DocumentaryYear2014Duration1h 6mIMDb6.7

Atari: Game Over

Documentary

A crew search for all of the old Atari 2600 game cartridges of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" that were tossed into a landfill in the 1980s.

Trailer

Cast

Zak Penn

Self - Narrator

JL

Joe Lewandowski

Self - Waste Disposal Expert & Historian

RR

Robert Rentschler

Self - Former Mayor, Alamogordo

Paul Sanchez

Self - Mayoral Candidate, Alamogordo

MG

Manny Gerard

Self - Co-Chief Operating Officer, Warner Communications Inc.

Nolan Bushnell

Self - Co-Founder, Atari

Seamus Blackley

Self - Co-Creator, Xbox

Howard Scott Warshaw

Self - Game Engineer, Atari Inc.

SH

Son Huffmon

Self - Construction Division Manager, Mese Verde Enterprises

PM

Pat Magill

Self - Director of Engineering, Mese Verde Enterprises

MM

Mike Mika

Self - Game Designer & Preservationist

SG

Susie Galea

Self - Mayor, Alamogordo

Ernest Cline

Self - Screenwriter & Novelist

George R.R. Martin

Self - Writer, Game of Thrones

Gary Whitta

Self - Screenwriter & Former Game Journalist

EB

Eric Barone

Self - Guest

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Comments

10 Comments

AG BabyMar 21, 2026

LilianEMay 29, 2023

source: Atari: Game Over

zinebelmeskiNov 22, 2022

Anyone that knows anything about video games already knows about this story. Heck, I even watched the awful Video Game Nerd movie portraying this. What made the film for me was the personal side that a lot of people brought it the table. Howard Scott Warshaw's reaction when they found the cartridges was genuine, especially for a man that comes off as incredibly sure of himself. I can only assume a 30-year regret came to pass, especially when he was surrounded by so many people. These little slice of life documentaries honestly bring little to the table, but not everything can be Titicut Follies. I found it incredibly interesting that the top waste management guy in Alamogordo put so much time into this. So kudos to him. Plus last thing...why does Alamogordo seemingly have so many darn politicians? 🤣🤣🤣

gilsandra_spencerNov 22, 2022

My earliest memory was Pac-Man in the video arcades. So, even though the 2600 was innovative, true video game addicts knew how bad EVERY game was for the 2600. It wasn't until the 5200 that the console really improved: Pac-Man looked like Pac-Man/Centipede looked identical to the arcade game AND had a track ball accessory to improve it! I never played E.T. and so I don't care to comment on it. I don't understand why they focused so much on this topic without talking about so many other facets of Atari. How did they go down with the success of arcade games and the 5200? Remember, this was the first home console that not only resembled the actual arcade games but had a PAUSE as well! The best feature ever! Plus, it's hard to have empathy for a designer that had so much ego that it blinded the reality of coming out with a hit game, in a fraction of the time it took previously, that would be of any quality. I have to give it a low rating because it spent too much time on this excavation.

abdo_saoudiNov 22, 2022

As a young child, I grew up squarely in the video game era where the Nintendo Entertainment System was the dominant home console. That being said, my grandma had this "strange black box contraption" (with a controller featuring a single button and a joystick) that I would tinker around with while visiting. Little did I know that I was experiencing the legendary Atari 2600. When I stumbled across this documentary, I didn't know if it would hold my interest. An hour later, I was completely enraptured and on the edge of my seat. There are two main plot lines that are established during this documentary... First, the filmmakers explore the legend/reality of the now-infamous "E.T. game cartridge dump", where supposedly a million cartridges of that game were disposed of in a giant hole out in the New Mexico desert. The history of that game is discussed (including conversations with its primary creators themselves), as well as the reasons why the company might have decided to "cut bait and run" after producing what is widely considered to be one of the worst games ever created. In between the archaeological digs out in the desert, the documentary also explores the history of Atari as a company. This includes its domination of the coin-op business, translation into the home market, and failure to anticipate the expanding nature of the business (like Nintendo would do a number of years later). As the documentary progresses, I found myself getting more and more invested in what the excavation crews would find out in that New Mexico desert. I won't spoil what the exact findings are, but suffice it to say it has some fairly dramatic moments. It also provided me with some history about a company (Atari) and era (late 70s, early 80s) that I didn't have a ton of knowledge about. Thus, "Atari: Game Over" really sucked me in and easily exceeded all my expectations coming in. If you have fond nostalgic memories of that time period, or just are a scholar of all things video games, you will enjoy this entertaining and informative little jaunt.

