Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely the worst movie.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I don't want to spoil the ending of "Atari: Game Over", but it's one of the major reasons this was a disappointment. The filmmakers go to great lengths to play up the urban legend of the long-buried "E.T." cartridges that supposedly killed the video game industry in 1983, but the end result is an underwhelming payoff to say the least.But the movie itself is all over the road, covering everything from the history of Atari, the guy who actually made "E.T.", the key players in the company, the guy who oversaw the actual burial, a legion of tourists who dropped by to see the excavation, the dispelling of the myth that "E.T." killed the industry . . . to Ernest Cline and his DeLorean thrown in for good measure, apparently. There's just so much going on.As such, the best parts of the movie are the interviews with Atari personnel. These are the most worthwhile of the talking heads, and I would love to have seen more. To the movie's credit, it does have some nice production values. But the ending feels like a cheat on the part of the filmmakers, especially with so much editorializing.5/10

I should say in opening, that the whole Atari games console thing passed me by.This is, on the surface, the story of how a nostalgic geek had a chunk of desert dug up to hunt for games cartridges that were dumped back in the early 80s.As the film develops it becomes more than that, and delves into the story of how a household name company and an intrinsic part of many peoples childhood, crashed spectacularly.Many of the individuals at the heart of the success and failure of the games' development, come together to tell their part in the story and to be present at the enjoyable final conclusion.Whilst seemingly aware of the geekieness of the subject matter, the story is informative and told with obvious affection, nostalgia and an ample share of humour. All in all, an entertaining piece of film-making.

Atari: Game Over (2014)*** 1/2 (out of 4) Entertaining documentary from director Zac Penn about the fall of Atari and how many people blamed the disaster sales of the video game E.T.. The documentary talks about the rise of Atari and of course it's fall from grace as well as goes into details about the making of the video game based on the Steven Spielberg movie. We also get current footage of them digging up a landfill where legend has it contains millions of copies of the game that didn't sell.The term video game nerd is used several times throughout this documentary but you certainly don't have to be one in order to enjoy this film, which is without question a fun little gem that makes you realize how the truth is often very far from the legend. We're told about the history of this video and we get interviews with video game experts as well as the man who designed the game. They discuss what kind of pressure was on for it to be released by Christmas and why something just went wrong along the way.If you're a fan of video games or familiar with the legend of the E.T. game then you're really going to love what's offered here but I think those unfamiliar with the legend will probably enjoy it even more because it's just fascinating to think that one video game brought down a billion dollar industry. Of course, the truth is eventually revealed. Video nerd or not, this is a very entertaining documentary that's worth watching.

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.