Atari: Game Over, 2014
Directed by Zak Penn
SYNOPSIS:
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.
Since the rise of the Internet and the popularity of “Best and Worst” lists, there is one game that almost always tops the “Worst Games Ever Made” chart: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600. Why is that? Well, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial has been hailed as the “worst game ever made” because it brought down the powerhouse that was Atari, a company that during its hayday held a 90% market share over the competition. So bad was E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, that rumours of its burial in a landfill in New Mexico became the stuff of legend. Zak Penn’s Atari: Game Over is not only a look into the excavation that unearthed this landfill to expose the truth behind the rumours, but also provides a look into Atari as a business – and to dispel the theory that E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is the “worst game ever made”.
Penn, who wrote screenplays for X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk, Elektra and the upcoming Pacific Rim 2, is no stranger to the video game world having also written scripts for video game adaptations of his own movies, including X-Men: The Official Game and Fantastic Four. In his intro he talks about his experiences growing up playing Atari and how he loved finding the Easter Eggs that developers like Howard Scott Warshaw and Warren Robinett would put into their games. He is also a man who loves a good mystery tale, having previously directed the documentary Incident at Loch Ness with Werner Herzog, which saw the duo track down the legendary “Nessie” in Scotland. So Atari: Game Over seems like the perfect movie for him, and that shows in its execution.
There is a love of Atari and all their work on show here, as Atari: Game Over looks at how the business worked from a programmer perspective through the eyes of Howard Scott Warshaw. He opens up about his first few months at Atari and gives some great first hand experiences like how he offered a joint on his very first day. Nolan Bushnell, the godfather of video games, talks candidly about how they would recruit programmers by inviting them to their seemingly weekly parties filled with drugs, booze and girls. People may think of video game designers in the late 70s and early 80s as nerds with bad facial hair, but Atari: Game Over paints them as rock stars, the likes of which could roll with the Stones. It’s very insightful and gives a better understanding of what it was like to work in the video game market during this boom period that the likes of Video Games: The Movie failed to do.
Penn’s love of all things nostalgic also comes into play as the movie makes several nods to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Perfectly fitting given the story of finding this buried gold beneath the earth, which required three years worth of planning and preparation. It paints John, this humble man who wants to prove that his theory of the landfill is correct, as the documentary’s own Indiana Jones as he takes similar steps to the fedora-clad hero. Also along for the ride if Ready Player One author Ernest Cline, himself a man on a mission to be there when they unearth this landfill travelling across the country (complete with “travel by map” graphic) to pick up his Delorean from George R.R. Martin who had borrowed it for a Back to the Future screening. That last sentence sounds insane written down, but is easily one of the funniest moments of the documentary. It may sound hackneyed and forced to add all these references and nods in, but when you consider Howard Scott Warshaw, programmer of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600, also programmed Raiders of the Lost Ark (also directed by Steven Speilberg) for the same console, it’s almost too perfect.
However, Atari: Game Over suffers from one problem – it’s only an hour long. And because of that it only feels like Penn touches on the surface as to why Atari came crumbling down during the infamous video game crash of 1983. The only purpose of Atari: Game Over, seemingly, was to commend Howard Scott Warshaw and let it be known that E.T. The Extra Terrestrial on the Atari 2600 is, in fact, not the worst game ever made. There are huge impassioned speeches from all the talking heads and other fingers are pointed as to the downfall of Atari, but its never explored. No mention of Atari’s Pac-Man (which is, unlike E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, unplayable) or the over-saturation of the market as more and more consoles tried to jump on the bandwagon. In its defence however, Microsoft Studios, the team behind Atari: Game Over, did have a series in development which would look at the video game crash of 1983, so perhaps Penn wasn’t allowed to dig into this deeper. But with Microsoft Studios closing their doors (after just two projects), it now just feels like a hole in Atari: Game Over that can’t be filled – unlike the landfill in New Mexico.
This minor quibble aside, which isn’t really the fault of Zak Penn, Atari: Game Over is a rather fun little documentary that gives an amazing insight into the workings of Atari during their boom period, as well as amazing footage of the New Mexico Landfill excavation. If you’re a fan of video game history, this is a must-watch. It’s not essential viewing if you have a passing interest in video games, but it will appeal to a certain demographic, and they will lap it up.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
