Movies Like Pixels

Frequently asked about Pixels

Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.

• Why do the aliens attack Earth in Pixels?▾

  In 1982, NASA launched a time capsule containing footage of classic arcade games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, and Centipede as a goodwill message to extraterrestrials. An alien civilization intercepted the footage but misinterpreted it as a declaration of war, so they sent pixelated versions of those video game characters to attack Earth in retaliation.

• What are the rules of the alien war games in Pixels?▾

  The aliens challenge humanity to a best-of-three series of life-sized arcade battles, with each game governed by its original rules. Earth loses a 'life' each time a match is lost, and if humanity loses three lives total, the planet is destroyed. The aliens also collect 'trophies' from each victory, taking real people and objects as captives stored in pixelated cubes.

• Why is Sam Brenner the key to defeating the aliens?▾

  Sam (Adam Sandler) was a child arcade prodigy who finished second to Eddie Plant at the 1982 World Video Arcade Championship, the same tournament whose footage the aliens used to learn the games. Because he memorized the patterns of these classic games as a kid, he and his fellow former gamers are uniquely qualified to fight the aliens, whose attacks follow the predictable movement patterns of the original arcade titles.

• How does Eddie 'Fire Blaster' Plant cheat during the Pac-Man battle?▾

  Eddie (Peter Dinklage) secretly used cheat codes back in 1982 to beat Sam at the championship, and he tries to pull the same trick during the alien invasion. During the climactic Pac-Man battle in New York, it's revealed he negotiated a side deal with the aliens for personal rewards, which is why the aliens break their own rules and continue attacking even after Earth wins.

• What happens at the end of Pixels and who is Lady Lisa?▾

  After Eddie's cheating voids the truce, the gamers defeat the alien mothership by beating Donkey Kong, the game Sam always considered his weakness. The aliens release their captured 'trophies,' including Lady Lisa, a warrior character from Ludlow's favorite fictional game Dojo Quest, who materializes as a real person and stays on Earth with Ludlow, whom she eventually marries in the film's epilogue.