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Tilt: The Battle To Save Pinball - Collector's Edition
R0 - America - The Future of Pinball, LLC Review written by and copyright: Rob Fields (15th March 2008). |
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The Film
 When I got this DVD in the mail and took it out of the small box it came packed in, my eyes widened. I thought, “Cool! THIS should be a fun documentary to review.” Okay, while I was never really into pinball, I did play more than a few machines in my time. While some of them weren’t the greatest, there were some that were really fun. Just writing this makes me remember a “Star Trek: The Next Generation” pinball machine that was really fun to play. I was never really any good at pinball. It always seemed that that shiny silver ball was always going down the area where you couldn’t make the ball bounce back out, or sometimes the ball would just shoot right past the flippers. The most I would ever accomplish would be to earn a few free games or an extra ball. I would never once gain the top score. I just wasn’t that good – period. Still, I guess it was the schemes and the way the games were played that made some of these pinball games quite interesting. Even the props made some of them worthwhile. Every now and then, I might still see a pinball game in an arcade, at a grill and bar, or even at a Wal-Mart store. While pinball games had to compete with video games for places in the arcades, both the pinball games and the big arcade machines had their days numbered. Whenever I go by an arcade, I almost NEVER see any new video games. Most of the pinball games and video games are old. In fact, nearly all of the video games that I see can be easily obtained for home consoles. In fact, the arcades are almost empty when I pass by them. I get this really sad feeling inside from time to time with the knowledge that one day the video game arcade will cease to exist. In some malls that I visit frequently, some of them have already closed for good or have downgraded considerably. As people have the high-end gaming systems like the Nintendo Wii, the X-Box 360, and PlayStation 3, why go out to the arcades and play video games, right? That’s probably what almost everybody thinks. That’s sad, because for me, going to the arcades was the reason for getting games for my home systems. I was mainly into the arcade games, and those were the ones I wanted for my consoles. With the lack of new games, that’s pretty much why I got out of it. That, and I couldn’t support both video games and DVD's. Getting back to the subject at hand, Pinball is pretty much a thing of the past. I fear that video arcades themselves probably won’t be too far behind. “TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball” (59:48) tells the story of how pinball was dying in 1998, thanks to a saturated market and shrinking player base. Williams, the world’s largest pinball manufacturer, prepared to abandon the game that had made it a legend in favor of the more lucrative video slot machine business. This is a documentary that tells the story of Pinball 2000, a mind-blowing attempt at resuscitating pinball that failed at the moment many people thought it might succeed. A Soul of a New Machine for the pinball world, "TILT" is a compendium of interviews with legends of the pinball industry, photos, and film of the best games the industry has produced. Though nominally about pinball, the film is many things: a story of innovation, business case study, a nostalgia trip, a story about personality and passion, of unlikely teamwork and cooperation in a workplace traditionally driven by ego. It’s a story of a bold success dizzyingly followed by stunning failure. From its nostalgic opening jaunt through pinball history to its heartbreaking ending, employing remarkable animation throughout, this documentary is a fascinating case study for anyone interested not just in pinball, but in the march of technology and the intersection of art and commerce. I liked the setup of the documentary, which is divided into sections which go from the concept of the first new Pinball 2000 game to having it actually doing quite well. I liked how everything was explained in detail. The game designers who talked about their experiences seemed to be quite cheerful when discussing things about their new machines. Yet, at the same time, they showed down emotions when they would find out that the pinball division was done. Also, the documentary was an independent feature. In other words, I’m glad that Hollywood didn’t make it. But then, Hollywood hasn’t made any of the big-screen documentaries that I’ve seen, or the ones on DVD that I’ve reviewed in the past. The downsides? I can’t really think of much to put down for this section. While, the documentary was quite comprehensive when it came to the title subject, I suppose I would have liked to have seen a little more about the history of pinball as a whole. But what they have here gives the viewer enough information on the subject. Besides, this documentary is about what was attempted to try and save pinball, not about pinball in general. My final word: If you are a true pinball fan, then you may want to own this documentary. There is so much material packed into this 2-disc set. You may even see some of the classic pinball games that you may or may not have played back when pinball was at its all-time high. I myself am not into pinball, but I still found this documentary to be quite entertaining. So you don’t really have to be big into pinball to enjoy it. It’s at least worth a rental from that standpoint. Perhaps after this, I may end up giving some of the pinball games that look interesting a play and see what I may or may not have been missing out on. I’m already curious to see and/or play "Revenge From Mars" and/or "Star Wars: Episode 1" just to see what Pinball 2000 is like for myself.
