Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999 TV Movie) User Reviews

A very watchable geek history

[Col-3 · 7/10 · 22 June 1999]

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.

This was an interesting enough story, and even a bit informative, but it seemed to be lacking in its completeness...

[Anonymous_Maxine · 6/10 · 6 July 2000]

What you have in Pirates of Silicon Valley is a basic skeletal structure of the formation of Apple Computers and the gigantic Microsoft corporation, but it's not a very detailed account. Sure, it follows the creators from high school age, but the film structure is very blocky and it jumps around a lot.

We get no hint about why the names Apple and Microsoft were chosen (a trivial point, yes, but it would have been a good thing to put in a film about the history of those two companies). Also, late in the film the time gets a little confusing. The year is always noted on the bottom of the screen, but the story jumps sporadically from year to year. When you don't jump ahead in time for a while, you begin to lose track of what year you're in. You think you're looking at the early eighties, but the late 90s model Ford Broncos in the background can be very confusing.

Pirates of Silicon Valley was a fairly informative look at how Apple and Microsoft came to be, and there were some very interesting looks at what the first personal computers looked like, but the film itself is not nearly as informative as it should be. A movie about one of the biggest corporations the world has ever known (and it's president, the wealthiest man on the planet) needs to go into a bit more detail about the subject matter that it is presenting. This film was put together fairly well, but there was just not enough effort and research put into it by the writers and producers.

The Story of How Two Misfit Drop-Outs Became the Gods of the Personal Computer Market

[classicalsteve · 8/10 · 4 January 2012]

Steve Jobs was a college radical, and Bill Gates was a Harvard bum who missed class to play poker. But each had certain friends. Jobs had Steve Wozniack, essentially a techie tinkerer who could invent small gizmos which could defraud the phone company. Gates had Paul Allen who knew something about computers. The Pirates of Silicon Valley chronicles the escapades and misadventures of the young upstarts who created the industry that the old guard couldn't really see yet alone understand. An industry which now permeates all aspects of modern life.

These crazy young inexperienced radicals who began their careers in garages and motels would mold what would become the entire PC market. Jobs and Woz founded Apple and created the first personal computer, the Apple I and Apple II. Gates created Microsoft and licensed an operating for IBM which would become MS-DOS, bought from a small fledging software company in Seattle for $50,000, although Wikipedia's article on the subject states it was $75,000.

Then Jobs and his colleagues are brought to the Xerox development center where technicians were creating a computer with graphical interface. The Xerox executives had been given a demonstration of their new technology, but the old-school executives couldn't understand its potential as benefiting their company. Ultimately, they reject the new innovations. Jobs is given full demonstrations of the computers and understands the potential behind the new technology. He then begins the creation of the Macintosh (MAC). Eventually, a rift occurs within Apple between those who worked on Apple II and those working on the MAC. At the same time, Bill Gates creates Windows to utilize the graphical interface being used by Jobs which was originally invented by Xerox technicians. Which then incites the war between Apple and Microsoft.

An excellent portrayal of the strange and often unbelievable circumstances surrounding the creation and eventual marketing of personal computers. Anthony Michael Hall is perfectly cast as Bill Gates, and Joey Slotnick does well as Steve Wozniack. However, Noah Wyle steals the show as Steve Jobs. Wyle captures the subtlety of Jobs as the driven genius whose faith in his own vision often eclipses common sense in terms of personal relationships. Jobs was no question one of the great visionaries of the 20th century, but he did not understand how to motivate and empower those around him. In the end, he becomes a tragic figure when he is ousted from Apple by the Board of Directors.

Two extraordinary individuals help create modern computing

[sdlitvin · 28 September 2004]

A flawed but intriguing character study of two of the most extraordinary individuals of our modern technological era.

The movie is historically inaccurate. Nevertheless, it manages to capture the essence of how much of modern computing came to be: the cluelessness of Xerox about what its own computer scientists were doing; Steve Jobs' artistic vision at Apple; and Bill Gates' ruthless business practices at Microsoft. And you will be fascinated by how these men got where they are today.

