Video Games In Movies

[Qixmaster]

well i'm sorta new at posting here, but i'm a frequent reader. I was just watching over the good ol movie the Wizard and I was wondering how many movies have been made with video games. I was thinking about starting a list. Here are the movies that I can think of that have video games and/or video game refrences in them:

The Wizard - Enough Said
Beethoven - Kids playing NES (see some boxes of the games, one is zelda)
Lonestar - Old lady playing gameboy
Joysticks - 80s Movie about playboy playmates and the arcade
Terminator 2 -John Conner and his friend playing arcade at the Galaria
Surf Ninja's - little kid has a game gear
Mallrats - playing hocky game on genesis
Bring it on - little brother has gameboy
Mario Brothers the Movie
Double Dragon the Movie
Street Fighter the Movie
Mortal Kombat the Movie
Back to the future 2 - Marty plays Wild Gunman on an arcade machine
Subruban Commando - Hulk Holgan Plays after burner (i think) in an arcade
Ghostbusters 2 - Use the NES advantage to control the statue of liberity
Encino Man - Brander Fraiser plays "Rad Mobile" at the ice rink
Gremlins - Billy has one of those cool mini-pac man arcades.
National Lampoons Vacation - Cousin Eddies Kid has a mini arcade like Billy from Gremlins.

and that's all i can think of off hand. If you guys or girls have any ideas please post them here. :D

[hezeuschrist]

Big. The fat kid with the red haired mullet got a power glove for christmas.... there's a whole shitload of movies that have people playing games in them thought.

[Quintracker]

Nightmare On Elm Street 6: Freddy's Dead has Freddy using a 'modified' power glove ;)

[Qixmaster]

ah yes freddy.... completely forgot about that one

[Achika]

Um, it's not exactly a movie, but there's a Space Invaders cabinet in the Hub in 'That 70's Show"

[Anonymous]

Charlie's Angels - Drew Barrymore shows up in some kids' backyard naked, and they're playing Final Fantasy VII (mashing the buttons on two different controllers while a battle is going on on the screen)

The Goonies - In the opening credits, Chunk is playing a video game, but for the life of me I can't recognize it. Anyone know?

[Quintracker]

from one of my friends:

zenkoanlife: in Swingers they play a genesis hockey game
zenkoanlife: and chasing amy too
zenkoanlife: same deal

[Arqueologia_Digital]

There´s a sitcom in Argentina about the 80´s, and there´s a boy that always want to play the 2600 :P

[Qixmaster]

I'm not sure what game it is in goonie either but I remember. I also remember that when they are in the attic in mikeys house in goonies that when chunk knocks over the picture and ask the question about the date on the map (1492) Mouth (cory fieldman) answers sarcasticly and says " no that's not a date, that's your top score on pole-position."

[Ikari Warrior]

Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx" has a kid playing Game Gear with sounds, but no game in it!

"Enemy of the State" has an appearance by the Turboexpress, the classic handheld.

[Queen Of The Felines]

I think it WAS Pole Position in Goonies.

Fluke: The kids in "Charlie's Angels" are playing FFVIII, not FFVII. And both kids are playing at the same time! O_O

Twilight Zone: The Movie - Tempest plays a big part.

Terminator 2 - Edward Furlong is playing Missile Command.

Airplane - Air traffic controller guys are playing the 2600 version of Basketball.

Kristine

[Raccoon Lad]

I think I heard it was a "Cliff Hanger" machine in the opening credits of Goonies.

[Qixmaster]

im thinking it is a cliff hanger arcade machine. I just checked it out and there was no stearing wheel attached to the machine, but you still couldn't see what the game was.

[Qixmaster]

oh just remembered... back in the day with that horrible rosanne show, well her sun i remember had a SNES and when he would play it he would put the sleves on top of the games while they were in the machine. After that I started doing that with my SNES games. Also on like one of the last ones he got some N64 games for christmas. I remember he got Killer Instinct Gold.... Well that's not really a movie, but what the heck. I'm constantly thinking of more...

[Dire 51]

The Goonies - In the opening credits, Chunk is playing a video game, but for the life of me I can't recognize it. Anyone know?

Probably it was Pole Position in the film ("It says 1632. Is that a year, or what?" "No, it's your top score on Pole Position."), but in the novelization he says "Yeah, I was in Maloney's playing Star Wars -" Mouth interrupts: "Did you blast all the Towers?" Chunk says "I was just starting to, when this car drives by, riddled with bullet holes." Also, the "top score" line didn't say Pole Position in the book, but rather Donkey Kong.

Oh yeah - this isn't film related, but on an episode of that old sitcom My Two Dads, Paul Reiser and the other guy were playing Zelda II during the opening teaser (fighting the giant slime, if I remember correctly).

Useless trivia fact # 1067854, courtesy of Dire 51. :)

[dave2236]

I know someone mentioned the game gear with sound but no game.

But there are at least 5 or 6 movies where a kid is playing gameboy and there are no carts in them.

Dont you feel like a geek when you blurt out that gameboy doesnt have a game in it or that music doesnt match what game he is playing. I know in one of those movies the kid says he's playing mario and ms pac man music is playing

[girth305]

Fear - reese witherspoon playing street fighter 2 on snes I think
karate kid - elizabeth shue playing skeet shoot among other things
last star fighter
tron
war games
cloak and dagger
revenge of the nerds 1


I am sure I will think of more as the day goes by, contribute people.

take care!

[Quintracker]

in Return of the Living Dead 3 the mexican (spanish?) guys are playing an arcade game at a gas station called "Tournament Champion Edition" or something like that.

[digitalpress]

Al Backiel has been documenting these for YEARS at Digital Press. Now I know some of you who are not subscribing! >:(

Here are some links to many many more.

