The Game (1997) First Time Watching! Movie Reaction!

[@user-yf3oz3rn5b]

I literally went "Ooh!" and clicked so fast. I love this movie. It's criminally underrated and hardly anyone talks about it. Hope you guys like it.

[@emmanuelmartin1238]

Did the same... but I MUST go to bed!

[@basecode8]

Same (edit, think I said ‘Sweet!’

[@williamcarbajal383]

Every time 🤘😎

[@KusiPaavo]

They didn't like it though... I think they misunderstood the ending. The game would need to be brutal, to change someone as jaded as Nicholas. People who survived a jump from Golden Gate say they value life in a way they never did before they jumped (there was a documentary about it, vast majority of jumpers don't survive the fall). If you're jaded enough, maybe that's the only thing that will wake you up. I never had a problem with "how far they went", I think the only flaws of the movie were some implausible stunts and effects, that would be impossible for CRS to set and predict, no matter how much it cost. The accurate jump cushion placement just one of them.

[@itsalwayssomething7490]

​​@@KusiPaavodid you only watch the first minute of their review? In no way did they say they didn't like it. As a matter of fact, Samantha says she really liked it several times.

[@darksfallen]

A multimillionaire checks a receipt and says "Oh my god" has to be my favorite line in the movie.

[@AleksandarIvanov69]

That's how rich people stay rich :)

[@HABO2210]

it was something like 5 mil, according to a calculation made by one Redditor. Crazy money even for that time

[@solvingpolitics3172]

You obviously don’t know many rich people.

[@kHanSolo69]

Guys, he WASN’T dealing with his trauma. He was headed for that rooftop either way…

[@silikon2]

That's a good point.

[@willthornsbury2913]

At the beginning they described their service as "We give our clients what they're missing." He was missing an actual life. He was not really living and was protected in this cold isolated life. So they gave him an adventure, took him out of his protected palace, and gave him actual connections. The culmination was that he jumped off the roof just like his father but when he realized he was going to live and his brother was alive, he realized that he wanted to live a different life and it changed him.

[@S-jq1yk]

This is pretty what they said throughout

[@richardwallis9374]

Yup! Give him some perspective and shock him out of his cold robotic behavior

[@solidbeard8324]

That's one hell of Scrooge style prank

[@patrickflanagan3762]

Nicholas's Game was just a very elaborate intervention. He was on a course to kill himself, and they created a scenario where they took every comfort away from him, gave him a reason to fight, forced him to confront his father's death and allowed him to survive.

[@theshadow1812]

Wow what a succinct synopsis written in 2 lines - brilliant!

[@elcorado83]

The Game = very expensive last ditch therapy

[@kHanSolo69]

What they said. 👍🏼

[@markbartoszek8585]

That's true, but my feeling is that the film would've been more effective had he actually died in the end when he fell off that rooftop. They went too far with the game, and despite the best intentions, showing what happens when someone is not on the same page with the "treatment" they're supposed to receive would've been the better way to go. They pushed him too far, and everyone has a breaking point. Having him end his life would've been more suitable and fitting to the tone of the film. Instead, they went with the Hollywood ending, where he has drinks with his brother as if the psychological torture he went through never happened.

[@dancarter482]

@@markbartoszek8585 ABSOLUTELY - it needed the _Memento_ treatment!

[@Cadinho93]

Ultimately what he got out of the game was through having everything taken away from him, he realized what mattered most to him: family, his brother when he realized he wasnt dead and his ex-wife when he realized how he had treated her. Also, this is one of those movies you wish you could forget, so you can experience seeing it for the first time again!

[@basecode8]

So many Fincher movies… Alien 3 we just wish we could forget (unless they just redo that terrible ending the studio insisted on)

[@gluuuuue]

Right? This film and story are so underrated since they're far more than just a mystery with a seemingly neverending series of twists. The game strips away not just his resources but every psychological barrier they form and represent that he's built up between himself and the few people in his life who are connected to and care for him, and force him into a position of vulnerability.

[@kevinerose]

@@Cadinho93 yeah I also think that the man was heading down the same path as his father and would ultimately commit suicide. And this game was the only way to break the chain of events leading to his own destruction.

[@elcorado83]

Its reaction videos like this that make me lose all hope in Millennials. They just don't relate to any emotion or experience of people if stress is involved in any way. Its like it just doesnt compute for them...

[@Brian-qn7fn]

This film is terrible.

[@rmkkmrrmk]

50:00 he tried to kill himself because he thought he killed his brother. That was the ultimate action for someone who thought he lost everything. But since he saw his brother alive, he appreciated him for the first time in a very long time.

[@jamesleblanc7437]

He actually “dies” and is “reborn” 3 times. First, as he sinks in the taxi and emerges from the water (the symbolic meaning of baptism), being placed in and emerging from the coffin in Mexico (common ritual in mystery schools and secret societies) and of course, the ending.

