Gamer Movies

Over the years there have been many gaming movies released based on the top selling or most popular games at the time. One of my early favorite was TRON, released in July of 1982 starring Jeff Bridges about a computer programmer who was zapped into the TRON video game and then has to beat different levels to escape. Then back in 2010 the sequel to TRON, TRON Legacy was released with the return of Jeff Bridges 28 years later and Garrett Hedlund as his son. But, these are not the movies I wish to talk to you about.

As an avid gamer myself I have seen many of these movies over the years from Mario Bro. to Assassin's Creed to the latest Mortal Combat. But these are not the ones I would like to recommend to you. In the past decade two movies stood out to me and they were Pixels and Ready Player One which I believe other gamers and movie goers would enjoy.

Pixels. When I mention pixels, you don't think about a movie. No, of course not. You are thinking about the tiny square blocks that make the picture, but not the movie released by Sony picture on July 24, 2015 starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. The movie brings back the classic games that we played in the arcades back in the early 80's. It revolves around Sam (Sandler) who goes to a newly opened arcade and realizes that he could notice the patterns and became really good at the games so he entered a national championship only to loose to Eddie (Fire blaster). The competition was recorded and put into a time capsule that was blasted into space.

Fast forward to the present day of 2015 when the earth is invaded by aliens resembling all the characters from the 80's video games starting off with a military base in Guam which was attacked by Galaga. This is when the president (James) calls in Sam to aid the U.S. army in beating these invaders. Many of the old game characters are in the movie including Q-Bert who was a prize from one of the battles. This movie would be enjoyable for all generations and show the younger generation the games we use to play before there was the internet.

If you enjoyed Pixels then I'm positive that you will enjoy Ready Player One. Ready Player One was released in March of 2018 and do not relate to any particular video game but to all of them and the world of virtual reality. This movie is based in the future around 2045 and virtual reality is part of the normal day. Directed by Stephen Spielberg it brings you into the virtual world of Oasis which was created by James Haliday, a place where you can go anywhere or be anybody. The movie is based on a contest created by Haliday. After his death he hid three keys in the Oasis and the one who finds the keys wins Oasis. This movie show you what the world of V.R. is really like and takes place in the real world as well as in V.R. land. Of course there's a bad guy and plenty of action scenes and also a bit of romance. All in all as a gamer myself, I really enjoyed these movies. For the gamer and non-gamer, grab some popcorn and immerse yourself into a totally new world and enjoy.