Imagine my surprise to see Mark Bussler, my favorite serious documentary filmmaker, having the time of his life as co-host of Classic Game Room, a DVD about “the rise and fall of the Internet’s greatest video game review show.” Is this the same person who directed such distinguished films as EXPO -- Magic of the White City, Horses of Gettysburg, and World War I --  American Legacy? Yes, and Bussler’s talent as a tongue-in-cheek host for this fun look at video games is quite impressive. His partner in crime, David Crosson, also comes across as very amusing and watchable.

Back in the early days of online video (1999 -2000), Bussler and Crosson produced a little show called “Classic Game Room” which soon became popular, not only because it was the only visual review show of its kind but also because of the humorous and candid evaluations presented by these two entertaining guys. Their Internet startup included one camera, a green screen and $50 budgets. The show earned a cult following despite -- or maybe because of -- its sometimes obnoxious reviews that highlighted beer-drinking, mock car crashes and weirdly primitive special effects. Of course, the Dot.com boom soon fizzled, and that sealed the fate for this lively show.     

Containing Bussler and Crosson’s original -- and outrageously funny -- reviews of “Duck Hunt” for NES, “Alien” for Atari 2600, “X-Men” for Sega Genesis, “Sega GT” for Dreamcast, “Joust” for Playstation, “Missile Command” for Playstation, “Frogger” for Atari 2600, “SeaMan” for Dreamcast, “Perfect Dark” for Nintendo 64 and “Yars’ Revenge” for Atari 2600, this Classic Game Room DVD should be a treat for video game fans. But to me, it’s the humorous banter between the two hosts I enjoyed the most.

I’m also happy to report that Classic Game Room features Bussler’s welcome filmmaking touch of incorporating intriguing images and great music throughout a movie to help tell his story.   

Bonus items included in this DVD are: three blogs on production; a review of Berzerk for Atari 2600; the original Classic Game Room trailer; and trailers for EXPO -- Magic of the White City, Horses of Gettysburg and World War I -- American Legacy.

(Released by Inecom Entertainment; not rated by MPAA. For more information, please go to  www.ClassicGameRoom.net.)

Mark Bussler is scheduled to talk about Classic Game Room on Tuesday, August 28 (the DVD release date!)  at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on the Movie Addict Headquarters radio show. Listen to his interview by clicking on this BlogTalkRadio link at the scheduled time. Bussler's interview will also be available as an archived segment.