Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)

History of Apple and Microsoft.

Director:

Martyn Burke

Writers:

Paul Freiberger (book), Michael Swaine (book),

Stars:

Noah Wyle, Joey Slotnick, J.G. Hertzler

Nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Noah Wyle	...	Steve Jobs
Joey Slotnick	...	Steve Wozniak
J.G. Hertzler	...	Ridley Scott
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Bill Gates
Wayne Pére	...	Captain Crunch
Sheila Shaw	...	Mrs. Wozniak
Gema Zamprogna	...	Arlene
John DiMaggio	...	Steve Ballmer
Josh Hopkins	...	Paul Allen
Gailard Sartain	...	Ed Roberts
Allan Kolman	...	Therapist
Richard Waltzer	...	Homebrew Tech
Harris Mann	...	Longhair #1
Clay Wilcox	...	Longhair #2
Marcus Giamatti	...	Dan Kottke

Storyline

Biographical look at the men who founded Apple and Microsoft and a look at the early days of the companies. Noah Wyle and Joey Slotnick portray Apple founders Steve Job and Steve Wozniak. Anthony Michael Hall and John DiMaggio play Microsoft's Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. The film attempts to compare the two firm's operations and differences in the founder's operations.

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Plot Keywords:

microsoft | bill gates | college | computer | apple computer | 

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Taglines:

Good artists copy... Great artists steal.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Szilícium-völgy kalózai

Filming Locations:

5843 Balcom Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Haft Entertainment, St. Nick Productions, Turner Network Television (TNT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the 1999 Macworld conference, shortly after the premiere of this TV movie, the audience was stunned to learn that the introductory comments were made not by Steve Jobs, but by Noah Wyle, reprising his role in this movie. The real Jobs emerged and traded jokes with Wyle.

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Goofs

Japan did not manufacture or use Microsoft-run computers when Windows was introduced, China manufactured the computers. Jobs states that his people came back from Japan with computers with the first copies of Windows.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Steve Jobs: I don't want you to think of this as just a film - some process of converting electrons and magnetic impulses into shapes and figures and sounds. No. Listen to me. We're here to make a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why even be here? We're creating a completely new consciousness, like an artist or poet. That's how you have to think of this. We're rewriting the history of human thought with what we're doing.
Ridley Scott: Right. Well, Steven, at the moment I'm a touch more worried about getting...

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Connections

References The Godfather (1972)

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Soundtracks

"Get Down Tonight"
Performed by KC & The Sunshine Band

User Reviews

Character is Destiny

Even for TNT, this is a great movie. Could have been cut around the edges with scenes like the kid's birthday, Jobs' relationship with his daughter that never connected with his role as the founder of Apple, and Xerox's ignorance in the triumph of both Microsoft and Apple. The entire movie is filled with 'monsters' if you are the anti-businessman. Then again, most of the movie's audience is businessmen or computer freaks. Hall's performance is outstanding. HE makes Bill Gates love-able and hate-able at the same time.