User Reviews

The newest video game sensation is "Arcade", a virtual reality game that one must win....or lose your mind and forever be part of the game. Alex (Megan Ward) and her friends try the game, but Alex's boyfriend loses and disappears. One of Alex's friends tries a home version of the game and disappears before her eyes. Determined to get their friends back, Alex and her friend Nick (Peter Billingsley) take on the mind-reading Arcade!

While the plot may be familiar to anyone who's seen TRON, this is a decent low-budget sci-fi film. Many of the actors are now familiar faces: Seth Green, A.J. Langer and John DeLancie among them. Although director Albert Pyun usually directs low-budget boredom (DOLLMAN, CYBORG, etc.), this movie actually has a good story and some pretty good actors. The pace is somewhat slow, and the CGI F/X won't impress today's kids accustomed to video game-like movies with endless amounts of special effects, explosions and loud music, but fans of movies that actually have a plot and characterization will find it entertaining. I'd place this with Pyun's better movies such as RADIOACTIVE DREAMS and THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER.

Charles Band, the film's producer and CEO of Full Moon Pictures, held this movie's release back for a year in order to redo the CGI F/X. For those curious to what they originally looked like, watch the 10 minute "Videozone" featurette included on the DVD. I think it was a wise move, and the movie benefits greatly because of it. The only complaint I really have is that the DVD didn't include the full "Videozone" segment, which included this film's trailer. (This DVD was part of a import boxed set of region-free DVDs.)

I just recently discovered this wonderful piece of late 80's/early 90's Sci-Fi and decided to give it a look-see. I am a big fan of Full Moon so I figured it would be fair, but it actually exceeded my expectations. The set-up is simple: a new virtual reality type video game called Arcade is more than it appears to be. Kids are getting spaced out, and disappearing all-together. After a tight-knit group of friends falls prey to the game, the last remaining members must fight to save the others.

The film contains some very familiar faces. The lead is the beautiful Megan Ward… the ultimate girl next door. The film is worth it just for her cuteness factor alone. You may recognize her from other Full Moon classics like Crash and Burn and Trancers 2 & 3. I couldn't help comparing her to the Nancy character in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Her role is very similar. A young Seth Green (Austin Powers) is one of the group, as well as an aging Peter Billingsley (A Christmas Story).

The running time is short, but with a few more additions this movie could have been epic, as in The Crow epic. A touch more gore would have been good, since it already had an 'R' for language (what a waste- I think they swear twice). If the target audience was preteens, why not go for PG-13? The story is tight and the ideas predate films like The Matrix, which borrowed heavily from Arcade. Most obviously is the concept that what happens in the game happens to you in real life (aka your mind makes it real). In the game you can actually get "sucked in", but let's not get too technical. The chemistry among the kids is what makes the film work. Many reviewers have complained about the CGI. Remember that this came out in 1993, so computer animation hadn't matured yet. Also bear in mind that they didn't have the budget of productions like T2 and the access to ILM for top-notch effects. In the featurette after the movie, Charles Band stated that he wasn't very happy with the first generation of special effects, so it was shelved for three years before the effects technology could mature a bit. The film itself was shot in 1990. You can't sit here in 2011 and watch it and blindly say "those effects stink". You have to put in the right perspective.

Keep in mind that Full Moon flicks are low budget, and often direct to video, but this is precisely WHY fans love them. They are not the billion-dollar blockbuster movie-for-the-masses junk. There is alternative music that only serious music lovers seek out (because it is unique) and there are alternative movies that you can connect to on a more emotional level. Arcade is one of them. The whole movie had a great alternative feel to it, like the dingy arcade where they went to play video games. It hearkens back to the sleazy warehouse bars where raves and such are held. It's just the kind of place teens would hang out.

Arcade is a real treat for filmgoers who appreciate films that are low on budget, but high on spirit. This is one that definitely deserves a DVD release… especially considering the trash on DVD today (go rent Alien 3000 for a look at the moronic crap I'm talking about). Unfortunately, many Full Moon productions are not pressed on DVD, and that is a shame. The real tragedy is that with all the video stores renting exclusively DVD, films like this are now completely lost to the next generation. Hit up Ebay or Amazon and find a used VHS for a couple bucks. You'll be glad you did.

This movie has been released almost 30 years ago. What is funny is that I am 63 and i have played strictly ONE video game in my life: Mario Bros, the very first version. The one in which you either got to the next level until you reached the end and won, or you had to begin over, and over, and over...You could get hooked very quickly.

I wanted to practice a bit, so I might be able to play with my son, who was 7 or 8 years old at the time. So I began to play one evening he was at his father's. I persevered, intent on getting to level two... at least!...

