Game-related Movies?

[super hurricane]

Given that Ratchet and Clank is kinda in a deep funk at the moment, what does this ay about the future of movies based on games in general? Will there be enough of a fanbase to at least make the Warcraft movie seem worth the millions put into it? Or Sly Cooper? Is it because Wreck-It Ralph was a original character that his movie was successful or was there just something off about Ratchet's plot that made people not really into it? I mean, I watched it, and it seemed okay, even had a sub and final boss battle and everything. So the question is, will people be willing to watch game-related movies even if they aren't blockbusters outright?

 

[SubrosianDimitri]

I would totally see a movie adaptation of a game I like, or maybe haven't played, but it can depend on the game's story, setting, or if it can even make a 90 minute movie out of the crap it has. And sometimes, dropping the game's story and telling a different one with the same characters might just be a better move. If you're making a film for the fans of a series, that's fine, but if you have a large budget, then you better be able to draw in non-fans so as to recuperate that money.

Spoiler: Examples

Some good ones:
•Mortal Kombat - Exciting fight scenes and a generally fun time overall
•Dungeons and Dragons - because of every single thing Jeremy Irons says and does
•Tekken (Live Action) - Decided to see this film after Spoony reviewed it, and for what it is, it's enjoyable. The post-apocalyptic setting is rather dull, but the fights make up for it. I especially like when Raven fights Eddie, awesome brawl, but too short.

And some bad ones:
•Mega Man Fan Film - I'd say to watch it at least once to see the passion Eddie Lebron put into the project on such a low budget, but the pacing is unbearably awful, starts too slow and then goes too fast.
•Hero of Time - Story is a complete mess, acting isn't very good, overuse of greenscreens. The only good thing is the costumes, and even those can be meh at times.

And the mediocre...Super Mario Bros. - This film honestly isn't that bad, it's not good either, but not unwatchable. The effects and designs are all pretty cool, there are some genuinely entertaining moments, and that Yoshi animatronic is still really impressive to this day. It could have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse.

Now, if this film is based around games, and not a direct adaptation, then it just has to be able to tell its own story. The game can be the focus of the story, or it can be something that moves the story along. These kinds of films don't actually have to use a real game, they can make one up for all I care. As long as the story can stand on its own, I'm all good.

Spoiler: More Examples

Some good ones:
•Tron: Legacy - Or as I call it, the second Daft Punk movie. This film is just a fun ride, great effects, decent story, exciting action sequences, just high energy and fun all around. That cycle sequence is still stunning to watch. The grid isn't really the most interesting world, though.
•Wreck-it Ralph - You can take all the other game characters out of this film, and very little would be lost. The arcade world and the characters made up for this film are strong enough to stand on their own without all the cameos. They were probably just there for the advertisements, which definitely drew in a good crowd. Just a great race from start to finish.

And a really bad one:
•Pixels - I'll admit that this is a bit immature, but I haven't even seen this one. Even if I did, the fact that it was up for several Razzies is indication enough of the sheer lack of quality in this movie. Then again, what do you expect from Adam Sandler, nothing he's in is good. I'd seriously rather tear my ears off than sit through any Sandler film.

 

[Leatherface]

The only good movie-game was golden eye, and look how many years that was after the fact. I'm pretty sure this Warcraft movie will crash and burn.

 

[Cinnamaldehyde]

The only good movie-game was golden eye, and look how many years that was after the fact. I'm pretty sure this Warcraft movie will crash and burn.

I thought the SNES Lion King game was pretty cool.

 

[OCisbestungulate]

I thought the SNES Lion King game was pretty cool.

There was also the Aladdin game that was pretty fun.

 

[Shadow of Death]

Yes to both above. Both the Lion King game (I played on Genesis myself), and Aladdin (Also Genesis) were good.

There have been some pretty good movie games, but they are a bit of a rare breed, aren't they? Goldeneye is probably the best remembered. It's pretty terrible, control-wise by today's standards (I would like to see a full-on remake of that game, not that Source game...I didn't like it much) actually.

Some of the Spiderman games were fairly alright. Well, the first two anyway. The first one was a bit linear (no city exploration), but the second was excellent. The 3rd wasn't so great though. I think the 3rd was actually my first PS3 game....Shame.

The reverse, Movies based on Games has even fewer success I think. I can't think of a single movie based on a game that was better than "So bad it's good" in terms of how how people in general view them. Maybe...Mortal Kombat was the best received? Even that was a bit kitschy though. Oh, there are the Resident Evil movies, though those aren't based directly on any specific game of the series.

