I was researching the new HDDVDS coming out this month and realized that "The Game" is directed by David Fincher (one of my favorite directors...fight club seven...). I have never seen this movie but have enjoyed all of Finchers movies, including Panic Room.

Is the game on par with Seven or Fight Club as far as grittiness and sheer "wow" factor. Would this be a good blind buy?

Any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

Its up there with fight club as one of his better movies. If you haven't seen it yet, buy it.

It was ok, I'd wait for it to go down into a cheaper price. BTW I'd love to Se7en or Fight Club (Fox release booo) on HD-DVD

~Bobby

It's more "Panic room" than "Seven" and "Fight club" to be honest.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1078955-game/

I thought it was fantastic, i dont know what movie you guys saw.

Great movie. If you haven't seen it I would blind buy it.

The Game is a great movie. You should enjoy it if you already are a fan of Fincher

Game is a very entertaining thriller with some surprises sprinkled throughout. Not sure I would equate with Panic Room which was a pretty straightforward story with no twists. I'd agree it's more like a tamed down Fight Club or Seven.

Get it. It's a neat film.

ss9001

It's more "Panic room" than "Seven" and "Fight club" to be honest.



Panic Room? I don't think so.. how do you see that. they aren't stuck in the same room the whole show.

and there is a mystery to solve. not looking at the same wall for 2 hours.

The Game has one of the freakiest endings ever imo. Definitely a good blind buy.

I will skip other new Universal HD DVD because it don't have spanish subtitle...

This is a good movie with some fun twists. If you don't mind watching these types of movies more than once, then I say go for it.

its fun to watch it again to catch new clues, kinda like the Prestige.

I love Se7en and Fight Club, but I was pretty apathetic about Panic Room, and, to a lesser extent, The Game. I'd recommend renting this one first.

Panic Room? I don't think so.. how do you see that. they aren't stuck in the same room the whole show.

and there is a mystery to solve. not looking at the same wall for 2 hours.
I meant in terms of quality.

I think it is worth a blind buy. Story line was pretty good and it had some good twists in it. I'm really looking forward to this one when I get it from Amazon.

When a movie has a great ending (IMO), I usually love the movie. This is one of those movies for me.

Ending blew me away - made me want to watch it again right away

Loved the movie. You'll like it the most the first time you watch it.

very cool flick and definitely fresh in terms of the storyline

I can't wait to get my copy, it's been years since I last watched it. I don't remember much except that it's good.

Anyone know if BB or CC will carry it locally? Or get the screw like A Scanner Darkly?

the game is a great film and assuming it gets a respectable HD treatment, it is definitely worth a purchase. although it isn't as good as fight club or se7en, it would still be one of the better movies available on HD-DVD.

i view fincher's career as:

tier 0
fight club
se7en

tier 1
panic room
the game

tier 25
alien 3


i haven't seen zodiac yet

One of my favorite all-time movies. Definitely one to buy.

This was one that caught me by surprise when it originally came out. It's not quite as good as Seven or Fight Club, but darn close. It's not as edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting suspense like Seven, nor is it the roller coaster that is Fight Club. The pacing is slower and more deliberate, but the build-up is great. Sean Penn, Michael Douglas, and Deborah Unger were perfectly cast.

I hated Panic Room and think The Game is worlds better. If you liked Seven and Fight Club, I think you'll dig The Game.

It's a good movie that I really enjoyed, but I have never felt the need to see it again. Once you know the ending, that's pretty much it.

I was researching the new HDDVDS coming out this month and realized that "The Game" is directed by David Fincher (one of my favorite directors...fight club seven...). I have never seen this movie but have enjoyed all of Finchers movies, including Panic Room.

If you enjoyed his previous work (including Panic Room), you should be fine blind buying The Game. It's definitely no Seven or Fight Club. But it's an entertaining, twisty little flick.

I liked The Game a lot. My wife didn't like the ending. Her loss. I have it on SD-DVD, so I'm not likely to replace it, but would buy it in a heartbeat otherwise.

IMHO, it's not as good as Fight Club and Seven is in another league altogether. It's better than Panic Room, which I'm not high on.

