just watched "the game" SPOILERS (1 Viewer)

[Anthony_D]

...pretty good movie...much better than 'fight club' IMHO...I have some qukestions though:

what does "i went not once but twice through the spanking machine" mean??? nick vanorton said that during his conversation with his ex

did nicholas have a gun with blanks at the very end when he shot connie??? did crs place teh blanks in their or was connie wearing a bullet proof vest???

did anyone see the alternate ending on the LD??? if so, what was it???

did nicolas sell his watch to get the passport while he was in mexico??

how could those gunshots at the apartment been blanks when windows were broken from teh shots?

 

[LDfan]

Hmm, been a while since I watched this movie. The alternate ending on the Criterion LaserDisc had a sequence of Nick leaving the party and simply walking down a dark street, instead of talking with the Blonde haired lady. I still have the LD but I don't have a player anymore. :frowning:
Jeff

 

[rutger_s]

In regards to the first question...

Us yanks and some other societies feel it necessary to punish a person on their birthday. You usually get spanked, lightly punched, or swatted for every year you are old plus one. I.E. A person turning eighteen is spanked nineteen times since he is eighteen years old(eighteen hits) plus one more for good luck(number nineteen). So Nicolas was making a joke about going through this ritual twice.

For the rest of the answers...



Nicolas had blanks in his gun and Conrad's jacket had a exploding blood pack underneath otherwise known as a squib. Remember that Claire says its similar to a movie? This is how some gunshots are created for films. The squib is hidden under the clothes and explodes on cue. You can use as many squibs as necessary. Which is why Conrad had an entry wound and an exit wound.

There are two alternate endings on the Criterion laserdisc. The one already mentioned and another one described through text screens. The second alternate ending results in Nicolas receiving a letter congratulating him on completing Level 1 and to prepare for Level 2 of The Game.

Nicolas traded his watch for the money to return to the U.S. If he traded it for a passport, he would not have had to take such a complex trip to get home.

The gunshots at the apartment were blanks. Remember those squibs I mentioned? Well they can also be used for carefully placed gunshots. You simply have small explosives hidden in the framework & glass and on cue, they explode. This again is how some shoot outs are filmed. Again, keep in mind the comment about how it is similar to a film. Watch the behind-the-scenes for The Matrix shootout and the film Bowfinger for an idea of how squibs work.

 

[Tom-G]

did anyone see the alternate ending on the LD??? if so, what was it???

I have the Criterion LD and the alternate ending is nothing more than Nicolas Van Orten leaving his birthday party, but instead of pursuing Christine, he refuses an offer to take a taxi and walks home. It omits the romance, but gives the impliaction that Nicolas is going to do some introspection.