Viva Amiga

First off, this is a great documentary. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My generation lived through the "computer boom" of the 80's. We experienced first hand the frustrations of making them work; the joy and adulation when we did make them work and we bore witness to the giant leaps in technology that were being made. The Commodore Amiga was one such leap and this documentary charts its success and ultimate demise of the machine extremely well indeed.

The passion and enthusiasm on display from the people directly involved in its creation (RJ Mical, Dave Haynie, Dave Needle and so on) still clearly exists today and is almost palpable.

This documentary draws you into that enthusiasm and nostalgia and packs a lot into just over an hour. I was left wanting more but still very satisfied with what I got. Great Stuff!

I would highly recommend this documentary.

Really good documentary focusing on the Amiga computer and the team that made their digital dream a reality. The film takes you on a journey of the story which is also further amplified by captivating 3d effects and music. Certainly a deeply emotional watch and recommended to anyone who has an interest in vintage computing. The film is a true testament that the director Zach Weddington that has worked so hard to put this masterpiece together.

This is of course coming from someone who grew up with 16 bit computers and although being an Atari ST man at heart, I always appreciated the Amiga for what a great machine it was.

I was fortunate to see this film at a preview followed by buying it on itunes. My review will be short. It tells the story of the rise and the fall of the Amiga, its fan base and the imprint it left on us today. Its about the Amiga and commodore, its not about some other computer companies (if that's what your expecting).

The people interviewed are varied, from those that helped finance Amiga as a startup, the talent that design the original machine, the very talented engineers that continued the series of Amiga and the software that made it amazing! Unlike many other documentaries it also talks to the fans and what it meant to them. Its also a bit of a love story. The narrative talks of the passion people poured into the machine and how it was taken away through blunders and bad management.

If you ever owned an Amiga, knew it as "that cool computer my neighbor had" or just are curious about a machine that had a huge impact on today's computing technology spend a buck and watch this documentary. Its glossy and fast paced. The production quality is awesome.

I've followed this film since the kickstarter missing out on the funding period and being genuinely gutted. I love the Amiga, my favourite all time computer so was excited that this was being made.

Now point 1, I watched this free on HULU before backers had even received their copy - poor business.

Anyway to the film, like others have expressed it is a collection of interviews, badly shot and mostly quite, quite dull intermixed with stock footage. It covers the creation of the Amiga, but it is very USA focused - where the Amiga has the biggest impact in creativity, games etc. was in Europe - none of which is covered in this film. The true spirit of the Amiga is/was not in the making of it but in how it transformed and inspired millions of people worldwide and this is lost in this shamble of a movie.

Many documentaries about computers need you to have a lot of nerd in you. Not so much this one. It paints a 4096 color picture of what is was like to invent a whole new OS and computer back in the days. It shows the people who did it, how they did it and what became of it. Never a dull moment!

The movies has amazing 90's like 3D animations to string the chapters together. The sound and video quality is of the highest standards.

The documentary was made possible through a Kickstarter (a very appropriate name in the Amiga world) campaign with only a limited budget, but that only shows a little towards the end, where the final chapter seems a little rushed. Luckily the DVD contains many extra's where this and other chapters are shown more extensively (and some are hilarious!)

Overall one of the better computer documentaries, although you might be slightly disappointed if you are looking for three hour technical ramblings about every detail. You'd be better off with Brian Bagnall's book about Commodore.

Viva Amiga!