From Bedrooms to Billions

As you can see from my score, this movie is not just perfect, it is mind blowing. (I give it 9.5 but the rating system doesn't do .5). Compared to the AVGN movie you may have seen put about these days, this movie is actually AWESOME. Let me explain.

In order to get an idea of the history of retro machines, first you must present the story from the eyes of the kids and teens who made the games, and why they made them. Then you must bring in the story of the UK games industry, moving through the BBC and ZX spectrum range, and the frontier of Memory Vs the imagination. Then the Commodore C64, and the frontier of audio. Finally the Amiga, as the final frontier of game-play and graphics. Then 'the console gap' which lead to the modern day; where games are now versions of revisions. In short, this documentary covers it all, from the eyes of the makers who made it happen. Rather than an emotional roller-coaster, instead this is a soft and gentle deep thread of fascination from end to end. Everything about Crash and Zzap64! is in there; which was written by young adults of my own age-group (something I didn't realise at the time!), and even though every topic is here, we as an audience get the feeling of only just skimming the surface.

The games are far and wide (I recognised about half), and include many hits from the three big machines, ZX, C64, Amiga. (NES and SEGA also feature, as well as PS4). In the Amiga section they feature many 3D games: such as Stunt Car Racer, Midwinter and Mercenary III. I thought the Amiga content flew by quite quickly, but there were a lot of Amiga guys throughout the whole movie, talking about the general idea and logistics of producing games.

The whole production feels like it was produced with so much love and affection, the homage to the period so vivid it's almost as though its still here with us. A time when we could all be friends, together as gamers, having fun, living a dream. If you are reading this message, YOU were there; now you can relive those times again and again forever.

The extra material in the Special Edition is also worth a look for C64 and Amiga fans, with Jon Hare on Sensi Soccer (5mins), Mike Montgomtery on creating Speedball 2 (almost 6mins). The making of Shadow of the Beast (8mins), Peter Molyneux on Populous (15mins). David Braben talks about the original Elite (31mins), plus there are a rake of C64 related materials, including 17mins of Geoff Crammond talking about The Sentinel, and his time on the BBC Micro with games like Super Space Invaders and Revs. And even an extended interview with the legend Matthew Smith and his days with Manic Miner (6mins). Plus more! As you can tell, I think this is the most glorious tribute to that whole period, period! So gather all your friends around and make this a celebration. This one is definitely worth watching.

If you're reading this, you're a kindred spirit. A fan of classic games, and game history. A passionate soul, and as such will not need too much in the way of description. Just simply know if you are of that ilk, this Documentary is one of the best of the topic of gaming history, and just unmatched in terms of the UK industry. It just covers just about all you would want it to and all you can reasonably expect it to unless it was to become a TV series. From the games to the people behind them, to those magazines you loved of the time, it's superbly done. There are slight omissions there, but very few and to bring those up would be very nit picky indeed. It is just a stunning labour of love. And opt for the special edition, and you will get another disc featuring interviews and extended interviews with many of those on the first disc, covering some of those old favourites like Elite and Sentinel. There aren't many Documentaries that cover the UK market, although there are a couple that do the US one quite well. This well and truly fixes that, and goes on to be probably the best one ever done in my opinion. I was so close to giving this 10/10. If you have a passion for this subject you have to have this. Enough said.

Just finished viewing this,and it made the hair on my back stand up.Apart from a few glaring omissions (probably from people saying no to participate in this documentary rather than the makers not asking) it is a thorough analysis of the emergence of the gaming industry,and takes us through it's ups and downs and rebirth of gaming as we now know it.Conspicuously it rather glazes over the Amiga days,but that is most likely due to the up coming new documentary from the creators of this.

Can't praise this enough.Having lived through the 8-bit days,and later the 16-bit (read Amiga),it really is like revisiting the glory days.

One last thing:The ending is one of the best I've seen in a documentary.

Go on,give this one a try.

What can I say about this film that has not already been said ?

I was lucky enough to grow up through this age, playing the games, becoming a computer geek, even being an Amiga 'scene' demo programmer in my late teens which led to a career as a computer programmer.

This film documented my childhood into my 20's, and any computer kid of the 70's included, as such I can't recommend it enough to people of our generation - but more importantly to those of the younger generation to see where it all began as to move forward you must always look back first.

Looking forward to the new 'Amiga years' film A lot.

I have to say that I absolutely loved 'From Bedrooms to Billions' – it's marvellous! I discovered it on Netflix and watching it bought back so many great childhood memories – a truly wonderful 2.5hr's of time-travelled viewing with Pong and Dizzy =)

I'm no film critic or games industry professional but as someone who enjoys documentaries, in my opinion, it is not only the best documentary in the gaming genre but probably the best narrative/account of an industry/market development 'end-to-end, or at least from beginning to the present day' – I can't think of another documentary that captures/frames an industrial/business movement/growth in as concise or interesting way.

I think it's recommended viewing for anyone interested in technology or business, let alone gaming.

It has earned a place in my select DVD collection, amongst acclaimed viewing like The Wire and Fight Club, and true greats like Carl Sagan's Cosmos and Black Sky (the brilliant documentary about Burt Rutan's development of SpaceShipOne, now known as Virgin Galactic).

From Bedrooms To Billions is one I'll certainly show, discuss and leave to my grandchildren =)