game!
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#TheGame #MichaelDouglas #DavidFincher 
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Man, I dunno how people couldn't appreciate a movie like this. I loved it. Still love it. And I watch it probably once or twice a year. Its definitely a cult classic.
The idea that a 1997 audience wasn't sophisticated enough to appreciate it is silly. Plenty of people appreciated it then. It's not like later audiences who were raised on reality TV or tik tok have some sort of higher level of sophistication.
Saw that one in the theater way back when. My girl straight jumped on my junk for most of it. Hellz yeh
Once or twice a year?
How many times have you seen this movie?
I do the same. Completely agree. Great film with a great performance from Michael Douglas. One of Fincher's best.
@@MrJacksspleen i agree, def seems more like the opposite esp since so many movies today are shallow and dumb. ei) popularity of super hero movies
As soon as you start thinking of The Game as a dark psychological fantasy rather than a thriller it makes a whole lot more sense. Great movie. 👍
11:03 - What? Some people really thought the whole thing was a practical joke? At the beginning of the movie, Nicolas - despite his financial success - is a broken man haunted by the suicide of his father. He has no friends, no girlfriend or wife and only socializes with others when he has to. He is terribly unhappy and heading towards the fate of his father. His brother, Conrad, loves him and that's why he gives him the gift of participating in The Game for his birthday - to help change the trajectory of his life. It was never a practical joke. How anyone could see it that way is beyond me.
I think they mean the way that the game was indeed rehearsed all throughout. Personally, I would've found it more exciting if something really didn't go according to plan - that way the "game" becomes more dangerous, it comes out of its controlled environment and becomes a part of the real world. Just my thoughts!
Ic what youre saying. I saw all of those character beats, I just didnt think his brother put him in the game BECAUSE of it. I could tell he changed by the ending tho. Your interpretation is definitely a tighter story than what I was thinking. Although his brother pulling up that shirt at the end is the funniest shit I've ever seen in a non comedy.
@@boyanaplamenova8325I personally disagree. Similar to seven (and why I love these two movies) the ending was always going to happen. Doctor Strange is talking out his ass. Everything is in control, that’s what makes it so mind blowing by the end. There was only one way it could go
I thought Michael Douglas brought the essence of his Wall Street character to this part and was perfect for this movie and the feel and the vibe of if. It's always been a favourite movie of mine.
Yes! The alternate title could have been "Gordon Gekko Gets His."
Ditto
Absolutely! Such a great, entertaining film.
Not sure why people think the ending is contrived but the rest of the movie gets a pass. I remember the first time I watched this, you didn’t know what was real and what was part of the game. The ending lets you know that everything was carefully orchestrated and was part of the game. Anyhow, loved this in 1997 and still love it today…
Exactly. What's weird is that presumably the company is so impressive they can pull off this kind of thing with mathematical precision. It's too bad that the film didn't become a smash hit because I could see making it into a franchise with variations on the central theme.
Always love showing this movie to people for the first time.
“Discovering the object of the Game…is the object of the Game.”
"First rule of Fight Club - don't talk about Fight Club"
I think David Fincher admitted the ending was underwhelming, saying he couldn’t figure out how to pull it off
@@bloomtikbloom9593 Agreed!
Only Usual Suspects tops this movies end twist
@@mrsam0496 disagree, The Others has the best plot twist and plot twist reveal ever 👌
@@BramoStork throw in The Sixth Sense too. These 3 completely caught me off and am good with predicting scripts
@@mrsam0496 the 6th sense was amazing, but the moment the boy said „i see dead people“ i knew Bruce Willis is also one of them. The bizarre beginning where he is shot, him and his wife never talking in the present and that sentence from the kid were to telling.
Until this moment, I thought Michael Douglas played his own father in the flashback scenes.
Right ⁉️⁉️⁉️ I woulda bet money on it...
Same.
YES
The ending felt like an Thriller version of April Fool's Day.
Loved it. Loved the ending.
This is when Fincher was on top of his game in making memorable films that you thought about long after watching them. I still want to find that T-shirt he gets at the end of the film.
Exactly. 💯💯💯
I mean, it's just text.
Can't you just get one made?
