DVD Review: The Game

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The Game
Polygram Films
Subtitles:Spanish
2.35:1/ Dolby Digital 5.1(+French 5.1)
128 Minutes
THX Approved
Subtitles:Spanish, English
Rated:PG
Region:1

The Movie:
This Michael Dogulas thriller certainly doesn't lack in style from David Fincher's direction, but what it does lack is a level of satisfaction from the plot and certainly the final act. Directed by David Fincher("Seven"), "The Game" is the royal mind-twist, or at least it considers itself to have reached that height. The film starts off introducing us to Douglas's character, a deeply unlikeable businessman who seems ill-at-ease with his life in general.

But then he finds out about "The Game". What is the game? Everything and nothing at all. He recieves a gift certificate as a present from his brother Conrad(Sean Penn) and after a lengthy sign-up process, he finds that slowly, his life is being controlled by forces other than his own. It certainly seems like the classic setup, but the film tends to feel as long as the "sign-up" scene. It piles on the murky style, which is much appreciated, but afterwards, there's really nothing to hold onto.

Douglas doesn't take the character further than the story asks him to: he plays it with the needed intensity, but the character is built wrong: if we see this wealthy businessman and don't care for the character, why should we care what happens to him? That's certainly the effect that the film had on me as the "game" escalates: I didn't care what happened to him. We don't see this character really grow or change in any way, it's just scene after scene of him running from a force he's not able to find.

"The Game" may have been successful had it been more concerned with things like pace(there are times when this film feels awfully slow) and changing the Douglas character into someone that the audience can be concerned with. This film seemingly has a small bit of "cult" status already, but consider me not a part, and my view is certainly locked up by what I consider one of the worst endings in memory.

THE DVD:
VIDEO QUALITY: The 2.35:1 letterboxed image(there is also a full-frame version included) is occasionally enjoyable, but there are certainly quite a few scenes that suffer from a distracting amount of grain and the occasional instance of shimmering. Colors are accurate and natural and Fincher's style is captured nicely here. Shadow detail and flesh tones are accurately rendered as well. The image is clear, but not really as sharp as I would have liked to have seen. Lighting tones are captured well, but overall, I was expecting more from this THX approved transfer. The brighter scenes and some of the low-light scenes are certainly acceptable, but it's the dark scenes that are a little too grainy and murky for their own good. I think that an anamorphic transfer would really have helped here. The image is simply not as well defined as I would have hoped.

SOUND: Crisp and clear but not that active, except for a few moments of action that the film occasionally contains. Surround use is occasional and detailed, but overall my favorite part of the sound mix was how clearly and crisply the haunting score was delivered. Dialogue is natural and rich sounding, integrated well into the soundstage.

MENUS: Some slightly animated menus that are easy to navigate and stylish. Very cool.

EXTRAS: The phenomenally creepy teaser trailer and theatrical trailers.

GRADES:
The Film: 75/C = (375/500 possible points)
Video: 84/B = (336/400 possible points)
Audio: 86/B = (344/400 possible points)
Extras: 79/C+ = (237/300 possible points)
Menus: 85/B = (170/200 possible points)
Value: 81/B = (243/300 possible points)
Presentation:83.5/B = (83.5/100 possible points)

TOTAL POINTS:1788.5/2200
Overall:81%/B-
Final Thoughts: Good(but not great) video transfer and clear, crisp audio. I didn't care for the film that much, but I think that if you're considering this disc, rent it first.

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