Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) (TV)

	Directed by: Martyn Burke	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama/Biographical NORWEGIAN TITLE Pirates of Silicon Valley RUNNING TIME 95 minutes
	Produced by: Leanne Moore
	Written by (based on a book by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine): Martyn Burke

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Steve Jobs	Noah Wyle	½
Bill Gates	Anthony Michael Hall
Steve Wozniak	Joey Slotnick
Steve Ballmer	John Di Maggio
Paul Allen	Josh Hopkins	½
Ed Roberts	Gailard Sartain	-
Mike Markkula	Jeffrey Nordling	½
John Sculley	Allan Royal	-
Arlene	Gema Zamprogna	½
Daniel Kottke	Marcus Giamatti	-

Review

Despite two big-budget, dedicated Steve Jobs biopics (2013's Jobs and 2015's Steve Jobs), this 1999 TV film produced by TNT and written and directed by Martyn Burke remains the most accurate and vivid portrayal of the rise of Apple and Microsoft – the two companies that made home computing commonplace. Adapted from the book Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine, Pirates of Silicon Valley is based solely on verified incidents and presented in a faux-documentarian style. It brings a confident authority along with its obviously dramatised angles and weightings. The film pits the two moguls Jobs (Noah Wyle) and Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall) against each other with a blatant emphasis – obviously downplaying the role of their partners and co-owners in the process – but hey, this was in line with the story the companies themselves painted through their PR stunts. And in all honesty, it's a fairly accurate representation of Jobs' and Gates' distinctive personalities. The former wasn't particularly happy with his portrayal, although he hailed Wyle's performance. The latter said the depiction was "reasonably accurate". But although Jobs comes off as single-minded and a tyrannical boss at times, Wyle's layered, nuanced work ensures he is also depicted as charismatic, visionary, and sympathetic under his shell of ambition. Jobs and Apple constitue the emotional core of the film – presented as the wild artists – whereas Gates and Microsoft are their scheming, more far-sighted rivals. This has been proven to be close enough to the truth for Burke's clever duelling story to be equal parts engrossing and informative. A TV movie with fine production values that deserved a chance to shine on the big screen.