Imagine the dystopian vision where you’ve been banned and/or have no access to board games.
Perhaps you’re so darn good at Monopoly that you’ve received a banning order from traveling to the Old Kent Road.
Maybe you live in North Korea.
How then to satisfy that very human craving for table-top entertainment?
Well, you could try movies?
Specifically, movies that feature game-playing.
Moviemakers have long recognised that the competitive atmosphere around games create compelling moments and scenes.
The potential for all sorts of unpredictable outcomes and long-concealed emotions are there and can bubble to the surface.
And if you’re looking for a cinematic metaphor around romance, rivalry and death, then games can do that for you.
And then you have the films inspired by games.
Take the comedy-thriller Clue.
Based on Cluedo, this 1985 release starring Tim Curry has six guests at a dinner party investigating the murder of their host.
Reviews were generally positive, even from audiences not slayed by the game itself.
Another table-top classic which spawned its own screen version was Dungeons and Dragons.
The recent “Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves” tapped into the superhero vibe that’s been dominating Hollywood for far too long …. IMO.
This one featured the standard heavyweight cast headed by Chris Pine, and was judged a ‘serviceable franchise starter’. Let’s see where this franchise goes.
Alas no Monopoly film as yet though Ridley Scott was slated to direct a film based on the famous game.
That plan fell through, but it seems that Margot Robbie’s production company (fresh off the success of Barbie the movie) is looking at turning game gold into movie magic. I bet she collects more than $200 every time she passes “Go”.
But perhaps the most popular game in cinema is chess — that’s if you don’t count poker as a game, which clearly is a perennial favorite of James Bond and others.
Harry Potter risked life and limb playing lethal wizard’s chess in Chamber of Secrets, and probably deterred a whole generation of young children from ever going near a chess board.
How about we conclude with the more adult approach taken by Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in the Thomas Crown Affair as they smolder away at each other over a game of chess that’s a none too subtle metaphor for seduction – a scene omitted from the 1999 remake and
But we conclude as always with our Top 3 game movies:
1. The Seventh Seal
Max von Sydow’s medieval knight attempts to save his life in a game of chess against Death. Directed by Ingmar Bergman, the film is considered by many critics to be a masterpiece
2. Jumanji
Kids find an ancient board game and discover Robin Williams trapped inside it. Spawned a franchise. We can forgive it for that3. Game Night
Classy comedy starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams. Friends meet for an evening of game play that turns into something much darker. As one character warns: ‘We don’t need a board and we don’t need pieces’