[@jackthenarrator4735]

First DARK CITY and now THE GAME in less than a week. Two of my all-time favorites on this channel. Cant wait to watch this reaction.

[@jreeves1990]

Agreed!!! What’s next? Pi?

[@reservoirdude92]

Fincher wasn't playing around when he made this. One of the most technically impressive films he's made.

[@paulpolpiboon9535]

It's so bad ass. An impressive feat! Just an all around great film

[@jfrancism-lr9kc]

shot out to the editor of this film, editor James Haygood, who edited Fincher's music videos. The pacing on this film is fantastic. Favorite editing bit is when Douglas goes into the hotel room, discovers everything, and then rushes to the door to keep housecleaning from coming in. Masterclass work right there.

[@aleksisuuronen5969]

Technically most impressive is kinda a lot to say about Fincher and his first so called own movie. Like sure more stuff happens on the screen than most of his movies. Still there is so many of his movies that are just so metilicously tought out from the smallest things in the frame to him just knowing way more about lenses and this and that more the time has went on (he's one of the most technical directors out there). Just couple things about Zodiac, which is as a movie mostly just dialoque. Ruffalo didn't get why did David wanted to get another shot and another when they already had got it.. until he realized that he's looking for the extras in the back to walk just at the right time for the beat so it all aligns just so. Another thing is how closely the actual murders were done from car fabrics etc. Fight Club is from the point of view of how do you build all that style with the transitions etc. just way too on point for being basically his third movie (Alien³ was a nightmare where studio was intervening All The Time to make calls on stuff, ruining the vision, because he was a first time director with a big franchise). Benjamin Button does a lot for in terms where the technology was, so it defininetly was a very technical production to plan and execute. Dragon Tattoo then again also has a lot of those very precise elements without That many big set-pieces. Mank Defininetly was Super technical production from All aspects. Killer then is kinda that hyper focused that like Dragon, Gone Girl and even in Social Network to the smallest stuff, but then again pretty much just goes from a set-piece to set-piece (even if not huge set-pieces, they are Very calculated and immaculatelly done). So while The Game is also going from one set-piece to another, it does not have the razor sharp knowledge how to do all of the things as he today does. Also something about Gone Girl, Ben Afflec as also directing, he bet that Fincher won't notice when he blurred the lense just a ridiculously tiny amount and yes ofc he did say after couples takes is the focus just a bit blurr. That just tells the guys abilities and what has stuck thru the decades and how precise he is. So even if not noticing experiencing it, he does some crazy technical stuff in his movies where you do not exactly think you are watching it being done. It just also is so seemless that it takes you away from thinking: "That was a crazy cool shot" but more so immerse to it all.

[@ariadnepyanfar1048]

@@aleksisuuronen5969 I have to not be sad we didn’t get a Fincher Sequel to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and just be happy we got the first one.

[@swish007]

@@ariadnepyanfar1048 yeah it's a shame he couldn't have done the whole trilogy

[@Myles720]

I just love how they carry you (the audience) along with vague answers and fabulous nuggets like “For once I was blind and now I can see”. Really makes you wonder and curious about what you’re about to take in as a viewer.

[@waterspout8]

The "Happy birthday" after he lands in the party is significant. He's been reborn as a less self-centered person.

[@johnnyboy7144]

EXACTLY! I’m surprised they didn’t get it

[@jfrancism-lr9kc]

​​@@johnnyboy7144it's not that they didn't get it, its that they didn't buy it. And when a film doesn't sell you on the ending or any single scene, digging into theme and meaning doesn't matter as much, if at all. this film's ending has done that to some people and it's good to hear this type of "didn't buy it" pov bc the reasons tend to lie in the script. it's a valuable reaction for those into screenwriting.

[@Str52849]

When I watched it as a teenager, I was shocked at the ending: I thought it was a heavy, excellent thriller drama, but it turned out to be an excellent therapeutic film)

[@Str52849]

@@jfrancism-lr9kc The point is that the film sells perfectly and the moment at the very end near car is like a spinning totem feeling from Inception)

[@janehollander3843]

People who don't buy it, most likely, are those that (luckily) haven't faced this level of depression. This movie is like a 'real world' fantasy island.

[@YoureMrLebowski]

22:28 "The Game's getting to me." -TBR Getting? The Game has you Daniel.

[@LilannB]

They said several times at the beginning that The Game is life changing and designed for each player. Conrad gives him the gift certificate on his 48th birthday. The same age as his father died. Nicolas is 48 cold, divorced, no kids, very rich lives in a mansion. Conrad is his only family. Then he plays the Game is involved in things he never would have been involved in in real life. He wakes up broke in Mexico and has to get back to the US on his own. By the climax of the film he thinks he has been stripped of all his money, his home and his only relative. Then he chooses the same end as his father. Then he finds out it was all a Game. It was like waking up from a bad dream and finding out that none of what you thought happened actually happened. Imagine the relief you feel.

