Pinball Arcade - Lights... Camera... Action! (Movie Complete)
2Also released in 1989, Gottlieb put up their own late-year entry in Lights... Camera... Action! The theme for this one is filmmaking, and the player character is the director, or the lead actor, or something. This sold 1,708 units, about one-third of that of Earthshaker!, which is pretty indicative of Gottlieb, once the uncontested leader, seriously falling behind its competitors.
Jon Norris is the designer for this machine, with Constantino and Jeanine Mitchell as the artists (which is why the female co-director's shirt says "Jeanine" on it). These three were staples of Gottlieb's last several years. Despite Norris being the go-to guy at Gottlieb, he is not responsible for their reputation, considering he later moved to Stern and made High Roller Casino, which is a dramatic improvement.
Overall, this table is a mess. The artwork is a mess, the rules are a mess, and the audio is a mess. It's pretty typical Gottlieb. Their development cycle was only 3 to 6 months. It's a shame because I can tell passionate people worked on this. For instance, it's hard to see with Pinball Arcade's weird shading, but the machine is dark when you begin a game until the director says "Lights!" and the lights come on.
It is perhaps this passion that's responsible for this being a cult favorite, as this machine was voted in for inclusion on Pinball Arcade. This is the earliest Gottlieb machine to have well-defined and named modes, which predates The Addams Family by about a year, though it's The Addams Family that would popularize it. Fulfilling the conditions for the 5 Scenes deems the "Movie Complete" and Select-a-Feature becomes available. Gun Fight and Stair Chase Scene must be completed to reach Movie Complete; the other three only need to be started. Good thing too, because this machine is merciless. You cannot play multiple Scenes at once, but you can play them in any order (which is how real filmmaking is like).
To start Gun Fight, drop the ball into the hole at the very top in the exact middle. A fully powered launch from the plunger should get the ball in there, and because of that, this is the easiest Scene. Then, watching the art up top, press either flipper button as soon as the director says "Draw" to raise the cop's arm and shoot the bad guy before he does the same and complete this mode.
Multiball is started through a random award or by hitting all four of the green standup targets to the center left. These are some tricky targets, as some of them are angled away from the flippers; it's more reliable to get Multiball randomly, as it's a pretty common award. If the Gun Fight scoop is empty, you are then given a chance to plunge the ball into it. If you succeed, it's a 3-ball multiball; otherwise, it's 2-ball. The Jackpot, worth 1 million points, is located either on the scoop just below the Gun Fight scoop or to the side ramp, depending on wha the game feels like. Starting Multiball is all you need.
Stair Chase Scene is completed by finishing a 5-card poker hand. When the game begins, you're given 2 cards. You must then shoot the scoop furthest to the upper right three more times. The spinner decides what cards they'll be. The worth of your hand then decides what happens next:
One Pair - Random award (low)
Two Pair - Random award (high)
Three-of-a-Kind - Select-a-Feature
Full House - Extra Ball + SaF
Straight - Special + SaF (Special awards nothing here)
Five-of-a-Kind - ?
To start Jackpot Scene, you must hit the three drop targets in the center or as a random award. Hit the three drop targets again before the light in front of them goes out to start Jackpot Scene. The big numeric display on the bottom will start counting down from 8. To get the Jackpot (less than Multiball Jackpot), hit the center drop target 3 times before the countdown reaches 0. You only need to start Jackpot Scene.
To start Stunt Scene, hit each of the 6 drop targets lining the right wall, which reset each time you drain (except in Multiball). When Stunt Scene begins, 5 various standup targets will be activated, and the yellow lights pointing to them will blink. Hit each of them once or more to complete Stunt Scene (which is not necessary) and get 1 million points or an Extra Ball. You only need to start it, and you can also start this through a random award, though the drop targets don't come down making it much harder to finish in this way.
Completing the movie gets you, well, Select-a-Feature. This is the same award from the poker hands. It's the closest this game has to a wizard mode and pretty anticlimactic.
Like all other Gottlieb machines, there is no ball saver, not even during multiballs. The Shoot Again light, when flashing, instead means you have an Extra Ball.
The next table will be Bram Stoker's Dracula. Yes, this is the pinball machine of the movie that ruined Francis Ford Coppola's career. Those guys sure knew how to pick a license, didn't they?
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