The movie isn't very kind to either Jobs or Gates, emphasizing their negative qualities. Steve Jobs is presented as a visionary, but also as a slavedriver and someone who refuses to accept that he's the illegitimate father of a young girl.

Gates is portrayed in an even less flattering way--as some kind of outright sociopath who is driven to destroy all those who try to do business with him. Still, as long as you recognize that the portrayals are negatively slanted, you will be rewarded by witnessing the interplay among the famous triangle: Adele Goldberg (not explicitly named in the movie), the leader of Xerox's research team; Steve Jobs, who ripped her off and incorporated those technologies in the new Macintosh; and Bill Gates, who ripped off Jobs and incorporated those technologies in the newer Windows product.

The movie does suffer from several historical inaccuracies. I believe that at least some of those inaccuracies were deliberate--attempts to oversimplify the historical record in order to shorten the length of the movie. For example, the movie makes it appear that Apple's first attempt at a computer with a modern graphical user interface--the Lisa--was a tremendous success, when in fact it was a commercial failure. But portraying it as a success made it simpler to explain why Bill Gates got interested in dealing with Apple at that time.

While the movie is long, it would have been even better as a two-day or three-day miniseries. That would have enabled some of the historical record to be explored at greater depth, eliminating the need for this deliberate vast oversimplification.

The Best Jobs Movie

[nomodusproject · 7/10 · 26 July 2020]

I think this is the best movie about Steve Jobs. I love how Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael Hall captured the characters through their voices. Great!

Perfect nostalgia

[jammer-11 · 10/10 · 3 September 2004]

I loved this movie thoroughly. Many people may not "get" it properly due to their age, unfamiliarity with the characters, or general indifference to computers and stories involving them. For me, however, a computer enthusiast who was born in 1971, this movie is simply awesome! I was very young in those days but when I watched this movie, it totally brought me back to that time. Although I was young, I remember much of it and it felt right on. I thought this movie was well-written, well-acted, and greatly entertaining. It gave me a thrill to think of being at Apple when it started up. I also loved seeing the machinations that made Bill Gates rich and infamous. Sure they likely distorted facts and embellished things a lot, but such things are needed sometimes to make historical movies entertaining. I recommend this movie to any child of the 70's, especially if you are a computer fan. I gave it a 10!

Silicon Valley cult movie

[dromasca · 7/10 · 15 January 2008]

This quite efficient docu-drama is on its way to become a cult movie for those who are interested in the history of hi-tech. Realized by the end of the 'bubble' i.e. the period when computers and networking companies seemed to develop endlessly and made of their nerd or hippies or both founders riches it succeeds to catch the attention by using up to the verge of confusion the same kind of techniques used when telling about the times of the hippies. It does not matter that much that the super-gifted engineers and the capitalists in jeans were very different kind of characters than the flower-power boys and gals, the trick works quite well. The film survived well the almost decade since its making because it has pace, because it focuses on the characters of the founders of Apple and Microsoft and tells well the story of their ascension and of their conflict and because that conflict was really an important step in the hitech saga and remains to a large extent actual until today. Some of the historical details and timeline may not be accurate, but this is after all not the most important thing in the genre, what is important is to catch the essence of the true story and to tell it well on screen. This happens here and works pretty well.

A college dropout and a visionary in his garage change the world.

[Coon51 · 10/10 · 9 April 2000]

This is one of the best made for TV films that I have seen in a while. It is very well made and offers both humor and insight into the internet and computer revolution. It is the story of two men who changed the world. I absolutely love how it contrasts the difference between Gates and Jobs. Jobs was a visionary who got caught up in his own philosophy. Gates, the brilliant and ruthless businessman who built an empire. Oh yeah and if you want to laugh yourself to death just watch the scene where Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall) tries to pick up women in the roller rink. This was a story that needed to be told and it was told really well. I don't know where you can find this film, but if you see it in your local video store and want to know how the computer world was set on end by a guy in his garage and a college dropout then rent this movie.