[@orangewarm1]

or you would be traumatized. all over again.

[@elcorado83]

Im so tired of people needing the basics of this movie explained to them. You have more patience than I....!

[@Brian-qn7fn]

Relief? You would be traumatized for life.

[@Sgt_Glory]

​@@orangewarm1except that they put him through a gruelling series of psychological tests to determine if he would or wouldn't be traumatized.

[@johan123212]

Haven´t seen the whole movie in a while but shouldn't he realise that his money is safe when he has shot his brother with a champagne-bottle ready to celebrate?

[@questionmarke]

This is one of my favorite movies of all time! Glad you all did a reaction to it, even though the ending disappointed you. You have valid points. As do the other commenters. I don't know. I love the movie because it's such an experience, such a ride.

[@KusiPaavo]

It wasn't about the game being cool or fun. It was shaking him up and make him value the real things, instead of money. Sometimes people need to experience something really bad, before they come to their senses. Something gentle or fun wouldn't have worked, he was way too jaded. People who survived a jump from Golden Gate say they value life in a way they never did before they jumped (there was a documentary about it, vast majority of jumpers don't survive the fall)

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

I saw that. I also remember that every one of them saying that they realized they’d screwed up before they hit the water.

[@randomrhetoric7656]

So many people completely miss the point of the game. It is hinted at when the guy says, "I once was blind but now I see." Most think the game is to get him to appreciate his life or experience life without being rich or even to reconnect with his friends and family. Now those do happen, but they are secondary to the main point of the game. What he was missing was an understanding of why his father would kill himself. He was a rich and successful with friends and family and yet took his own life. It was a constant issue for him not knowing why his father did it. The game was designed to drive him to the edge (both mentally and literally). This is why the game was so extreme. It had to be to drive him to the point of suicide. By making him go through that he gained a greater understanding of his father and a sense of acceptance for what his father did. In short the game allowed him to forgive his father and that ability to forgive opened him up to improving numerous other areas of his life (the secondary benefits that most people believe was the point of the game).

[@meciocio]

Then why one of the extras say "I'm glad you jumped because I was supposed to push you"

[@lajeteefan]

As I mentioned in my comment about “The Game” as a re-telling of “A Christmas Carol”, but with birthdays instead of Christmas, Nicholas’ father could be compared to Jacob Marley, who Scrooge admired in business, but Marley quipped that “mankind should have been my business”, just like friends and family should have been Nicholas’ father’s concern rather than his wealth. Conrad could be compared to Fred Hollowell, Scrooge’s nephew inviting his uncle to Christmas dinner, just like Conrad had lunch with Nicholas for his birthday, giving him the CRS gift certificate (even though Christmas dinner would happen at the end of "A Christmas Carol" and lunch with Conrad was near the beginning). “The Game” seemed to be about Nicholas coming to terms with the fact that if he didn’t change who he was turning into, he’d suffer the same fate as his father (Scrooge becoming like Jacob Marley if he didn't change his ways). The game itself treated Nicholas the way he had treated others over the years, a result of unresolved trauma from seeing his father jump. Conrad says to him after Nicholas lands on the “X”… “I had to do something. You were becoming such an a**hole.” Nicholas needed the extremes of the game (indeed, the shock value) to establish the necessary escape velocity in order to free himself from the cycle of who he was in danger of becoming.

[@davestang5454]

That's a good explanation. It was pretty obvious from the beginning that this guy carried a giant chip on his shoulder and he was wound tight. There are actually real-life people in power positions who are very much like this guy. They can't stand any part of their life that they can't have total control over. It can go to maddening extremes when combined with a self-righteous belief in their own "infallible" judgements. I love it when he finally admits to himself that he isn't "in charge" of anything in the game. He is given choices but the choices are not HIS choices.

[@a_random_voice_in_the_void]

@@meciocio You're getting lost in minor details. The important part was "I'm glad you jumped..." because that was the plan all along.

[@meciocio]

@@a_random_voice_in_the_void but he said he was supposed to push him

[@zmarko]

Sam: "...you took it too far into actual childhood trauma that he's dealing with..." But that's the issue Nicholas has had his whole life, he's NOT dealing with his childhood trauma, and never has. He was forced to take care of his brother at a young age (he yells out "did I have a choice" in regards to raising Conrad at the flat tire scene), and has always stuffed his emotions down and never expressed any of them, to his ex wife, or housekeeper, or lawyer, or anyone. So he hasn't dealt with anything, and this whole huge game is designed to help him do that, and help make him a more open and caring person. I doubt you guys will have time for it, but I suggest just watching it again on your own time, and just watch everything that happens now that you know the ending. It's actually a really brilliant story/script.

