Micro Men

I grew up in the era where myself and my friends were playing and swapping Sinclair Spectrum games with each other, as well as during the infancy of using BBC micros at school. If you are of that same era, then Micro Men will seem like it was written for you. It's just perfection! It's factual, funny, and jammed full of references to the 1980's computer era. Even the music fits perfectly with the theme and date of the story. Martin Freeman and Alexander Armstrong play their roles incredibly well, as do all the other characters. Some people may criticise the accuracy, but at the end of the day, it's a story about a 4 or 5 year period squashed into about 90 minutes, so some creative writing had to occur in order to make the story flow. But overall it tells the story very well and accurately. There are some parts that I actually remember myself from the day, such as the fight at the 'Baron of Beef' which I remember reading about at the time in 'Crash'. If you still have a fond spot in your heart for your old ZX Spectrum, then you'll love Micro Men. It's one of my top films/documentaries of all time, and I always find myself watching it every few months. I've oribsbly watched it 20 times now, and it never gets boring! I love it. :)

Thanks for such a great piece of entertainment.

There were lots of funny bits in this film, largely due to the acting of Sinclair.

It was also light-hearted with a feel good factor at the end with people making up to each other and with Sinclairs quotes about life - "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?".

Some great 80's music as well.

Even if you were'nt into home computers at the time, then this is still a good drama.

Havily simplified, to the point of absurdity.

Clive is shown as a clown. They have shown his eccentric sides without representing his ingenuity. He is no mental slouch by any means.

Real dynamics around Sinclair Research was far more colorful.

Cliwe did not stick with C5 because he just couldn't see its flaws but because he was desperately trying to push it to some point where he could hit some market niche and make some money off it.

Anyone that has ever done some electronic projects, sold them and lived off that profit will tell you that sometimes you have to get creative to put bread on the table and some projects you do in some arrangements for the money.

Sinclair Research was not exception, rather the opposite.

Just saw this on BBC4. A very interesting take on how close the UK came to dominating the world computer development and manufacturing industry in the early 80s, only for it to all fall apart just 5 years later.

Despite some garish and unconvincing make-up, Armstrong shows he can do serious drama in his portrayal of Sir Clive Sinclair, the man who brought affordable computing to the masses. Martin Freeman is good (as always) as the confidante in Sinclair's company who, unable to understand Sinclairs bloody mindedness over what to concentrate their efforts on, leaves and sets up arch rival 'Acorn Computers' with an Austrian business partner.

The production team have done a solid job in displaying the drabness of the era. The mix of archive TV footage of the time inter-cut with this filmed TV drama works quite well. The background story of how the UK became a world leader in the home PC market, and then blew it, is a fascinating tale for anyone interested in recent history. At one point Freemans character turns to Sinclair and says 'We could have been the British IBM but you wouldn't listen to me' is very apt. Sinclairs obsession with the notorious C5 is also addressed. It does make you wonder what would have happened had there been more cohesion in the industry at the time rather than the arrogant self interest of the industry that resulted in the UK losing such a massive foothold.

A thought provoking drama that has just enough momentum to keep itself interesting despite some flaws.

Micro Men is an enjoyable docu-drama about the early days of the home computer revolution. I was there at the time reading computing magazines avidly and typing out the printed programmes which never worked because of typos. This was avid viewing.

It is Sinclair versus Acorn. Although you would not realise from this film that Clive Sinclair was better known as Uncle Clive, the genial, nerdy 1970s whiz kid who built cheap home computers with dead flesh keyboards.

The Acorn boys on the other hand built more stylish computers with proper keyboards and they even won the contract for the BBC computer.

In this drama, Clive Sinclair (Alexander Armstrong) is seen as a bad tempered bully (he was never regarded as such a person at the time.) Although he was later revealed to be a bit of ladies man, loved a flutter at the Vegas casinos and voted Tory.

Chris Curry (Martin Freeman) of Acorn Computers is the more lovable one. The nice, genial one with his more business headed Austrian partner.

The early 1980s British companies led the world of home computing, although Microsoft had plans for a uniform operating system.

Pitching Acorn v Sinclair is a great history lesson and drama. Unfortunately, both companies were also left picking up the pieces afterwards as Microsoft surpassed them a few years later.