Suddenly, I checked the clock. It was past 4:00 in the morning! I then reallzed why I felt so tired and I was hit by how ridiculous wath I was doing actually was. How useless was what I had been doing?

I hit the off button and NEVER played again.

So when I saw what Arcade was about, I could relate, even if I am not much aware of the looks of the 2020's a lot more elaborate virtual games.

The girl main character is a beautiful and good 20ish actress, while the teens are also good.

The idea of a programed devil grabbing them, intending to make them fall in a virtual reality, leaving ours behind, was new at the time.

I watched it in French on Frissons TV, some kind of Rewind channel for horror movies, airing in Québec.

For all the reasons listed upwards, I gave it an 8. It is obviously outdated, but it still is worth watching, with microwaved popcorn and soda, some rainy Sunday afternoon...

T.

This is a harmless little sci-fi for pre-teens that mom and dad can scan at any time and see no sex and only a touch or two of violence grace the screen. The plot and pseudo- science are of the leave-your-brain-at-home variety while the graphics are nothing special. The direction is slow, clear and undistinguished. The photography is pedestrian, but not bad. The cast is cute, led by the beautiful Megan Ward. She is demure and fully clothed as a teenaged heroine who saves her boy friend and pals from an evil virtual-reality game gone amuck. The fact that she was 23-years-old at the time and a little too old for the part did not bother me at all. Her fresh face and great beauty allowed me to watch the whole thing! The once vampish Sharon Farrell has a small part as the star's mom which she plays flawlessly with just a touch of irony.

This movie had an unusual hold on me. I knew it wasn't that great as I was watching it, but it kept me interested anyway. Something about the era, the setting, and the tone all came together to give it an atmosphere that drew me in, even though it was completely predictable. I liked Megan Ward's character and her refusal to give in against insurmountable odds. Peter Billingsly played it as straight as could be, but it worked. Of course the story and effects are reminiscent of Tron, but it didn't bother me. 6/10.

Original (excludng Disney's actually inferior hit 'Tron') Full Moon picture whereby a group of slightly irritating youngsters get wrapped in a game called 'Arcade' down at the local bargain basement, ummm, arcade. The cast is a staggering one considering the low budget (though at the time they were largely unknown). Lead Megan Ward (also in Full Moon's 'Crash and Burn'; 'Trancers 2/3') is a fantastic actress and the now successful director/producer/writer/actor Peter Billingsley, A.J. Langer and Seth Green are among the other teens. To give the film some Sci-Fi credibility we have Star Trek's John de Lancie. The effects, though good considering budget and scope are too adventurous for their own success and frequently characters sucked in to the game look like they are not in the game at all merely wearing tight all-in-one swimsuits and pretending to touch or hold game components (which in reality they are). Megan Ward is an unlikely heroine which adds to the credibility (not all hero/heroine types are built for the role) and the cast have striking chemistry. Put any understanding of big budget CGI and your own knowledge of computer graphics aside to really appreciate this film and you may be pleasantly surprised. Writer David S. Goyer who wrote a few Full Moon films including 'Demonic Toys' has achieved great mainstream Hollywood success since and this is probably significant on his path there (as it was for stars Ward, Green and Langer). Director Albert Pyun is generally pretty poor and this is - without doubt - his best work. Good, (and except for some pointless bad language) clean, fun.

Sure it's a B-Movie... all Full Moon Pictures are. Sure there's a rough spot of two.. which are victims of bad editing. It's actually a great movie, who's concepts predate big budget flicks like Virtuosity and The Matrix.

Enter Arcade... the latest in virtual reality gaming. A living game which challenges it's players to win, or become one with the game itself.

While it's effects are not the best, they are impressive for it's day... and budget. The cast is equally impressive, with some rather impressive standout performances.

If you can track down a copy, watch it with an open mind.. as you must with all Full Moon movies... and you'll be pleasantly surprised. As the byline reads, "Kiss reality goodbye..."

There really isn't anything special about this movie. Filmed 2 years before its release year. Charles Band wanted to punch up the CGI to make it look better...He should have tried again. The acting is decent with such actors as Megan Ward, Peter Billingsley and Seth Green to hi0llite some of the main characters.

Arcade, though one of Full Moon better, not great, but better movies, really tries to be something big, but due to a poor script, fails to deliver the goods.

