Atari: Game Over (2014)

Director: Zak Penn
Starring: Zak Penn, Joe Lewandowski, Robert Rentschler

Synopsis:
The rise and fall of Atari is told amid the search for the legendary landfill site where the cartridges of E.T. the Extraterrestrial were dumped.

Impressions:
For gamers and fans of late 70s/early 80s pop culture, this is a pretty good documentary. The legend of the ET landfill has a lot of appeal, so it was interesting to see the search for and excavation of the site. Zak Penn does a good job of giving the context via an abbreviated history of Atari and the troubled production of the ET video game adaptation. It also goes along way toward rehabilitating the reputation of game designer Howard Scott Warshaw and even the game itself. The myth of ET being the sole cause of the Crash of '83 is entertaining but false and it's good to have this movie set the record straight. It's a good watch and I recommend it.

Rating:
Watch It