I'm a video game addict. I'm sure that comes as a surprise to many of you. The guy who reads comic books, spends the majority of his life at the movies, and collects action figures also has a deep love for game consoles. I've had them all, from Colecovision to Sega CD to Turbografx 16 and now my beloved Xbox 360. I even had the NES Power Glove, the worst peripheral in history. But that's not the point here, the point is that Hollywood has rarely ever managed to put out a good movie based on any video game. I don't know why that is, nor do I care. They have, however, managed to make some good movies centered around video games and the people who play them. With Gerard Butler's Gamer hitting theatres this week, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the 5 of those films that deserve a little attention...and perhaps show my age a little bit.
5. Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade
Back in the 1980's, video games were king. It was a new age of technology, and there was a whole crop of young kids who were making themselves instant celebrities by racking up high scores at some of the most challenging games ever made. At the height of it's popularity, Walter Day basically made himself the authority over all-things video gaming, specifically high scores. Chasing Ghosts explores this time when you could get on the cover of LIFE magazine just for being adept at Burger Time or Ms. Pac-Man, something completely unimaginable nowadays.
4. The Last Starfighter
Who hasn't at one time or another wished they could be one of the cool characters in their favorite video game? I know there were many times I wished I was the guy rescuing Dana Plato from the video game, Night Trap, but alas that never came to be. In The Last Starfighter, some douchey kid named Alex with bad hair actually gets that wish. He's the best in town at the arcade shooter, Starfighter, and one day after whoopin' the machine's ass he's visited by an alien named Centauri. Centauri whisks him away to another planet, where Alex is forced to put his video game skills to a real live test. It's absurd but as a kid it was the stuff of dreams, and if there's one thing this movie isn't lacking in it's imagination. It's surprisingly poignant at times, too, especially when one of the film's most beloved characters...well, runs out of 1-Ups.
3. The Wizard
Is The Wizard a good movie? Hell no. It's brutal. Nearly impossible to sit through. It stars Fred Savage at his most irksome. It's about a boy with some sort of mental disorder, doesn't speak or interact with people. All he does is play video games. His dream is to get to some big video game tournament, and dammit Fred Savage is gonna make sure he gets there, even if they have to lie, cheat, and steal to do it. This movie is notable for only two reasons. 1. It was the first time many of us got a look at Super Mario Bros. 3, which was AWESOME I might add! Best use of a movie for video game marketing ever. And 2. It kicked off my eternal and often detrimental love for redheads by introducing me to the beautiful and talented Jenny Lewis.
Rilo Kiley kicks ass, by the way.
2. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Who's the great heel in the history of video game movies and arguably of all-time? If you answered Billy friggin' Mitchell you just a trip to the bonus stage. Billy Mitchell might be the douchiest man on the face of the planet, and he's the reason why this movie is so damn great. Billy is the all-time champion at Donkey Kong, a title he wears proudly and never let's anyone forget. He sports the most insulting mullet in history, rocks a bunch of overly patriotic ties everywhere he goes, and repeatedly touts his business achievements like he's Bill Gates or something. When his reign as Donkey Kong champ is threatened by regular joe blow Steve Wiebe, Billy puts on an act of feigned indifference that makes you want to smack him over the head with your Atari Lynx(that's all it's good for now anyway). THis film mines much of the same territory as Chasing Ghosts, but it's the rivalry between Steve and Billy that sets this film apart and makes it a must not just for video game lovers but everybody.
1. Cloak & Dagger
Some people would argue that Henry Thomas's best role as a kid was obviously in E.T., but those people would be wrong. There was no movie I watched more as a child(I was 7!! Oy!) than Cloak & Dagger, where Thomas plays Davey, a kid much like myself, drowning away his time playing video games and wishing he could somehow be a part of it all. His favorite game is an espionage RPG known as Cloak & Dagger, starring superspy Jack Flack(Dabney Coleman. Remember him?) When Davey is the witness to a murder, the victim hands him a video game cartridge containing top secret intel. Davey finds himself stuck in the middle as various evil organizations attempt to claim the cartridge, so Davey turns to the greatest spy he's ever know, an imaginary version of Jack Flack, to aid him. The reason I loved this film so much was that it was both brimming with youthful energy and imgination, but it also was more violent than the typical kiddie video game movie. There's a point where Davey actually has a life or death decision to make that goes way different than you'd expect. But the key point was the relationship between Jack and Davey, which starts off almost as idol worship but devolves when Davey realizes the lengths Jack will go to complete the mission. It's intriguing stuff, and the movie holds up surprisingly well even today.
Honorable mentions include Grandma's Boy and Tron. I couldn't in good conscience put them on the list because...well, Grandma's Boy isn't very good and Tron is a movie I've always had a hard time sitting through. I'll be back in 2 weeks with another Top 5, and right now I'm leaning towards my Top 5 femme fatales in honor of Jennifer's Body, but we'll see. If you have any suggestions for a Top 5, you can send them to me at punchdrunkcritics@yahoo.com.