5 out of 10

The main reason I ever watched "Arcade", was because I was into Full Moon films during my teens (back when they still made charming horror features on small but still comfortable budgets). This one actually is more sci-fi than horror, and more particularly a poor "Tron" wanna-be. I re-watched this baby because I felt like it after seeing the "Bishop of the Battle" segment from "Nightmares" (1983). Basically "Arcade" is a whole heap of nonsense about a bunch of teenagers getting sucked into a computer game. They have to complete several levels. The visual effects are very poor but fun to look at, in a way. And the boss-fight in the end is... uhm, pathetic isn't the right word, because there actually isn't a real battle. More like a confrontation, and that's it. But still, I had some fun with all this. I usually do. Megan Ward is kind of cute, and a pre-Buffy Seth Green is in it too.

Arcade comes from an interesting time. In the 90s VHS had really hit its stride, and even Dvd had started. So many companies found it was easy to make something cheap that could skip theatres and go straight to video. But to sell such films they had to have fun box covers, wacky concepts and/or some star power to push them. It also helped if you could make these as good as possible. These days stuff like The Asylum and Sy-Fy have found that a concept alone can sell a lazy cash grab, but back then even the worst films had some effort put into them.

Arcade is what happens when Charles Band and Albert Pyun watch Tron. It follows some teenagers as they play the next great thing in video-games, a virtual reality adventure called Arcade. But Arcade learns and adapts, and if you die in the game you...well,kinda just vanish in real life. To stop the game somebody has to beat it.

Arcade has a solid script (shockingly by David S Goyer of Blade and The Dark Knight fame) and some good actors doing admirable jobs given the project they are in. It is also a bit more creative than just the horror version of Tron. Pyuns directing leaves a lot to be desired here (he always was a bit hit or miss with how he handled filming), but I can't fault him ambition with how much CG was to be used in such a cheap film from the 90s (this was filmed before Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park).

Unfortunately for those involved, they had made a CG videogame world, where people from our world go into it for an adventure. There is a bit with racing cycles that travel on lines of light. The people in the game wear jumpsuits and helmets. The villain is some kind of master programme for the game. So Disney, the makers of Tron, called up New Moon and said 'Come on...'

So while initial footage was poor in quality, it looked like typical pre-T2 CG, it all had to be scrapped and redone. Time and money means that it was all just slapped together and thrown out. So we have a film that looks like fried garbage. It's understandable why, but it does look horrifically bad.

Despite its (rightful) neutering by the cease and desist, Arcade is a fun and creative take on the virtual world concept that was hot at the time. Controversially, I prefer it to Tron, which I mostly found boring (Tron Legacy was more my bread and butter). Arcade was never boring. Its fun and short, with a good script and some talent bringing the required skill for the is film. Its not something I can recommend to everyone, but if you enjoy cheap little adventures then Arcade is slightly better than the average.

What made 'Arcade' cool was that despite it's many faults was a decent Cult Movie. The writing was terrible, the acting was average at best, the directing was bad, The budget was well below what it needed to be to make a great film. But for what it was, a low-budget Cult Movie, it hit the mark like nothing else. I suggest at least one viewing for everyone.

Alex Manning (Megan Ward) and her friends try out a new untested virtual reality video game. Afterwards, she fears that the game is affecting them in strange ways.

This has quite a few familiar faces from back in the day. The computer game and graphics definitely reminds me of the old days. It's mostly bad and cheesy. As a concept, it has good potential for sci-fi horror but the execution is weak. It's purely a B-movie.

If you like corny 90's CG akin to an early FMV game, then this movie is for you! But it's truly awful in pretty much every way. It looks like it could be an Are You Afraid of the Dark episode.

"Arcade" is not only the name of this direct to video feature, but the name of the cutting edge video game within the feature. This game Arcade is a virtual reality extravaganza that its makers hope will be all the rage among todays' kids. However, something's gone horribly wrong with the game (natch) and the teens who play it go bonkers and then get trapped somewhere inside the game. And the game would dearly love to become a part of the "real world". Megan Ward ("Encino Man", "Freaked") is sexy and appealing in the main role; even if technically she's too old for her role, casting 20-somethings as teenagers is a concept that's hardly new for the movie business. It's also extremely amusing not only to see a young Seth Green in this, but none other than Peter Billingsley (a.k.a. Ralphie in "A Christmas Story") as another of Wards' friends. The cast also includes John de Lancie (Q from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation), Sharon Farrell ("Night of the Comet"), A.J. Langer ("The People Under the Stairs"), Bryan Dattilo ('Days of Our Lives'), Don Stark ('That '70s Show'), and Norbert Weisser, a regular in the films of director Albert Pyun ("The Sword and the Sorceror", "Cyborg", "Nemesis"), as the games' designer. The issue that this viewer had with "Arcade" was that considering its subject matter, it still turned out to be a rather boring, muddled story. It simply has little energy, and it's too hard to muster much interest in the characters or the tale being told, even though there's one intense story thread with the heroines' mother having killed herself. And even for a company that specialized in low budget genre fare, this looks especially cheap. The special effects are basically adequate; "The Lawnmower Man" had more visual buzz when it came to the whole virtual reality concept. This may entertain less discriminating viewers, but with the characters lacking rooting interest and the movie coming up short in dramatic tension, it has to rate as a below average Full Moon production. Four out of 10.

