Movies - Pirates of Silicon Valley

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	Movies - Pirates of Silicon Valley

Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) is a made-for-television docudrama written and directed by Martyn Burke. Based on the book, Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer, it documents the rise of the home computer/personal computer through the rivalry between Apple Computer (Apple II and the Apple Macintosh} and Microsoft (DOS, IBM PC, and Windows}. The film begins in the early 1970s and ends in 1997 when Jobs returned to Apple Computer.

Plot and structure

Beginning on the campus of UC Berkeley during the period of the Free Speech Movement, the film juxtaposes the trials and tribulations of childhood friends Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) and Steve Wozniak (Joey Slotnick), who would eventually form Apple Computer, with Harvard students Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall) and Steve Ballmer (John Di Maggio), and Gates' high school friend, Paul Allen (Josh Hopkins), who would eventually form Microsoft.

Gates, Jobs, and Wozniak would drop out of college (Jobs was actually a Reed College student for a short term but this is not documented in the film; Wozniak would later return to UC Berkeley) in order to take part in the growing personal computer revolution. The film is told from the point of view of Wozniak and Ballmer.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack consisted largely of '70s and '80s pop music. One of the main songs was "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears. The song was once played by Bill Gates during a technology demonstration involving an intelligent 3D personal agent.

Release

Pirates of Silicon Valley was originally aired on TNT on June 20, 1999. It was later released on VHS, and on DVD in 2005.

Commentary

Director Martyn Burke views his film as an "unauthorized biography" and claims every scene in the film can be verified by at least two people. Regarding his film, Burke says:

:"Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are the true revolutionaries of our time. Not the students who occupied the dean's office in the late '60s. Not the anti-war marchers who were determined to overthrow the establishment. Jobs and Gates are the ones who changed the way the world thinks, acts and communicates."

Steve Wozniak has stated on his that the film is mostly accurate, though some details and events are occasionally simplified or slightly edited. He also notes that the personalities of the film's subjects are true to life.

Trivia

Noah Wyle
made an appearance during the beginning of Jobs' Macworld Expo Keynote Presentation in 1999, initially pretending to be Jobs. When the audience caught on, Jobs himself appeared and began to banter with Wyle .
The film begins with Steve Jobs talking to director Ridley Scott during the filming of the famous "1984" commercial, which introduced the Apple Macintosh during the SuperBowl. Actual film clips of the commercial are included in this segment.
Pirates of Silicon Valley was nominated for five Emmy Awards.

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