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Tetris

  • 2023
  • R
  • 1h 58m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
98K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,811
371
Taron Egerton in Tetris (2023)
“Tetris” tells the unbelievable story of how one of the world's most popular video games found its way to avid players around the globe. Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) discovers TETRIS in 1988, and then risks everything by traveling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) to bring the game to the masses.
Play trailer0:31
12 Videos
99+ Photos
DocudramaPolitical ThrillerBiographyDramaHistoryThriller

Video game designer Henk Rogers seeks to secure global rights for Tetris (1984), leading to tense negotiations in the Soviet Union, involving creators, government, and corporate intrigues.Video game designer Henk Rogers seeks to secure global rights for Tetris (1984), leading to tense negotiations in the Soviet Union, involving creators, government, and corporate intrigues.Video game designer Henk Rogers seeks to secure global rights for Tetris (1984), leading to tense negotiations in the Soviet Union, involving creators, government, and corporate intrigues.

  • Director
    • Jon S. Baird
  • Writer
    • Noah Pink
  • Stars
    • Taron Egerton
    • Mara Huf
    • Miles Barrow
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    98K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,811
    371
    • Director
      • Jon S. Baird
    • Writer
      • Noah Pink
    • Stars
      • Taron Egerton
      • Mara Huf
      • Miles Barrow
    • 229User reviews
    • 153Critic reviews
    • 61Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 nominations total

    Videos12

    Watch Now on Apple TV+
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Now on Apple TV+
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:45
    Official Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:45
    Official Trailer
    Tetris
    Trailer 2:43
    Tetris
    Tetris: Final Countdown
    Clip 1:36
    Tetris: Final Countdown
    Tetris: I Never Thought Of That
    Clip 1:52
    Tetris: I Never Thought Of That
    Tetris: Tetris
    Clip 1:07
    Tetris: Tetris

    Photos224

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    Top cast57

    Edit
    Taron Egerton
    Taron Egerton
    • Henk Rogers
    Mara Huf
    Mara Huf
    • Tracy
    Miles Barrow
    Miles Barrow
    • Dennis Jackson
    Rick Yune
    Rick Yune
    • Bank Manager
    Nikita Efremov
    Nikita Efremov
    • Alexey Pajitnov
    Toby Jones
    Toby Jones
    • Robert Stein
    Aleksey Shedko
    • Alexey's Lab Chief
    • (as Alexey Shedko)
    Natalia Gonchar
    • MCSC Secretary
    Oleg Stefan
    Oleg Stefan
    • Nikolai Belikov
    • (as Oleg Shtefanko)
    Roger Allam
    Roger Allam
    • Robert Maxwell
    Anthony Boyle
    Anthony Boyle
    • Kevin Maxwell
    Ayano Yamamoto
    Ayano Yamamoto
    • Nintendo Secretary Japan
    Nino Furuhata
    Nino Furuhata
    • Yamauchi's Assistant
    Togo Igawa
    Togo Igawa
    • Hiroshi Yamauchi
    Ayane Nagabuchi
    Ayane Nagabuchi
    • Akemi Rogers
    Kanon Narumi
    • Maya Rogers
    Timur Kassimkulov
    • Dmitri Pajitnov
    Mark Khismatullin
    • Peter Pajitnov
    • Director
      • Jon S. Baird
    • Writer
      • Noah Pink
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews229

    7.498.2K
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    Featured reviews

    7iain-cocks

    *Based on a true story...

    *That Tetris was invented by a Russian.

    That's it. Everything else is pretty much fiction. Then again, the true story was mainly a fairly complicated, protracted legal battle and wouldn't have made for a very exciting film. But an exciting film is what we have! It's well acted, the whole production is great, the story is gripping, but it's all fiction. Which is fine, but claiming it was "based on a true story" is... misleading, to put it nicely.

    It's quite revealing to read all these glowing reviews praising the authenticity and what a wonderful historical edcuation these reviewers recieved upon viewing it, when even a cursory google search shows that the reality is almost entirely disconnected with the contents of this film.

    Still, I have to give the film credit, it was a fun watch, a good story and VERY imaginative!
    8evanston_dad

    The Movie I Didn't Know I Needed

    "Tetris" is the movie I didn't even know I needed.

    A ridiculously entertaining (and probably at least partially ridiculously fabricated) "based on true events" story about the fight between a desperate American video game creator and Soviet Russia over the rights to what would become one of the most famous games of all time.

    I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first, as it has a very jokey, self-aware tone, as does Taron Egerton's performance. But both won me over quickly, and not long into the movie I was all in. Egerton is a ball of charisma in the lead, and he's easy to root for. The movie gets a little silly at the end (a car chase to the airport, really?) and seems to be taking historical accuracy lessons from "Argo," but by the time the end came around I didn't care. I've been complaining recently that entertaining movies for adults are in short supply, so I'm not going to quibble when one comes along.

    Grade: A.
    7paul-allaer

    Far better than could've been expected

    As "Tetris" (2023 release; 117 min.) opens, we are reminded that "This is based on a true story", and we are in "Level 1, 1988" as Henk Rogers is at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, trying (and failing) to push a video game called "Go". In another booth, someone is hawking a game called "Tetris" and after trying out the game for a few minutes, Rogers is completely bowled over. He needs to find a way to get a license to that game, one way or another. At this point we are less than 10 minutes into the movie.