[@Zarkarian64]

To put it in layman's terms ...He was dead on the inside and was completely unaware of it. His brother knew this and gave him the greatest gift of his life. For the first in his life, he felt alive. And no life can truly be enjoyed unless it is felt. The suicide was literally the death of one self (the caterpillar🐛) to emerge into his true self (a Butterfly 🦋). He felt free. Fortunately/unfortunately, Conrad was able to give his brother what their father needed most.

[@jeanneeco]

I saw it as conquering one of his greatest fears, that he would come to a point in his life where he would do the same thing as his father did. The Game showed him how he could handle losing everything. The only thing he couldn’t deal with was losing his brother. It brought his life into focus.

[@johnnyboy7144]

100% right

[@jjmalaprop9968]

Samantha, 10 minutes in: “What a fu**ed up thing to do.” Ten. Minutes. In. Brace yourself 😂

[@aarongilmore1254]

I also love that Conrad says "I had to do something, you had become such an asshole"

[@YoureMrLebowski]

38:02 "I don't know if you're in San Francisco anymore. Although it's hard to tell." 😆

[@RobertMorgan]

Looks around, OH NO I'm in LA!

[@playedout148]

I live in the sticks. Same out here.

[@gearomkologenas5458]

I cannot believe how instinctively excited I got when I saw you had reacted to this movie! I mean, I enjoy these watchalongs much much more than I would have expected and your channel is one of my absolute favourites... But I didn't expect to be giddy in anticipation. But here we are. And you didn't let me down! Loved watching along with you and especially loved your analysis afterwards... A feature that sets you apart. Speaking of challenging endings to Fincher movies, try Zodiac. I'll be keen to see what you make of that. Thanks Again for giving me another avenue to enjoy this film guys.

[@mervgandishander]

Ok you both must not have a sibling? The ending: Imagine thinking you lost everything material and then shot the only person left in your life that cared about you despite the cold person you've become. You feel so low that you give up on living....5 seconds later you slowly realize you still have what mattered most. Your brother. You'd be euphoric. The fact that they went too far doesn't occur. You're alive. Your brother is alive and you have a chance to be a warm person. You're not like your father after all. That kind of emotional breakthrough is literally life changing.

[@randallshaw9609]

I've got a sibling. I'd have to imagine 'CRS' would have done their homework well enough to know that wouldn't get me there.

[@Myles720]

Exactly. Well said. I don’t have a brother but I understand it. Those tears of relief and sobbing when holding his brother… wow

[@CesarGarcia-pe9eg]

after listening to their reactions, I agree with you. The amount of times my bro and I put each other through hell, only to hug it out after! We could fight and high five within minutes lol. Miss him everyday.

[@johnnyboy7144]

100% right

[@Brian-qn7fn]

BS.

[@ieyke]

I think the idea is that they blew up his life, made him kill his brother, made him face the spectre of his dad's suicide which had been haunting him his whole life by making him kill himself, etc, and then gave it all back. Now he knew what mattered, he was a better person, he realized how much he loves his ex-wife and brother, he experienced the thing that always haunted him AND survived it, now thankful for the life he CAN live and the people in it....etc.

[@Vurt.451]

RIP David Lynch who passed only a few days ago. Most people don't know he was also a musician who created his own genre, "industrial blues". If you're interested look up "BlueBOB" (David Lynch and John Neff)

[@patrickfoster8335]

It was about him appreciating family ...and realizing he is not his father. Several times in the movie he could have given up and died....but he kept fighting ...he didn't give up ...and he wants to live

[@franciscoR.]

Again you guys knocked it out of the park with this reaction, but what I’ve got from this movie this game has a different ending for anyone who plays it. For Nicholas his end game was to let go the past, let go of what his dad went thru. If he wouldn’t had jumped he would be the same man, the CRS doctors knew this because of all the tests they him do physically and mentally.

[@hughjorg4008]

Michael Douglass and Sharon Stone in *BASIC INSTINCT* . Great movie for TBR Schmitt and Samantha to watch. 👍

[@kaykutcher2103]

The 4th Man, same director, is the blueprint and crazier. His Dutch films make what he made in America seem like G rated Disney Channel movies.

[@sleepforever3494]

The gift was life. He was set to live out the rest of his days dead inside and his brother gave him the gift of life again.

[@TheRaggedyM]

It's a bit silly though. One left turn on that building for instance and the gift was suicide.

[@ChrisWake]

"The gift was life"? Man's traumatized even more than ever before. Excessive paranoia already baked in to boot.

[@sleepforever3494]

@@ChrisWake Did you watch the end? He looked happier than he'd been the entire movie.

[@jreeves1990]

Love this one! Growing up, we had our family’s VHS library and then I had my movies off to the side, The Game was in my collection and it stayed with me until my last VCR.

[@chrisb7831]

If I could wake up and see that the loved ones I've lost were indeed still here and just part of a game to get me to open my eyes, I absolutely would feel relief and cry tears of joy.

[@footofjuniper8212]

46:55 "I would just start punching" made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. Thank you.