Calling the ending a practical joke by Conrad is a no-no. Conrad was rescuing Nicholas from the same fate as their late father. And like it is said at CRS, the game is different for everyone
This movie was amazing. I wanna watch it again before watching this video.
EDIT: Just watched it again and then watched this video.
'The Game' is pretty much a "what's in the *next* box?" meandering JJ Abram's movie *but* with a much better director.
Psychological thrillers *should* be a bit meandering to maintain the audience's states of uncertainty, paranoia, anxiety, and dread.
A bit disappointing that Fincher doesn't like it. I bet all it would take is him to make a few changes to the movie for him to be proud of the picture...because it's good.
I like it - a lot.
It's basically a Christmas Carol updated. A night of horror gives obnoxious rich person some experience of humanity etc
Honestly, I loved this movie at the time. Well made, solid acting and just fun to watch. I'm definitely going to give it a rewatch in the next week. Thanks for reminding me of it.
I'm a bay area native, I like going back to this film just to see how cool San Francisco was in the 90's. The city is a shell of it's glory days now. BTW for any football fans out there, former 49ers linebacker Keena Turner plays a beat cop in this film.
You know you’ve got quite the oeuvre when people just casually forget about The Game, Panic Room, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Hands down one of my favorite films. I always have it in a library of some sort.
This film has always lingered in my consciousness
Fincher is too self-critical. It's a really clever movie.
When he got the note, "don't let her get away", was part of his transformation at the end he didn't let her get away.
Saw this in theaters when it came out, and loved it! I remember taking a few friends to watch it after just to get their reactions, never a disappointment. Thank you for the great content as always.
I have loved this movie since it had me on the edge of my seat in the cinema when it came out. Classic.
Loved it when I first saw it in 97, love it now. Will probably watch it again after this, now. It's good stuff Fincher.
I can't even tell you how many times I've watched this masterpiece
I loved this movie when it first came out so I don't know what the hate was like from the rest of the viewing public, I thought it was smart and was a great adventure for me.
I loved this movie when it first came out. I was in high school taking a psychology class and the whole premise and idea behind the film fascinated me.
This movie is why I don't trust anybody who wants me to take a psychological test.
The ending is perfect! It’s called The Game after all. People are just dumb.
Hell no. The ending is perfect and hysterical. The t-shirt was the cherry on top.
09:32. Proscenium. Pronounced “Pro- see-nee-um” from the theatrical stage design “Proscenium Arch”. The traditional theatrical stage you would see in the theatre. Great video 👍 SUPERB movie. Love THE GAME. Great Criterion Blu-Ray too.
Lol, the pronunciation was pretty funny!
Oh man the game was my real introduction to Fincher …come on Douglas and Penn absolutely love this movie. Seven is a great film but in my experience a lot of people recoil from the subject matter and can’t see the greatness past the horror movie type vibe.
I loved this movie when i first saw it in theaters. Engrossing and well shot.
I rented this randomly one night from Blockbuster on VHS. I was blown away! Great cult classic!!
It’s great! Edgy, scary, fun. Memorable!
The fact that Charles Martinet played Nick's father blew my mind!
One of the most intriguing aspects of the game was the company/business that created it and Conrad's convincing ability to sell the lie they wanted him to sell to his own brother.
When the business just up and disappears overnight, it was like a conspiracy within a conspiracy. (And also no doubt had the audience questioning the authenticity of actual "businesses" out there in real life)
Very very surreal
I saw the movie in the theater about a million years ago. I liked the twist ending, the psychological aspect, and the funny t-shirt. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending and I’m not sorry. 😊
The Game is my all time favorite movie. Has been since I was very young. Love this movie. I wish someone would game me in RL....
The concept of this movie is wild. A dark psychological thriller thats revealed to all be a birthday prank by his brother is an insane idea.
“The Game”, very atmospheric. But very murky as well. I never felt like I was ahead of the story. It took a few viewings for me to start to actually get it. (Or get it as much as I could.) Michael Douglas hits it out of the park. He's perfect for the playing the role of someone who is slowly unraveling and we get to see the process. He did similar slow burn into rage/madness "War of the Roses" and "Falling Down".
It's a great movie, just watch it for yourself. The less information you go in with, the better.
