While checking out movies at Austin Film Festival for Flixist.com (Dtoid’s film sister-site), I had the oppurtunity to attend the world premiere of Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters. Much like King of Kong and Chasing Ghosts, it’s documentary that focuses on the craziest, most talented competitive players of an established videogame classic.
The Wizard depicted the glory, King of Kong captured the competitive edge, but I’ve been waiting for a feature-length film to faithfully show the collective drive and bond between competitive players, alongside the lonely pursuit that comes with hi-score chasing. Ecstasy of Order is as close as a filmmaker has come to capturing this spirit in a full-length film. I’m not even a Tetris fan and I have no hesitance in saying Ecstasy of Order is one of the best videogame films of all time.
Visit Flixist to read my full review and other festival coverage.
The film doesn’t have a distribution deal, but it will most likely come to DVD next year. Keep an eye out for it!
