Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)

History of Apple and Microsoft.

Director:

Martyn Burke

Writers:

Paul Freiberger (book), Michael Swaine (book)

Stars:

Anthony Michael Hall, Noah Wyle, Joey Slotnick

Nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 4 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

This is a semi-humorous biographical film about the men who made the world of technology what it is today, their struggles during college, the founding of their companies, and the ingenious actions they took to build up the global corporate empires of Apple Computer Corporation and Microsoft Inc.

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Plot Keywords:

male objectification | man wearing glasses | feet on table | barefoot male | bare feet on table | 

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Taglines:

Good artists copy... Great artists steal.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pirates of Silicon Valley

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Haft Entertainment, St. Nick Productions, TNT

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer and producer Michael Piller was so impressed by Anthony Michael Hall's performance as Bill Gates that he chose him to play the lead role of Johnny Smith in the television adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Dead Zone.

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Goofs

Every character mispronounces Mike Markkula's name, including Markkula himself. They pronounce it "mar-KOOL-ah," while it's actually pronounced "MARK-ah-lah."

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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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Crazy Credits

Janja Vujovich is credited as "Post Sound Goddess".

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Alternate Versions

Aspect ratio was re-cut to 1.78:1 for some TV broadcast and DVD releases.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Greatest Business Movies (2014)

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Soundtracks

No Time
Written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings
Performed by The Guess Who

User Reviews

A very watchable geek history

As a geek in Silicon Valley I enjoyed this movie beyond my expectations. The makers of this movie seemed to agree with its protagonists that the evolution of the personal computer is a process that shaped the history of the world - and they're right. If you're not sitting in front of a Windows box or Mac right now, you're in the vast minority. The story of how Steve Jobs and Bill Gates amassed such wealth and power is an interesting one.

Noah Wyle (Jobs) and Anthony Michael Hall (Gates) fit their characters to a T. Gates was portrayed just as I imagined him - smug, opportunistic and sneaky, but hardly villainous. Surprisingly, during this movie I was more sympathetic to Gates than to the brilliant but unstable Jobs who came across as arrogant and petulant.

All in all, this was quite enjoyable for a tele-movie. If you're inclined towards the geeky yourself, and remember the early days of the PC biz, you'll probably find this movie quite educational.