Honestly, I don't know how anybody likes this movie. All I remember about this movie was saying to myself "This is impossible multiplied by a thousand". A plot like this requires everything to go perfectly on an obscene level... and I watched this a long time ago when I was somewhat able to shut off my brain. I can accept dumb stuff and plot holes in most movies but I can't do that when the entire movie is a plot hole.
Yeah exactly. And people say this movie is profound. How? They literally could of killed him multiple times. And he's just happy with them at the end. Dude if that was me I would of been busting shots at them, joke or not
Loved it in ‘97 and still do. Great film! 👍😎
I love a good thriller and «The Game» is an excellente thriller!
Same here. Excellent film
A great movie indeed. , Defiantly underrated.
I have to say, blew it off when it came out. Then I happened to catch it on tv, liked it, then got the dvd😁
Same goes for Shawshank Redemption and Dark City
Ahh man, my brother and I were going to watch this recently but we didn't. I'm gonna watch it soon and then come back to this video
Fantastic movie I only watched for the first time a few months ago. HIGHLY recommend the Criterion Collection blu ray
He failed to show up to court and now owes millions
My willing suspension of disbelief was pushed to breaking point by the denouement.
Too much “had to happen” to Douglas’ character for me to buy the “HaHa! Gotcha!” moment at the end.
I remember being bitterly disappointed, because I’d bought into so much of what had gone before.
The casting was really good throughout though, and Douglas in particular, knocked it out of the park.
This is still one of my favorite movies. I first saw it in 1999.
Great Video - this is one of my all time favorites and one of best Douglas's films
I never heard of or watched the movie until about 5 years ago - That being said this is an excellent thriller of a movie that I have watched several times now.
In my opinion a perfect movie
Well this was the WORST retrospective about Triple H I have ever seen!
I LOVE this film. I used to have it on DVD and I watched it all the time.
The Game was wonderful and I'm so glad I got to see it in the theater all those years ago. And I love the third act, even with the odd, black comedy aspect.
on all sites i saw this movie its always top rated and ppl watch it regularly, i think its very popular today
Love it and seen it more than 30 times, usually once a year
So good and remember watching it on vhs from the local rental store. Was blown away
I think it's a terrific movie. But KNOWING from the start it's all a game just lets the air out of the suspense balloon.
Love this film. There are so issues with the ending but the rest of the film is good that I can forgive its shortcomings. This film looks great and the casting is awesome. Deborah Kara Unger really stands out in the role. Fincher might not like it but it's still a banger.
I saw this in theaters when I was a kid in the 90s! Loved it!
This is one of my all time favorites! I recommend it to anyone whom I think might like it. This one, Spanish Prisoner and Bottle Rocket are in my top five
Another True David Fincher Masterpiece! 👍😊👌 The Awesomeness Continues! ✊😊👊🍁♈🍁
The Game is actually my favorite Fincher film. The ending was so surprising.
0:36 it does NOT beg the question. that is not what "begs the question" means. you mean "raises the question"
This movie is kind like the dark version of It’s a Wonderful Life, and that’s what I like about it
A great video for a great film! (I saw it twice in theaters when it was originally released.) My only major critique of it is that I would have preferred a more ambiguous finale that left you uncertain whether Douglas was still "playing" the Game in the end.
Give Fincher lemons and you'll get the best movie of the year.
I am going to say this before I even get started watching the video... This movie is epic and way way underrated... I never understood why it wasn't more popular.
one of my all time favourite films.
Great video review 👍
The ending was fine. People need to relax. You too Fincher 😂. And who are these people who want to see the whole film in a 90 second trailer? That BS. The studio makes the trailers, not the audience.
Love the movie when I first seen it, still love it till this day
Still, remember watching The Game in the movie theater. A MASTERPIECE ! For me, it's the best movie I have EVER seen in my life. Underrated or not, it's the one to see in my book.
Its hilarious to think that a lot of the characters in this movie that were messing with him were simply going off of "bro, were gonna prank my brother"
My Junior year H.S. teacher had us watch this film for theme analysis, and I've loved this film ever since! Just like in the movie when he's at the country club and speaks with the previous players, "I envy you, I wish I could go back and do it for the first time all over again."
"Ladies and gentlemen my brother Nicholas Van Orton" Fades to black, Credits.
Could have been one of the most solid thriller movies of the late 90s if it had ended 5 minutes earlier.