A real eye-opener

[AgLawyer · 7/10 · 21 June 1999]

Wow....Was all of this real?? Noah Wyle was great as Stephen Jobs and perhaps stole too much of the spotlight. I found Anthony Michael Hall believable as Bill Gates mostly because I never really saw Anthony Michael Hall in the character. He played a believable part but didn't get the airtime that Wyle got. Most people have heard the story about how Apple computer got its start in a garage before dominating and then nearly falling completely out of the computer industry. This movie gives us all of that and more. For the multitude of people who know of Gates and Microsoft, and Jobs and Apple, but little else, this is a movie great for filling in the missing parts. Overall, a pretty good job TNT.

It's about time.

[Crowbot-2 · 10/10 · 1 July 1999]

It's about time TNT made a good movie. Finally someone has made an enjoyable movie/documentary about the cpu age. The acting is good with Hall actually getting a nerdy part right and Wyle is just creepy. The problem is the bizarre storytelling one minute you're watching something from 1984 then 1997 then you go all the way back to 1974. It gets confusing. They also cut out some great moments in cpu history, but it's still a good movie. ***1/2 of ****

A neat look at how it all started

[jpn · 7/10 · 18 October 1999]

I didn't rent this movie expecting a theatrical masterpiece. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised. Noah Wyle's portrayal of Steve Jobs ascension to glory at Apple was well portrayed, if a bit over-dramatic. Makes you wonder if he was really like that.

Anthony Michael Hall plays Bill Gates as you would expect him: a passively shrewd, brilliant nerd. The movie is worth a rental, but only if you have an interest in the subject matter.

Made me want to know more

[Joan-5 · 9/10 · 28 June 1999]

I thoroughly enjoyed this TV movie and have watched it every time it's been on. While I feel the movie left large gaps, it made me think about what I didn't know about these two men and made me want to learn more about them and their visions. With the exception of the intensely annoying Mr. Di Maggio (as Balmer), the other actors were, in my humble opinion, wonderful and Mr. Hall was positively spooky as Bill Gates. I must agree with a previous writer who said it should have been made a six-hour mini-series; even then, many things would have been left out by time constraints. I will definitely get and read the book (and other books recommended by comment writers). Thanks for allowing me to voice my opinion and thank you to TNT for a great stepping stone to learning more.

Excellent Movie

[eksasaki · 7/10 · 13 July 2006]

As a made for TV movie, for cable no less, Many people perhaps had low expectations for Pirates of the Silicon Valley. Yet, right from the beginning , the film abandons the stigma of the made for TV movie and surely silenced many critics. (including the worst critics of all, computer nerds) For people unfamiliar with the history of the computer industry, this movie will be just as educational as it is entertaining, yet even for computer history buffs, this movie is still a must watch. The movie benefits from what is truly a remarkable story in real life. The viewer will be surprised to see the genesis of companies like Apple and Microsoft, and how humbly they began. The movie's portrayal of this is excellent, and features an easy to follow, yet engaging narrative throughout the film. No doubt, one will finish watching this movie with a much deeper understanding of the computer industry. However, what makes this movie so interesting is the human element it brings to these companies and more importantly, the people who started them. Most people don't know Bill Gates as anything more than the billionaire CEO of Microsoft, this film allows one to see him outside of that context somewhat. Steve Jobs gets a similar treatment, revealing him as a true personality amongst people most view as nerds. Unfortunately, the movie does suffer from certain weaknesses. Through it tries to avoid getting technical involving the computer aspects, when it does, it tends to play to the most common denomenator, which can be frustrating to people who already have a knowledge of computers. Additionally, the format of a TV movie easy easy to notice when one watches it (breaks for commercials, etc.) and hurts the pace of the movie. Yet overall, it's a very well acted, entertaining and informational film.

Historical accuracy?

[s-mischkies · 1/10 · 2 July 2013]

Non-existent. Microsoft didn't just bumble and cheat themselves to contracts, Apple didn't steal from Xerox PARC (they paid Xerox, Microsoft was there as well, btw), Mike Markkula didn't just drive past a garage and offered 250k, both Apple and Microsoft worked together from very early on (Apple licensed Microsoft Basic and sold it as Applesoft Basic, MS was early involved in the Mac to write applications), the reaction in 1997 was not nearly as hostile as depicted, the speech was different as well (you can see it on youtube...) etc. pp.

As a movie it's far from great either, the script itself is lacking in finesse, the characters are caricatures.