As for Alien 3, I'm one of minority that actually like it a lot, especially the extended DC from Quadrilogy. It's more of horror throwback to the creepier first film vs. the action of Aliens. And there's really no way to compare The Game with Alien 3. Too totally different movies that both work well IMHO.

It's a good movie that I really enjoyed, but I have never felt the need to see it again. Once you know the ending, that's pretty much it.


I agree as far as the plot but just like with Hitch's Vertigo one might mis some little details at the first time trying to "guess" what's next.


However I rate this 2nd only behind Seven. Figth Club was too "outlandish" for me to take it seriously.

I would personally blind buy anything by David Fincher, even Alien 3. The Game is a really good movie.

It's a good movie that I really enjoyed, but I have never felt the need to see it again. Once you know the ending, that's pretty much it.

Agreed. Although I did just rent it from Netflix after not having seen it for a few years and I didn't realize how much I forgot about it, so might be a good watch every time a new format comes out:).

BTW, has anyone who has seen the HD DVD noticed that it says in the menu to flip the disc for the SD version? LOL, I guess this one started out as a combo.

Alien 3 was an abortion even before Fincher got involved, so I don't blame him for that. And if you thought the film version was bad, just be glad they didn't go with some of the other scripts that were purposed. I've read three different versions of that film and they all were awful. One of them even had alien lemurs...I'm not kidding.

The Game on the other hand is worth owning imo. It's not nearly as good as Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac, but it is better than Panic Room and Alien3. Just thinking about Alien3 gets me depressed. What a way to rape and destroy what was building to be an amazing franchise. :(

I haven't seen The Game since it came out on SD...A must Buy for me!

I liked The Game a lot. My wife didn't like the ending. Her loss. I have it on SD-DVD, so I'm not likely to replace it, but would buy it in a heartbeat otherwise.


If the SD-DVD was anamorphic I could understand that as I don't plan on replacing everything in my collection, but all dvds that never got anamorphic treatment that are being released in high definition will definitely be getting replaced.

Alien 3 was an abortion even before Fincher got involved, so I don't blame him for that. And if you thought the film version was bad, just be glad they didn't go with some of the other scripts that were purposed. I've read three different versions of that film and they all were awful. One of them even had alien lemurs...I'm not kidding.

The Game on the other hand is worth owning imo. It's not nearly as good as Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac, but it is better than Panic Room and Alien3. Just thinking about Alien3 gets me depressed. What a way to rape and destroy what was building to be an amazing franchise. :(


Wow, I liked Alien 3. I thought Alien Resurrection was the abortion and should have never happened.

Great movie. If you hate it I'll buy it from you.

One of my favorite movies. I never bougth the R1 dvd since I was waiting for a "better" version.

I received the hd-dvd today and just checked some scenes and it looks really good.

The first time I saw the movie was in VHS, alone at home, at night, and the end blow me away.

Wouldn't mine picking this up myself, the last time I owned this movie was The Criterion Collection laserdisc.

No Spanish or French subtitles --> no sale.

Wow, I liked Alien 3. I thought Alien Resurrection was the abortion and should have never happened.

Same here. Loved Alien 3 (the alternate version), hated Alien 4. And I'm a die-hard Alien fan.

...once you know the ending, that's pretty much it.

Rob...it that's the case, I guess you never bothered to watch "Titanic" ???

PS - I just received THE GAME yesterday.

TA

i remember back in 1999 posting on the hometheaterforum about how wretched the non-anamorphic transfer of the sd-dvd looked, and i got raked over the coals by people referencing the online reviews stating that it was REFERENCE QUALITY dvd!!

we've come a long way guys!!!!!!!

as for the movie itself, it's probably my second favorite Fincher movie behind SEVEN. I just love the tone of the movie and Michael Douglas in particular....this was around the time he was playing A LOT of roles almost exactly like this but this is the one that "clicked".

(PS - just got this on my doorstep before leaving for work - hope today goes by fast!)

Not sure how the PQ is on this transfer...but I absolutely loved the movie (saw in theatre, owned VHS and DVD) so for me it is a must have regardless...and frankly the PQ/AQ has to be better than VHS/DVD so it is a win.

plus I got it for ~cheap~ from buy.com with google coupon.

Movie was en enormous mind trip. I enjoyed it at the theater. Very enjoyable.