[@Jonni1027]

The “disgusting zoo” was actually the big cat feeding station at the SF Zoo…the cats live just outside that place with the bars. It’s awesome to hear them all roaring up to the rafters just before they get fed.❤

[@YoureMrLebowski]

42:07 "He looks so insane. I know." -TheSchmitts

[@susanliltz3875]

“TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD “ that’s a great movie, classic you need to see!!

[@JusBidniss]

Caught this in the theater when it came out, and my take on the Game being therapeutic was what happened with his dad was his big traumatic bugaboo all his life, and all his 'wound too tight' lifestyle was him subconsciously driving himself to that same end. The Game took him out of his life and made him confront all the out of control chaos he had carefully insulated himself from, until finally he actually went through with what his dad did, and because it wasn't real, it freed him from it. He could see it from the other side more clearly, how it felt, how it didn't solve anything. The Game gave him a much-needed catharsis from his worst fears, and now he's come out whole on the other side.

[@JarritoFresa]

The people at the party didn't know Nick tried to unalive himself. They just thought he was making a very dramatic entrance. Remember, they saw the inflatable landing pad and didn't know what it was for until Nick crashed through the glass roof.

[@davidwilkins5932]

You’re thinking too much. 😶

[@Cau_No]

​@@davidwilkins5932No, he's on point. There were the actors of CRS and Conrad, who were in on it, but with absolute discretion. The others at the the party didn't need to know, they just saw a stunt entrance to the party. Like landing from a plane, but without the parachute. Of course it all works perfectly only because it's in the script...

[@-Gumbo]

He didn't understand why his dad ended his life. They drove him to despair, so he could

[@elcorado83]

Exactly. The movie is so profound and so unique and brave. Important too.

[@Brian-qn7fn]

BS.

[@Brian-qn7fn]

​@@elcorado83 This film is terrible.

[@-Gumbo]

@@Brian-qn7fn 'Once I was blind, now I can see' was quoted in the movie. .....A rebirth sort of thing. That's my take anyway. Samantha is right to say it's like... 'A Christmas Carol'. I also think its like... 'It's a Wonderful Life'

[@DavidGowers]

If I hadn't had a day planned, I'd have been here hours ago because this is one of my absolute favourite movie, and the only movie in my entire life (so far) that ever had me leaving the cinema slack-jawed in shock. I love the constant "Is this part of the game?"

[@jfrancism-lr9kc]

you mentioned the intro reminding you of The Omen, Fincher loves using seventies films as influence for cinematography and mood, esp horror flicks. And just the little things that Fincher does, like the way he frames Sean Penn in the restaurant. He paints a scene and directs his actors so well.

[@BVA-on2ic]

“This game has not been fun” LOL 😂

[@brettcody76]

This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE reaction you guys have EVER given!!!! You literally put my thoughts to words! When I saw this the first time with my wife we thought the EXACT things you were thinking!!! Thank you!

[@timothyhedrick5295]

One of my Favorite movies of all time! Love seeing people watch this for the first time.

[@TheWaynos73]

The opening credits of The Game is literally the inspiration for Succession. Rich people are weird.

[@jfrancism-lr9kc]

"rich people are weird" needs to be it's own film category. I suggest Down and Out in Beverly Hills next, if they haven't seen Wolf of Wall St of course.

[@sgray001]

"Did this help him?" Stripping away all his pretenses and all his trappings of wealth, getting rid of everything that he'd convinced himself was so important and reminding him what he truly valued, what he couldn't live without. Yeah, it helped him.

[@wilsonconvictor]

56:23 - so in the end it really was a "date game" 😂

[@Gus_Diaz_83]

My first time watching this would have been 1998 on free to air TV. I would have been 15. I had no idea what the movie was about, who was in it, nothing. I was HOOKED from the first minute, and for an unsuspecting 15 year old, I gotta say that I absolutely LOVED the non-stop rollercoaster ride!!! It had me guessing at every turn, and yes, I personally was a 50/50 blended mixture between the two of you in terms of reaction and theories as to what's going on... Every minute I was like: "Wait, this is still part of the game..." Next minute: "Ohhhh yeah this is all a con!" Next minute: "Wait, could this be part of the game?" I love the mental manipulation behind it! Hence why I was hooked from the first minute and have loved it ever since. My partner saw it with me recently, and she liked the movie, but hated the Game. She said "The Game itself is more manipulative, dangerous and traumatizing than what it aims to achieve". I guess she has a point. She did like the movie tho haha

[@runarvollan]

Luuuv the tone and atmos. My fav Fincher

[@YoureMrLebowski]

47:27 "How is this therapeutic? He just launched himself off a roof." -TBR 😆😆 Sam's "Early. Early." with the hand wave. Hilarious.

[@Major42]

Love this movie. It's kind of a modern Mr. Scrooge story.

