Arcade (1993)

Arcade (1993)

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Cyber World

Tagline(s):	One step beyond virtual reality...let the game begin!
	Kiss reality goodbye!
	The game wants to play with you...real bad.
	Once you start to play the game, your deepest fears come alive.
	The game wants to play...with you!
	The game is waiting to play with you.
	The game wants to play with you.

Nomination Year: 2003

SYNOPSIS: Arcade is a video game. A really crappy video game, actually. And not just because it's evil. You lose, it gets your soul...and nobody's ever won. And the only way to stop it is for a girl who's no good at video games to go into the game and beat it from the inside.

Oh, and that first cover? You know, over there on the upper right?

Megan Ward was never even IN They Live, let alone starring in it. Could they possibly have confused her with Meg Foster??

Greg Pearson

Smithee Award Nominations

Most Ludicrous Premise
A Real Brain Teaser Q gets the Arcade's spastic psycho programmer to explain the secrets behind the game. In a nutshell, it was programmed with the brain cells of an abused kid. But he was already brain dead, so it's not like it was unethical.

Worst Special Effect
It's the Real VR Special Effects OK, it's a blue screen with really bad computer animation. We're not talking CGI here; more like VGA.

Deus Ex Machina
With All Those Souls, It Must Be Low on Hard-Drive Space Arcade kills the heroine. Suddenly, the heroine reappears and kills Arcade. How? "Guess what, asshole? You forgot my free life." I particularly like Arcade's helpful message, "Player's Soul Lost. Insert Quarters."

Stupidest-Looking Monster
The Flying Screamer The Flying Screamer: Dig the lime-green aviator goggles.

Worst Cover Copy
"With Real VR Special Effects!" "With Real VR Special Effects!"

Directors

Director	Claim to Fame
Albert Pyun	Director who seems to have a "thing" for tech/android/cyborg movies: Cyborg, the Nemesis series, Omega Doom, and others. Sadly, that "thing" is Bad.

Cast

Actor	Character	Claim to Fame
Megan Ward	Alex Manning	Kate Howard on "General Hospital" and Kimberly Sayers on "Dark Skies," and of course Alice in Trancers II and III. Was Joe's love interest in Joe's Apartment.
Peter Billingsley	Nick	First "Messy Marvin" (spokeskid for Hershey's, NOT Ovaltine!), then Ralphie in A Christmas Story, now this.
John de Lancie	Difford	The irrepressible "Q" on "Star Trek" and voice of Discord on "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic."
Sharon Farrell	Alex's Mom	IMDb says she once suffered amnesia; that must be when she made this film. Was Florence Webster on "The Young and the Restless," as well as Mrs. Mancini in Can't Buy Me Love.
Seth Green	Stilts	"Oz" on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the main genius behind "Robot Chicken." Provides the voice of Chris Griffin on "Family Guy."
A.J. Langer	Laurie	Rayanne Graff on "My So-Called Life," Annie Bernstein-Flynn on "Three Sisters," and Erica Warner on "Private Practice."
Bryan Dattilo	Greg	Lucas Horton...uh, Roberts...uh, Robertson...no, Horton on "Days of Our Lives."
Humberto Ortiz	Boy	Pablo in Three Amigos! and Kevin Alejandro in Dollman.
Norbert Weisser	Albert	German-born actor who played Albert Hujar in Schindler's List and Albert in Arcade. Was also Peter Schuler on "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul."
Jonathan Fuller	Arcade	The "freak" of Castle Freak and the titular Arcade.


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