Apple TV+ Thriller Film 'Tetris' Recounts 'Unbelievable Story' Behind Video Game: Watch the Trailer Now

[ThunderSkunk]

This should be pretty good. The story of Tetris is outrageously, unbelievably spanky. Gets far more crazy than you can imagine, with the money dragging in international politics and all sorts of chaos that's never been seen since. If you're unfamiliar, hold off reservations until you see this. It's nuts. I don't even like video games, but I will watch the hell out of this story, bc its been a bottomless pit of drama for about half a century.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

So context on what this movie is about:

I'll bet you're the guy who got out of Empire Strikes Back ahead of me and drove through the parking lot past the line shouting "DARTH VADER IS LUKES FATHER". Does it make you feel important to tell everyone the story before they get a chance to see it?

 

[Cameront9]

Who.....*****...cares.

Seriously. Now we're making origin movies for video games? Let's track down the dev teams behind PacMan and Galaxian and see where they are now?

Drivel...

On the plus side, nice to the see the guys from Europe getting some royalty revenue. . That song was epic!

I’d love that actually. I’d love to see a dramatic film about the creation of PacMan and the genesis of the Japanese gaming industry.
Even without the silly car chases and punches that this Tetris movie has in it, the Tetris saga is gripping drama.

 

[rafark]

Guy in the thumbnail looking like a young Leo DiCaprio

 

[BrownyQ]

The trailer makes it feel like they went over the top on the artistic license.

But this is also the first film on ATV+ I actually wanna give a watch to. I wonder if I can get a free month trial...?

 

[halftheproblem]

looks like an SNL bit

 

[grad]

I love Tetris, but from that trailer the movie seems super-cringey.

and overdramatic

 

[G5isAlive]

Well, not all great stories happened in XXI century.

Or the XX’th, or XIV’th, or XVIII’th… what’s your point? My interest or lack of has nada to with era , nor did I imply so…

 

[CarAnalogy]

So context on what this movie is about: This is about Henk Rogers, owner of a Japanese game company called Bulletproof Software that worked closely with Nintendo. Tetris had recently broke out of the Iron Curtain through a licensing agreement with Elorg (the Soviet's tech "corporation" so to speak) and UK PC game publisher Spectrum Holobyte. However the Soviets stipulated Spectrum Holobyte only had the rights to publish the game on PCs, which at the time they considered game consoles PCs as well, so Spectrum Holobyte was throwing the licensing around the world like candy, all the while the Soviets weren't getting a single penny of royalties.

This is where Henk Rogers comes into play, as he is working with Nintendo to find them a killer app to launch their then prototype handheld the Game Boy. After showing Nintendo Tetris, the Nintendo executives told him to go to Moscow to get the rights immediately. This lead into a boardroom battle between Spectrum Holobyte, Henk Rogers, and some other parties over who gets the rights to publish Tetris, as well as frustrated communists not knowing what the hell is going on.

Thank you, now I don’t have to watch the movie!

 

[DeepIn2U]

So context on what this movie is about: This is about Henk Rogers, owner of a Japanese game company called Bulletproof Software that worked closely with Nintendo. Tetris had recently broke out of the Iron Curtain through a licensing agreement with Elorg (the Soviet's tech "corporation" so to speak) and UK PC game publisher Spectrum Holobyte. However the Soviets stipulated Spectrum Holobyte only had the rights to publish the game on PCs, which at the time they considered game consoles PCs as well, so Spectrum Holobyte was throwing the licensing around the world like candy, all the while the Soviets weren't getting a single penny of royalties.

This is where Henk Rogers comes into play, as he is working with Nintendo to find them a killer app to launch their then prototype handheld the Game Boy. After showing Nintendo Tetris, the Nintendo executives told him to go to Moscow to get the rights immediately. This lead into a boardroom battle between Spectrum Holobyte, Henk Rogers, and some other parties over who gets the rights to publish Tetris, as well as frustrated communists not knowing what the hell is going on.

Excellent.

This trailer rings back super memories of childhood:

Like who could forget Ghostbuster (OG) and the Stay Puffed Marshmallow man - I could watch every year for the next thousand years and never bore if it.

I also remember playing the other game mentioned in a he first 5 seconds and Gremlins.

Had no idea the backdrop of Tetris. Interesting. What’s next Rubix and all official
Evolutions including the flat rubix (the final
Official version)!?

