Tetris
{4.5/5} “I played Tetris for five minutes. I still see falling blocks in my dreams.”
Tetris, released in 2023
In 1988 Henk is trying to sell the video game Go at the Consumer Electronic Show but no one is interested. Then he plays Tetris, invented by a Russian — he’s very impressed. He buys the rights to Tetris in Japan. He shows the game to the CEO of Nintendo, who offers him $500 000 — but he says no. He knows it’s worth more.
This movie is, of course, based on a true story. The car chase is one part that didn’t actually happen.
It’s about negotiating with capitalists and communists. Mikhail Gorbachev plays a small role.
I like how the Tetris inventor’s computer didn’t even have graphics — he used parentheses pushed together.
It’s more suspenseful than you might think a movie about negotiating rights for a video game might be — but about exactly as suspenseful as you’d expect with Americans running afoul of the KGB.
Stars Taron Egerton, Toby Jones, and Sofya Lebedeva. Directed by Jon S. Baird (Stan & Ollie). The soundtrack contains fun 80s songs.