Any reports on PQ from anybody who has seen the HD-DVD yet?

Joe

Any reports on PQ from anybody who has seen the HD-DVD yet?

Joe

even if it was tier-5 material, it would blow away the current dvd, so i'm not too worried. i'll know in 3 hours. this job thing is interfering with my fun lately....

Any reports on PQ from anybody who has seen the HD-DVD yet?

Joe

I got it today and checked out a few scenes to see how it looked. It looked pretty good, but nothing outstanding. I'd say Tier 2-3 level, but that's from only watching a few scenes for a few minutes.

I'm going to watch the whole movie after work tonight.

i remember back in 1999 posting on the hometheaterforum about how wretched the non-anamorphic transfer of the sd-dvd looked, and i got raked over the coals by people referencing the online reviews stating that it was REFERENCE QUALITY dvd!!

I just watched it yesterday the whole discs. I did zoom in a bit to fill my screen without cropping the sides. It was surprisingly good given the fact it's not anamorphic. There were no obvious compression artifacts, no EE, or mosquito noise, or ringing. It was a bit soft because the reduced resolution of letterboxing. If this was properly rendered anamorphic disc it could still a reference after 9 years.
However since the HD DVD is here one shouldn't really care right? :)

It's a taut thriller that is extremely well directed. The SD DVD was also one of the worst compressed in the history of the format.

However....it has one of the worst endings in the history of cinema. Most people who watch this film will stand up at the end and scream "********!". It's sort of an uncontrollable impulse. :cool:

It's a taut thriller that is extremely well directed. The SD DVD was also one of the worst compressed in the history of the format.

However....it has one of the worst endings in the history of cinema. Most people who watch this film will stand up at the end and scream "********!". It's sort of an uncontrollable impulse. :cool:

hey, i like the ending! plus, the very last shot makes you think twice....i don't see why anyone would hate the way it ends.

glad you agree that it is one of the worst dvd's of all time...like i said before, i would always get railed for complaining about it from people who thought it looked AMAZING....almost all of the "legit" online dvd reviews also wrote glowing reviews of its reference quality, and it wasn't even anamorphic!! I always think back to those early dvd message threads about THE GAME sd-dvd when people bicker back and forth about hd-dvd PQ......

I just watched it yesterday the whole discs. I did zoom in a bit to fill my screen without cropping the sides. It was surprisingly good given the fact it's not anamorphic. There were no obvious compression artifacts, no EE, or mosquito noise, or ringing. It was a bit soft because the reduced resolution of letterboxing. If this was properly rendered anamorphic disc it could still a reference after 9 years.
However since the HD DVD is here one shouldn't really care right? :)

no obvious compression artifacts? that original GAME dvd is riddled with more visible compression artifacts than i have seen on any disc. is it possible that your zooming/cropping is performing some filtering??

i have seen some non-anamorphic discs that hold up pretty well even on my projector, but this one is completely unwatchable on a big screen.

hey, i like the ending! plus, the very last shot makes you think twice....i don't see why anyone would hate the way it ends.

glad you agree that it is one of the worst dvd's of all time...like i said before, i would always get railed for complaining about it from people who thought it looked AMAZING....almost all of the "legit" online dvd reviews also wrote glowing reviews of its reference quality, and it wasn't even anamorphic!! I always think back to those early dvd message threads about THE GAME sd-dvd when people bicker back and forth about hd-dvd PQ......
I don't "hate" the ending, it's one way to go. It just seems extremely implausible and sort of feels like a cheat.

Spending the entire film building to nothing feels like a waste to me.

But..bygons.