Video
The film is presented in full screen format (1.33:1 ratio). The video footage looks dated. I’m sure that some footage from way-back-when was taken to help make this documentary. As far as defects, you won’t find any here. Far from the feel of the footage being dated, the picture looks quite good. I also noticed that some of the backgrounds look generic. After watching the documentary, I believe this was intentional. After all, pinball cabinets use generic artwork, so why not the documentary itself? Even the disc menus look generic.
Audio
The film features two English Dolby Digital soundtracks. One is a Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track. The other is a 5.0 Dolby Digital surround track. Both tracks are quite evident when you watch the main feature. While they aren’t loud enough that they’ll blow the roof off your house, but still reasonably loud. The 5.0 is a little more aggressive than the 2.0 mono and manages to fill the room. While the subwoofer is not utilized, you’re not going to miss it. I mean, it’s not like you need to hear the rumble of a dinosaur walking while watching this. There are optional English, German, Italian, French, Dutch and Norwegian subtitles available (for the film only).
Extras
The Future of Pinball has packed this 2-disc set with a ton of extras that include an audio commentary, a collection of biographies, 28 featurettes, an expo speech footage, an audio feature, a series of 4 stills galleries and the film's theatrical trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements broken down per disc. DISC ONE: First up is a feature-length audio commentary by director Greg Maletic. Here, you will get a lot of technical information about the film itself. It’s not altogether scene specific. He does warn you that the audio quality may differ since it was recorded at different times. In all, he sounds very enthusiastic as he talks to you. There are no subtitles available for this feature. There are 12 cast biographies. Each one is accompanied by a photo of that cast member. You will get a brief summery about them. They include: - George Gomez - Pat Lawlor - Larry DeMar - Roger Sharpe - Steve Kordek - Tom Uban - Jim Patla - Duncan Brown - Cameron Silver - Louis Koziarz - Lyman Sheats - Neil Nicastro DISC TWO: This disc includes multiple extras, a 'play all' option is available for all but the ‘Highlights’ menu. The discs extras are separated into sections (some featurettes are accessible under a couple of sections. The sections included are 'highlights', 'Inside Pinball', 'Inside Pinball 2000', 'Inside Williams', 'Inside the Industry', 'Lost Machines', 'Tributes', 'Expo Speech', 'Cast Discussion', 'Graphs & Statistics' and 'About TILT'. Below is a look at all the extras on this disc. The first featurette "Roger Sharpe Saves Pinball" runs 6 minutes and 47 seconds. Here, you will see Williams Licensing Manager and Pinball Historian Sharpe talks about some of the hurtles that he had climb over in order to get a ban lifted on pinball back in the 1970's. The second featurette "The Cost of Playing Pinball" runs 2 minutes. Here, you will see Williams Pinball Designer Steve Kordek and Williams Licensing Manager Sharpe give viewpoints for the cost of playing in order for the owner to get his money back on a pinball game. In "A Conversation with Steve Kordek" featurette, which runs 20 minutes and 5 seconds, you will get his comments from 2003. Here, an unseen interviewer (probably the director) asks him questions and he answers them. You will get his story from how he got into the industry and how far he has advanced since then. "Williams Factory Tour" is a featurette that runs 6 minutes and 1 second. Here, you will see some 1999 footage that was shot during a tour of the Williams pinball manufacturing facility in Waukegan, Illinois. In this footage, you will see production of the last pinball game they would ever make, which was “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace”. This was the second and last pinball game in the Pinball 2000 series. "Lost Pinball Machines" is a featurette that runs 5 minutes and 59 seconds. Here you will see footage showing one pinball model called 'Circus' that never saw the light of day. You will also see footage from Wizard Blocks, the unreleased THIRD Pinball 2000 game. And if that’s not enough, how about the unreleased FOURTH Pinball 2000 game – 'Playboy'. "How Pinball 2000 Might Have Saved the Industry" is the next featurette and runs 2 minutes and 36 seconds. Here, Sharpe talks about some of the reasons why he felt that pinball died, namely technical issues. He talks about how Pinball 2000 had bridged this gap. "TILT Special Effects" featurette runs 5 minutes and 17 seconds. Here, Director Maletic does commentary in the background as he explains what you are seeing in the featurette. You will also see some of the editing tools he uses in his editing of the picture. "George Gomez's Pinball Expo Speech" footage. You will see some interview footage with some of the cast. You will then see the video footage title speech. The quality of the footage isn’t the greatest here; it looks like VHS home video quality. While the speech was good, too bad pinball would end up being shut down just three days after. Here is the breakdown of that speech: - "Introduction" runs 1 minute and 28 seconds. - "Expo Speech" runs for 38 minutes and 35 seconds. - "Q & A" runs for 38 minutes and 45 seconds and is about Pinball 