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Why do Video Game-to-Movie Adaptions Suck?

Forum Index > General Forum
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r0kamo
Profile Joined August 2008
Canada34 Posts
February 10 2009 22:14 GMT
#1
Hi TL.net, how's it going?

How many of you folks have watched a movie based off a video game and thought that it was totally awesome?

(Insert tumbleweeds here)

Yeah, I figured as much. I don't know why, but I have the urge to go through and watch them all. Yes that's right, go through and watch as many video game-to-movie adaptations as I can humanly handle. Assuming my eyes do not rot or go blind from over-exposure to too much Suck, I intend to review them as well. Maybe I'll come across a satisfactory answer to the question outlined in the title of this thread?

Does anyone have any particular suggestions as to which movie adaptations are best - which is of course to say, worst?

I myself have not actually seen very many. Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill, the first Resident Evil... needless to say, I'm not impressed. Whatever impressions I have of the movies you guys suggest, I intend on publishing reviews on my blog Foul Conversions: Video Game Cinema.

So, whether live action films, animated films, CG films, or whatever. As long as it is a video game adaptation. Doesn't matter how terrible! So lay 'em on me, TL! Bring it on!
eSports Fighting!
keit
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
1584 Posts
February 10 2009 22:18 GMT
#2
Street Fighter is horrible.

[image loading]
Graphics
Meta
Profile Blog Joined June 2003
United States6225 Posts
February 10 2009 22:19 GMT
#3
I don't care what anybody says, the super mario bros movie was awesome.
good vibes only
littlechava
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States7221 Posts
February 10 2009 22:23 GMT
#4
Mortal Kombat is amazing, what are you talking about?
Entusman #12
Falcynn
Profile Blog Joined June 2005
United States3597 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-10 22:32:26
February 10 2009 22:25 GMT
#5
By no means am I an expert, but my opinion of why video game movies tend to suck has to do with the fact that video games are still in a stage where they're considered immature, and most decent/serious screenwriters would pass on the opportunity to adapt a video game into a screenplay. So the writing usually gets done by sub-par writers, and studios pick them up primarily to cash in on the name recognition.

There are other reasons, like the fact that some games are 10-20+ hours long and it's just hard to cram that experience into a 2 hour movie...although again, it can probably be done by a decent writer.

Edit: oh and yeah, the first Mortal Kombat movie was probably the best videogame movie ever.
Tadzio
Profile Blog Joined October 2006
3340 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-10 22:29:40
February 10 2009 22:26 GMT
#6
I dunno if you'll figure out why they suck just by watching them. Blame the businessmen optioning the popular video games which don't necessarily have compelling stories.

Anyways, there's the Final Fantasy CG films Advent Children and the Spirits Within. Be sure to watch them. I'm sure you know about the Resident Evil trilogy. I dunno if "the Wizard" (fred savage) meets your definition of a video game movie, but go with it. One of my favorite video game movies, TRON, has gotta be on the list. Good luck.

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_video_games

wikipedia has a list of them, yay. don't gotta rely on us.
ZoW
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States3983 Posts
February 10 2009 22:32 GMT
#7
I like the original street fighter move. No lie, every time I watch it it makes me crack up. It's one of those "Its so bad that its good" movies.
the courage to be a lazy bum
NatsuTerran
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States364 Posts
February 10 2009 22:32 GMT
#8
Despite what the Nostalgia Critic thinks, I found Mortal Kombat 1 and The Wizard to be good and decent movies respectively.
Last Romantic
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
United States20661 Posts
February 10 2009 22:34 GMT
#9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uwe_boll
ㅋㄲㅈㅁ
Cpt Obvious
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Germany3073 Posts
February 10 2009 22:34 GMT
#10
Two words: Wing Commander. Worst fucking movie ever.

Also: Tomb Raider, Battletoads (it's real, I just found it on imdb, figured I'd look if it existed, and well, appears there is nothing Hollywood can't ruin)
Nobody ever reads signatures of people like me, do they?
pheer
Profile Blog Joined July 2004
5398 Posts
February 10 2009 22:35 GMT
#11
Game storylines are interesting because you, the player, are a part of them. I'm sure if you removed the part where you actually play the game and treat the game story as a movie itself, it would be much more boring. This is probably what happens.

But this doesn't offer any excuse for Doom. That movie sucked so bad I couldn't watch more than 10 minutes.
Moderator
jellyfish
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States149 Posts
February 10 2009 22:36 GMT
#12
On February 11 2009 07:25 Falcynn wrote:
By no means am I an expert, but my opinion of why video game movies tend to suck has to do with the fact that video games are still in a stage where they're considered immature, and most decent/serious screenwriters would pass on the opportunity to adapt a video game into a screenplay. So the writing usually gets done by sub-par writers, and studios pick them up primarily to cash in on the name recognition.