Arcade (1993) is a movie with our friend Ralphie from A Christmas Story that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a troubled young lady whose mom recently committed suicide. She doesn't have much ambition for school or anything else for that matter. Her friends convince her to go to the local arcade, Dante's Inferno, where they discover a new virtual reality game called "arcade." They quickly discover once in the game it's more reality than virtual.

This movie is directed by Albert Pyun (Cyborg) and stars Megan Ward (Encino Man), Peter Billingsley (A Christmas Story), John de Lancie (Multiplicity), Seth Geeen (Robot Chicken), A. J. Langer (People Under the Stairs) and Bryan Dattilo (Days of our Lives).

This movie had a very good storyline and interesting characters. The acting, dialogue and writing is pretty mediocre to bad, unfortunately. The special effects were also bad. The CGI at this time didn't age well and the transitions from reality to CGI doesn't look natural. I will say the conclusion is good.

Overall this is a below average addition to the genre that's still a must see. I would score this a 4/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Oh, Charles Band. Is there anything you won't do? Is there anything the late Albert Pyun wouldn't do? It's a little surprising, perhaps, that this was written by David S. Goyer, who became known hereafter for much more substantial and recognized films, and that Alan Howarth - arguably best known for his collaborations with John Carpenter - composed the music. These contributors portend a range of quality and value to expect from 'Arcade,' and sure enough, it's a bit of a mixed bag here. Since the advent of videogames we've gotten many sci-fi stories of a similar thrust of people getting sucked into a virtual or alternate reality (more still if you include fantasy at large), but that's alright, since every iteration can be fun in its own right. Set this aside, and the feature falls into the broader genre of sci-fi and fantasy that involves plucky teens becoming the heroes and saving the day. To that point, in those swell practical effects that are employed, one observes a kinship with similar fare of the 80s and early 90s, such as 'A nightmare on Elm Street,' or maybe even just kids' gameshows on Nickelodeon. Howarth's compositions aren't anything special, but I like them well enough. And hey, there are some identifiable names and faces here: John de Lancie, Don Stark, Seth Green, Peter Billingsley, and more. All told, this isn't half bad!

Not half bad - but also not necessarily half good. Any possible combination of factors are at play here: the budget allotted by Full Moon, guidance from producer Band, limitations of technology, relative inexperience on the part of Goyer, Pyun's knack for low-grade schlock, and maybe more. Whatever the case may be, many of the possible advantages don't come off as well as one might think, and some aspects are altogether garish. The concept and design for the game and elements therein are terrific; the CGI of the early 90s that greets us in the virtual world, on the other hand, is somewhere on the spectrum of quality between "on par" and "absolutely horrid." The production design and art direction vary between imaginative and unremarkable. Influenced in part by the "dreamscape" nature of the game world, in no few instances the acting follows a bizarre, airy ethos that feels like it belongs in a parody, and elsewhere it's simply forced or contrived. While the story at large is quite fine, suitable material with some gratifying sparks of genius, no small bit of the dialogue is painful to behold; some scene writing is kind of brilliant, and some of it inspires a quizzical "Okay, then" reaction. In its last minutes 'Arcade' struggles to find the right tone, and so the ending feels entirely "off." Some of the editing and cinematography is overdone, and it's hard to get a beat on Pyun's direction generally.

On the balance I would say this is passably enjoyable, though I would also suggest that it's recommendable only for the very curious or bored, or for those who already take no issue with pictures such as those Band or Pyun have been known for in the first place. It fits neatly within that space the filmmakers consistently play or played in, for better or for worse, and what fun it has to offer is only baseline satisfactory. For those seeking more grandly fetching, reliably well done, thrilling and compelling movies, you're better off looking elsewhere (say with 1982's 'Tron' for an all too obvious example). If all you need in the moment is something light and frivolous to whittle away 90 lazy minutes, however, 'Arcade' might just fit the bill. Don't go out of your way for and be aware of what you're getting into, but in the very least, you could do a lot worse.

