Roger in the Arcade

[Philly_SWAT]

Back in 1978, arcades like the one in the mall were basically a new thing. There had been pinball games prior to this period, and those wooden ramps that you rolled balls up, but not video games. While obviously those were some of the first games, and very crude by today's standards, they were about all there was at the time. So it only made sense to show our heros enjoying some time playing the various games the arcade had to offer. If you remember, one of the games that Roger was playing was the F1 driving game. I have played that game before, and basically it sucked ass. But it was one of the first driving games. There is the scene where his car wrecks and the screen goes black, and Roger's face looks confused and sad, but then he "gets another life", and a smile crosses his face as he gets to play on. My question is, do you think that GAR purposefully put this scene in to show a relation to the fact that Roger "dies" in the game and then gets to "come back and then he actually dies and then actually comes back? Or do you think that is just projecting more onto the scene than there really is, and it was just some random shots in the arcade? What do you think?

[axlish]

If it wasn't due to direction from Romero, then it is a creation of Scott Reiniger. Either way, your "another life" description fits the bill.

[MikePizzoff]

I think they were just showing how Roger could still be happy and still have a fun time even though he was dying... probably due to the fact that he was hopped up on medication AND losing his mind at the same time.

[Philly_SWAT]

Hey Yo. I like your new avatar!

[creepntom]

i think it was a sign of pop culture at that era of the 70's. had dawn been made about 5-6 yrs later, pac man & games from that era would have probably been used. as far as them being in there, i figured it was something to help pass the time

[coma]

I think they were just showing how Roger could still be happy and still have a fun time even though he was dying... probably due to the fact that he was hopped up on medication AND losing his mind at the same time. I tought it was also a sign of him regressing due to his helplessmess. He also seemed to have a defense mechanism to keep it light and unserious after the Project 107 fiasco. He was the source of most of the humor in the film. Tragady too. I used to hat those driving games.

[Deadman_Deluxe]

... do you think that is just projecting more onto the scene than there really is, and it was just some random shots in the arcade? What do you think? Yes, projecting more onto the scene than there really is. I think it was just sitting there, available to shoot for no extra charge, and would appeal to the male audience. You lock yourself in a mall, everything in there is free ... any young male would be crazy NOT to hang around the arcade all day long

[MonkeyFarm]

Its possibly one of the first times roger ever played a video game, its said that it was pretty new concept at the time and he spends his time training he probably doesent get much chance to play arcade games, the sad face may be that he just pumped cash into this machine and he just crashed...only to be happier when his car is up and running again...who knows lol

[deadpunk]

if it wasn't intentional foreshadowing on Romero's part...it sure was a good catch by Philly...

[dmbfanintn]

I think it is a case of uber fanboys reading WWAAYY too much into a low-buget zombie film 28 years after it was made. J/K Philly, that is a great observation and you know, it is possible that GAR consciously wrote something like that in. But everything I have heard out of him over the years leads me to believe that: A. Things like that are coincidence in his films, not intended, B. He purposely write in things like that, but would never admit to it. When listening to GAR talk about his films, it seems that we (the fanboys) put way more thought into little things like that than he does. That is a great observation, but I do not think there was an intentional effort to equate the "Video Game Death and Ressurection" directly to Rogers own personal situation in the film. My 0.02c

[Maitreya]

It was probably more of a subliminal thing, he probably didn't consciously write it in as a foreshadowing but he unknowingly intended it to be. Know what I mean? It's probably that or we just have such a love for his movies that we're giving him more credit than he deserves.

[MaximusIncredulous]

I don't think it was anything intentional, Roger was just having fun. After all, the characters were killed off in one way or another in each of the games they were playing. Didn't mean a thing.

[capncnut]

My question is, do you think that GAR purposefully put this scene in to show a relation to the fact that Roger "dies" in the game and then gets to "come back and then he actually dies and then actually comes back? That's pretty much blown me away Philly. I had never thought of the scene in that way before but now it makes perfect sense. Yeah, I think it's deliberate mate.

[Philly_SWAT]

I don't think it was anything intentional, Roger was just having fun. After all, the characters were killed off in one way or another in each of the games they were playing. Didn't mean a thing. Come to think of it, seems like Flyboy lost the game of "Gunfight", and he did end up losing the gunfight he started with the bikers. How about that.

[coma]

Come to think of it, seems like Flyboy lost the game of "Gunfight", and he did end up losing the gunfight he started with the bikers. How about that. These movies have more opportunities for geekery than Star Wars Actually, it's an interesting observation