10 Best Scenes In David Fincher's Filmography

In this suspenseful puzzle box of a film, Fincher puts the rich through the wringer. Nicholas Van Orton is a wealthy, cold-hearted investment banker who wants nothing more than to let his 48th birthday quietly pass by. But when his brother gives him a mysterious gift in the form of a voucher for a "game," Nicholas finds himself thrust into a high-octane conspiracy plot. The Game does a fantastic job blurring the line between reality and fiction, and as the stunts become more dangerous, you're left wondering if everything you're seeing can merely be a performance.

After a long day of being dicked around by his game, an exhausted Nicholas hails a cab home, only to realize too late that the driver is in on the elaborate trick. Ignoring Nicholas' desperate pleas, the driver steps on the gas and ditches out of the vehicle right before it careens into the ocean. As the car fills with water, a terrified Nicholas thinks on his feet and remembers a puzzling hand crank he received earlier in the mail. Putting the pieces together, he attaches the crank to an exposed screw, rolls the window down, and escapes with his life.

Fincher pulls the practical stunt off with expertise, and the genuine terror in Michael Douglas' desperate performance sells the intensity of the scene. Even though Nicholas is getting better at playing the game, the danger feels real now, and we know that the story will only become more extreme from here on out.