[@DavidGowers]

I love this movie so fucking much, it's the only movie I genuinely wish I could forget completely just to be able to experience it for the first time again. The entire point of The Game is that it's tailored to each person in order to give them a once in a lifetime experience, and Nicholas's Game opened his eyes to the world around him, opened his heart to those around him, got him out of the rut he was in. He was little more than a robot at the start of the movie but by the end he was reborn into a proper life that he can live fully now. As for that ending, I know they don't spell it out in the movie but I do feel like everyone at the party knew what was going on and how Nicky was going to enter. Same with Ilsa, his caretaker/butler/whatever she is, she would have been filled in on everything that happened.

[@knight4iam]

This movie is totally about dealing with su-cide. Lost 2 childhood friends that way... my uncle... and my father. I watched this movie WITH my dad, more than a few times. Suddenly, I was 48, watching this movie a couple years after his death, and I finally got it, understood it. It consumes you when someone you love dies that way. Guilt. When the movie shows him daydreaming about seeing it, he's 48, his dad was 48, he's probably thinking How much different am I than him at this age? Pushing him to a breaking point, where he does it... I completely understand the point of the movie. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

[@Neilxtc]

Absolutely love this movie and Michael Douglas’ performance! Definitely a hidden gem and LOVE reactions to it! Well done!

[@alexd467]

Nailed it! Yes it is universally credited as a parody of a Christmas carol, totally love your reaction and confusion on this one lol

[@keyserxx]

28 years old wtf. One of my favourites of all time, didn't see it at the cinema (but wish I had), it was just on TV one day in the 2000s. I enjoy watching it with people that haven't seen it before lol I always think there are parallels with the film Being There (another awesome film). They are seeing how far they can push the viewer along with the story.

[@user-uq4gr5nl5o]

The reason why he didn't flip out at the end there is because he immediately understood why they did it and realized that it was necessary. He was becoming like his dad and was probably going to end up like him. The game managed to pulled him out of that state of living death he was trapped in like nothing else could have.

[@ghostface4250]

Its more scary that there is a company like CRS with enough money and connections to pull any of that off

[@wubranch1]

“It’s only when we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”

[@Str52849]

His name is Rober Paulson!)

[@YoureMrLebowski]

44:53 "I don't know what's real or not." TBR I absolutely love the genuine excitement from the reactors on this channel.

[@Alexander-w9u3c]

I like that you saw a movie that you didn't just love and thought was great. Instead the film was a mixed bag, and at least for me, it was very interesting to hear your reasoning. I know you try to avoid bad films, but it's still a welcome addition to your channel! 🙂

[@nplindgren]

I can't stop laughing at your reaction! Your post movie review has me laughing over and over again!!!

[@atrus3823]

I think the key is that he wasn’t happy. He had everything, but it was hollow. He’d lost everything meaningful. He probably was on track to follow in his father’s footsteps. They said the game provides whatever is lacking. It gave him humility, humanity, loss of control, danger. Through these he realized not only what was important, but how awful he’d become.

[@chriswein3318]

To be rich. They say:,, we are Swiss. We don't have Emotions , we have Money. "So true

[@martintuna1359]

IMO the whole game was to save Nicholas from the same fate as his father's - which Conrad recognized and pulled everyone into the game. The only way to save him was to literally push him over the edge of sanity so that he would attempt to kill himself. In the end when Nicholas was saved he knew what Conrad did and why.

[@TrusteftReacts]

Love the Family Guy line you did. When this movie came out I watched in the cinema and fell in love with it. Immediately I put it on my number 1 spot of favorite movies of all time, though it didn't stay there for long as it went back to Blade Runner. Still I consider The Game, one of my favorite movies. It was fun watching you two experiencing it. Thanks for sharing.

[@alvarhanso6310]

Great movie! Saw it in theaters opening weekend, brought my brother the next weekend, brought another friend a few weeks later. Wanted people to see it, too. So well done. Great suspense, Douglas is great, James Rebhorn is fantastic, Sean Penn is great, and the twists are just unbelievably good.

[@sleigh4019]

This was one of my favorite movies in the 90s ..just was such a cool concept

[@markmurphy558]

He was ALREADY traumatized and dead inside before the game even started. His life was ALREADY over. The game completely took everything away from him, destroyed his reality and took all his sense of security away from him to save him from his zombie life. Your suspension of disbelief is broken.

[@Brian-qn7fn]

This film is terrible.

[@markmurphy558]

@@Brian-qn7fn Films that make me uncomfortable and challenge my sense of reality have always been my favorites. An occasional feel good film is OK, but does not AFFECT me, or stay with me.

[@kennethfelker2619]

Was waiting for someone to React to this Movie, such a mind bender, loved this movie, because you see how he was to how he became ( Like you were saying he never helped anyone, and was finally humbled to that point) Great Movie and Reaction, Thanks 🙂👍

[@LightMovies]

Why all the reactors of this movie cut off the only phrase which defines the all movie itself? When Nicholas' brother hugs him, at the end, he tells him "I had to do something. You were becoming such an asshole.". That's what the movie (and the game) is about.

