Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade (2007)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Lincoln Ruchti

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

1982's Video Game World Champions share their philosophies on joysticks, groupies and life. |

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ronald Bailey	...	Himself
Sam Blackburn	...	Himself
Leo Daniels	...	Himself
Walter Day	...	Himself
Kent Farries	...	Himself
Ben Gold	...	Himself
Billy Mitchell	...	Himself
Darren Olsen	...	Himself
Todd Rogers	...	Himself
Steve Sanders	...	Himself
Joel West	...	Himself

Directed by
Lincoln Ruchti

Produced by
John Panichello	....	executive producer
Lincoln Ruchti	....	co-producer
Michael Verrechia	....	producer

Cinematography by
Lisa Wiegand

Film Editing by
Eddie Brega

Sound Department
Shane Reed	....	sound
Kevin Roache	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jordan Wilby	....	sound effects editor

Visual Effects by
Peter Hirschberg	....	computer animation effects
Chris Ingersoll	....	still photograph effects

Camera and Electrical Department
John Orphan	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Art Chudabala	....	on-line editor
Steve LaBorico	....	on-line editor
Gabriel McKail	....	assistant on-line editor
David Serafin	....	on-line editor

Other crew
Winston Emano	....	publicist
David Magdael	....	publicist
Anne Stulz	....	publicist

Thanks
Todd Rogers	....	film footage courtesy of
Todd Rogers	....	photographic and print archives courtesy of

Production Companies

• Men at Work Pictures LLC

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief drug use.

Runtime:

USA:90 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:Not Rated (not rated)

Company:

Men at Work Pictures LLC

Movie Connections:

Features Joysticks (1983)

Billy Mitchell and Mr. Awesome are back at it again!

I don't know what it is about these Video Game docs, but they entertain at really high levels. The King of Kong was a fantastic one driven by two amazing characters who excel at Donkey Kong. And with Chasing Ghosts it gives us a closer look into the lives of the past arcade champions.

In Chasing Ghosts you get to understand the intricacies of attaining a perfect game in Pac-Man, "realizing" that Missile Command was the manliest arcade around, discovering that some high scores are folly when it comes down to playing a certain game fairly, and even that Arnold Schwarzeneggar attained all his money by being a drug-dealin whore....I kinda had hunch about that one though.

Chasing Ghosts succeeds in many fashions, but the two that spoke to me most was seeing how good they actually were. There was one guy who was just flat out sick at Centipede. If you've played that game, you know how simple it seems to be, but when watching this dude play it's utterly jaw-dropping. And the other aspect that was truly memorable was hearing the background story to each of these gamers lives. Some had very tough roads, some didn't. Friendships were made, and some were lost. Celebrities on TV shows one day, nothing the next.

With a combination of great footage of the classic era and the portrayal of a plethora of unique personalities, this is yet another fantastic documentary on video gaming. Definitely see it if you enjoyed The King of Kong or if you have any interest in gaming at all.