As for the SD DVD, I was SHOCKED how bad it was. One of the few DVDs I recall that was actually swarming with macroblocking! The Game, the first Tron release and the 70's remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers are the only ones I recall having this problem. If people were praising its PQ, they either had such horrible equipment they couldn't tell anyway or they were completely deluding themselves.

ooooh....that Body Snatchers dvd is an abomination!!!

you're right about saying that THE GAME was "swarming" with artifacts - i remember one particular dolly shot that is slowly pushing into Michael Douglas behind a big desk (before his secretary comes in with the message from Sean Penn) - the art in the background behind his desk is literally swimming like a "swarm" of bugs from the artifacting!!!

as for what you had in your spoiler alert.....i see how that could p*** some people off but i kinda like the tone of the finale/ending.....

has no one given this disc a spin yet?

ooooh....that Body Snatchers dvd is an abomination!!!
It's too bad because I love that movie. Heck I love all the Body Snatchers films! I heard awhile ago they were making another one but I haven't gotten a whif of it in some time. The political climate is certainly perfect for it right now.

i think Showtime HD shows the same horrid transfer of BODY SNATCHERS whenever it airs...looks like a bad laserdisc port.

weren't prints made for THE GAME using that unique super-deep-black-processing Fincher tried with some (but only some) prints of SEVEN??? that would be great if the HD was mastered using one of those prints.......

i am so excited to see the puzzle pieces breaking......one more hour!

I got The Game and Smokin' Aces in the mail today so I should have at least one of them on the tier thread tomorrow.

I've gopt to admit I'm kind of curious about American Idol tonight because it's become such a joke. Have you guys been following this? www.votefortheworst.com has been organizing mass voting for the worst contestants on the show in a sort of protest against the whole thing. Last night the kid that started it was on Letterman and I've been hearing about it from others as well. Until now I couldn't imagine why Sanjaya stayed on week after week because he's so awful. I didn't know until now why that guy won last year.

So I'm going to start voting for Sanjaya now just to watch Simon Cowel quiver in fury. This adds a whole new element of entertainment to the show as people voting for good singers get screwed and the whole farce is exposed for what it is.

I will skip other new Universal HD DVD because it don't have spanish subtitle...
You seem to be doing fine with the English language, so why not just enjoy this and other Universal titles in their original language? English is not my primary language either, but I always prefer watching movies in their original language, regardless of what it is. Just my $0.02.

A very nice presentation. It (appropriately) has a layer of fine grain, some fleeting specks, and some shots look a touch soft, but we finally have a solid home video release of the film. :D

A very nice presentation. It (appropriately) has a layer of fine grain, some fleeting specks, and some shots look a touch soft, but we finally have a solid home video release of the film. :D

film grain - that's actually a good sign! less filtering!

wow, just skimmed through the disc and i am VERY disappointed.

this is a VERY soft transfer. yes it is better than the old dvd, but this is the closest i have seen HD-DVD look to SD.....i would vote tier 4.

you can tell instantly at the opening titles.....they look soft. and the picture never sharpens up. this looks like the same print they used for the original dvd, too.

ugh........

i have some additional comments -

after going back and watching some more i seriously believe that Universal put the SD transfer onto the HD-DVD by mistake. there is no way this is an HD transfer. The only other possibility is that something seriously wacky happened to my hd-dvd player so i am about to go test some other titles to see if they look like they should....

Man, you guys are picky. This disc looks pretty good to me.

after going back and watching some more i seriously believe that Universal put the SD transfer onto the HD-DVD by mistake. there is no way this is an HD transfer.
I knew people would start saying this... :rolleyes:

It's a Super35 film with penetrating blacks, it's most likely not going to incredibly tack sharp, but it will look relatively "rich" (which it does). It's nowhere near the Traffic debacle.

Rob...it that's the case, I guess you never bothered to watch "Titanic" ???

PS - I just received THE GAME yesterday.

TA

I have no idea if you are being serious here or not.

If you are: please, don't be silly!

;)

I knew people would start saying this... :rolleyes:

It's a Super35 film with penetrating blacks, it's most likely not going to incredibly tack sharp, but it will look relatively "rich" (which it does). It's nowhere near the Traffic debacle.

i'm familiar what matted super 35mm 2.35:1 transfers generally look like, this is nowhere near as sharp as it should be, IMHO. out of about 70 hd-dvd's this looks the most disappointing to me....to clarify, i am watching on a 110" screen so softness can become really obvious.....

plus what i am seeing is definitely not rich...it's murky and undefined.

i'm familiar what matted super 35mm 2.35:1 transfers generally look like, this is nowhere near as sharp as it should be, IMHO. out of about 70 hd-dvd's this looks the most disappointing to me....to clarify, i am watching on a 110" screen so softness can become really obvious.....
Any chance you can watch it on a 55" screen and see how it looks? It always seems that the bigger the screen the more obvious the mistakes/defects can be seen. I'll hopefully get to watch this movie this weekend when I get it, but things are looking busy. :(

i'm familiar what matted super 35mm 2.35:1 transfers generally look like, this is nowhere near as sharp as it should be, IMHO. out of about 70 hd-dvd's this looks the most disappointing to me....to clarify, i am watching on a 110" screen so softness can become really obvious.....

plus what i am seeing is definitely not rich...it's murky and undefined.