[@ChrisWake]

So all the trauma's justified? Please. Fincher thought the ending was weak, and he was right. Needed SEVERAL more drafts to get that dreadful last 5-10 minutes right.

[@LightMovies]

​@@ChrisWake But where would I have justified the trauma? Why do people have to read things that someone didn’t write? I was talking about something completely different, namely the fact that all youtubers cut out that line, which is basically the essence of the film. It's just an important line in the movie, period. What on earth does what you wrote have to do with anything? Where did I say that?

[@Bar-Lord]

This film is such a mind job the first time out. It took me another 2 or 3 screenings to really feel like I had a grasp on it.

[@scottneil1187]

Really?!. I'd be embarrassed to admit that.

[@JoseDiaz-f7o]

The Game is one of my favorite David Fincher films.

[@susanalexander6721]

One of my favorite movies. Criminally underrated! Nicholas had been on a downhill slide his whole life. His Father ended his life during Nicholas's birthday party.

[@kaz5148]

For me it was about breaking down the walls he built to deal with watching his father's suicide. See NF Mansion and the end of Good Will Hunting. He thanked his brother after collapsing in his arms in tears. For once I was blind, now I can see. He didn't care about any of the people in his life, except maybe his brother but he was even distant from him.

[@themetalpig7613]

He was alive, but dead inside already and heading the same direction his father did. He was feeling nothing and thought his father's fate was his destiny. He had to "die" to feel alive and did it because he was starting to feel finally. Also selling his watch was symbolic that he was leaving the tragedy of his past behind.

[@kbrewski1]

Cool!! I've suggested The Game in several other reactions like in Fight Club reaction I think. I was blown away when I first saw this. The jump off the building was absolutely shocking. Waking up in the coffin too. The movie transfixed me all the way through. And the detail in it forced you to debate whether it was all a Game or reality. Fincher, like Lynch, Cronenberg and Kubrick, like to twist the viewer's minds. I'm surprised you didn't react with more shock when he was in that coffin. Just think how many things could have gone wrong to pull all that off without someone being hurt or killed. And the preparation and detail it would take. What a movie premise.

[@dalefraser9771]

The Game is cinematic perfection IMO. One-third of one of the best three sequential movies from any director (Seven - The Game - Fight Club). I think another viewing might be in order for everything to sink in. This movie is a lot to take in. The ending is the keystone of the movie. The people at the party that are NOT employees of CRS (ex-wife, lawyer, housekeeper, Baer, etc) didn't know he tried to die and don't know about the game. They just know they are at a birthday party and are surprised the guest of honor arrived via the skylight. They don't know WHY he came in that way and that it was him attempting to end it all. Was it extreme to drive the man to want to end it? Sure, but for someone like Nicholas "extreme" was what was needed (the game is different for each player). Think of the indescribable joy he felt when he realized everything that drove him to jump was not true. His brother was alive. His wealth was intact. His home was still his home. This game made him realize how good he had it before the game and it turned him into someone that appreciates what he has instead of taking it for granted. This game 100% changed him for the better. The process was scary, painful, stressful and emotionally taxing but in the end Nicholas was so happy for having "played" it.

[@kylegacy]

Andy Kevin Walker - who wrote Seven - did an uncredited rewrite on this for Fincher - as he does with most Fincher films, and he doesn't the credit he deserves. Remarkable film - and team behind it. And it's still holding up today.

[@stephenzepp6536]

Pretty much everyone has hit the key points, but the emotion he feels after he performs what should be his final act, only to find out that his entire life is ahead of him is called catharsis--and it's in INCREDIBLY powerful event when experienced fully. None of the "little breakthroughs" that you guys observed and were happy about even matter--they were just steps along the way to the ONE BIG THING in his life: accepting his father's choice without guilt or blame, and moving on with his own life. The reason he is so happy at the end, and thanks his brother, and ultimately pursues "Christine" is that he realizes that he isn't his father, and now has the opportunity to make his own choices.

[@coreyhendricks9490]

This movie ranked at #44 in the 100 scariest movie moments on Bravo, cool reaction as always Schmitt & Samantha, you both take care and hopefully y'all have a good night after seeing this suspense of a movie

[@scottneil1187]

Literally nobody cares or respects Bravo.

[@susanliltz3875]

Oh wow!!!!! Wow!!! I was hoping you’d do this one some time!!!! Really different and clever!!’ Have To Really Pay Attention To This One!!!!!!