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00164.htm

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00126.htm

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00041.htm

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00005.htm

I'm missing a few from issues that have not been fully transcribed to the website.

[Qixmaster]

wow, that was helpful

[Starcade]

I dont recall which one, but in one freddy kruger movie, freddy sucked someone into an atari game it looked like, and was playing as the victim.

[Qixmaster]

methinks you are thinking about the movie brain scan... that has robert englund in it, but it isn't a freddy movie... kinda like one tho. Also has eddy furlong from terminator two... that might be the movie.

[Anonymous]

Nope, in Nightmare on Elm Street 5, a self proclaimed vidiot gets sucked into his TV and then, in a precursor to Nick Arcade, gets to run through a crappy mock video game. It's actually pretty funny.

[Queen Of The Felines]

Ok, I just checked the DVD and the KLOV and yep, the Goonies game DOES look like a Cliff Hanger machine.

I think I spotted Track & Field in the window reflection though. ;)

Kristine

[Dahne]

In an episode or two of Cowboy Bebop, the camera pans around Laughing Bull(or whatever his name is...the Indian guy)'s tepee, and clearly shows a PS in the corner. :)

[Dahne]

Oh, and I'd also like to mention that a substitute teacher at my jr. high school was one of the kids in The Last Starfighter.

Remember the Clerks cartoon series that was on for like a week? I saw one a while back where there's a Tetris-esque pyramid game that is used as a training tool, with references to The Last Starfighter. Of course, it's used to recruit people to be slaves and build pyramids, instead of fighting aliens. :p

[Kid Fenris]

In an episode or two of Cowboy Bebop, the camera pans around Laughing Bull(or whatever his name is...the Indian guy)'s tepee, and clearly shows a PS in the corner. :)

Speaking of Cowboy Bebop, the movie (due out on DVD later this month) includes a scene in which a hacker delivers a brief little spiel on why he prefers old-fashioned 2-D games to the 3-D hologram wonders of the future. Later on, he obsesses with playing a gun game so he can see a character called "Sporky Donkey." Good movie.

And since we've digressed into anime, an episode of Evangelion shows Asuka obsessively playing a Saturn. That wouldn't have anything to do with Sega being a sponsor for the show, ya think?

Of course, there are loads of anime series that feature wholly fictional video games, from the creepy dating simulator of Boogiepop Phantom to the "Firestarter" game in FLCL. I wonder if anyone ever homebrewed that Kanji fighting game from Nadesico . . .

[Dahne]

Ah, good ol' weird-hacker-kid. I think the thing he's trying to see is actually Spokey Dokey, though his accent makes it sound like Sporky. One of the song's on I think the first soundtrack is called by that name, which makes me wonder if there's a connection, or it's just something a few people working on the show thought sounded neat.

[Anonymous]

I have the Clerks animated series on DVD.

Randall: "Let me guess, the Pharaoh game was just an elaborate ruse to find the worlds best video game player in order to recruit him for his incredible skills, like in The Last Starfighter."

Doctor: "You see, zat is where I am getting ze idea for ze game."

Randall: "Ok, doc, just lead me to my starship, I'm ready."

Doctor: "I think you are mizunderstanding a little bit. You zee, ze object of ze Pharaoh game is to be moving ze 2 ton square blocks into a pyramid."

Randall: "What are you crazy? I can't move 2 ton square blocks!"

Doctor: "Pshht Zaid ze man who scored 10 million points on ze Pharoah. Come vit me."

[ehall]

The movie Dawn of the Dead has a sit down cab called F-1. It's a weird projection screen driving game. I was able to get the game a little while ago, and have had the marquee autographed by Ken Foree (Peter Washington) and Tom Savini (Motorcycle Raider - Special effects genius). I'm hoping to get the other main characters autographs on it as well.

[NEOFREAK9189]

I have a movie nice movie the 2 black guy play neogeo game they play was super 8 men also a boy play sega game gear

[anagrama]

There's a deleted scene on the Donnie Darko DVD featuring Donnie & Gretchen in an 80's arcade. Donnie is rubbish at Outrun, and there's an Afterburner 2 machine aswell, amongst others.

[brandver3]

Um, I'm suprised no one has mentioned the "Computer Space" machine in Jaws. I can't remember if it is one or two, but there is a scene with two kids playing it on the board walk, behind Cheif.

[Arcade Antics]

Um, I'm suprised no one has mentioned the "Computer Space" machine in Jaws. I can't remember if it is one or two, but there is a scene with two kids playing it on the board walk, behind Cheif.

Um...

*cracks ruler on desktop*

Wake up, class!

Yeah, Al mentioned it a long time ago. Then Joe mentioned it again on the first page of the thread. Here's the link again (for the Jaws mention - see Joe's previous post to read through the rest of the online archives of Awesome Al's column):

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00126.htm

You may now resume sleeping. But first, subscribe to DP.

LOL

[Kid Fenris]

Ah, good ol' weird-hacker-kid. I think the thing he's trying to see is actually Spokey Dokey, though his accent makes it sound like Sporky. One of the song's on I think the first soundtrack is called by that name, which makes me wonder if there's a connection, or it's just something a few people working on the show thought sounded neat.

The first work could well be "Spokey," but I'm pretty sure that the second is "Donkey," since that's kind of hard to slur in any accent. Some of the soundtrack listings also call it "Spokey Donkey," and besides, what's a "Dokey"?

Here's one that I haven't seen yet . . . in One Hour Photo, the son in the family stalked by Williams' character is seen playing Dead or Alive 2, presumably on a PS2. Oddly enough, he's about eight years old, which seems a tad young for DoA.

[brandver3]

*looks at beginning of thread*

Damn, I am a moron, disregard past post.