The Game [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: David Fincher

Overview

Director David Fincher followed the success of his dark and atmospheric crime thriller Seven (1995) with another exercise in stylish film noir, this time lifting the pallid atmosphere a notch to indulge in a fast-paced trip through the cinematic funhouse. Michael Douglas plays Nicholas Van Orton, a Scrooge-like San Francisco investment banker following in his father's Scrooge-like footsteps. On Nicholas's 48th birthday (the age at which his father committed suicide), his younger, free-spirited brother Conrad (Sean Penn) blows into town and gives Nicholas a special gift for "the man who has everything" -- a ticket to CRS (Consumer Recreation Services), a company that constructs games custom-fit for each participant to provide, as CRS salesman Jim Feingold (James Rebhorn) cryptically puts it, "whatever is lacking." Nicholas's secure life begins a downhill slide as CRS masterminds a series of elaborate pranks, harmless at first, that quickly become malicious and life-threatening. Stripped of financial resources and convinced that he can trust no one, Nicholas begins to wonder if CRS is a front for a more covert operation, and if the game is in fact an attempt to steal his fortune and leave him for dead. Determined to fight back alone, Nicholas infiltrates CRS in order to "pull back the curtain and meet the wizard."

Product Details

Release Date:	09/25/2012
UPC:	0715515098717
Original Release:	1997
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:08:00
Sales rank:	8,244

Special Features

Audio Commentary by Director David Fincher, Savides, actor Michael Douglas, Screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris, Digital Animation Supervisor Richard "Dr." Baily, Production Designer Jeffrey Beecroft, and Visual Effects Supervisor Kevin Haug; An hour's worth of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and film-to-storyboard comparisons for four of the film's major set pieces, with Commentary; Alternate Ending; Trailer and Teaser, with Commentary; ; Plus: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Sterritt

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Michael Douglas	Nicholas Van Orton
Sean Penn	Conrad
Deborah Kara Unger	Christine,Actor
James Rebhorn	Jim Feingold
Peter Donat	Samuel Sutherland
Carroll Baker	Ilsa
Armin Mueller-Stahl	Anson Baer
Elizabeth Dennehy	Maria
Caroline Barclay	Maggie
Daniel Schorr	Himself
James Brooks	James the Bartender
Keena Turner	Officer Hicks
Spike Jonze	Beltran, Airbag EMT
Scott Hunter McGuire	Young Nicholas
Charles Martinet	Nicholas's Father
Florentine Mocanu	Nicholas's Mother
John Aprea	Power Executive
Harrison Young	Obsequious Executive,Officer Walker
Kimberly Russell	Cynthia, CRS Receptionist
Joe Frank	CRS Data Collecting Technician
Gerry Becker	New Member Ted
Jarlon Monroe	New Member Victor,New Member Victor
Tommy Flanagan	Solicitor/Taxi Driver
Bill Flannery	Tubercular Commuter
Kathryn Jean Harris	Rattle Gatherer
John Cassini	Man in Airport
Harris Savides	Ankles
Aaron Thomas Luchich	City Club Waiter
Victor Talmadge	City Club Maitre D'
Marc Siegler	City Club Waiter
Andre Brazeau	Heart Attack Performer
Carlos Hoy	Paramedic Graves
Edward Campbell	Paramedic Stern
Sean Lanthier	Paramedic Kirkland
Curtis Vanterpool	Ambulance EMT
Jay Gordon	Triage Doctor
Owen Masterson	Pickpocket
Yuji Okumoto	Nikko Hotel Manager
Hideo Kimura	Nikko Hotel Bellhop
Rachel Schadt	Nikko Hotel Maid
Mark Boone Junior	Shady Private Investigator
Joy Ann Ryan	Kaleigh Baer
Pete Davidian	Mr. Garcia
Jack Kehoe	Lieutenant Sullivan
Christopher John Fields	Detective Boyle
Linda Manz	Christine's Roommate Amy
Victor Ferrerira	Assassin Mobubbi
Duffy Gaver	Assassin Brodi
Robert Stephenson	Assassin Kartmann,Actor
Sean Moloney	Assassin Rankin
John Hammil	US Embassy Counselor
Rachel Steinberg	Sheraton Desk Clerk
George Maguire	Sheraton Manager
Trish Sommerville	Hot Waitress
Jason Kristopher	Teen Thug
Lily Soh Froehlich	New Moon Cafe Manager,Actor
Tammy Koehler	Tammy Fisher
Michael Lynwood	Michael Fisher,Alex Fisher
Charles Branklyn	CRS Guard
Michael Massee	Airbag EMT Galliano
Sara Davallou	Rachel
Stephen Cowee	Mel
Anna Katerina	Actor
Kat Kilkenny	Rattle Gatherer
Howard Shore	Composer
Jeffrey Michael	Officer Walker
Sienna Day	Actor
Alessandra Jane	Actor
Rhiannon Ryder	Actor
David Fincher	Actor
Terence Ford	Actor
Faustina Alcantar	Actor
Mark Boone	Actor
Anna Katarina	Actor
Charles Brankira	Actor
Andre Brazen	Actor
Christopher Cory	Actor
Aaron Lucich	City Club Waiter
Tom Crowl	Actor
Sara Davallon	Actor
Carlos Hey	Actor
Tammy Koehlev	Actor
Anni Long	Actor
Sean Maloney	Actor
Tracie May	Actor
Jamie Midgley	Actor
Florentine Mocan	Actor
Heriberto Norzagary	Actor
Esan Pena	Actor
Bob Scott	Actor

Technical Credits

Michael Ferris

John Brancato

Andrew Kevin Walker

Michael Ferris	Screenwriter
Cean Chaffin	Producer
Steve Golin	Producer
Kevin Haug	Special Effects
Jonathan Mostow	Executive Producer,Producer
Don Phillips	Casting
Michael Runyard	Stunts
Cliff Wenger	Special Effects
John Brancato	Producer,Screenwriter
Steve Boeddeker	Sound Effects
Todd Boekelheide	Sound Effects
Scott Brose	Sound Effects
Willie D. Burton	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Yin Cantor	Sound Effects
Robert Ikeda	Special Effects
Andrew Kevin Walker	Screenwriter
Eric Roberts	Special Effects
Derrick Crane	Special Effects
Rocky Capella	Stunts
Ren Klyce	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Another superb thriller from the writing team behind The Net (1995) and director David Fincher, who once again turns even the most static, mundane sequences into visually arresting blitzkriegs of sound, motion, and composition. Michael Douglas is his typically solid self as a privileged, powerful white man whose old boy network entitlements are stripped away, a role he's played before and is starting to buff to a well-oiled sheen. He gets able supporting work from Sean Penn, who really only has two scenes in which he can shine, and Deborah Kara Unger as the under-realized love interest who, to be fair, really can't be better delineated without spoiling the surprise ending. The complex script folds in on itself in satisfying fashion, with a few glaring questions lingering (the result of a third act fall off a skyscraper begs some further explanation), but not to such a degree that the film is spoiled. Where the film achieves "underrated classic" status, however, is in Fincher's relentlessly interesting direction. He seems to combine the drive of Oliver Stone with the class and flair of Alfred Hitchcock, all funneled through the sensibilities of MTV and Generation X. Fincher has the artistic chops to be one of the top shooters alive, but he has the good grace and wisdom to let his script be his guide. The Game (1997) is, just like the film that would follow it, 1999's Fight Club, a superior genre film that deserves more respect.