2000. "The Evolution of Pinball, 1980-1995" is a featurette that runs 8 minutes and 45 seconds. Here, you will see members of the cast talk about how the pinball industry was saved during a slump in the early 80's due to the boom of video games. "Designing a Pinball Machine" featurette runs 9 minutes and 22 seconds. Here, you will see members of the cast talk about what makes a particular pinball game work the way it does in terms of themes and mechanics. It is not about how it is put together from circuits and wood. "Pinball 2000, Mark 1" featurette runs 1 minute and 59 seconds. Here, you will hear about some of the first ideas that would lead to Pinball 2000. "Designing the Platform" featurette runs 6 minutes and 48 seconds. Here, you will learn about some of the hardware that went into the creation of the Pinball 2000 machine to help make it cost effective. "Playfield Size" featurette runs 1 minute and 23 seconds. You will see some of the cast talking about the size of the playing field for Pinball 2000. "Designing Revenge From Mars" featurette runs 8 minutes and 11 seconds. In this clip, you will hear some of the cast talking about what would be the theme for the first Pinball 2000 game, and why "Star Wars: Episode 1" was not the best choice. "Laying Out the Playfield" featurette runs 17 minutes and 18 seconds. You will see just how the playfield is designed and created on a computer. George Gomez takes you through the playfield he would design for "Revenge From Mars". "Conversion Kit Issues" featurette runs 4 minutes and 21 seconds. While the conversion kits were a great idea, there were issues at the same time. Many of them costly. "Looking Back at Pinball 2000" featurette runs 6 minutes and 49 seconds. The games "Wizard Blocks" and "Playboy" are touched upon as the next games for Pinball 2000. There are also some reasons given for why the plug was pulled on Pinball 2000. "Pinball 2000 On Location" featurette runs 46 seconds. You see an interview with a bowling alley mechanic as he talks about the Pinball 2000 machines at his location. "Pinball 2000 Marketing Video" featurette runs 9 minutes and 39 seconds. This is just what the title says. You saw only a bit of this in the documentary. Now see it in its entirety. "Pinball 2000 Repair Video" featurette runs 19 minutes and 30 seconds. This is just what the title says. You get the instructions for putting a Pinball 2000 machine together once you get it out of the boxes. From there, it tells you how to easily service a Pinball 2000 machine. "Pinball, Video Games, and Slot Machines" featurette runs 2 minutes and 9 seconds. A little more on how Williams became the leader in the slot machine market. "Stories of the Shutdown" featurette runs 2 minutes and 55 seconds. The first stories of the pinball division shutdown are touched on here, and what happened after. "Pinball Industry Economics" featurette runs 1 minute and 44 seconds. Here, you learn about the chain of command in terms of how it comes from the distributor to the consumers. "The 1990's Boom and Bust" featurette runs 2 minutes and 38 seconds. The cast talks about how pinball tapered off in the early 1990s. "A Conversation with Larry DeMar" featurette runs 25 minutes and 28 seconds. Here, you will learn how he got his start with Williams. He touches on how the video game industry got its strong start with "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids". It’s a pretty long story. "Bally’s Pinball Circus" featurette runs 2 minutes and 18 seconds. Here you will see a completed pinball machine that incorporated a 3-D background. This, however never saw the light of day because it was unsure if this would only be a one-shot deal rather than a continuing concept. "Wizard Blocks" featurette runs 2 minutes and 6 seconds. You will see more about the unreleased third Pinball 2000 game. "Playboy" featurette runs 1 minute and 33 seconds. You will see more about the unreleased fourth Pinball 2000 game. The game is in its early stage (unfortunately, the final stage). "Tributes" featurette runs 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Here, you will see some of the cast members give credit to the other members of the cast members where credit was due. "Credits" featurette runs 2 minutes and 36 seconds. This piece was created by George Gomez as his way of giving credit where credit was due. The "Cast Discussion" option is an audio only feature, which features former Pinball 2000 team members Roger Sharpe (Williams Licensing Manager), Duncan Brown (Williams Software Designer), Tom Uban (Pinball 2000 Software Architect), and Cameron Silver (Williams Software Designer). The session is moderated by the film's director Greg Maletic. This runs for 75 minutes and 49 seconds. You can also hear each segment via an index. There is a lot of technical talk during this session. It could easily have been the second commentary track for the main feature. The five men here go into great detail on everything in the index. Most of it was probably touched on already, either in the main feature or in the many featurettes presented on this DVD. 4 stills galleries are included. You can view any of the four individually or all together. Here are the stills: - "WMS Division Revenue" - "WMS Pinballs Sold" - "Pinball/Video Units Sold" - "WMS Sales" The original theatrical trailer rounds out the extras and runs 1 minute and 59 seconds.
Overall
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