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IMDbPro

Video Games: The Movie

  • 20142014
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
Video Games: The Movie (2014)
A documentary about how video games are made, marketed, and consumed by looking back at gaming history and culture through the eyes of game developers, publishers, and consumers.
Play trailer1:44
4 Videos
10 Photos
  • Documentary
  • Animation
  • History
Learn how video games are made, marketed, and consumed by looking back at gaming history and culture through the eyes of game developers, publishers, and consumers.Learn how video games are made, marketed, and consumed by looking back at gaming history and culture through the eyes of game developers, publishers, and consumers.Learn how video games are made, marketed, and consumed by looking back at gaming history and culture through the eyes of game developers, publishers, and consumers.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Jeremy Snead
  • Writer
    • Jeremy Snead
  • Stars
    • Sean Astin(voice)
    • Al Alcorn
    • Peter Armstrong
Top credits
  • Director
    • Jeremy Snead
  • Writer
    • Jeremy Snead
  • Stars
    • Sean Astin(voice)
    • Al Alcorn
    • Peter Armstrong
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 27User reviews
    • 24Critic reviews
    • 40Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win

    Videos4

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:44
    Official Trailer
    Kickstarter Trailer: Video Games: The Movie
    Trailer 3:24
    Kickstarter Trailer: Video Games: The Movie
    Video Games: The Movie
    Clip 1:56
    Video Games: The Movie
    Video Games: The Movie
    Clip 1:47
    Video Games: The Movie

    Photos10

    Video Games: The Movie (2014)
    Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn in Video Games: The Movie (2014)
    Video Games: The Movie (2014)
    Cliff Bleszinski in Video Games: The Movie (2014)
    Video Games: The Movie (2014)
    Video Games: The Movie (2014)
    Video Games: The Movie (2014)
    Video Games: The Movie (2014)
    Video Games: The Movie (2014)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sean Astin
    Sean Astin
    • Self - Narratoras Self - Narrator
    • (voice)
    Al Alcorn
    Al Alcorn
    • Selfas Self
    Peter Armstrong
    • Selfas Self
    Cliff Bleszinski
    Cliff Bleszinski
    • Selfas Self
    Zach Braff
    Zach Braff
    • Selfas Self
    Jim Brown
    • Selfas Self
    Nolan Bushnell
    Nolan Bushnell
    • Selfas Self
    Louis Castle
    • Selfas Self
    Wil Wheaton
    Wil Wheaton
    • Selfas Self
    Chloe Dykstra
    Chloe Dykstra
    • Selfas Self
    Donald Faison
    Donald Faison
    • Selfas Self
    Brian Fargo
    Brian Fargo
    • Selfas Self
    Ed Fries
    • Selfas Self
    Chris Hardwick
    Chris Hardwick
    • Selfas Self
    David Crane
    • Selfas Self
    Don James
    • Selfas Self
    Wyeth Johnson
    • Selfas Self
    Max Landis
    Max Landis
    • Selfas Self
    • Director
      • Jeremy Snead
    • Writer
      • Jeremy Snead
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Some respective video game systems that didn't make the cut during the console timeline display were Odyssey 2 1978, Atari 5200 1982, Neo Geo 1990, Sega CD 1992, 3DO 1994, and Sega Saturn 1995 to name a few.
    • Connections
      Features The Circus (1928)
    • Soundtracks
      Way Above The Skyline
      Courtesy of Blue Fox Music

    User reviews27

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    A choppy, structurally-insufficient narrative finds ways to be philosophically rich and homey
    To say that Video Games: The Movie bites off more than it can chew is an understatement; if it wasn't about to create ten two-hour long parts for a miniseries dealing with the complete history of video games, its mouth was never going to even remotely sustain what was trying to be forced into it. Director Jeremy Snead states that over forty-five hours of footage for the documentary was shot and he plans to put the footage to a sequel documentary or future Television projects because video games are "something that deserves more treatment in film and Television." I couldn't agree more, and Video Games: The Movie is a marginally effective starting point to get someone contemplating and, most importantly, recognizing the foundation in which their favorite games were expanded upon. The downside, however, is that this documentary isn't structurally sound, jumping back and forth from cherrypicking and analyzing the capabilities of a select few consoles before doubling back to try and create some kind of oral history, again, taking from random events.

