Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Sexylocher Masterful Movie

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

zkonedog As a young child, I grew up squarely in the video game era where the Nintendo Entertainment System was the dominant home console. That being said, my grandma had this "strange black box contraption" (with a controller featuring a single button and a joystick) that I would tinker around with while visiting. Little did I know that I was experiencing the legendary Atari 2600. When I stumbled across this documentary, I didn't know if it would hold my interest. An hour later, I was completely enraptured and on the edge of my seat.There are two main plot lines that are established during this documentary...First, the filmmakers explore the legend/reality of the now-infamous "E.T. game cartridge dump", where supposedly a million cartridges of that game were disposed of in a giant hole out in the New Mexico desert. The history of that game is discussed (including conversations with its primary creators themselves), as well as the reasons why the company might have decided to "cut bait and run" after producing what is widely considered to be one of the worst games ever created.In between the archaeological digs out in the desert, the documentary also explores the history of Atari as a company. This includes its domination of the coin-op business, translation into the home market, and failure to anticipate the expanding nature of the business (like Nintendo would do a number of years later).As the documentary progresses, I found myself getting more and more invested in what the excavation crews would find out in that New Mexico desert. I won't spoil what the exact findings are, but suffice it to say it has some fairly dramatic moments. It also provided me with some history about a company (Atari) and era (late 70s, early 80s) that I didn't have a ton of knowledge about.Thus, "Atari: Game Over" really sucked me in and easily exceeded all my expectations coming in. If you have fond nostalgic memories of that time period, or just are a scholar of all things video games, you will enjoy this entertaining and informative little jaunt.

room102 The title of this documentary is a bit misleading since it focuses on the infamous E.T. video game and an excavation to find out whether the legend of burying millions of E.T. cartridges in a landfill is true. I expected it to tell the story of Atari and it's definitely there, but there's a lot more focus on E.T. than I expected.Anyway, it's an interesting look on Atari - how it started, its success and its demise. It shows how E.T. the video game was born, what made it be called "the worst video game ever" and whether it's justified or not. There are interviews with the key people at Atari and it's both interesting and fun to watch while also giving a great sense of nostalgia.Recommended.

wayno-6 This review contains spoilers.As a programmer of nearly half a century, I have more then a passing interest in what is considered the worst game of all time.The Atari 2600 was the only gaming console I ever bought. I loved many of the games, but I have never played E.T.In programming you have choices: good, fast, cheap (pick any 2). If a programme is good and fast, it is NOT cheap.If a programme is cheap, it's not good.As a programmer, I have felt these constraints many times. Have I written crappy programmes? Of course, all programmers do. Sometimes you only have a few hours, before the online system comes up, and so you resort to what is expedient, not what is quality code.I have been in Howard Warshaw's predicament many times. As I viewed this biopic, I know very intently the precarious environment he was in, when he had to produce a product in 5 weeks.In the end is was not Warshaw who derailed Atari, nor the entire video game industry. Atari (Japanese for "to hit the target") went for the jugular and committed hara-kiri with their own sword.The end of the programme vindicates Warshaw.Wayno

Erich Stein The movie kept me amused from beginning to end. It was filled with great facts and interviews from the awesome people at Atari. The creative staff was successful to bravely call it as they saw it - unlike the filtered and censored media for people who ca not handle the truth.Heartwarming interview with the main programmer for "E.T." explains how to successfully transition from the world's most successful game programmer, into a life which can continue to reward to avoid what otherwise attacks many people in a downward tragic spiral of depression.The movie was also successful to reveal the greedy position the city imposes that disguises their evil methods claiming to uphold public safety.If you are careful with the pause and rewind keys on your DVR, you can catch some very interesting photography that flips by too fast.