"Special when lit" pinball documentary on Netflix

arcades4ever

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"Special when lit" pinball documentary on Netflix

Maybe this is old news but there is a Pinball documentary on Netflix instant streaming called "Special when lit". I enjoyed it and saw alot of people I have meet at Arcade and Pinball shows over the years in the documentary. There is a scene from the 30's or 40's where a huge pile of pinball or chance games tossed down in a burm and covered in gasoline and set on fire. It is hard to watch. Really cool stats. and video from years past. Has anyone else watched this?
 
I watched it a month or two back. Wasn't terribly impressed, and I agree with many other opinions that it's not as much a documentary as a "mockumentary". They didn't seem to try very hard to find NORMAL people to talk to, just the extreme fringe people, and doesn't really paint a very flattering picture of hobbyists IMO. They did not find "Joe Normal, well adjusted social individual with a wealth of knowledge" anywhere, they just went for "Joe Wacko, who records everything that's anything pinball and tries to sell it for a profit." Not saying it wasn't worth watching, but it's not something that I will go out of my way to try and get non-pinball people to watch.
 
Myself and the wife watch it together and lofao we thought it was the best comedy.
 
I watched it a month or two back. Wasn't terribly impressed, and I agree with many other opinions that it's not as much a documentary as a "mockumentary". They didn't seem to try very hard to find NORMAL people to talk to, just the extreme fringe people, and doesn't really paint a very flattering picture of hobbyists IMO. They did not find "Joe Normal, well adjusted social individual with a wealth of knowledge" anywhere, they just went for "Joe Wacko, who records everything that's anything pinball and tries to sell it for a profit." Not saying it wasn't worth watching, but it's not something that I will go out of my way to try and get non-pinball people to watch.

Exactly how I felt about this film.
 
I watched it a while back. It was cool to see all the machines past and present; but the "characters" paint a back picture of the hobby. I know they painted this picture to entertain the non-pin masses but went too far to get any respect from the true pinball hobbist. With everything being said i found it entertaining but don't recommend it to my non-pinhead fireinds.
 
My wife and I watched it and enjoyed it...A LOT. We're not extreme or nerdy at all, just thought it was nicely done.
I agree about the extreme cases...but I'll keep the comments to myself on those characters, just in case some here are that way!!!!

Here's a link for it free on Hulu:

(if you have ad block, then you won't get to watch the commercials, just a message saying it won't load. Be patient)

http://www.hulu.com/watch/243423/special-when-lit-a-pinball-documentary
 
i thought it was okay.. The whole time, i was asking my wife "i'm not like that, right?"

i actually felt sorry for the main characters as they portrayed a very lonely life - as if pinball was their entire life.

i did pick up a few 'cool' moves to do while playing pinball :D :rolleyes:
 
I thought it was pretty good. Documentary's aren't entertaining unless
you show more then just the avg joe. Its the ecentrics (sp?) that make a show and keep you glue'd to the TV. Someone send that one hoarder guy a bigger shirt.. sheesh.
 
I thought it was very good. I liked the characters. And we are not as normal as we'd like to believe.....
 
Never seen this, but thanks for the post. Gonna watch it later tonight on Netflix.

From the posts, it does sound like a few people on craigslist I have run into. They have 15+ pinballs, all A or B list games. Something like 100,000 retail on pinballs in incredible shape, but so lonely, sheltered and kinda jerks socially.

i'll watch and see how true it is to the guys I've met here and there
 
11:41 - Raphael Lanker of the Pinball Museum in France - "It's better to collect pinball than to take cocaine."

Hard to argue with that one.
 
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Well, that's the movie that got me re-interested in pinball. I last played just after my high school days in the late 1970's & early 1980's -- fast forward to 2010 & I am back in the game.
 
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