Master of All I Survey.
I Have 13 Progressivly Harder Levels.
Try Me If You Dare.
Insert Coin.
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I enjoyed this flick. Especially the Bishop of Battle. I was huge into video games, and seeing Esteves's obsession in that movie made sense to anyone who just haaaaad to beat a game.
Good fun, and creepy too.
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I have the dvd -- bought it off e-bay. I think it might be out of print now.
My favorite episodes are the Bishop and the Benediction. The Rat episode scared the crap out of one of my friends when we rented it back in the 1980s.
This was my favorite segment, bar none.
Spoiler--
I thought it was quite fitting when J.J. ends up permanently incorporated into the game. He wanted so badly to play it and beat it, and he succeeded-- at the price that he would fight and die and fight again in it for who knows how long.
"An Archer is known by his aim, not by his arrows."
-Li Chen-Sung (Richard Loo) The Outer Limits
We got to watch that story in math class in the ninth grade. It was the best day of math that entire year.
shareI think I paid around 12 or 13 dollars for mine on e-bay -- this was last summer. Good addition to my collection, but
the seller advertised it as widescreen(it's full), and the disc freezes momentarily at the end of the Topanga episode.
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You may have received a bootleg...
"You give me back my ball... I'll give you yours" - Viggo Mortensen in Renny Harlin's 'Prison'
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By far the best short in the lot, although i am a big fan of Lance Henriksen. This one is real nostalgic for me, playing arcade games in downtown LA in the 80s. the vatos & punks having it out. There used to be a bunch of 2nd run & sploitation theatres around there too. Anyone who knows of some other great 80s arcade films, please let me know !
shareThe pickup truck from hell and the bishop of battle ruined my childhood! LOL
"It never got weird enough for me." - Hunter S. Thompson
was there any form of video game that BISHOP OF BATTLE was based on?
I love the Lance Henriksen segment, especially where the car comes out of the earth. Better special effects on that one than when he zaps the car with the can of holy water.
shareOh wow, I didn't even realize it was the holy water he threw. Now that segment makes a bit more sense, lol.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
Rogue Synapse is working on a PC version of it.
As for what it was based on, it's clearly a Pacman/Robotron inspiration, with the graphics being inspired by Tempest and other vector arcade games...
The name always reminded me of the "Wizard of Wor" game from 1980. The name is also similar, "Wizard of Wor", "Bishop of Battle".
shareGreat arcade films are hard to come by but I still like Wargames and The Last Starfighter for their uses of games, and then of course there is always TRON. My favorite teen movies with malls and arcades in them are Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Valley Girl. Oh to have Sherman Oaks Galleria back to the way it was!
shareThis episode made such an impression on me...I composed a song about poor JJ Cooney. Wonder where he is today...
http://www.medievalfantasy.com/tragedyofjjcooney.mp3
OMG Bishop of Battle is on right now, I almost *beep* my pants when i changed the channel and Bishop was on! This use to creep the hell out of me when I was a kid.
shareI saw this show the other day. It was surprising to hear "Let's Have a War" and "Rise Above."
"Time makes more converts than reason." --Thomas Paine
What song was it that was playing when AJ was gambling against the Mexican gangsters? Sounds like a good cut but I can't figure out what it is.
shareI too really enjoyed this particular episode. James Tolkan's voice as the Bishop of Battle was perfectly sinister. Plus I totally dug the ending with J.J. becoming part of the game.
"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"
I remember seeing this cheesy flick about 25 years ago when my father rented on VHS. It seemed so good then, but I know today it would be a complete laugher so I'll never see it again. I remember my mother saying that I was like Emilio/JJ because I played Atari too much. I'm sure she said "that's what's going to happen to you" in so many words. I don't totally remember because it was so long ago, but I do know my mother pretty well.
A few questions... was there only one copy of The Bishop of Battle in the entire world? Did JJ become just part of that one single game, or all of them? Would anyone be dumb enough to play that game again knowing what could happen?
In the movie JJ says he heard some kid in Jersey made it to level 13 so that would mean at least 2 of them out there.
shareHe said the kid from Jersey made it to level 13 twice, which obviously isn't possible, so it was obviously just a rumor.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
talk about old school gaming! When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...
The most memorable story from this movie, I'm amazed I remember enough of it to find it through a google search.
Now, this kid is supposed to be a gaming guru who suddenly finds himself confronted by all types of monstrosities from the game he was obsessed with playing. So why is it that he drops his gun near the end? Could it have saved him... who knows. But any gamer worth his salt is not going to drop his weapon before getting the hell out of there.
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Hell yeah! I loved this movie as a kid, especially the Bishop Chapter and recently picked it up again. Still enjoyed it. Plus Estevez was one of my favorite actors
"The saddest thing in life is wasted talent." ~ A Bronx Tale (1993)