What pj Oleus?

What pj Oleus?

Infocus SP7205....

anyway i just went back and watched about 30 more min. of it - i was definitely being too hard on it. I still think the first 10 minutes or so look very soft, but it gets better after that point. it is an occasionally rich looking transfer, some scenes are just too dark to show any depth or shadow detail.

Also, I played it simultaneously with the sd-dvd and that showed me just how much better the hd-dvd looked. i still would vote for Tier 2 or upper tier 3 since i still think it could look better....but it's definitely resolving more detail than SD-DVD, maybe my projector hadn't warmed up enough the first time i put it in.

wow, just skimmed through the disc and i am VERY disappointed.

this is a VERY soft transfer. yes it is better than the old dvd, but this is the closest i have seen HD-DVD look to SD.....i would vote tier 4.

you can tell instantly at the opening titles.....they look soft. and the picture never sharpens up. this looks like the same print they used for the original dvd, too.

ugh........

Try watching "Stargate" from Lionsgate on BD (which I am doing now.) Not impressed for HD. Had the same experience with "Total Recall" from Lionsgate. Both formats have thier "issues."

Just skipped around a few scenes. I have a 6188 Sammy DLP that was just calibrated by Eliab this past weekend, so I'll hazard to say I'm seeing a pretty accurate representation of what's on the disc.

That said, the transfer definitely seems inconsistent. Some scenes looked really nice with depth and clarity, while others seemed not so good. Maybe this is a source issue.

Either way, for $18 shipped, I'm happy to have an anamorphic version of the film. I'd love for it to look better than it does, but I'll still enjoy this disc.

the first 15 minutes or so seem especially soft before it gets better.....

do you guys agree that the opening titles almost look out of focus? i saw this in the theater 4 times and i definitely don't remember that....

again, this blows away the original dvd, i'm not trying to be a basher this was just my most anticipated HD-DVD release......

oleus

The SD DVD was also one of the worst compressed in the history of the format.




Bullcrap!

Bullcrap!

Thanks for the analysis!

I'm pretty happy with the transfer. (57" ISF calibrated) Little soft yes, and a bit of black crush, which could be the intent of the director but it's tons better than the SD DVD and the Critereon & DTS LDs so I'm just thrilled to have this on HD-DVD.

Just got hammered over on HDD

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/game.html

Back to the drawing board methinks..

Kirk Douglas must look awful in high-def, maybe that's why both Traffic and The Game are softer than they should be. ;)

That being said, both films are great.

Universal dropping the ball lately..

The Jerk and The Game mediocre transfers

It may not be perfect but I think that review from HD Digest is way harsh.

I think that's the problem with this sort of release quality..
I'm sure its better than previous DVD releases, but nowhere near enough the quality required to warrant an upgrade..
In my case, the idea of renting releases such as this is a non-starter (living in Ireland, its near impossible to find HD-DVD/BD in-store for sale, never mind rent).......so purchase is the only option. A minor jump in quality over an upscaled version of the last release is not enough, which is why I think these kind of releases (including The Jerk here!) should be left to people who do not own any previous version of the film.......(or are massive fans!)
It's a shame because I rather enjoyed the film and was anxious to hear how this HD worked out, but going on what some lads are saying and this review, I think I'll play it safe..

Let's face it, I'm sure Universal will double-dip down the line..

I think that's the problem with this sort of release quality..
I'm sure its better than previous DVD releases, but nowhere near enough the quality required to warrant an upgrade..
In my case, the idea of renting releases such as this is a non-starter (living in Ireland, its near impossible to find HD-DVD/BD in-store for sale, never mind rent).......so purchase is the only option. A minor jump in quality over an upscaled version of the last release is not enough, which is why I think these kind of releases (including The Jerk here!) should be left to people who do not own any previous version of the film.......(or are massive fans!)
It's a shame because I rather enjoyed the film and was anxious to hear how this HD worked out, but going on what some lads are saying and this review, I think I'll play it safe..