Cheesy fun with pretty bad "virtual reality" effects and a very dumb ending. Like some other Albert Pyun films of that period (especially the "Nemesis" sequels"), this is short enough and unpretentious enough to be bearable...and that's all. Megan Ward's rather appealing performance is a notch above the rest. (*1/2)

If I saw this movie when it 1st came out in 1993 I can't imagine I would've even liked it back then.Arcade started out interesting enough (I guess you could say) but as it went along it got worse.I usually try & read the description of a movie or a little something before I watch it but this time I didn't.I wish I would've then I wouldn't have expected to like the movie as much as I thought I would.I expected Arcade to be a movie about an arcade (I use to LOVE going to the arcade) but it wasn't, it was about a single game named Arcade.You know if you took all the R-rated stuff out, You'd have an episode of Goosebumps or The Haunting Hour? I wish I could've at least said this movie was good but I can't.When Alex had to go inside the game to beat it & rescue her friends, that had to be some of the worst graphics in a movie I've ever seen.You know those REALLY bad Youtube videos where people make their own special effects or graphics? That's exactly what it was like.Even if you LOVE BAD movies as much as I do, I couldn't recommend watching this movie unless you want to torture yourself.Not only were the graphics bad but it was BORING as well

This movie is total sh*t! Maybe of slight interest to people who were fans of the UK TV series Knightmare to which this bares a slight similarity with cgi dungeons and stuff. The movie is terribly written, the sets are awful, the actors get through their lines as well as could be expected but that's not worth watching it for. If you want to see a movie with the same kind of storyline either watch Tron or Evolver, not this terribly mix of the two. The CGI is bad but I can like bad cgi I loved Captain Power when I got a copy of it but this movie is just bad in so many other ways too, as well as the fact there is quite a bit of cgi that was in the trailer for the movie which wasn't even in the film! The film insults the teenage games players in both intelligence and directly. It could have been so much better, but unfortunately this movie is better left unseen, this makes Evolver seem like a cinematic masterpiece, plus Evolver has all the same characters and even has John De Lancie too in virtually the same role. Also another thing, it looks like they ran out of budget for cgi part way through and had to instead film on a bit of wasteland with a tinted sky. Only if you have to see every example of computer game plotted films should you see this and even then it should be at the bottom of your list.

Arcade (1993) was another in the long line of mediocre movies the Albert Pyun has made during the nineties. Grant, a few of them are pretty good but for the most part, Mr. Pyun is an average director at best who cranks out low budget mundane films. Why does he direct so many blah films? Who knows, at least he gets paid for what he does. This movie makes virtual reality look lame and pretty much a far out pipe dream. If you ever wanted to know what happened to Peter Billingsly (A Christmas Story) then you'll want to watch this movie. He's finally grown up. Keep an eye out for Seth Green as well. Recommended for bad movie fans.

The nineties were the beginning of major players appearing in straight-to-video movies. Stars who have fallen from the realm of "Who Cares" have found a new home. They're making bad d.t.v. films or appearing on Hollywood Squares or hosting a paid programming advert hawking either useless products or worthless real estate. The beginning of a new video market , the movie theaters were becoming less and less relevant.

Arcade is an early example of one of the truly awful trends to overtake low budget horror and sci-fi over the past twenty years: the use of CGI effects by films that do not have the budget to pull them off. Full Moon Entertainment reported spent three years trying to master the effects for this film, and it still looks bad, even by early nineties standards.

The plot follows a young woman who discovers that a new video game, Arcade, is stealing the souls of its players. With the help of her friend Nick, she has to find out the game's secrets and play it to rescue her friends.

One of the biggest problems with the film is that it attempts more than its budget can pull off. Full Moon Entertainment simply did not, and does not, have the money to do CGI in a competent manner. Consequently, the film is one long special effects failure. Actors are clearly just running around in front of a green screen, and one scene of the protagonist running across a virtual reality wasteland clearly features shots of the actress going through a vacant lot. Indeed, the film's effects, along with its emphasis on virtual reality technology, date it so much that it appears to have been one of the few Full Moon releases never to be issued on DVD.

More damningly, the film does not really live up to the horror one expects from a Full Moon release. There is very little violence or gore and no nudity. The R rating is largely for cursing and a scene where a woman rather graphically kills herself with a handgun. Charles Band would have been better off editing out the language and blood and releasing under Full Moon's Moonbeam Entertainment label as a PG / PG-13 family thriller.

Something fishy is going on. After playing the newest, hottest video game on the market a bunch of teenagers in the neighborhood begin to disappear. The special effects are the main attraction here. At the time of it's release they were pretty good, but today they are badly dated. Pretty bland entertainment without any excitement.

Rated R; Violence.