Setting its sights on a group of the nation's greatest arcade game players, "Chasing Ghosts" endeavors to shed light on the raging video game culture of the early 1980's. An '82 Life Magazine photo shoot brought together 16 prodigies, some of whom would go on to live in video game infamy. This film sets out to profile these men.
"Chasing Ghosts" was released at around the same time as the similarly- themed "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" [2007]; though this film doesn't have a good-vs-bad story arc, nor did it receive the exposure of the other documentary. The soft-spoken "other video game" documentary, if you will. The film is comprised primarily of recollections of those involved in that fateful Life shoot, and where they are 25 years later. Some have achieved great success, others not so much. And some have simply leveled off into a comfortable middle-age lifestyles.
The people interviewed wax nostalgic about their youth and flirtations with stardom, taking us on a nostalgic trip to the early '80s when the arcade ruled the neighborhood as a social hub. It's easy to disparage some of these men as nerds, but they were also achievers. They had the marked mental acumen and force of will to spend hours in front of a machine (usually on just one quarter) and succeed against an intimidating electronic opponent.
"Chasing Ghosts" works as a fascinating look back to an exciting period in American history. It's tailor-made for those who hung out at arcades in their youth, and still accessible to those that didn't. And it really helps to see this after having seen "The King of Kong", because it simply goes into more detail. You get to see archival footage of Walter Day, including a short clip of the man hosting Twin Galaxies (which aired on local TV). Not only that, but there's more interview footage of Billy Mitchell - and dare I say, he actually comes off here as a pretty decent guy (especially compared to the other documentary). There's even more time spent on Roy Shildt, who's an unbelievably bigger douche than Billy Mitchell's reputation would suggest. Staggeringly.
So while "Chasing Ghosts" may lack the good vs. evil drama of "Kong", it scores solid points for its in-depth approach.
8/10
"Chasing Ghosts" was released at around the same time as the similarly- themed "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" [2007]; though this film doesn't have a good-vs-bad story arc, nor did it receive the exposure of the other documentary. The soft-spoken "other video game" documentary, if you will. The film is comprised primarily of recollections of those involved in that fateful Life shoot, and where they are 25 years later. Some have achieved great success, others not so much. And some have simply leveled off into a comfortable middle-age lifestyles.
The people interviewed wax nostalgic about their youth and flirtations with stardom, taking us on a nostalgic trip to the early '80s when the arcade ruled the neighborhood as a social hub. It's easy to disparage some of these men as nerds, but they were also achievers. They had the marked mental acumen and force of will to spend hours in front of a machine (usually on just one quarter) and succeed against an intimidating electronic opponent.
"Chasing Ghosts" works as a fascinating look back to an exciting period in American history. It's tailor-made for those who hung out at arcades in their youth, and still accessible to those that didn't. And it really helps to see this after having seen "The King of Kong", because it simply goes into more detail. You get to see archival footage of Walter Day, including a short clip of the man hosting Twin Galaxies (which aired on local TV). Not only that, but there's more interview footage of Billy Mitchell - and dare I say, he actually comes off here as a pretty decent guy (especially compared to the other documentary). There's even more time spent on Roy Shildt, who's an unbelievably bigger douche than Billy Mitchell's reputation would suggest. Staggeringly.
So while "Chasing Ghosts" may lack the good vs. evil drama of "Kong", it scores solid points for its in-depth approach.
8/10