[@lajeteefan]

David Fincher’s “The Game” is essentially a re-telling of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, but instead of the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future (or yet-to-come), it’s Birthdays of past, present, and future. The “Birthdays past” is seen right at the beginning with the home movie of Nicholas’ birthday where we see the celebration at his parents’ home (eventually his home), where his father jumps from the roof, and that memory has haunted him ever since. “Birthdays present” is present day where Conrad (Penn) gives him his CRS certificate. "Birthdays future" starts with him waking up in the graveyard in Mexico, getting a ride back to San Francisco, only to find the gate to his mansion locked-notice the foreclosure notice deliberately misspelled as “Forclosure” (the game is “For Closure”). Birthday’s future basically played out like Christmas’s yet-to come, but in reverse - waking up in a coffin, making his way back to civilization, only to fall from the top of the skyscraper to the “X” at the bottom of the building, like his father jumping from the roof of the family home, and being given a second chance. Conrad, by the way, can be seen as a reference to the author, Joseph Conrad, a contemporary of Charles Dickens, who was influenced by Dickens, and whose novel, “Heart of Darkness”, could be seen as a symbolic reference for the CRS game itself. Nicholas Van Orton, transformed from being a Scrooge in business and his personal life, to becoming Saint Nick!

[@jaguarstryker1368]

I love this interpretation!

[@happyapple4269]

That's deep.

[@s.jackson8098]

I feel much as you do. It was an intriguing and enjoyable movie, but at the end I was furious with everybody. Why? Because I don't think the story earned its ending. Not the way Fincher's other movies did. For example, the ending of Se7en was shocking, but given the course of the story, the characters' reactions made sense. In The Game, they didn't.

[@MrSarcasm101]

Mulholland Drive is by David Lynch. Rest in peace genius... :'(

[@Floraflora2]

Reactors usually don't get the ending, don't see the catharsis factor in it. Every time I rewatch the movie, I cry huge tears at the liberating ending, and I wish for such a catharsis that could change my life and give my faith back in humanity.

[@oakleyorbit]

This movie is amazing but I totally understand that its a little over the top at the end(he could of jumped like you said ten feet to the left), but they needed to break him down to the point where he faced death otherwise he would of just bottled up his anger/feelings.. and eventually was going to end up like his father.

[@Str52849]

Great reaction! The Game has a great reference to a moment from 12 Monkeys by the way)

[@jimlechuga3193]

Extreme intervention. He took the tests and was deemed fit to participate. They knew he could take it. His leap cleansed him metaphorically.

[@SleeperDarkside]

Haven't seen this movie in a while. It's very good. Enjoy.😊

[@chrishotovec4163]

This is absolutely one of my favorite movies it is a top tier thriller and an excellent movie as everyone has said the intervention of the main character was required. Its just fantastic. I wish I could watch it again for the first time.

[@thejarvinator42]

Love this movie. Yeah the end can seem a step to far. But I think the justification was that everyone thought he was turning out the same as his dad and that he was going to repeat what he did. The game forced him to re-evaluate his life and confront his demons and appreciate life.

[@joshuacampbell7493]

Gosh I recommend Michael Douglas again in Fatal Attraction. Awesome movie of him ❤.

[@cog4life]

Ooooh…..this is a live one!! Remember the first time I saw this. I was really thrilled. 😊

[@scottishzombie]

Great point about Fincher movies all ending with WTF?? I'm so glad you guys had the same reaction as I did when I first watched it It's an entertaining movie, the acting is top notch, but in reality it's completely unplausible, makes no sense that all of those things wouldn't cause Nicholas absolute trauma, which it did so much he KILLS HIMSELF and somehow, when he learns its not real, that's supposed to be therapeutic and redeem him? Give me a break. I can suspend my disbelief for movies, but this one asked too much. Dan's right. I'd be swinging. Everybody has those few movies that don't click with them; this one was one of mine.

[@jonathanwelchbmnc7615]

I love this movie. I remember seeing it in the theaters with a high school buddy of mine. We may have ditched school… can’t remember. (Josh, if you’re out there… what’s up dude!) I have it on DVD and rewatch it every couple of years. Very underrated. What prime San Francisco used to look like.

[@davidfox5383]

I love how meta this movie is. We are watching real actors on the screen playing actors playing actors. The Game is on us, ultimately. That's why we can have a scenario where someone tries to unalive himself and then they're dancing and playing jazz in the next shot. It's a beautiful satire... or dark comedy, if you will... on my first viewing I was laughing by the end at how I had been had by the filmmakers. Love this one!

[@clarkli2936]

This is criminally underrated and not talked about or reacted to enough. My friends and I who watched it together spent several hours right after watching it, reliving it and talking about how much “the Game” must have cost Connie, LOL

[@positivelynegative9149]

Of course they know. Everyone there at the party was in on it. CRS is real, and those are their employees; apart from the client's friends/family.

[@olrikisback]

It's funny that you watched this right after Dark City. There was for some reason a trend in the late 90's to have movies where the main protagonist has to realize that he lives in an illusion : The Game, Dark City, The Matrix, The Truman Show...

[@ennesshay5040]

RIP, David Lynch.