    The film, in the beginning, attempts to assess a select few video game consoles, like the Atari 2600, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, and the PlayStation. During this time, we skip over generational conflicts and significant consoles, like the Sega Genesis, the Sega Dreamcast, more inventive and obscure systems like the Neo-Geo, Turbo-Grafx 16, and the Sega Game Gear, and the famed "bit wars." I have little doubt that Snead has footage on hard drives pertaining to these consoles and these features, but the documentary moves in a way that seemingly neglects their very existence. This is one of the many problems with tackling a broad subject in a broad manner.

    After we reach the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, only briefly mentioning the revolutionary qualities of the Nintendo Wii, we double all the way back to try and pinpoint who to credit with the foundation of video games. Do we credit Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari, who provided the first in-home gaming experience in the 1970's? Steve Russell, who created the first interactive computer game on the PDP-I by the name of Space War at MIT in the 1960's? Or do we credit the 1950's invention where light rays and magnifying glasses were used to create an even more primitive version of Pong known as Tennis for Two? Following that debate, we return to the jumbled timeline of events by working our way to the present starting with the video game crash of 1983, where video games were desperately close to becoming a fad. Following the crash, it was said that many people were tired of video games, yet a solid amount of people wanted to continue playing. This would eventually lead to Nintendo and Sega rising from Atari and Intellevision's ashes to bring about an entirely different gaming experience that was never before seen.

    The amount of people in Video Games: The Movie is pretty astonishing, as many of them hail from different companies, bear different titles, and have worked on a plethora of different projects. With that, each one offers a unique perspective, or at least one well worth digesting and analyzing. One of the most talkative and fascinating souls in the film is Cliff Bleszinski, known for creating the Gears of War video game series. He talks about the creation of games in a way that breaks down the multitude and complexity of the moving parts that go into creating a game's story, rendering the graphics, writing and composing a score, and so forth, concluding it's like "The Avengers of talent" on display with every new video game and video games being the culmination of art forms like no other piece of art out there. He describes their significance by saying they exist as a "lean forward experience" rather than a "lean back experience" or the same experience you get when watching a film. Like reading a book, if you choose to remain idle in a game, the story doesn't continue. A film keeps on playing until an audience picks up the remote and commands what it wants it to do.

    These kind of perspectives and philosophy breaking video games from the often oversimplified confines of ignorant opinions and vast generalizations keep the documentary afloat and moving. The way it humanizes gaming culture shows a true love and appreciation on part of Snead and his giant crew, with John Sharp stating that video games provide people with a safe place to fail and problem solve, two things that are greatly intimidating and a product of our fear in the real world. In addition, another woman states that gamers look to games as a means to fit in and be accepted since they often feel left out in the real world. Unlike in social cliques, social settings, or other environments, in video games, we're always welcome and always fit in.

    This hominess provides Video Games: The Movie with a pleasant sense of seriousness, even if the film keeps making the grave mistake of doubling back on its timeline. As mean as this is to say, this was a documentary that simply couldn't be as effective as it needed to be from the start. The area of video games is far, far too broad and complex for one documentary to sustain all, if most, of its core areas of information and fact. The film is amiable enough, sure to provide audiences, including myself, with warm, fuzzy feelings of nostalgia and constant grins provoked by basically watching old memories, emotions, and feelings come to life on the screen, however, far too scattershot to warrant a recommendation. This one gets more like a wink and an the movement of a hand in the "so-so/more or less" manner.

    Directed by: Jeremy Snead.
    helpful•3
    1
    • StevePulaski
    • Feb 4, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 18, 2014 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook Page
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Видеоигры: Кино
    • Production companies
      • Mediajuice Studios
      • The Creative Group PR
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $23,043
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $12,759
      • Jul 20, 2014
    • Gross worldwide
      • $23,043
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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