Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story (2011)

One of my all time favorites.

Fresh and Exciting

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

"Under the boardwalk" is a documentary centered around the game of Monopoly and those who keep it alive until today. It deals with the history of the game and its origins as well as with recent interest in the game and especially the participants of games on a tournament basis.As probably most people, I knew Monopoly simply from playing it myself and didn't gather any further information about the game before giving this film a watch. Thus I could learn quite a bit of new and interesting things about it. I like that the movie tries to cover different aspects of the game. That way you can grasp what makes it so special for some people and it helps to explain how a board game became such an established ingredient of family life all over the world. I have to say that the only thing I found somewhat disturbing was that at times the general tone of the film became a bit too enthusiastic about its topic. While it is just reasonable that some of the excitement many displayed people have for the game is shared through the film, you could at some points think that Monopoly was basically the key piece holding together families and societies. Especially when it comes to explaining why this game is so special, the points mentioned match pretty much every board game published.Still, this was an interesting movie providing a lot of fun facts and background information without having an earnest topic. Sometimes the cut was a bit questionable but all in all I had fun and for everyone in love with the game, this is quite a good shot at it.

From the DVD's cover, I was expecting a fascinating story about the origins about the Monopoly game and how it progressed over time. Instead, the movie was one scene after another about a professional Monopoly tournament and interviews with the participants-some of whom were hard to understand and none of whom were really interesting.While the tournament might have been of interest, I was hoping to hear more about the Monopoly game in general. Namely, how and why it originated, how it became so popular, its influence on culture, etc. But the movie was practically all about said tournament, and it failed to catch my interest. Unless you are into Monopoly tournaments, don't bother.

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story (2010)*** 1/2 (out of 4) For fans of Monopoly this documentary is going to be a must see while others will probably want to stay clear. At just 87-minutes this documentary pretty much goes through the entire history of the board game from its earliest versions and then tracks it's progress throughout the years to where it's finally at a point to where it's played in over one hundred countries and has pretty much taken over the mainstream and pop culture. The documentary not only covers the board games history but we get to learn about other things including the collectors, the various versions, different rule changes and there's even a large portion of the running time devoted to the various championships that take place each year throughout the world. Again, if you hate playing the game then it's doubtful you're going to enjoy this documentary, although I guess the history behind it might appeal somewhat to you. However, if you're a fan of the game and enjoy playing it I don't see how it would be possible for you not to fall for this film. Yes, there's no doubt that there are some flaws in the movie and the personal drama in the championship isn't nearly as intense as the "battles" in something like THE KING OF KONG but there's still plenty of great stuff here. Some of the most entertaining moments deal with the history of the game and how the original creator pretty much begged game companies to buy the product outright, which they refused and they ended up giving him royalties instead and this has made his family members filthy rich today. Other interesting topics include how the game started to pick up speed and go around the world as well as stories about it becoming popular in the media and on television shows and movies. The championship footage is also fairly interesting as we learn about the various rule changes and we get to hear from many of the people in the tournament as they talk about how they got interested in the game as well as things like their favorite game piece. UNDER THE BOARDWALK: THE MONOPOLY STORY is a fun way to spend 90-minutes and is worth watching for fans.

There aren't too many documentaries that your grandmother will enjoy as much as your eighteen year old brother, but this film is one of them. The entire film is a celebration of the game of Monopoly which so many people have happy memories of playing. The film moves quickly and the scenes of the Monopoly tournaments are fascinating. We are introduced early on, to some of the very quirky contestants of the tournaments and follow them as they progress to the finals. Along the way we learn a little of the history of the game and there are some great Pop Culture references to Monopoly as well. If this film comes to your area, see it.