 

[SubrosianDimitri]

Wasn't this topic about game movies and not movie games?

 

[Shadow of Death]

Wasn't this topic about game movies and not movie games?

I thought so too, but then everyone started talking about the other. So I just sort of went along with it. Well, I did both, rather.

 

[OCisbestungulate]

Well, yes. This thread is more about movies based off video games...

So, how's about that Mario movie? Pretty swag, right?

 

[SubrosianDimitri]

Well, yes. This thread is more about movies based off video games...

So, how's about that Mario movie? Pretty swag, right?

Well, like I said in my first post, it really isn't as bad as everyone says it is, at least I don't think so. The production values are fairly decent, that city is actually pretty cool, and while the story is weak, I've seen far worse from movies people consider to be good. It's not a good movie, but it's not offensive.

Spoiler

Unlike the 2012 version of The Great Gatsby, that shit straight up pissed me off. Go with the 70s version instead, it matches the story so much better and actually feels more like it takes place in the 20s.

 

[OCisbestungulate]

Well, like I said in my first post, it really isn't as bad as everyone says it is, at least I don't think so. The production values are fairly decent, that city is actually pretty cool, and while the story is weak, I've seen far worse from movies people consider to be good. It's not a good movie, but it's not offensive.

Spoiler

Unlike the 2012 version of The Great Gatsby, that shit straight up pissed me off. Go with the 70s version instead, it matches the story so much better and actually feels more like it takes place in the 20s.

Well, truth be told, I kinda liked it in some ways (though Yoshi made me mad as all get out). I actually kinda liked how they interpreted Mario's jumping abilities. And I thought the goombas were amazingly entertaining.

 

[Rich Jammer]

I tend to find that movies about games or loosely based on gaming tend to fair much better than a movie based on an existing game.

Take for example early movies such as Tron, WarGames, and The Last Star Fighter. Even kinda terrible movies like The Wizard were fondly remembered. Then take newer movies like Wreck-It-Ralph and Scott Pilgrim Vs the World.

But of course there are stinkers like Pixels and eXistenZ.

Also, why don't people count any of the Pokemon movies when talking about best/worst videogame movies? Those movies were released in theaters if I remember correctly.

 

[SubrosianDimitri]

I tend to find that movies about games or loosely based on gaming tend to fair much better than a movie based on an existing game.

Take for example early movies such as Tron, WarGames, and The Last Star Fighter. Even kinda terrible movies like The Wizard were fondly remembered. Then take newer movies like Wreck-It-Ralph and Scott Pilgrim Vs the World.

But of course there are stinkers like Pixels and eXistenZ.

Also, why don't people count any of the Pokemon movies when talking about best/worst videogame movies? Those movies were released in theaters if I remember correctly.

I forgot about Scott Pilgrim.

And yeah, the Pokemon movies were theatrically released, at least the first three were. Pokemon 4ever was given limited theatrical release if I remember correctly, and I'm not sure about Pokemon Heroes. My personal favorite is Spell of the Unown, if only because the story is actually fairly solid and the dubbing is damn good for 4kids standards, and it's one of the few Pokemon movies where a majority of the battles are trainer battles. Even better, the movie has been released on iTunes with the dub intact and in widescreen instead of fullscreen.

 

[super hurricane]

Any thoughts on Angry Birds?

 

[Avering]

Any thoughts on Angry Birds?

The most epic of ideas. I have absolutely no idea why people didn't come up with it sooner. Its story is the stuff of legends already, so we might just be unable to handle the sheer epicness of the movie.
It might be good.

 

[Rich Jammer]

The most epic of ideas. I have absolutely no idea why people didn't come up with it sooner. Its story is the stuff of legends already, so we might just be unable to handle the sheer epicness of the movie.
It might be good.

Can't wait til the Tetris Movie.
This is actually real, they are gonna make a Tetris movie.

 

[Avering]

Can't wait til the Tetris Movie.
This is actually real, they are gonna make a Tetris movie.

Soviet propaganda, all of it!

 

[SubrosianDimitri]

Can't wait til the Tetris Movie.
This is actually real, they are gonna make a Tetris movie.

Funny thing is that there was a joke trailer in a Lord of the Rings flash parody from like 2004.

