RipDelight
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
MartinHafer
It needs to be pointed out that the subject matter for this film is way too broad to be crammed into a single movie. It would be like trying to cram WWII into a movie! It's just NOT possible and the only decent way to attempt this is to make a mini-series. So, because the film is only 105 minutes long, MANY important innovations are breezed over or ignored completely. For example, if you'd like a discussion of early home computers and the games you could play on them (such as the Commodore, Tandy or Atarti 400/800), look elsewhere. And, if you want them to connect the dots from one game system to another...again, look elsewhere. Instead this is NOT so much a documentary but some folks reminiscing about some of the highlights--THEIR highlights--not necessarily the real highlights. And, because it's THEIR highlights, they oddly spend more time talking about the SuperNintendo instead of the much more important and groundbreaking NES or never really talk about the Coleco or Intellivision systems. The bottom line is that you might enjoy this film but it's also painful to watch because it misses so much. Worth seeing but don't take it as a historical or systematic film. Heck, it bounces back and forth SO MUCH chronologically that you'd almost think the person behind all this suffers from a bad case of ADD!!
mantanz
If you knew nothing about video games before watching this, particularly the history of gaming, you'd arguably come out the end of this "movie" knowing even less.The film goes into stuff like the politics around gaming, the social aspects, how stories now make up a big part of the gaming experience... basically all stuff you already knew because it was completely obvious, or didn't want to know, because it's too boring.There is no in-depth information on any of the systems at all. It started out withe a brief history of the 2600 but pretty much every other machine is ignored, as are the games. The Sega Genesis was mentioned once and every one of their other consoles were completely left out. Hell, even Sonic the Hedgehog was completely absent!I was expecting an in depth history of gaming, not a bunch of AAA execs sitting around talking about how the industry has changed and celebrities talking about what gaming means to them.On top of that, when games were mentioned, they never showed the bloody things and the endless montages were totally useless, as again, you didn't know what games you were looking at bar ones you're already familiar with.It had promise. They had a really cool 3D time line... if only they'd used it better and gone in depth into the different systems, key games, designers.There was no mention of the "console wars". As I mentioned earlier, Sega was completely left out of the film, as were Commodore, in fact, home computers were completely ignored, bar PC gamers with a few nods to Doom and WoW. How can they completely leave out the era of bedroom coders? Where was the info on how Atari died with the Jaguar? Where were the early CD-based consoles? WHERE WERE THE GAMES?!?!?!I am a gamer and a game developer and I feel completely let down by this "documentary".
Kirk Ostojic
I don't consider myself a gamer. Of course I've played video games. Growing up, my siblings and I would play on our Nintendo 64, Play Station 2, and Game Boy Advance. I still play video games with my friends, but not consistently. I don't have the knowledge that some of my friends do about video games. I was interested in watching this film though, because I knew little about the video game industry and was curious. Jeremy Snead's "Video Games: The Movie" is a documentary about video games that is broken up into 4 clear sections: history, culture, creation, and future. Throughout these 4 sections, Sean Astin narrates and a collection of video gamers and creators tell us about video games, what they mean, how we use them, where they were, where they're going, and why so many people love them.The first half an hour or so bursts with energy and gives us an overview of the history of video games. The opening credit sequence is fun and is a tribute to video games. Although it feels rushed, has missing parts, and can be a little hard to keep up with, it keeps you engaged. The rest of the film jumps around and fills in the blanks throughout the other sections. I'm not sure why Snead did this. Why not give a complete telling of the history of video games from start to finish? "Video Games: The Movie" feels kind of broken up when it could have been more of a holistic documentary. It could have been stronger in storytelling, but it still works.Sean Astin has fun being a narrator and the people being interviewed have a deep passion for video games. Snead does a great job of capturing the love of video games and what they mean to our society. You may not always get the small details of who built what and why, but you get the essence of video games and why they have been so successful and ingrained in our culture. Snead's "Video Games: The Movie" has its speed bumps and may not capture all the gritty details about the video game world, but it's a good overview of video game history and culture that captures the love people have for video games. Going into this knowing little about the video game world, I feel like I know much more about them now. I want to go out and play some video games now.
intelearts
Simply a great documentary telling the development of console games from then to now - this is not a film just for geeks and gamers - it really is a great watch in itself. Director, Jeremy Snead with brilliant editing by Kenny Price have put together a film that shines with love and care. Above all this like the best documentaries is informative and captivating - we not only have interviews with some of the best in the game world and its greatest fans - it does so without resorting to cliché or derision - it clearly is made by a team who care and love their project. That it was partially financed by Kickstarter is notable; sure there is an element of ploy in doing that, but it is a commendable one.Above all, it conveys some of the fun and wonder that gaming produces - going from Pong to Ryse and beyond it is filled with gaming clips, music, and a strong streak of both nostalgia and insight - and anyone, gamer or not, should enjoy it - it is simply an excellent documentary - well made and a very good watch.
