Pinball that has been featured on TV and in movies

[SKILL_SHOT]

even if the sites dead its a big list and would have answerd kolchak357's question, also it may make you watch some movies. I like how they post scene and times if you want to just see the pins.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

...That wasn't even the only unsuccessful attempt at the "ginormous pinball machine" theme in the Seventies. The idea seemed to be in the air somehow. There were plans for a Doctor Who feature film called "Doctor Who Meets Scratchman", starring Tom Baker, in which he fought the Devil, who, at the climax, trapped everyone in a giant pinball machine.

And Sid and Marty Krofft produced a short-lived indoor amusement park in Atlanta that had a dark ride themed to a giant pinball machine in which you rode in the ball.

Further research reveals that all of these strange things happened almost simultaneously in one fairly short time period, 1975-76.

I was disappointed to find that Atari's Hercules was from 1979, but then found out it was inspired by Bally's unproduced "Bigfoot" prototype, developed in... 1976!

I leave it to others to speculate on what was in the water at that time that gave people quixotic dreams of gigantic pinball machines.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

..onetwothreeFOURfive! SixseveneightNINEten! Eleven tweeeeeeEeelve!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Number_Count

ALSO produced in 1976 (though first aired on Sesame Street in '77). The prosecution rests, Your Honor.

 

[Sinistar]

Superman II , the now restored to Kryptonian strength, Clark Kent sends the trucker bully into a Pinball machine , "i've uh, been working out"

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Pinballs to the right in arcade....its quick but the song rocks and so does the movie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jvqPvDUEW8

 

[hectorpuppet]

Here is the complete episode of "Mr. Belvedere" where the eponymous manservant gets hooked on a pinball machine. Horrible show, but at least Bob Uecker was a featured player.

Act I:

 

[hectorpuppet]

Act II:

 

[Matt McIrvin]

ALSO produced in 1976 (though first aired on Sesame Street in '77). The prosecution rests, Your Honor.

I've had it pointed out to me that this strange flurry of interest in pinball in 1975-76 probably comes from one of the biggest pinball references of all: the 1975 movie of "Tommy".

 

[Sinistar]

I've had it pointed out to me that this strange flurry of interest in pinball in 1975-76 probably comes from one of the biggest pinball references of all: the 1975 movie of "Tommy".

1975-76 was the golden age of Pinball , don't ask me what the influence was , Pinball machines were very "in" with the disco era , flashy colors and lights fit right in , I'm sure "Tommy" had some influence as you stated, but before Star Wars , we had Jaws , Saturday Night Fever , and Pinball as the reigning fads .

 

[Matt McIrvin]

I think the Captain Fantastic machine, the second "Tommy" tie-in, was one of the several that rotated through my local pizza joint in that era. Evel Knievel was another.

(I didn't play them at all; I was a little kid and kind of baffled by the whole thing, but fascinated too.)

 

[Carl Spiby]

There is a Pinball table in the UK soap 'Emmerdale' at the moment but I think the side art is just made up as it reads 'Power Ball 3'.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Yesterday on X-PLAY (a video game tv show on g4 network) had a guest and asked him what hes been playing he said PINBALL then they showed hands holding an ipad and smartphone playing TPA!!! It wasnt mentioned by name and shown as brief as the description, I know its not pinball on tv but has anyone else seen TPA on tv?
I recently watched TOMMY.....Im a WHO fan but geeze that movies bad.

 

[Mungoholly]

The UK magician/trickster/FeadHucker Dynamo had a TOM machine in one of his promo adverts...

 

[Jay]

And of course, there was the game show The Magnificent Marble Machine (which I think was posted on another thread):

 

[Jeff Strong]

Just re-watched Strange Brew last night. There's a Black Hole and some other machine in the arcade scenes:

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Seen this on sunday,Football day. Cant tell what games they are in the upper right the lightings all red.

 

[Baintz]

Funny you should start this thread as just a couple of days ago I was wondering if the Rocky pin from Rocky III was a real table. A quick look on ipdb and it was indeed real, produced by Gottlieb. This isn't just a machine in the background, but takes centre stage near the start of the movie when a bitter, resentful, drunk Paulie hurls a whiskey bottle through the backglass.

Interestingly though, the table didn't exist yet at the time of the movie, they used a custom backglass over another table. From ipdb:

When seen in the movie "Rocky III", this machine had a prop backglass used only for the movie. Only three of the prop backglasses were made, and one was destroyed in the film when Paulie, Rocky's brother-in-law, threw a bottle of Scotch through it. The remaining two are in possession of collectors.

And the table designer John Trudeau on why the production backglass was not used in the movie:

'The coordination with the Rocky III movie was already in process when I started at Gottlieb in '81. Ed Krynski had a whitewood in development for the license tie-in. I guess it didn't play very well, because it never made it to production. The backglasses that were made for the movie were made to fit an existing game - not Rocky (I was told that it was a Force II, but the displays would have to have been moved). The produced game didn't even exist at that time, nor did any artwork. I believe we were pretty close to NOT using the Rocky license at all. I came up with the design that was produced pretty much at the last minute.

Later, Stallone was in Chicago promoting the movie's opening. We were told that he might stop by to see the game, but he never showed. I still have my Rocky backglass. The only one I have left that's survived the years.

Stallone also did have final approval over the painting for the backglass. Dave Moore had to repaint the facial area twice before it was approved. Sly didn't want the beat-up face for the glass (who can blame him?).

Dave Moore did manage to paint himself and me into the crowd. At the foreground right ring post there is a fella with glasses that has his arms crossed (Dave) and another guy next to him with a black moustache and graying temple hair (Me).'

 

[neglectoid]

this thread is awesome. i thought i was the only one that got a woody when i saw a pin on tv or a movie. the tv show "my name is earl" has a couple of old school pins in the back of the bar. i could never make out the names of the machines though.

 

[DopedToInfinity]

I saw an episode of First Wave, & in the bar scene there was a Whirlwind pin in the background. The thing which really struck me was the background music was "Step into my world" by a british band called Hurricane #1. Coincidence or weather themed sci-fi??!!

 

[Jay]

There's also the Richard Rush film Stunt Man, which features Bally's classic Fireball in the opening sequence: