Tetris

*That Tetris was invented by a Russian.

That's it. Everything else is pretty much fiction. Then again, the true story was mainly a fairly complicated, protracted legal battle and wouldn't have made for a very exciting film. But an exciting film is what we have! It's well acted, the whole production is great, the story is gripping, but it's all fiction. Which is fine, but claiming it was "based on a true story" is... misleading, to put it nicely.

It's quite revealing to read all these glowing reviews praising the authenticity and what a wonderful historical edcuation these reviewers recieved upon viewing it, when even a cursory google search shows that the reality is almost entirely disconnected with the contents of this film.

Still, I have to give the film credit, it was a fun watch, a good story and VERY imaginative!

And utterly mezmerisingly surprised on how much tension such a generic ''history of the...'' could make, a real spy thriller behind the iron curtain, for the righteous rights ot patency over the may be most successfilled game in the history of digital gaming, namely ''tetris''.

This is a well acted, well set and very well acclamatized and extremely authenticly made production on the infancy of the digital gaming era, the cast makes this story very fun to follow, even for me the grumpy old man that grew up a generation before all this happened, when the electric typewriter and electronic greenglowing calculator was the top of the hype.

So if yore interested in the story behind digital stuff and all the serindipitous ways destiny may cross to make you a happy gamer, then this film is a recommend. Its funded by apple but who cares when the film is good.

I never knew this entire back story behind the success of Tetris. I was intrigued when I first saw the trailer and wonder if it could be any fun or good and I'm glad to say it's a pretty cool movie and I did enjoy it quite a ton. Taron Egerton did such a good job in the role and did some good acting and i think this movie was a pretty fun time and the whole story behind tetris. I think it was a pretty solid movie and now I want to play some tetris after watching this movie. This isn't groundbreaking but it's just a fun time in general which I think people should watch and I recommend to watch it.

As "Tetris" (2023 release; 117 min.) opens, we are reminded that "This is based on a true story", and we are in "Level 1, 1988" as Henk Rogers is at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, trying (and failing) to push a video game called "Go". In another booth, someone is hawking a game called "Tetris" and after trying out the game for a few minutes, Rogers is completely bowled over. He needs to find a way to get a license to that game, one way or another. At this point we are less than 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film from Scottish director Jon Baird ("Stan & Ollie"). Here he brings the origin story of how the game "Tetris" became a worldwide phenom, but not before there was a frenzy over the legal rights, as fragmented as they were (both as to territories and as to platforms: video, arcade, handheld, etc.). In essence this is a legal drama and hence one cannot assume that this would be an enjoyable or engaging film to watch,. But as it turns out, this is very much enjoyable and engaging. Mostly set in the late 80s and early 90s, and effortlessly shifting settings from the US to Japan to the UK to the USSR, it becomes a zany affair, full of energy. Taron Egerton ("Kingsman", "Rocketman") as Henk Rogers is clearly having a ball with this role. If you wonder where the film was shot and what location stood in for those 80's era Soviet buildings, it is in fact Scotland (Aberdeen and Glasgow). Bottom line: I found this movie to be far better than I could've expected.

"Tetris" premiered at last month's SXSW festival to immediate acclaim. It started streaming on Apple TV this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. If you are in the mood for a zany legal drama on how Tetris became a mega-seller, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

"Tetris" is the movie I didn't even know I needed.

A ridiculously entertaining (and probably at least partially ridiculously fabricated) "based on true events" story about the fight between a desperate American video game creator and Soviet Russia over the rights to what would become one of the most famous games of all time.

I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first, as it has a very jokey, self-aware tone, as does Taron Egerton's performance. But both won me over quickly, and not long into the movie I was all in. Egerton is a ball of charisma in the lead, and he's easy to root for. The movie gets a little silly at the end (a car chase to the airport, really?) and seems to be taking historical accuracy lessons from "Argo," but by the time the end came around I didn't care. I've been complaining recently that entertaining movies for adults are in short supply, so I'm not going to quibble when one comes along.

Grade: A.