Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

zkonedog As a child, my grandparents had a "Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy" pinball machine in their basement. I had a lot of fun times playing that machine, but never really appreciated it until it broke down and eventually was not able to be repaired. I hadn't thought about those experiences for quite awhile until stumbling upon this nostalgic little documentary on Netflix. Boy, did the memories ever come flowing back!This documentary takes two distinct tacts in discussing pinball: First, it gives a history of the game, which I found to be very fascinating. Second, it focuses on the pinball players themselves, which is where the doc dragged and couldn't nearly live up to the drama of, say, "King of Kong".Though not around in the heyday of pinball (1970s-early 80s), that machine in the basement provided me with some pinball memories, something I cannot say for my younger siblings or the younger generation as a whole. That is why this documentary appealed to me so much. Without any prior pinball experiences, viewers will find this doc to be just a collection of nerds with no life. For those that have experienced the thrill of pinball, however, it is much more personal.Overall, this is a better-than-average documentary on a niche subject. I suspect the viewership demographic to be very slim, but those who "get it" (like myself) will find it to be a fascinating, highly nostalgic subject.

sergeantpinback80 "Special When Lit" tells the story of the pinball machine, a game that was once deemed a form of gambling and became one of the most popular forms of entertainment for the latter half the 20th century. The film documents the rise of pinball while interviewing some of the game's early designers to the modern day manufacturers who still continue to build the games long after the pinball craze died out. We also get a look at many of the game's fervent players;, from neighborhood fan- clubs, to obsessive collectors to even the world pinball championship known as PAPA and many other people whose lives were forever changed by the silver ball.My favorite part of this documentary is the Sam Harvey segment. Sam is an obsessive pinball collector. He has been this way ever since he was a child, amassing a collection of old style pinball machines, backboards, thousands of spare parts and even keeps a collection of scorecards and advertisement cards for some of his favorite machines. Admittedly Sam does come off as the eccentric hoarder who lives a life with nothing to show of it other than his favorite hobby of collection pinball material. But even though it may come off as creepy that such a person could be so enamored with pinball it also shows a love for a time gone by, a yearning for a different period of time when things were simpler. By the end of the film you feel just like the interviewees sad that the rise of the video game era and internet has all but destroyed the legacy that pinball had. But the day may come when pinball could return to the mainstream when people get tired of their Xbox's and leave Youtube for a piece of history that dominated pop culture and took in a hell of a lot of quarters.

MartinHafer I assume that the folks who made this documentary about pinball machines and the players did so with every intention that they were celebrating the industry. However, as I watched, my reaction was far different--I felt a bit disturbed. That's because many of the people featured in the film seemed to have very limited social skills. Their lives were the game. And, it seemed to me as I watched that the pinball games were, in some cases, replacements for intimacy and a substitute for sex. So, as I heard some of these folks make outrageous statements about how 'pinball is a sport' and 'we are athletes'....I just kept thinking that I was watching an episode of "Big Bang Theory". And, the overall effect just seemed rather sad--such as the one pinball champion who had no job yet spent an average of four hours a day playing. Sad...very sad. So, from a socio-psychological point of view, the film is well worth seeing and is engaging.By the way, if you watch "Special When Lit" and enjoyed it, try watching "The King of Kong"--a fascinating film about the insane quest to obtain the world's record for Donkey Kong.

jonsjunk-2 At times, Special When Lit seems to be looking for the answer to the question of whether or not pinball is dead. At other times during this slow-paced pseudo-documentary it seems its purpose was tacked on, and the film is simply a random slice of pinball life. My guess is that in early test screenings the general response was "It's kind of interesting and funny, but it doesn't really have a point." They also felt they had to imitate King of Kong by finding people to make fun of, but where KoK ultimately has a soft spot for its protagonists and outcasts, too much of Special feels mean-spirited. It takes its shots - nay, it goes out of its way to take its shots - and then the film switches subjects entirely, looking for fresh meat.Mostly, Special just plays like a eulogy to Pinball, and I don't know how many people would pay to watch a eulogy no matter how many flashing lights and fast edits. The interviews of industry notables are mostly confined to events that happened decades ago, reminiscing about "the good old days". But the film never truly challenges its subjects with how they might envision a better future. Maybe the answer is still a bleak one but Special doesn't try very hard.Once you get passed the so-so interviews and cheap humor, the film has an interesting segment on competitive play that is probably the most even-handed in the film. It focuses on the yearly pinball championship held near Pittsburg and the action is addicting. Several top competitors are interviewed and provide an insight into how it's possible to play a game with skill and consistency that many consider a matter of luck.Could pinball ever make a comeback? The film just seems interested in why that could never happen. Yet at the iPad's launch one of the top selling titles was a pinball game, and the same company sold three million units of similar pinball titles on the iPhone. It's not a failure of Special When Lit to see possibilities - one gets the feeling it just isn't interested in them.