grandmaloney

The documentary simultaneously examines the life of Aaron Fechter--engineer and inventor of Showbiz's iconic musical centerpiece, and the founder of the company that produced the animatronic marvels, Creative Engineering. It's an almost heartbreaking glimpse into the perils of achieving incredible success at a young age, and the slow torture of being unable to recreate that success over the remainder of a lifetime. Whereas the bits about Chris Thrash are mostly inspiring and uplifting, the segments covering Fechter's life convey a theme of gloom and decay. And although he seems happy to discuss the "good old days", there's a quiet desperation just beneath the exterior of his optimistic outlook and upbeat personality that is truly powerful to behold.

The greatest value of this production is the incredible sincerity of the people upon whose lives it focuses. You can't act this kind of stuff; these are a collection of individuals who, not unlike the robotic band itself, have been drawn together by the love and happy memories they once had at a place called Showbiz Pizza. And it's powerful, because anyone who grew up frequenting the fabulous pizza-parlour-stage-show-arcade is likely to strongly empathize with that love and share many of the same memories. I may be getting soft in my old age, but I have to admit that I teared up during one particularly poignant moment in the documentary. That could simply be a testament to good filmmaking. Or, it could be that I just happen to fall directly into the smack-dab-middle of the target demographic for this DVD. Either way, it's a fantastic watch and I highly recommend it to everyone who grew up in the 80s loving pizza, arcade games, and ridiculously overdone animatronic stage shows.

Matt 'gzsfrk' Williams