The Smash Brothers (2013)

A brief history of a subculture dedicated to competitively playing the video game "Super Smash Bros. Melee".

Director:

Travis Beauchamp (as Samox)

Stars:

Azen, Ken Hoang, Isai

Cast

Credited cast:
Azen	...	Self
Ken Hoang	...	Self
Isai	...	Self
Wife	...	Self

Storyline

A brief history of a subculture dedicated to competitively playing the video game "Super Smash Bros. Melee".

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Plot Keywords:

game | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Did You Know?

Quotes

Ken Hoang: I couldn't read him. I mean he was an open book, but it doesn't mean you can read a book if every single time you turn a page you get a paper cut.

User Reviews

Turns out nerds are people too! And this film showcases that fact brilliantly.

"The Smash Brothers" is a documentary that does all the things all good documentary's do, and it does these things extraordinarily well, especially considering that this was a kickstarter project. Firstly, I'd like to make it clear that there are two ways to watch this documentary- both on Youtube, you can either watch this episodically or all at once, and I would recommend watching this episode by episode, as I did, purely for the reason that "The Smash Brothers" can become very dense. I think that's the best way to describe this, dense but extremely interesting. As someone with a small introduction to the SSBM community, I had no idea how big and expansive it was and is, and the way this film explains the stories of different members of the community really well, either through the narrator, or through interviews with members of the community. These interviews are by far the best parts of the film, particularly the parts where Prog and Wife explain things, because they do them in a very introspective and truthful way that is really enjoyable to watch. The biggest issues with this film is how it either under introduces things (slang, community members, etc) that the common viewer wouldn't understand, or how it jumps around in the time line (ie: someone is talking about 2006 in one episode, the next episode it's 2008, now it's 2006 again) but these things are negligible, as you understand why these choices were made. The music, which to my knowledge was primarily community chosen, really compliments the moods and tones the film goes through. This movie really knows how to sympathize with the kinds of people that are often underrepresented in media, and it presents them not as basement-dwelling nerds, but as real people with passions and desires, and I really, really, appreciate that. It's hard for me to recommend this all at once purely because of how long it is, but I would certainly recommend the first episode to see if it's something that would strike you. I really enjoyed "The Smash Brothers", and I wish I could forget all the information just so I could rediscover this community again. 8.0/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2013 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

East Point Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

258 min

Color:

Color