Maybe it caught my attention because its name reminded me of that guilty pleasure I get watching “Hackers” (Iain Softley, 1995). A movie something dystopian and wacky with whom they wanted to do cool computer security – when in reality it is a monotonous succession of lifeless commands in a terminal. This movie also had a very young Angelina Jolie and somehow she took the stylish world of Tron to its extreme (Steven Lisberger, 1982), another of my cult films.
I didn’t watch much more. “Pirates of Silicon Valley” seemed to me an awful name even for a tabletop movie, but I rented it thinking it could be entertaining without more pretensions. I saved it for dinner, a snack normality – maybe lived up to my expectations with what I was about to see. As I took the first bites, the first scene. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, without much interest, I was hungry.
Steve Jobs, without warning. And then the shooting with Ridley Scott of the Apple Superbowl commercial where they announced the Macintosh in 1984. What!? What is this!? I immediately stopped having dinner, I searched the Internet. And so I saw a small clip of MacWorld 1999 where Jobs invited the protagonist to impersonate him in a keynote. I returned to the cinema like a spring. I think I forgot the sandwich. The following scenes impressed me in many ways, like someone discovering a treasure without looking for it. In the end, I didn’t have dinner, and that movie became something I’m still writing almost twenty-three years to the day.
The BEST Apple Keynotes EVER
There were two films that wanted to capture the moment and not the story
It is likely that no apple movies we like Never. Not only because the history of the company is vast and complex, but also because we all consider ourselves part of its history in one way or another. Many of us grew up watching opening speechenjoying releases or waiting for Steve Jobs’ latest One More Thing – so we feel that closeness to the brand.
The mania for shoeing the hot actor into blockbusters has aggravated both films – which preferred to capture the moment after Jobs’ death, rather than the story they told.
Shortly after the death of Steve Jobs, there was two projects in the form of two films that would explore the life of the genius. There were three things here that bothered me. The first of them is to know nothing about these projects which seemed to benefit from the death of Jobs. The second, that they were both exploring exactly the same stage of their lives: the creation of Apple until their return in the late 90s.
The third, that fucking mania to put on the hottest Hollywood actor in mind. At least Kutcher had some similarity to Jobs and characterization he made an effort to remind us of his appearance. Michael Fassbender, whom I consider to be a good actor in other roles, it didn’t fit Jobs’ look and disconnected us from the story. It looked like a caricature, rather.
Both films may seem sometimes entertaining, in particular “Jobs” (Michael Stern, 2013) which, although it does not treat the story faithfully, its characters can convince us at the time. Kutcher’s effort to carry t he weight of the film is noticeable.
The second, “Steve Jobs” (Danny Boyle, 2015) is directly a disaster if you are fans of the Apple world. It’s not a bad film cinematographically speaking (Aaron Sorkin’s hand shows), but strays so far from looks, characters, and makes so many concessions to present the story in three frames artificially forced that we’ll only appreciate it if we forget it’s about Apple.
Pirates of Silicon Valley, the surprise in 1999
When I wrote my review of “Jobs” at Applesfera, one of the comments made me reproach that he hadn’t mentioned anything about “Pirates of Silicon Valley”. And he was absolutely right. When I thought about it, I realized that I had subconsciously separated this film from these two: like playing in another leagueor it was something else.
In an hour and a half, “Pirates of Silicon Valley” is able to develop the key points of Apple’s history and make us hooked on such a complex story with so many nuances.
And actually, as a movie, it’s not much either. Rather, it looks like production for the office any weekend. But it has something the other two lack: treat the story without taking it too seriously, and brings us all the characters in an honest way – with their shadows but also with their lights, everything does not pass – so that we believe them. It takes us into the story, as it brings images and sound to Apple’s story in a very close way.
The screenplay sometimes uses the “mockumentary” technique, but it does not abuse it and allows us to guide ourselves throughout the story with precise voice-overs with more details that complete the plans we see on the screen. It’s also a film that reviews the key moments for Apple fans but also explores the conflicts between the characters, for any tech enthusiast.
The presentation of the Macintosh, the Roaring Twenties of University, the creation of Apple and the difficult times before NeXT are also there and have all the protagonists. One of the important points of this production is the number of characters in the story that we find in the film: interpretations ranging from the director Ridley Scott himself, to John Sculley, Daniel Kottke or Paul Allen. And a magnificent Bill Gates, with great weight in history (how it happened in real life
among the protagonists highlights a Noah Wyle in top form who does not only look like Jobs: it is that we see him on the screen. His gestures, his character, his look… that’s pretty much everything you’d expect to find in an on-screen interpretation of Jobs. Actually, his performance reached even Steve Jobs himself who invited him to present a real keynote, to troll participants: neither more nor less than MacWorld in July 1999 in New York. This sparked a standing ovation among the audience and a hilarious conversation between the real Jobs (whom he came to ask if he was still a virgin, an important line from the film), before introducing devices like the first iBook.
A journey through Apple, no more (no less)
In USA it is not available on any streaming service (For now), but it’s worth looking on DVD. In the hour and a half that the film lasts, the story is able to place us in its context before the creation of the company – showing us unique motivations and characteristics of each of the characters. Joey Slotnick may not be the best on-screen Wozniak, but he’s a good replica of Wyle’s Jobs – and the story always goes beyond them.
You will also find mythical moments like the computer shows with the first Macintosh, the difficult times of Jobs with Chris Brennan – the mother of his daughter Lisa – and their stormy relationship. I miss digging even more about the Macintosh and Lisa’s creative computers, that although we find them on the tape, they seem to be mere extras. It might take more than one movie.
The film is much more than the sum of its parts: so far, it’s the one that has best succeeded in conveying a story as complex and with as many nuances as Apple’s.
It’s not the perfect Apple movie, or Jobs movie – I don’t think you could ever do anything like that because of the depth of the story – but it sure is It’s a fun script to watch with nods to the world Those of you who haven’t seen it yet will surely appreciate it and it will give you a knowing smile at some point. I it’s the only one i see from time to time, precisely for this reason.
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