Apple vs. Microsoft: A Geeks-Eye View!

[tam-17 · 8 June 1999]

I recently saw a rough-cut of TNT Originals' Pirates of Silicon Valley. (It airs in June -- premiere's on Sunday June 20.) It's the story of Steve Jobs (Co-founder of Apple Computers) and Bill Gates (Co-founder of Microsoft) and their competitive rivalry to dominate the computer industry. Sounds boring, right? It's not! It's actually pretty cool! Here's why:

Casting Anthony Michael Hall as the world's biggest geek, Bill Gates, was genius. Hall has done such crap in the past few years that we all forgot what a great character actor he is. His best characters have always been misfits and geeks. In Pirates, he captures everything that's both creepy and sympathetic about Bill Gates. He's totally believable!

Noah Wyle's character as Steve Jobs is right on! Here I always thought Apple was the underdog. Turns out -- Apple had it all over Microsoft until the mid-eighties. Wyle plays Jobs as this power-hungry hippie gone awry. It's a nice change from his do-good doctor on ER. And Wyle makes the jump to full-length film effortlessly. Look for him on the big screen battling aliens any day now.

The story is somewhat standard but filled in with cool details that keep it interesting Jobs as a deadbeat Dad; Gates pitching his product to IBM (the IBM guy actually thinks all the money is in the hardware!), and the late-night screaming matches between Jobs and Gates.

Here's the thing that just boggles my mind -- these two are pretty average guys especially for their generation. Sure, they're two of the most powerful men in the world (Gates is the richest man in the world) but you could totally see either one showing up at your bar-b-que in Khakis and an ill-fitting shirt.

Pirates of Silicon Valley is quite entertaining it's weird, it's funny and quirky-- I say check it out!

Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 24 February 2019]

When l'd watched it for the first time l don't pay much attention on those genius and after 17 years now on DVD l've tried see it more carefully, by far the most impressive character certainly is Steve Jobs, a true genius really but somehow a lack of humanity, there a scene who he practically destroyed a guy in a selection for a job, he left to me a dreadful experience to known such nasty behavior, Bill Gates as a cold guy without personal excess, both characters are interesting but in differents angles to study their personalities, an enjoyable biography from the lastest genius, Steve Jobs passed away recently!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2002 / How many: 2 / Source: Cable TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5

Better than ' Jobs '

[ingra88 · 10/10 · 25 April 2020]

This movie was better than the Danny Boyle 'Jobs' biopic in story, although the acting was questionable.

Even Steve Wozniak said this film was more truer!

A Fair Almost Funny Movie But No Big Deal - Geeks Would Love It As I Do!

[alphaspace · 7/10 · 31 January 2004]

A Movie The Proves One Should Never Look Under Rocks for FEAR of what might CRAWL OUT! This movie was confused it seemed to be conflicted as if it did not know for sure if it wanted to be a documentary on the rise of the micro-computer or if it was a tale about the personalities behind the scenes of the major software companies versus BIG BLUE/ IBM the once computer mainframe juggernaught.

The movie is a good one but rather schizo in its story telling. Also the ending seems sort of mechanically placed such that you do not really feel any sense of closure. Watching this movie is like trusting someone to take you for a boat ride across a river safely to the other bank and they force you to swim the last ten feet to the shore with no prior warning. I mean the movie was good and very informative loaded with lovely info.

I most love the way it made the young Bill Gates look like a plain grungy old geek who was not all together into cleanliness. Now Bill Gates is just a so stuck up old rich man who lives in a world where so plastic he can do no wrong ever. In this movie its very nice to see Bill Gates portrayed as something that was at one time a feeling human with beings real frailties, shortcomings and real human joys. It was nice to see Bill Gates portrayed as human and not god made me like him a little.

This movie makes one of the Apple founders look like a serious druggie fruitcake. The Apple computer business model showed some early flaws in this movie too which made me feel sorry for them. the movie had one seriously funny moment where Bill Gates offered the DOS Disk Operating System Developer stock in Microsoft or $50,000 and the jerk took the $50,000. Dude could have been a billionaire ga-zillions of times over had he chosen to join the early Microsoft team. I almost cried for that poor dear heart who threw away all that good money in what has to be the dumbest business decision in modern history.

