Arcade

1993 "The Game Wants to Play With You."
4.6| 1h25m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 20 July 1993 Released
Producted By: Full Moon Entertainment
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Alex Manning and her friends decide to visit the local video arcade known as "Dante's Inferno" where a new virtual reality arcade game called "Arcade" is being test marketed by a computer company CEO. However, it soon becomes clear that the teenagers who lose are being imprisoned inside the virtual reality world by the central villain "Arcade" and takes over their minds.

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Director

Albert Pyun

Production Companies

Full Moon Entertainment

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Arcade Audience Reviews

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped
Mjeteconer Just perfect...
Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
dominion76251 I just recently discovered this wonderful piece of late 80's/early 90's Sci-Fi and decided to give it a look-see. I am a big fan of Full Moon so I figured it would be fair, but it actually exceeded my expectations. The set-up is simple: a new virtual reality type video game called Arcade is more than it appears to be. Kids are getting spaced out, and disappearing all-together. After a tight-knit group of friends falls prey to the game, the last remaining members must fight to save the others. The film contains some very familiar faces. The lead is the beautiful Megan Ward… the ultimate girl next door. The film is worth it just for her cuteness factor alone. You may recognize her from other Full Moon classics like Crash and Burn and Trancers 2 & 3. I couldn't help comparing her to the Nancy character in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Her role is very similar. A young Seth Green (Austin Powers) is one of the group, as well as an aging Peter Billingsley (A Christmas Story). The running time is short, but with a few more additions this movie could have been epic, as in The Crow epic. A touch more gore would have been good, since it already had an 'R' for language (what a waste- I think they swear twice). If the target audience was preteens, why not go for PG-13? The story is tight and the ideas predate films like The Matrix, which borrowed heavily from Arcade. Most obviously is the concept that what happens in the game happens to you in real life (aka your mind makes it real). In the game you can actually get "sucked in", but let's not get too technical. The chemistry among the kids is what makes the film work. Many reviewers have complained about the CGI. Remember that this came out in 1993, so computer animation hadn't matured yet. Also bear in mind that they didn't have the budget of productions like T2 and the access to ILM for top-notch effects. In the featurette after the movie, Charles Band stated that he wasn't very happy with the first generation of special effects, so it was shelved for three years before the effects technology could mature a bit. The film itself was shot in 1990. You can't sit here in 2011 and watch it and blindly say "those effects stink". You have to put in the right perspective. Keep in mind that Full Moon flicks are low budget, and often direct to video, but this is precisely WHY fans love them. They are not the billion-dollar blockbuster movie-for-the-masses junk. There is alternative music that only serious music lovers seek out (because it is unique) and there are alternative movies that you can connect to on a more emotional level. Arcade is one of them. The whole movie had a great alternative feel to it, like the dingy arcade where they went to play video games. It hearkens back to the sleazy warehouse bars where raves and such are held. It's just the kind of place teens would hang out. Arcade is a real treat for filmgoers who appreciate films that are low on budget, but high on spirit. This is one that definitely deserves a DVD release… especially considering the trash on DVD today (go rent Alien 3000 for a look at the moronic crap I'm talking about). Unfortunately, many Full Moon productions are not pressed on DVD, and that is a shame. The real tragedy is that with all the video stores renting exclusively DVD, films like this are now completely lost to the next generation. Hit up Ebay or Amazon and find a used VHS for a couple bucks. You'll be glad you did.
Joseph P. Ulibas Arcade (1993) was another in the long line of mediocre movies the Albert Pyun has made during the nineties. Grant, a few of them are pretty good but for the most part, Mr. Pyun is an average director at best who cranks out low budget mundane films. Why does he direct so many blah films? Who knows, at least he gets paid for what he does. This movie makes virtual reality look lame and pretty much a far out pipe dream. If you ever wanted to know what happened to Peter Billingsly (A Christmas Story) then you'll want to watch this movie. He's finally grown up. Keep an eye out for Seth Green as well. Recommended for bad movie fans.The nineties were the beginning of major players appearing in straight-to-video movies. Stars who have fallen from the realm of "Who Cares" have found a new home. They're making bad d.t.v. films or appearing on Hollywood Squares or hosting a paid programming advert hawking either useless products or worthless real estate. The beginning of a new video market , the movie theaters were becoming less and less relevant.
Michael Rook Sure it's a B-Movie... all Full Moon Pictures are. Sure there's a rough spot of two.. which are victims of bad editing. It's actually a great movie, who's concepts predate big budget flicks like Virtuosity and The Matrix.Enter Arcade... the latest in virtual reality gaming. A living game which challenges it's players to win, or become one with the game itself.While it's effects are not the best, they are impressive for it's day... and budget. The cast is equally impressive, with some rather impressive standout performances.If you can track down a copy, watch it with an open mind.. as you must with all Full Moon movies... and you'll be pleasantly surprised. As the byline reads, "Kiss reality goodbye..."
Sic Coyote This movie is total sh*t! Maybe of slight interest to people who were fans of the UK TV series Knightmare to which this bares a slight similarity with cgi dungeons and stuff. The movie is terribly written, the sets are awful, the actors get through their lines as well as could be expected but that's not worth watching it for. If you want to see a movie with the same kind of storyline either watch Tron or Evolver, not this terribly mix of the two. The CGI is bad but I can like bad cgi I loved Captain Power when I got a copy of it but this movie is just bad in so many other ways too, as well as the fact there is quite a bit of cgi that was in the trailer for the movie which wasn't even in the film! The film insults the teenage games players in both intelligence and directly. It could have been so much better, but unfortunately this movie is better left unseen, this makes Evolver seem like a cinematic masterpiece, plus Evolver has all the same characters and even has John De Lancie too in virtually the same role. Also another thing, it looks like they ran out of budget for cgi part way through and had to instead film on a bit of wasteland with a tinted sky. Only if you have to see every example of computer game plotted films should you see this and even then it should be at the bottom of your list.