Gameroom Magazine

Book & Video Review

Pleasure Machines: The History of Pinball written, produced and directed by Mark Helms. Filmmaker Mark Helms' 64-minute tribute to the silverball is a professionally produced program that hobbyists are sure to embrace as one of the most entertaining and revisited sources in their coin-op information collection. Rejoice, pinball enthusiasts because the game nearest and dearest to your hearts has at last been given the kind of enduring attention it so justly deserves. Why such praise? The answer is simple...this is the first seriously fun and adeptly skilled project that has taken the subject of pinball and documented it with classy camera work, sharp direction, original music by Michael Moss, expert narration, and post-production visual effects by (ESS's David Fisher, Peter Cheung, and Steve Catizone) that make this tape shine brighter than a new playfield. The NVI production team travelled all around the country seeking answers to the pinball phenomenon. And they got them. The authoritative kind. Roger Sharpe of Williams, Bally/Midway proffers both industry and cultural data while "living legend" game designer Steve Kordek recounts his eyewitness experiences drawn from his lifelong involvement in the biz. Historian and author Richard Bueschel spins fascinating yarns from pinball's rich past and Aerosmith's Joe Perry, Chicago White Sox Slugger Frank Thomas, and Guns 'n' Roses guitarist "Slash" give their unique perspective as players and aficionados. Look for Joe Kaminkow from Sega Pinball and Michael Gottlieb, grandson of David Gottlieb and modern day industry exec, along with several others. Above all else, there's pinball... lots and lots of pinball, shot in a style that alone is worth the price of the tape, You literally travel through ramps, smack against targets, and roll along with the ball on the playfield surface. Every era is represented, from the plink-plunk marble games of the 30's to 13 multiball monsters like Apollo 13 and everything else in-between. From coast to coast, collection to collection, Videographer and Co-Producer Howard Cook poked his camera where none dared venture before, capturing a non-stop barrage of rare games, inside peeks and interesting historical accounts of pinball's many incarnations. This has bee a two year project for Helms and Cook, allowing themselves as much time as necessary to thoroughly pay an appropriate tribute to the people and the machines regardless of what side of the coin slot your interests reside. Over two years in the making, Helms has done an exemplary job and Pleasure Machines: The History of Pinball will become the entertainment yardstick by which all other programs will be measured. Helms advised Gameroom that Request Pay-Per-View and other pay service venues aired this show during the last few months of 1997. Preliminary ordering information for purchasing this tape is available by calling 1 800-875-VIDEO.