The movie as I say was nice. It taught me a lot and for that I was thankful. I liked the movie but the way it ended left me feeling cheated. They should have played up the AND THE WAR CONTINUES TO THIS DAY ANGLE! which would have been a more fitting end in my most humble opinion. All this movies flaws taken into consideration it is still a fine movie worth buying if you want a history of computers with a little human touch thrown in. There are better histories of the micro computer videos out there done by PBS but this is ok so I gave it a 7 rating. Fair but no big deal.

Doesn't everyone want to know how to be like Bill Gates?

[chrisbrown6453 · 9/10 · 27 July 2000]

Great depiction of the rise to power of Microsoft headed by Bill Gates. Not since Weird Science and The Breakfast Club have I seen Anthony Michael Hall (Bill Gates) do such a great job acting. Casting Noah Wyle as the beaten Steve Jobs, head of Apple Computers, was as brilliant as the Hall casting decision. This is a must see picture as it shows how Bill Gates "borrowed" the whole concept of Windows from Steve Jobs, and turned it into his own program to monopolize the world of computer programming. Although I am 100% on the side of Mr. Gates, after watching this movie, I now know how he became as powerful as he now is.

Interesting subject

[akbari · 7/10 · 1 October 2006]

The subject is very interesting. I love both Steve and Bill. However unfortunately the film could not conduct the hard efforts they put in their professional and personal lives. I saw the film once but I think some scenes were redundant and could have been left out and replaced with Bill or Steves' inspiring actions or competitions. I think the film should have been maybe 3 hours and of course more in details. The context music is wonderful and really impressing. Actors make up was splendid. Bill, Steve, Ballmer and others look like their real characters. Also they played very natural and close to their real counterparts. Nice job overall.

the atmosphere is preserved

[zak1974 · 10/10 · 23 September 2002]

To see this film for me was like breathing that air again - the freedom, the innovation, the possibilities. Everything I love about America. Highly recommend. Spare the tiniest details for the historicians. It's a Movie!

often awkward, wildly inaccurate

[Sillypooh · 6/10 · 28 August 2010]

it's a good effort. Even Steve Jobs himself gave nods at the movie. But if you're looking for accuracy, look elsewhere. in the early days of personal computers, nothing was black or white, and this movie dabs itself in simplicity, while history was anything but.

why does this movie feel as though there was a deliberate hand keeping the tone, acting and storyline to a goofy/low budget level? this is a great story, not to mention an important story too, with almost universal appeal. Did the producers think this could only appeal to geeks/nerds?

is it worth watching? absolutely. but you can't but wish they had been a little more serious doing this film.

Didn't want it to end

[SaraCatherine · 10/10 · 21 June 1999]

As a new computer geek, I was enthralled with the story of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The movie was compelling. I only wished it was longer.

I had no idea...

[Thornfield2 · 7/10 · 3 July 2001]

This movie was informative to say the least. Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael Hall were simply amazing as the dueling duo, vying to change the world of information. I also found Steve Job's behavior very disturbing (extra kudos to Noah for playing this character so nasty)towards his own employees. Yikes!I also learned from viewing this film that it was Xerox that originally came up with everything. Sheesh, Jobs and Gates truly were pirates.

An awful farce... see "Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires" instead

[DJedynak · 1/10 · 21 June 1999]

This film was an awful farce. It totally falsifies events (Microsoft did not approach IBM with an OS - IBM came to them for one and MS sent them elsewhere, but eventually came back when they came up empty handed). One of the most disappointing things I have seen - ever.

They even missed showing us the genesis of the "Apple" name - one of the great stories of Apple history (go read an old Apple II manual for the story)

The production values were rotten and the writing left so much to be desired. Both Jobs and Gates were painted as awful, despicable excuses for human beings.

If it was the intention of the filmmakers to satirize the entire history of the personal computer (Mac / Wintel) development, then they barely succeeded... however, quite poorly.

Again, read the book, _Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date_ by Robert X. Cringely, or see the PBS miniseries based on the book, "Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires" also by Robert X. Cringely.