There are other reasons, like the fact that some games are 10-20+ hours long and it's just hard to cram that experience into a 2 hour movie...although again, it can probably be done by a decent writer.

Edit: oh and yeah, the first Mortal Kombat movie was probably the best videogame movie ever.


Related to this point, I think, is that there is no real incentive for studios to make a good video game movie. The fans of the game itself will probably go watch the movie as long as it is halfway decent (read: no extraordinary effort required).
Fishball
Profile Joined December 2005
Canada4788 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-10 22:41:59
February 10 2009 22:37 GMT
#13
On February 11 2009 07:34 Last Romantic wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uwe_boll


Boll also made a bid to direct the upcoming World of Warcraft movie, but was turned away by the owners of the Warcraft franchise, Blizzard.

Good God...
I'm actually looking forward to WoW's Movie.
Thankfully he didn't get it.

-----

When rumors surfaced that Boll had expressed interest in a Metal Gear Solid movie, and claimed to have been given a script to read, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima responded in his audioblog HIDECHAN, "Absolutely not! I don't know why Uwe Boll is even talking about this kind of thing. We've never talked to him. It's impossible that we'd ever do a movie with him." Boll later stated that he only thought he was doing the film because he was tricked by two con-artists who claimed to work for Konami.

Bahaha, being a huge Metal Gear fan myself, oh my...
靈魂交響曲
boesthius
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States11637 Posts
February 10 2009 22:38 GMT
#14
--- Nuked ---
Xeofreestyler
Profile Blog Joined June 2005
Belgium6775 Posts
February 10 2009 22:40 GMT
#15
Man I remember the time when I was so young that I actually really liked the street fighter and mortal kombat movies
Graphics
r0kamo
Profile Joined August 2008
Canada34 Posts
February 10 2009 22:42 GMT
#16
Tadzio: The Wikipedia list is quite useful, thank you!

However, I was hoping to hear what were some of the most popular amongst my fellow Starcraft fans. A careful balance of general concencus and local availability may determine my first attempt at a review. ^^
eSports Fighting!
r0kamo
Profile Joined August 2008
Canada34 Posts
February 10 2009 22:49 GMT
#17
@pheer: I both agree and disagree with you here. I agree that what you described is one of the better approaches to video game story development; I disagree in the sense that I am the opposite to you in how I prefer to experience my games. As much as I enjoy the gameplay, I also enjoy experiencing its story and plot for its characters. I don't really care to be the characters myself. I just enjoy seeing the events of a game through their eyes/shoes. I don't really get the "I'm the one who's part of the story" angle. I always feel more distant in those sort of games...

...accept Half-Life <3
eSports Fighting!
Sadist
Profile Blog Joined October 2002
United States7327 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-02-10 22:55:58
February 10 2009 22:55 GMT
#18
the first MK movie is bearable I actually enjoyed it a lot when I was a kid and was a huge MK freak. The problem is they are almost always SUPER corny. Video games are corny because thats ok and its what we expect + they arent real people playing the parts. Imagine in say house of the dead how gay it would be if real people pretended to be the people running from the zombies (hello movie).

The Super Mario movie is the biggest piece of shit ever wtf. IMO the Tomb Raider movies are watchable at least....

Metal Gear Solid might be a cool movie to make.

and oh god at doom.....wtf.

double dragon is just beyond bleh too. Alyssa Milano is pretty hot in it though. So it saves it a bit.
How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal and you have to be willing to work for it. Jim Valvano
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17922 Posts
February 10 2009 22:59 GMT
#19
Honestly the first MK Movie was the only game-to-film movie that was actually good IMO.
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
Meta
Profile Blog Joined June 2003
United States6225 Posts
February 10 2009 23:02 GMT
#20
On February 11 2009 07:26 Tadzio wrote:
I dunno if you'll figure out why they suck just by watching them. Blame the businessmen optioning the popular video games which don't necessarily have compelling stories.

Anyways, there's the Final Fantasy CG films Advent Children and the Spirits Within. Be sure to watch them. I'm sure you know about the Resident Evil trilogy. I dunno if "the Wizard" (fred savage) meets your definition of a video game movie, but go with it. One of my favorite video game movies, TRON, has gotta be on the list. Good luck.

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_video_games

wikipedia has a list of them, yay. don't gotta rely on us.


Oh wow, a Bioshock movie. That actually has a lot of potential to be good, playing the game is very movie-esque as it is and the whole setting and storyline is just great. I would definitely get the guy who did 'Brazil' to do that movie.

But upon further inspection, they're getting the guy who did 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'The Ring'.

Hopefully he does a good job copying the under-water distopia that the game portrayed flawlessly.
good vibes only
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