The intense drama Halt and Catch Fire season 2 comes to home video August 9th providing a perspective of 1980’s birth of the internet revolution. Working with some fine actors and very good cinematography for a TV series, the story by Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers takes on a lot of challenging subjects in one ball of string. Using opposing views in the world of PC’s and Gaming the play gets hot and heavy at times leading to a gripping second season ending.
If you missed the first season I’m sure it’s available for download or on the shelf of a retailer somewhere, but it basically was an interesting and drama filled intro into season two. In that series we found the main cast building the first PC and how a couple of engineers and a working mother became at odds during the realization of home internet computing.
In season two we find the feisty and determined Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis) trying to keep afloat with Mutiny, a small computer on line gaming company working out of her “garage”. Along with her friend and programing manager Donna Clark (Kerry Bishe) they have been making headway with Parallax their top game that provides most of the income to run the business. In the meantime Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace), who had a long term work relationship with Cameron, has become engaged to Sara Wheeler (Aleksa Palladino) and has relocated far away from Cameron while looking for a project. He’s been bucked from any remuneration with the sale of his former employer Cardiff Electric.
Also coming back into view are Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy) the husband of Donna who got a huge payout from Cardiff. Business gets a lift during the second season as John Bosworth (Toby Huss) reenters the storyline after completing his term in jail. Also, David starts getting involved with Mutiny much to Donna’s chagrin, and lets also mention that Joe gets an offer he can’t refuse. All this adds up to some compelling drama in the vein of a typical soap opera, but better directed and filmed.
I’m amazed at the creative reconstruction of the advent of PC computers showing how most games are pixel blocks that move at a slow pace around a maze as in “Tank Battle”. It brings back flashes of other early computer games like “Pong”, “space invaders”, “Asteroids” and many of the clones that followed. While the series is just set in that era and has brought each of the characters together, the meat of the series continues to be the relationships of each of the characters and the building of companies.
BONUS FEATURES
“Inside Episodes 201-210” Executive Producer and Co- Creators Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers, Executive Producers Jonathan Lisco, Melissa Bernstein, and Mark Johnson, along with most of the cast comment on each of the episodes of season two.
“History of Now” Executive producers and some of the cast including Kerry Bishe and Mackenzie Davis, talk about the beginning of the splinter computer groups that started up, how they developed and the settings they had to endure.
“The New Joe” The creators of the show talk about the changes that have happened to Joe MacMillan from the first season. Comments by actor Lee Pace are also included.
“Tour of an “80’s Startup” actors Kerry Bishe and Mackenzie Davis give a personal tour of setting up their internet business while walking around the house set.
“Set Tour with Lee Pace and Scoot McNairy” Lee and Scoot take you on a tour of most of the sets where all the scenes are shot.
Halt and Catch Fire season two has not been rated by the TV raters, but contain language and some aggressive behavior. Of course there’s also some intimacy, drinking and smoking that relates to the era they are representing.
FINAL ANLYSIS: A cool look at the beginnings of online computer gaming and a lot of drama. (C+)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Lee Pace, Scott McNairy, Kerry Bishe, Mackenzie Davis, Toby Huss, Aleksa Palladino, James Cromwell
Created by: Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers
Directed by: Juan Jose Campanella
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, Contains sexual inferences, drinking
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 434 Min.
Original Theatrical Release Date: May 31, 2015 to August 2, 2015
Video Release Date: August 9, 2016
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 3 Discs
Distributed by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