 

[Nadia]

The thing with Game Movies is that many people in Hollywood don't get games, and don't get what people like about them, because of that they add a lot unnecessary stuff to them to make them more mainstream, or change so many stuff that in the end, the only thing that is left from the game, is the name of the Movie.

 

[SubrosianDimitri]

The thing with Game Movies is that many people in Hollywood don't get games, and don't get what people like about them, because of that they add a lot unnecessary stuff to them to make them more mainstream, or change so many stuff that in the end, the only thing that is left from the game, is the name of the Movie.

Honestly, while it should cater most to the fans of the game, you need something to attract the average movie-goer, especially if the film has a large budget to recoup. And if that means making some changes, major or minor, so the Joe Schmoes in the audience can enjoy it, then so be it.

Examples of what I mean:
Tekken: Blood Vengeance - I don't mean to bash fans of the games, but the story of this series is completely ridiculous and doesn't lend itself to a movie that anyone but hardcore fans can even begin to enjoy. I only knew stuff going in because of Spoony's review and when I browsed the Tekken wiki for a few hours after watching said review. This movie doesn't explain anything, and leaves the average viewer or even a casual fan completely confused, especially if they're a friend/loved one who was dragged into it not having played whichever game this movie is a sequel to. This is an example of changing too little when the original plot doesn't lend itself to a feature-length movie.

Mortal Kombat - This movie is actually really damn good. The games didn't really have much in the ways of story when this film was released (at least, not to my knowledge), so having a simple, easy to understand story with lots of exciting fight scenes was a good move. The characters were all visually recognizable, and there were enough references to the games so the fans could enjoy it, while the plot and fights kept the non-fans engaged. This is how things should be changed in a video game movie, just enough so that both the fans and the non-fans can enjoy it. Hell, even Gene Siskel liked it.

 

[Avering]

Watched Warcraft. I did not expect it to be this epic.

 

[super hurricane]

Wasn't that supposed to come out June 10?

 

[OCisbestungulate]

Can't wait til the Tetris Movie.
This is actually real, they are gonna make a Tetris movie.

Soviet propaganda, all of it!

Yes, I know it's not quite the same, but this seemed kinda relevant:

 

[Rocketknightgeek]

Most game movies fall into the exact same trap or trying to somehow gain legitimacy by taking something inherently ridiculous and being very serious in the retelling of it. When even the people who originally made it recognized it as a cliche storm and mocked it's tropes accordingly throughout the game, it can't possibly be a good idea to try to treat it as sacrosanct when you're a movie and there's no mechanical excuses to hide behind. The fact that there was nothing even resembling joviality in the Warcraft trailer really should have been a tipoff that it would suck guys, don't act like it wasn't obvious.

Conversely, Mortal Kombat is a well loved adaption specifically because it took the iconography and the broad plot strokes of it's source material and then largely did its own thing with it's tongue firmly in its cheek. Blood would have been nice but hey, at least the Ninjas weren't desaturated by some focus testing idiot and were allowed to be bright primary colors.

Street Fighter is mainly beloved because Raul Julia didn't so much chew the scenery as pummel it into a fine paste. Everything is wrong as far as game accuracy goes and that made this one hated on release but time was oddly kind to it as it became clearer that it was it's own thing.

As far as Anime adaptions go, the most surprisingly solid standalone films are either Street Fighter 2: the animated movie which is somehow both incredibly awful for it's script and awesome for it's animation and fight scenes or the somehow near-perfect Pokemon 3: Spell of the unknown which is so far ahead of anything else in that series that it may very well sit up there with the first season intro song as it's own, independently enjoyable thing.

 

[Avering]

Wasn't that supposed to come out June 10?

May 26 here. USA gets it the 10th of June though. I recommend having some knowledge about the world, otherwise it just won't make any sense.

 

[Nadia]

Honestly, while it should cater most to the fans of the game, you need something to attract the average movie-goer, especially if the film has a large budget to recoup. And if that means making some changes, major or minor, so the Joe Schmoes in the audience can enjoy it, then so be it.

Don't get me wrong I understand that they have to make some changes, but if they change so much that you can't recognise anything from the Game anymore, then there is no reason to make a movie about a game in the first place.

But there are enough game franchises that will work fine with a original story, for example Tomb Raider.
The Movies just needed Female Hero going on a Adventure searching for some kind of artifact/treasure and fighting Bad guys, it's a classic Adventure story and they don't had to adapt any Adventures from the game for that, they just had to get the protagonist of the story in this case Lara Croft right, and put her into the story.