    Couple of comments: this is the latest film from Scottish director Jon Baird ("Stan & Ollie"). Here he brings the origin story of how the game "Tetris" became a worldwide phenom, but not before there was a frenzy over the legal rights, as fragmented as they were (both as to territories and as to platforms: video, arcade, handheld, etc.). In essence this is a legal drama and hence one cannot assume that this would be an enjoyable or engaging film to watch,. But as it turns out, this is very much enjoyable and engaging. Mostly set in the late 80s and early 90s, and effortlessly shifting settings from the US to Japan to the UK to the USSR, it becomes a zany affair, full of energy. Taron Egerton ("Kingsman", "Rocketman") as Henk Rogers is clearly having a ball with this role. If you wonder where the film was shot and what location stood in for those 80's era Soviet buildings, it is in fact Scotland (Aberdeen and Glasgow). Bottom line: I found this movie to be far better than I could've expected.

    "Tetris" premiered at last month's SXSW festival to immediate acclaim. It started streaming on Apple TV this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. If you are in the mood for a zany legal drama on how Tetris became a mega-seller, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.
    8cinemapersonified

    Good Movie

    Rating: 8.2 Overall, a very entertaining movie that is a well constructed fun watch to see how Tetris escaped the Soviet Union as the tone coupled with performances help bring the audience on a fun ride, though the movie is a bit too safe in its writing and storytelling.

    Good Direction (Really helps set the tone and of the movie through a more lighthearted approach to storytelling; he gets a good amount out of his actors; the movie does feel very safe and nothing extraordinary in terms of its direction), Pretty Good Acting (Very Good from Taron Egerton (Does a good job in commanding the lead in the movie and showing a range of emotion throughout, the source material really limits him from going above and beyond like his other roles though), Pretty Good from Toby Jones, Pretty Good to Good from Nikita Yefremov (A bit more of a reserved performance so there is not too much to work from (not entirely his fault as that was how the character was written), but he does do a good job playing off of Egerton throughout the movie), Pretty Good from the rest of the cast), Very Good Story (The overall story is well laid out, though it is a bit overt in its storytelling, and the story elements build off of each other to create suspense for the climax), Pretty Good to Good Screenplay (A bit simplistic in the dialogue but flows well throughout; not too much symbolism because its a biopic; the humor throughout the movie was decent and helped make the film pretty lighthearted; no real foreshadowing), Good to Very Good Score (Really enjoyed how they interpolated the Tetris theme into it and used the score throughout to build suspense), Good to Very Good Cinematography (Helps with placing emphasis on different subjects and was overall very professional throughout), Good Sound (Enjoyed how it replaced sounds with 8-bit sounds to make the movie feel more like a video game from the 80s), Decent Editing (Really helped give that video game feel to the movie; the transitions between countries felt a bit amateurish though; There were also these weird freezes throughout the movie (do not know if this was intentional or if it was just from it being a world premiere and the is not fully polished yet)), Very Good Visual Effects (Gave the movie a more 80s, NES feel when it was used in conjunction with scenes; the 8-bit animations replacing shots were pretty good but felt a bit amateur (though overall I did enjoy them)), Plot Structure was pretty standard as it followed the standard arc (with the all parts of the plot being evident), Pacing was pretty steady with no major issues (no need to add or cut anything), Climax was executed well as it was a fun rush filled with action in a movie that does not have any (though it helps suspend the disbelief if this actually happened in real life), Tone was very tech as well as 80s and I felt the movie did a really good job at establishing tone; the movie did a really good job at making it a programming/CS movie as they spoke about concepts very well throughout the movie, Watched World Premiere at SXSW.
    10aronlocsei-43006

    Read the interview with the actual people involved on IGN/Tetris.com

    The movie had to be made exciting so there are some exaggerated elements / but it was absolutely fun and exciting. Being born behind the iron curtain before this all happened I find it amazing that some reviewers here say this is some anti communist propaganda, when this is pretty much how it was back then. So don't listen to the haters, the actual people were involved in making this film as accurate as possible while still being a "Hollywood" movie. And yes, you lived in the same apartment the government gave you, no you could not freely speak, think and yes the secret police and army of civilian informers were infiltrated in every part of society. And there was not always food you could buy, and it was certainly amazing to have bananas in the stores (not in the movie) people who grew up in the west and not in the former Soviet block have zero understanding of how life was back then, and can be forgiven to think that this and other accounts of the Soviet era are some sort of parodies, the sad truth that they aren't nearly as exaggerated as you might think. It was pretty bad back then. This movie is absolutely excellent.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Being a non-gamer, then Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi would give the game to his superstar programmer Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of their most popular franchises Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, to see what he thought. Several days later, Miyamoto confirmed to Yamauchi that it was a great game and when Yamauchi asked why, Miyamoto responded "Because even your secretaries and accountants are playing it!"
    • Goofs
      When reading the fax number of ELORG in Moscow Henk mentions the dialing code of Moscow as "495", which is the current code. In the soviet times until Russia 2005 it was "095".
    • Quotes

      Alexey Pajitnov: Good ideas have no borders.

    • Crazy credits
      A short video is playing about halfway through the credits. It seems to be actual footage of Henk and Alexey in Moscow.
    • Connections
      Edited from Game Grumps: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!: Finale - Part 6 (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      Holding Out for a Hero
      Written by Dean Pitchford & Jim Steinman

      Published by Sony/ATV Melody, Paramount Pictures Corp

      Performed by Ren Nagabuchi (as ReN)

      Appearing courtesy of Warner Music Japan

      Licensed courtesy of MARV Music Recording Ltd & Warner Music Japan

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    FAQ16

    • How long is Tetris?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 31, 2023 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
      • Japanese
      • Hungarian
    • Also known as
      • Тетріс
    • Filming locations
      • Aberdeen, Scotland, UK(Tillydrone, Aberdeen city)
    • Production companies
      • AI-Film
      • Apple TV+
      • Marv Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $80,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 58 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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