 

[dw2]

As others have mentioned, it does look like a movie based off The Gaming Historian's documentary on Tetris from five years ago:

 

[Fowl]

Brad Pitt as ┫, Tom Hanks as ■ ...

 

[svish]

Looking forward to seeing this film!! Trailer looks good.

 

[OutOfShape80sWrestler]

Once again the trailer is so long we've practically seen every scene of this film.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Who.....*****...cares.

Seriously. Now we're making origin movies for video games? Let's track down the dev teams behind PacMan and Galaxian and see where they are now?

Drivel...

Okay boomer

Is now a bad time to remind you HBO's #1 show right now is a TV adaptation of the industry defining Playstation exclusive The Last of Us?

 

[hortod1]

The hours I wasted as a kid playing this game… on the bright side I can, when the situation call for it, pack a moving van like a champ

 

[wigby]

I'm sure that there is a /s somewhere looking for that statement.

As much as I want to see Apple succeed with TV+, their productions feel too over-produced. In this particular one, the acting is just not quite there. Doesn't feel real, which means it's harder to connect with the show and be transported into it.

Are you seriously evaluating the acting just based on the trailer? I'll alert the Academy that they can just hand out awards based on trailers from now on.

 

[klasma]

Are you seriously evaluating the acting just based on the trailer? I'll alert the Academy that they can just hand out awards based on trailers from now on.

The acting is pretty bad in that trailer, though.

 

[wigby]

The acting is pretty bad in that trailer, though.

I hadn't noticed the same way I don't notice acting in commercial spots either. We're watching hyper-stylized mini stories compressed down to deliver over-the-top moments to compete with audiences munching on popcorn and babies crying. Also, every trailer since the 90s adds or cuts out music, graphics and recuts scenes which completely changes the timing and delivery of performances to fit their formula so I'm not sure how anyone can judge a performance from a trailer. But I guess some audiences do it anyway.

 

[klasma]

Brad Pitt as ┫, Tom Hanks as ■ ...​

Climactic scene from the movie:

​

 

[TVreporter]

For the number of hours I spent playing that game on the NES, Apple could make a movie about me.

 

[Scotticus]

It had me until about halfway through where it suddenly turned into an action thriller with car chases and guns

 

[Michael Scrip]

I wonder if they will talk about Tengen Tetris on the NES:

In 1989, Atari Games released a port of their arcade version under their Tengen label for the Nintendo Entertainment System, despite it not being licensed by Nintendo for the system. There were also issues with the publishing rights for Tetris, and after much legal wrangling, Nintendo itself ended up with the rights to publish console versions, leaving Atari with only the rights to arcade versions. As a result, the Tengen game was only on the shelf for four weeks before Atari was legally required to recall the game and destroy any remaining inventory of its NES version. With fewer than 100,000 copies known to exist, the Tengen release has since become a collector's item, due to its short time on the market.

 

[Octavius8]

I'm sure that there is a /s somewhere looking for that statement.

As much as I want to see Apple succeed with TV+, their productions feel too over-produced. In this particular one, the acting is just not quite there. Doesn't feel real, which means it's harder to connect with the show and be transported into it.

I just saw the trailer. I can't agree more with you. The acting and dialogs are waaaay over the top, totally unrealistic. I was excited, but after watching half of the trailer I want to read the story instead...

 

[Solomani]

Sorta excited about this and never really got into the game..

The original Tetris game was decent. The original Tetris music was awesome.

My favorite Tetris music track.... after the Korobelniki (Korobeiniki).... was Moscow Nights. Two Guitars was also good.

And yes, admittedly... those catchy original Gameboy soundtracks were..... (surprise!) Russian folk themes originating from the Soviet Union. The one exception is the title song Korobelniki. That song existed before the Soviet Union. It was a folk song from the Russian Tsarist era, the folk song possibly dating as far back as the mid-1800s.


The rock band Ozma, which I stumbled into on iTunes..... made a hard rock rendition of The Korbelniki, the title song of the Tetris universe. Give it a listen.

Here's a bonus for OG Mac gamers (like myself)....

On Youtube is the original soundtrack of the Spectrum Holobyte Tetris, which first appeared on the Mac Classic. Literally one of the earliest Tetris games to appear on an Apple platform.