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The Most Dangerous Game
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The Most Dangerous Game
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It's interesting that this was published with two different titles, though "Most Dangerous Game" is far better, considering the context. It's a frightening thought, humans as prey. We see this to some degree in some recent young adult stories (Hunger Games, for example) and I'm sure I've seen other films along that vein as well.What do you think about the idea of getting bored with something and having to up the ante? It's very much like a drug addiction and very reminiscent of most psychopathic criminal masterminds... too smart for their (or anyone else's) good.
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You know, when I first read the title of the story, I didn't notice the wordplay, "game" having two meanings :)
It was quite short and disturbing story. Zaroff was definitely a psychopath, so I didn't really try to understand him. Boredom was the most likely just an easy excuse :/ I was more puzzled by the ending of the story, what was the meaning of it? (view spoiler)
Zeljka wrote: "Yes, only after reading the story I realized where the inspiration for these young adult and other novels came from. Of course, if this story is the first one touching this topic!You know, when I..."
Rainsford killed Zaroff in a duel yes? That's what I thought at least. Loved it.
Mod
Silly me, yes, I think you are right :D I should stop looking for hidden messages where there aren't any :)
I thought Rainsford killed him, that he implied that he was now enjoying the comfortable bed.What's interesting, though, is wondering what Rainsford does after this. Is he still totally disturbed by Zaroff? Or does he pick up where Zaroff left off, and become like him?
The story has been adapted numerous times, most notably for the 1932 RKO Pictures film The Most Dangerous Game, starring Joel McCrea and Leslie Banks, and for a 1943 episode of the CBS Radio series Suspense starring Orson Welles. The adaptation by James Ashmore Creelman adds two other principal characters, brother-and-sister pair Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray) and Martin Trowbridge (Robert Armstrong), who are castaways from a shipwreck. RKO produced a remake titled A Game of Death (1945), starring John Loder and Audrey Long, with Edgar Barrier as the mad hunter. In 1956, United Artists released another film adaptation, Run for the Sun, starring Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard and Jane Greer.
John Woo's first Hollywood directorial effort, the Jean-Claude Van Damme thriller Hard Target (1993), was loosely based on the same story. Surviving the Game (1994) is another variation on the story. Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, the film stars Rutger Hauer, Ice-T, and Charles S. Dutton. The most recent adaptation is The Eliminator (2004).
Apparently you can see the movie with Joel McCrea for free here:https://archive.org/details/TheMostDa...
The full text of the story itself is also available online, for those of you who may have trouble getting it from the library or for purchase. It's a text version that isn't as pleasant to read as a more paper or Kindle format, but it serves: https://archive.org/stream/TheMostDan...