This is one of my favorite childhood movies
I just watched last night for the first time in years. The acting performance by Michael Douglas and Sean Penn is stellar.
It would be interesting to see the original 1991 script for "The Game" because I've always suspected that the idea was "borrowed" from a little-known 1988 UK TV mini-series called "The One Game" - which has a very similar concept, with a successful businessman finding himself forced into a "reality game" designed to mess with his business and personal life, and to make him think about his life-choices.
The mini-series made a lot more sense (imho) because in that version the protagonist - the Michael Douglas figure - is the boss of a successful video game company, and the antagonist is his former business partner who he forced out of the company just as it hit the big-time. The antagonist is literally a game designer, so taking his revenge on the person who betrayed him by putting him through a "reality game" designed especially for him makes a lot more sense than it being just some joke birthday present.
Anyway, I guess it's _possible_ that "The Game" was independently conceived and by total coincidence happened to have a similar name and concept to an obscure mini-series that aired in the UK two or three years before the spec script for "The Game" was submitted.
I knew the twist was coming, but the film goes out of its way into tricking you into thinking that can't be an actual game, because that would make no sense. And then right at the end of the film "Surprise, here's the BS explanation on how this was all staged, and he was in no danger at all".
14:50, that's a very pretentious way of looking at it. You are saying that If you think the films bad, it's because you are sophisticated enough.
I loved this movie!
I think Panic Room, is Fincher's most underrated film.
YES
I saw this in the theatre twice and a couple of times over the years. I think it's a great film. I was fine with the ending. Douglas' character started the movie as oblivious to his surroundings. Just going thru the motions. At the end he's hyper aware of everything. He has to analyze every situation. I thought that was cool.
I cannot believe you just dropped the name of Filoli mansion without mentioning what that is or what the name means! XD it's the house from DYNASTY, the name of the mansion isn't a real name but a portmanteau of several words that are, basically, a cheesy Latin version of "live laugh love" (thanks Maggie Mae Fish)
Loved it the first time I saw it, and it's still great. I'm a huge Hitchcock fan, so this was right up my alley in trying to figure out if it was real or just a game. The actors for the three main characters were spot-on in their portrayals. I can't imagine anyone but Douglas and Penn playing those brothers. And Debra Unger was perfect in her role.
The word "underrated" is so overused and badly used...it doesnt mean what you mean 😅
The game is pretty well "rated" and highly acclaimed...the word people are not using is "Overlooked" 😅
Thank you for this comment!
Saw this movie in theaters in my teens and I freaking loved it. Especially the ending! Idk what anyone not liking it is thinking. Do they want the same predictable outcome in every movie? I especailly liked how when Douglas takes the suicide dive you think “ok, now he’s done for. Nothing but glass and concrete beneath him.” Then a few minutes later one of the hired “actors” in the group said “you know if you didn’t jump, I was supposed to throw you over.” Brilliant!!
I loved this movie the first time I saw it back when it was in theaters. Still great.
Downloaded rhis to watch on a flight to Italy, watched it on the way home also. Love this movie
My favorite David Fincher movie by far. But I must clarify that I have only seen two movies from him, this one and The Social Network (this last one during a flight from Perú to USA).
Yep i think it is an underrated gem, probably because of the unpredictable nature of the movie. The ending was not something i was expecting but i think that's what is great about this movie is that you dont really know what is part of the Game and what is part of reality and what is going to happen next.
As someone else commented, anyone who thinks the entire thing was just a "practical joke" was not paying attention. It was more of an elaborate intervention. Conrad even says "You were in danger of becoming an asshole (sic)", which clearly means something
Conrad set the thing up to break his brother out of his depressive funk and to wake him up so he could enjoy life again. What more rons thought it was just meant for laughs?
In his final conversation with his ex wife Elizabeth he says "I'll call you. I will" And she smiles because she is happy to see him go through change
Always loved it.👍👍
The Game -- and "No!" -- launched Douglas into the DeNiro, Streep and Pacino realm. Just superb. I'm a DeNiro stan, but damn this guy delivers.
I loved this movie. It was an edge of your seat thriller. Extremely far fetched at times but still wildly entertaining. Michael Douglas was amazing as always.
This film was awesome when it came out, and I bought VHS copy as a teen, thinking it was so damn trippy.