Pirates of Silicon Valley: The Unique Film about Bill Gates

December 7, 2022

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Pirates of Silicon Valley is the only movie they’ve made so far about Bill Gates. It’s also about Steve Jobs, the other “pirate,” though. Even though both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had a big impact on the world of computing, the name of the tape is not very flattering. This is because it is meant to show that, even though both are seen as visionaries and revolutionary geniuses, they were also people who made bad choices and stole, not invented, parts and pieces from other companies to make their ideas come to life.

What’s interesting is that there have been two movies about Steve Jobs, and one of them shows yet another vision of a revolutionary genius who changed an entire industry, but this is the only movie about Bill Gates, and it may be the only one we need. If you were also looking for a good movie about starting a business, you should definitely see it.

What is Pirates of Silicon Valley about?

The movie, which was not shown in theaters but was made for TV, is about what happened to Apple and Microsoft between 1971 and 1997 and how they changed. Fire in the Valley: The Making of Personal Computer, which is based on the book by Michael Swaine of the same name, also shows how the rivalry between the two main characters affected the development of personal computers and how they laid the groundwork for an entire industry.

The story follows the two main characters at the same time, and flashbacks show us important moments in the creation of their products as well as their personal lives, especially Steve Jobs’.

The tape was made without either of the two people on it being involved. “I didn’t want to do an “authorized biography” of either Microsoft or Apple,” said director and writer Martyn Burke. “So we decided not to talk to them or meet with them.” Together with a group of Harvard researchers, I started a project to learn as much as I could about the history of the two companies. We looked at everything we could find, including old technical journals from the 1970s. I wanted every scene to be based on something that really happened, like when Bill Gates bulldozed in the middle of the night or when Steve Jobs went barefoot to the board of directors during a job candidate’s interview. I can check each scene with one or two sources.” Steve Wozniak, who was close with Jobs, said that the book was a very accurate portrayal of him. In 2013, when a fan asked Bill Gates what he thought of the movie, he said that the way he was portrayed was “reasonably accurate.”

For many, the work is one of the best portraits in both organizations’ histories, and it continues to receive excellent reviews online, becoming a staple for anybody who wants to delve into the background of these characters, under a vision that is not as glorified as the one that can currently be found.

Noah Wyle (well known for his role as John Carter in ER) played Steve Jobs, and he was considered to reprise the part in the 2015 film on the character; and Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club, The Dead Zone) played Bill Gates.