World 1-1 Film Review

World 1-1 Film Review.

Welcome to my first Video Game Documentary review! This exceptional movie is certainly a great way for me to get started! I feel this is a fantastic opportunity and I feel privileged to be allowed to do this video documentary review on behalf of RVG. World 1-1’s Film Producers and Directors, Daryl Rodriguez and Jeanette Garcia, took on the incredible task of documenting and producing a fascinating insight about the origin of the Atari brand from its birth in 1972. They interviewed the people behind this world famous brand, a brand that was second only to Coca Cola™ in terms of influence and recognition in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. We have here a documentary that long term Atari fans and vintage video game hobbyists have been waiting for since Atari closed its doors. Definitely something of a rarity these days.

The filmmakers take us on an amazing journey back in time to hear from the people who ate, slept and had Atari’s creative vision coursing through their veins. For a significant amount of time we hear, for the first time, from many of these individuals and their unique perspective of how it all began. The filmmakers speak in great detail with these visionary pioneers, like Al Alcorn (creator of Atari’s very first arcade coin-op Pong), in a context never seen before. Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, also gives an in-depth interview on the origins of the company, its atmosphere, and the manner in which they did things at Atari.

You are transported back in time to a period of video game history not covered in a documentary film before and you are literately taken by the hand every step of the way with these incredible and talented engineers and designers. It is remarkable hearing their memoirs at Atari and later on to the pioneering days of Activision. The film lasts for 2 hours and 11 minutes and, at no time, will you feel that it goes on too long. In fact, I personally felt it wasn’t long enough! You have great people here like Franz Lanzinger (Creator of Crystal Castles), Owen Rubin (Creator of Space Dual and Major Havoc) and many more who have given a great insight into how they made their games shine at Atari. I don’t want to spoil the movie for you by giving anything away.

The filmmakers also talk to the engineers that would leave Atari and go on to create a rival gaming software house, Activision. Though that company still exists today, it is but a distant memory of what it once was. David Crane gives his accounts of how they formed Activision and its links to Atari. This was a great plus to have in the film and it keeps the documentary from feeling all one sided when covering that period of time.

But greatness in film,making doesn’t come without its hiccups. From time to time during the interviews the film makers jump cut from a wide angle shot to a close up shot which gives the impression of a glitch in the movie. This only happens at certain times but it does slightly dampen the professionalism of the film editing. Nonetheless, this is just a small glitch that should not detract from such a great documentary. The film producers have done an incredible job and created a fascinating film that all vintage gaming hobbyists and new comers should own. This is one that you can go back to time and time again.

World 1-1 is available for download on the World 1-1 website HERE.

A fantastic movie! Go buy it today. You won’t regret it!