Joysticks | |
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Directed by | Greydon Clark |
Produced by | Greydon Clark |
Written by |
Al Gomez Mickey Epps Curtis Burch |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Nicholas Josef von Sternberg |
Edited by | Larry Bock |
Production
company |
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Distributed by |
Citadel Films Liberation Entertainment |
Release date
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Running time
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88 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $300,000 (estimated) |
Box office | $3,952,448 (USA) |
Joysticks is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Greydon Clark.
Jefferson Bailey (Scott McGinnis) runs the most popular video arcade in town, much to the chagrin of local businessman Joseph Rutter (Joe Don Baker). With his two bumbling nephews, Rutter aims to frame Bailey and have his business shut down. Bailey, however, is wise to Rutter's plan and teams with best buds Eugene (Leif Green) and McDorfus (Jim Greenleaf) to stop this scheme, which also involves a video game duel with punker King Vidiot (Jon Gries).
The production took 13 days and allowed the image of Pac-Man by video game developer Midway Games to be used in the film. Also, they allowed the filmmakers to showcase Satan's Hollow and the unreleased Super PacMan during the film's climactic video game showdown.
The film was theatrically released March 1983 in the United States by Jensen Farley Pictures and was the fifth highest grossing in its first week. It grossed $3,952,448 in the United States.
The film was released on VHS by Vestron Video. Liberation Entertainment released the film on DVD in 2006, but it was quickly pulled off the market due to rights issues. It was re-released by Scorpion as a 30th anniversary edition.
The film's soundtrack was released in November 2015 by Eczema Records.
The film was discussed in a 2014 episode of the podcast We Hate Movies in which the panel drew a connection between the plot of Joysticks and the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.