Yeah I went to it 3 times to try and see all the different endings. But I only saw two of them. Saw the same ending twice. (They wouldn't let the theaters say which ending they had)
That's how it's always been for home viewing. I remember when it was at the theater, it was an interesting concept. I wanted to see it, but never did. So, I paid close attention when it finally hit cable/video. I thought the way they ended up doing it was pretty effective.
I think if they make a SE of this, they ought to do seamless branching so you could get the home video tri-ending, or a random ending like in the theaters.
I love this movie and this thread made me dig out my copy to watch again.
Just out of curiosity, am I correct in assuming that only one of the endings was sent to each theater? In other words, you couldn't go to one theater multiple times and eventually see all three endings. You would have had to go to (at least) three different theaters to see all the endings.
I saw "Clue" at a "multiplex" near Times Square, NYC, when it first came out. There were four theaters, and three of them were showing "Clue," each with a different ending, and the particular ending WAS advertised above the door of each theater (as "Ending 1," "Ending 2," and "Ending 3"). I saw "Ending 2" in the theater (the weakest of the three resolutions, if you ask me) because that was the next show starting when I bought my ticket.
I don't remember any kind of handout--I would have kept it for posterity's sake.
The film still cracks me up every time I see it, especially Tim Curry's slapstick explanation(s) of the crime. I especially love the bit where he falls out of the meat locker, seemingly dead, and then continues his explanation: "By now, she was dead..."
Pretty damn funny for a movie based on a BOARD GAME.
I remember Jay Leno as a guest on "The Tonight Show" (YEARS before he even guest-hosted, IIRC), and he lamented the fact that "Clue" was underperforming at the box office. To paraphrase from memory: "Now, here's a film with a unique little gimmick: It's a film with three different endings. Unlike the "Rocky" films, which are THREE films, all with the SAME ending!"
Clue is easily my favorite movie. I mean, when most people get asked what their favorite movie is, it's usually a toss up between a few. I have that same problem, because movies get weighed differently based on a variety of factors. Each has a different meaning to me as to why it is my favorite. All except one... Clue is always that one that comes to mind first.
Like others I watched it countless times on HBO (they played it a lot!) and bought the DVD when I started up my DVD collection. While I was working at Blockbuster, I'd watch it practically every Monday, sometimes on repeat, on the store's TVs (no, I didn't sit behind the counter watching it). I'd play it on Friday and Saturday nights as well, and customers would ask, "Oh, what's that playing?" I'd tell them and some of them would rent it. I only had one customer tell me they didn't care for it. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it (or was lying to me).
Yeah, it's kind of an unknown film... I'm not sure why. Most people ask the obligatory question, "Is that based on the board game?" I don't really know, but I speculate that most people assume it's not that great of movie because of that factor. And boy are they wrong.
Clue is easily the most quoteable movie ever. Yes, there are lots of movies with some great quotes in them. Be they comedies or dramas, or awesome one-liners from great action movies (A or B movies even -- like Commando, which has tons of great lines, or Die Hard, similarly), none of them hold a candle to Clue. At least I've realized that after seeing some 1400 movies. I've got a few hundred more to go that I definitely need to see, and thousands more that I could see, and tens of thousands more that I won't see... but I'm fairly confident in my assumption.
I think the acting is spot on. The interaction between characters is incredible. The humor is comprised of cynacism, sarcasm, wit, irony, slapstick, and all things in-between. It's a very clean movie, and that's one thing that actually appeals to me. For some reason, when it comes to comdies, I like a clean comedy movie. Now, I don't mind something like Bad Santa (which I find hilarious) -- but films like Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles didn't do anything for me.
There's also a lot of obvious suspense. The casting done is fantastic. I dare call it the greatest movie ever made. Of course, other movies obviously have more meaning to me in some regards (for instance, Leon, or 12 Angry Men, both have elements that make them two of the 'greatest'). But, when it comes down to it, if I'm asked what the greatest movie ever made is, I say Clue, and I don't have a problem with that. I don't say it and then think, "Maybe I'm just saying that out of nostalgia..." (there were movies like that, in which I thought they were so fantastic, but that's cuz I saw them when I was like 10 -- Hackers, Waterworld -- they were pretty awesome, and now not so much... they still appeal to me, but for the same reason The Goonies appeals to some).
And yes, like a select few have stated, I too can recite the entire movie line by line. Well, not off the top of my head (in order anyway!) but I know what's coming miles ahead. It makes it all the more enjoyable. The anticipation of the lines... you know something great is ahead, and you know it's not going to change.
I never saw it anywhere that had more than one print. You maybe right on that, but I don't think they were allowed to advertise in the paper which ending they had.