Customer Reviews

Macheads

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Excellent documentary film about Appl inc. and its "cult" following "MacHEADS". The mirror tha filmmakers Kobi and Ron Shely hold up to the Mac community is at turns flattering and embarrassing as it examines its subject from many angles. Ir strikes a careful balance between grabs from Macintosh luminaries and the rest of us. It's a story of joy and gratitude, showing to younger Mac Users Apple's incredible journey and reminding older stalwarts of the good old days"

This is a documentary focussing on the community of Macintosh computer users, and to a lesser extent on "the cult of Macintosh". Like most documentaries, this one is made up mostly of talking heads, but it is edited as a sequence of fast cuts, so each talking head gets only a sentence or two before another comes on, or we cut to a throng of Mac fans. These sound bites are very skillfully woven together to present a smooth narrative; in fact it is probably smoother than if we had stuck with each talking head for a longer period. A few of the interviewees get (and deserve) longer segments. Musician Galen Brandt is very articulate and charming. Internet broadcasting host Shawn King is very articulate and less charming, but has a very realistic (some might say cynical) view of the Macintosh community and its relationship to Apple the corporation. He sums it up as "Don't love Apple, love the community."

The narrative focuses on Macintosh consumers. The people who created the Macintosh and who develop hardware and software for the Macintosh are almost completely absent. The film says very little about the Macintosh itself, and if you didn't know what one was you would probably be baffled by this film. The only real Macintosh insiders who were interviewed for the film are Dan Kottke and Guy Kawasaki, and they talk mostly about perceptions of the Macintosh and not how it is built. The film takes a balanced view of the fans. For the most part it portrays them as ordinary people who have an extraordinary interest in Macintosh. There are also some farther-out items, such as the Church of Mac, sex columnist Violet Blue, and Daphne Kalfon's song "I Love My Mac".

There's a lot of discussion about whether the community will survive. It is largely ignored by Apple; Shawn King says "Apple is all about control now," and the fans cannot be controlled. There's some concern that the community is aging, with only the fans in their forties and fifties still participating in user groups while younger fans look up everything on the Internet and never get to know other fans. Andy Ihnatko points out that at user groups you are always hearing useful bits of information that you did not know existed and therefore could not have looked up on the Internet.

This DVD is manufactured-on-demand as a DVD-R. At 55 minutes it is short for a feature film. There are a few minutes of extras on the DVD, with some more archival footage and some outtakes and the trailers.

Another documentary released about the same time, Welcome To Macintosh, also looks at the Macintosh experience, but it is a very different film, and in my opinion much less successful. "MacHeads" is much more focused, while "Welcome to Macintosh" tries to cover everything about Apple, including a lot about the Apple I and II, and does it with much less continuity than "MacHeads" does.

Item arrived on time and in good condition. Very enjoyable and informative DVD! Lots of History regarding the Macintosh computers and Apple Inc! I enjoyed it very much!

Did not find anything interesting about this documentary. I did not learn anything new about Apple and found it to be pretty boring.

If you were a Mac user during the 90's and frequented the MUGs, then this movie might appeal to you. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to find the meaning of it.

Macheads is an interesting premise not all that well executed. It wants to examine the history of Apple owners who have been and still are besotted by their computers. I'm one of them so was anticipating an interesting little documentary. Unfortunately it is mainly ruined by a deafeningly loud instant-migraine techno-thump soundtrack that often comes near to drowning out what the interviewees are saying.

One Mac woman who lives in a caravan in what looks like a peaceful forest is barely audible above noise that sounds like party night at the local hiphop club.

MacHeads is a fine and fun exposé of the core groups that now constitute Apple's consumer sphere, and how they've changed and developed along with the company. Examined are the early adopters and "old guard" slowly dying user group faithful that stuck with the Macintosh throughout the uncertainty of the 90's, the new generation of users to whom a deep rooted user community is irrelevant so long as the products are sexy, and the comical zealots who would wait a week in line for a bottle of Steve Jobs' bathwater.

Don't expect a history lesson on the company or products, as this film is all about the colorful folks on the user side of the keyboard and touch screen.

this is one fun movie,it shows the fan side of the apple community
the only thing that is bad about the movie is that it was not made in hd
it shows highlights of macworld which is awesome,it is worth the rent.

I liked this movie, but it could have been better. Definitely worth a rental.

I love this. I have been a MacHead since 1984 and loved this look back. It's NOT a freak show, not laughing...but dosen't gush about them or paper over the excentricities. Well worth watching.