Atari: Game Over (2014)

A crew digs up all of the old Atari 2600 game cartridges of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" that were tossed into a landfill in the 1980s.

Director:

Zak Penn

Stars:

Zak Penn, Joe Lewandowski, Robert Rentschler

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zak Penn	...	Self - Narrator
Joe Lewandowski	...	Self - Waste Disposal Expert & Historian
Robert Rentschler	...	Self - Former Mayor, Alamogordo
Paul Sanchez	...	Self - Mayoral Candidate, Alamogordo
Manny Gerard	...	Self - Co-Chief Operating Officer, Warner Communications Inc.
Nolan Bushnell	...	Self - Co-Founder, Atari
Seamus Blackley	...	Self - Co-Creator, Xbox
Howard Scott Warshaw	...	Self - Game Engineer, Atari Inc.
Son Huffmon	...	Self - Construction Division Manager, Mese Verde Enterprises
Pat Magill	...	Self - Director of Engineering, Mese Verde Enterprises
Mike Mika	...	Self - Game Designer & Preservationist
Susie Galea	...	Self - Mayor, Alamogordo
Andrew Reinhard	...	Self - Archaeologist, American School of Classical Studies at Athens
Raiford Guins	...	Self - Associate Professor of Culture & Technology, Stony Brook University
Ernest Cline	...	Self - Screenwriter & Novelist

Storyline

A crew digs up all of the old Atari 2600 game cartridges of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" that were tossed into a landfill in the 1980s.

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Plot Keywords:

atari | 1980s | atari 2600 | reference to call of duty | bankruptcy | 

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Taglines:

32.886668 N, 105.967336 W

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was supposed to be the first episode of a six part documentary series called 'Signal to Noise', made by Xbox Entertainment Studios. However, in July 2014, it became apparent that mother company Microsoft was going to shut down Xbox Entertainment Studios. Because of this, no other episodes of 'Signal to Noise' were made.

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Quotes

Himself - Narrator: [Discussing the chances that the digging of the dump being successful] You're saying that there's a possibility that this could turn out to be a giant waste of time?
Himself - Waste Disposal Expert & Historian: I think I've said it before: I'll bet the car, I won't bet the house.

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Connections

References Game of Thrones (2011)

User Reviews

Entertaining video story

I should say in opening, that the whole Atari games console thing passed me by.

This is, on the surface, the story of how a nostalgic geek had a chunk of desert dug up to hunt for games cartridges that were dumped back in the early 80s.

As the film develops it becomes more than that, and delves into the story of how a household name company and an intrinsic part of many peoples childhood, crashed spectacularly.

Many of the individuals at the heart of the success and failure of the games' development, come together to tell their part in the story and to be present at the enjoyable final conclusion.

Whilst seemingly aware of the geekieness of the subject matter, the story is informative and told with obvious affection, nostalgia and an ample share of humour. All in all, an entertaining piece of film-making.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish German French Italian

Release Date:

20 November 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atari: Game Over

Filming Locations:

Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuel Entertainment USA, GRAiNEY Pictures, Lightbox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1