Let's face it, I'm sure Universal will double-dip down the line..
Haha, I don't think so. They didn't even give The Game an anamorphic transfer. I don't know much about the Jerk, but I'll personally guarantee Universal will never double dip this one.

And, I thought the PQ was pretty good overall. It's no KK, but I was pleased with how it looked.

I'm happy to have an anamorphic version of the film.

One of the reasons why I'll pick it up.

I'm one of the few people on the planet that thought Fight Club was boring. You'd have to pay me to sit through that movie a second time.

I liked The Game, it was a cool flick, but I'll have to find out how much of an improvement over the SD version this is before I'll consider buying it.

I think this title will be eventually revisted, unless the supplements on the Criterion laserdisc can't be ported over. If that's the case then maybe new bonus material will be created. This film should get the same kind of treatment as Panic Room, Fight Club, and Se7en.

I watched this last night and thought the quality was fantastic. Is it the sharpest HD-DVD out there?...of course not. I saw this film in the theaters and this disc exceeds that quality. It is ABSOLUTELY worth upgrading the SD DVD for this new one if you're a fan of the film.

A lot of us are falling into a trap thinking that every HD-DVD is going to be 3-d, eye-popping, explode out from our TV's good....that just is impossible to expect.

Just got hammered over on HDD

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/game.html

Back to the drawing board methinks..

glad i am not crazy....this is exactly what i am seeing too.

I watched this last night and thought the quality was fantastic. Is it the sharpest HD-DVD out there?...of course not. I saw this film in the theaters and this disc exceeds that quality. It is ABSOLUTELY worth upgrading the SD DVD for this new one if you're a fan of the film.

A lot of us are falling into a trap thinking that every HD-DVD is going to be 3-d, eye-popping, explode out from our TV's good....that just is impossible to expect.

but this is NOT an accurate representation of this film. it's extremely soft to the point of blurriness in many scenes, and the shadow detail is completely crushed. it's not a case of simply having rich blacks in a dark movie - this is a murky, messy transfer.

this is one of my favorite movies of all time and while it is better than the sd-dvd, this is not saying much as the sd-dvd is a nonanamorphic disaster of a transfer.

Haha, I don't think so. They didn't even give The Game an anamorphic transfer. I don't know much about the Jerk, but I'll personally guarantee Universal will never double dip this one.

And, I thought the PQ was pretty good overall. It's no KK, but I was pleased with how it looked.


Actually the last release of the Region2 SE DVD of The Game WAS anamorphic and a pretty good picture......must stick it in the XE1 to see how it looks
http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=558
Along with a good 5.1 track it was a very respectable disc with some decent little featurettes..
The Region 2 release was by far and away the best version, which is why a sub-par HD release such as this is not warranted..

As for double-dipping, impossible to say but even looking at Universal's announcement of early combos being re-released as singles and past DVD release history, I woudn't be so confident of never seeing a future re-release (assuming HD-DVD is still around!)..

if the r2 disc was a good anamorphic disc, i would say it's one of the few HD-DVD's that not worth the upgrade. it's so underwhelming it's not even funny.....

It's a dark movie, a lot of scenes in the night, so it will be hard to watch. Check the scene when he wakes up in Mexico and you'll see really good hd material.

It's a dark movie, a lot of scenes in the night, so it will be hard to watch. Check the scene when he wakes up in Mexico and you'll see really good hd material.

i am getting tired of "it's a dark movie" being an excuse for how this transfer looks.

I got both ETERNAL SUSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and THE NUTTY PROFESSOR from Universal. They both look pretty good on HD DVD. I've decided to pass on both THE JERK and THE GAME now after reading the reviews.

Completely don't agree with HIGHDEFDIGEST this time, THE GAME is not top notch, but it isn't that bad...
THE JERK has problems.
One absolutely unforgettable transfer is the TRAFFIC one.

So how does the soundtrack compare to the one on DTS laserdisc? All of Fincher's films have great sound design and the Game is pretty detailed.