La Rose😘😘😘🤣🤣🤣58436327680Nov 22, 2022

Nerds of a certain age are so precious about the pop-culture artifacts of their youth, it's tempting to see this gathering of hundreds in a dump full of discarded '80s detritus as an apt visual metaphor. The spectators see it in more mythic terms, however; more than one enthusiast compares the dig to Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and a sudden sandstorm evokes the opening of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Everyone here speaks fluent Spielberg. (It's fitting that Penn is adapting Cline's Ready Player One, a book heavily steeped in vintage video games, as a screenplay for Spielberg to direct.) Penn keeps inserting himself into the action, playing the role of the buffoonish Hollywood guy who knows nothing about archaeological excavations, and he's usually not as amusing as he's trying to be. When the revelation finally comes, it's underwhelming to say the least. Yes, there are E.T. cartridges buried in Alamogordo, but not millions of them, and there are plenty of more popular games buried there, too.

♥෴♡☬ AMMU DINA ☬♡෴♥Nov 22, 2022

Atari : game over, 'some stupid documentary on video games and why an I-don't-care video game company collapsed , why did it bury a stupid video game'. This is the plot I got from the first few minutes. Always looked upon those video game geeks. Never understand what's their obsession with that. It's about an Engineer Howard Warshaw ,who created video games getting millions of dollars profit to the Atari video gaming company, the initial years seemed like from that of the Wolf of the Wall street, that heightened exuberance, mad celebrations, partying - as if that's it and life's going to be that way forever. when you see those things, you know an impending doom is on its way. That's what happens here too. Here's this geeky engineer, having the time of his life, getting the opportunity to turn the classics/ one of the greatest movies ever E.T into a video game. I know how geeks work , my brother is one- shut themselves up in rooms and never come out until the game is done. He was given just 5 weeks of time – apparently, that's not at all enough. Here, two crazy things happened – the company is just too ambitious to grow even bigger, and in that frenzy, greed, it took a stupid decision of producing just too many E.T. video games and then, this guy, who knew what's he's doing – i.e. he's turning a predominantly children's movie into a video game. So, it's common sense that it should be simple. But, no, he wanted to prove his genius or just to change things up and give something unique to the world of video games- the game , it seems – was pretty tough. Nobody got it and they returned the millions of video games. Hmm.. not, clear if this is the reason for the company's downfall, but, the company's stocks spiraled down like anything and they had to shut up. And this engineer guy was held responsible for a company's downfall and thousands of people losing their jobs, including his. His career got destroyed , and upon that the guilt and accusation of ruining a company. That guy seemed to have never recovered from it. That was just too emotional to see. So, at the end, at least after like 30 years, the blemish is a bit washed away , and now people kind of seem to understand E.T. is truly a good game. Many ardent video game lovers vouch for it. As one of the head guys said, if too many people say something, it becomes the truth – the reality of the herd mentality and the toll it can take on people like Howard Warshaw's lives. Firstly, kudos to the guy who wanted to dig it out. He's absolutely mad otherwise. Nothing good could have come out of the digging if not for absolving a man's conscience of a false, imposed guilt. The guy who made the documentary , great job.

SANov 22, 2022

This is a very riveting documentary that tells the grand story of the rise and fall of Atari via highlighting it's worst game. I remember playing Atari as a child, and some of my favorite atari games, such as Adventure, are featured in the film. I almost wish it touched further on some of the good atari games, such as pitfall. I also played the E.T. game and unlike the lionizing voices at the end of this doc, I do still think it deserves to be called one of the worst ever. That I can now empathize with the game's maker does not diminish the fact that the game was overly simplistic, boring, and one-note. That is the major weakness of this film, as it attempts to redeem the game itself and even bring up insulting explanations about the game not being liked on account of being 'too difficult.' As a young child I usually could beat it in about ten minutes, but there were no additional levels to explore afterwards. It wasn't difficult, but just bad.

TraceyNov 22, 2022

The only people who might really enjoy this movie are the ones who think about this burial incident every day. They spent half the time talking about what it was like to work for Atari. All I learned was that the people running the company were fools. Which should have been evident due to the existence of the 5200 and 7800.

Nella KharismaNov 22, 2022

Neat little doc on the supposed urban myth regarding a massive Atari game dump in a New Mexico town's landfill after the game company's end. Falsely accused for the demise of the Atari company was the ET game, made in five weeks after a crunch unrealistically asking a video game designer to make a remotely good game in such limited time. This doc focuses on the unearthing of the games in the landfill, with those who love Atari (and want the ET game's notoriety to be disregarded) being responsible for the whole big "archeological dig". If you grew up like I did with Atari, this will be of definite nostalgic value; for the generation hung up on Call of Duty and Halo, this might not be as interesting. To see where it all began, and to have experienced it (and just to be an 80s kid in all its awesomeness), this doc, not long at all and focusing intently on Atari with a sort of loving and sadness for its rise and fall, could be quite a lot of fun. It was for me. What happened to Warshaw, ET's designer, is tragic and should never have blacklisted him so. His game was used as an excuse for the death of a beloved company when a number of other factors contributed to it. That it took this long for Warshaw's name to be cleared is unfortunate, but this dig resurrected his name, and those coming to his aid is satisfying. That so many showed up for the dig was a testament to what nostalgia and curiosity can assure.

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