Video Game Movies

[KYOOBIKLEEZ]

With movies based on games such as Prince o' Persia and Shadow of the Colossus on the way, it got me to thinkin'... what games would make great movies? Here's my top 5 picks:

1. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

It has the best story I've seen in a video game, badass characters, and cool vampires (not that wussy emo shit you get these days). However, there's three games in the series, and they're fairly long, so this'd have to be a trilogy or something.

2. Chrono Trigger

Best RPG ever. Cool time-traveling story, likeable characters (a first for Squeenix!), and Dalton are just some of the many selling points here.

3. Metal Gear Solid

Supposedly, this was already going to be done, but I haven't seen anything yet. Hurry up already, Sony & friends.

4. Armored Core

'Cuz giant mechs blowing stuff up is just too awesome to NOT make a movie out of. Normally I don't like anime, but for some reason this franchise seems like it would fit well into anime.

5. Metroid

You can't go wrong with a hot chick shooting aliens.

So, what game-based movies would you like to see made?

[Kidd Cabbage]

Super Mario Brothers

[LuketheXjesse]

Y'know I always kinda liked the SMB movie...

EDIT: Post # 2500!

[Arcana]

Street Fighter.

Wait, maybe Doom?

.... Resident Evil?

[Sir_Snooze]

Legend of Zelda could do it. Especially Ocarina of Time. How about a Mega Man movie? Good ol' random shooting.

[Theophany]

The best video game movie would be Streets of Rage. Just think of it: no plot, no character development, just cops beating the shit out of gangs members with violence escalating to the point where it's so unrealistic and ridiculous that it's like one of those terrible grindhouse movies that are so terrible and funny that they just become awesome. Robert Rodriguez to direct it. Maybe Tarantino if he can wrap his head around a movie that has basically no dialogue, unless it's funny. Stunts get more and more insane, from dirty bare fisted fighting to guns to brass knuckles and bottles to machine guns to shooting rocket launchers. People being thrown into barrels that explode for no reason. The movie should also reflect the physics engine of the game, so that if someone runs at you and does a flying kick you can simply "punch" them out of the air, because, for some reason, a simple punch has higher priority that a running jump kick. Runtime 80 minutes. Rated R.

STREETS OF RAGE 1: THE STREETS OF RAGE.

It's either that or Contra. Contra could work better.

[Deep Thought]

Personally, I can't wait for Pong: the Movie

[linkspast]

And just for the record, if the upcoming Spryo movie gets a game based off of the movie, I'm going to laugh my ass off. Why? The movie is based off of the reboot trilogy (Legend of Spyro). If they make a game of the movie, they'll have a game based off of the games.

That be like the pokemon trading card video game .

Minesweeper.

[The Coop]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night- I think this could work as a 90-plus minute movie. It has the character count, the different atmospheres of various parts of the castle, the whole "upside down" thing, and even a little love story. Plus, the characters themselves are reasonably defined.

And just for the record, if the upcoming Spryo movie gets a game based off of the movie, I'm going to laugh my ass off. Why? The movie is based off of the reboot trilogy (Legend of Spyro). If they make a game of the movie, they'll have a game based off of the games.

[ShinnyMetal]

I honestly can't wait until the finally decided to do/finish a metal gear solid movie. The biggest selling point of the games was, of coruse, it's plot really. I t was fun to play but the story was damned good. and LoK: Soul Reaver would also be the shit man.

[lazygecko]

[atmuh]

dance dance revolution

[Cecilff2]

The best video game movie would be Streets of Rage. Just think of it: no plot, no character development, just cops beating the shit out of gangs members with violence escalating to the point where it's so unrealistic and ridiculous that it's like one of those terrible grindhouse movies that are so terrible and funny that they just become awesome. Robert Rodriguez to direct it. Maybe Tarantino if he can wrap his head around a movie that has basically no dialogue, unless it's funny. Stunts get more and more insane, from dirty bare fisted fighting to guns to brass knuckles and bottles to machine guns to shooting rocket launchers. People being thrown into barrels that explode for no reason. The movie should also reflect the physics engine of the game, so that if someone runs at you and does a flying kick you can simply "punch" them out of the air, because, for some reason, a simple punch has higher priority that a running jump kick. Runtime 80 minutes. Rated R.

STREETS OF RAGE 1: THE STREETS OF RAGE.

It's either that or Contra. Contra could work better.

2 solid hours of "BARE KNUCKLE! BARE KNUCKLE! BARE KNUCKLE! BARE KNUCKLE!"

I'm down with it.

[Deep Thought]

2 solid hours of "BARE KNUCKLE! BARE KNUCKLE! BARE KNUCKLE! BARE KNUCKLE!"

Looks like you have an oscar winner right there.

[Theophany]

An oscar made of unobtainium.

[JCvgluvr]

5. Metroid. You can't go wrong with a hot chick shooting aliens.

I never like it when people suggest this. Samus is all alone most of the time. I don't think a movie could properly capture the Metroid spirit without heavy modifications.

I would suggest a Left 4 Dead movie, myself. Featuring Louis, Zoe, Bill and Francis, of course.

[Sindra]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night- I think this could work as a 90-plus minute movie. It has the character count, the different atmospheres of various parts of the castle, the whole "upside down" thing, and even a little love story. Plus, the characters themselves are reasonably defined.

I think I love you, Coop. Come, let us frolic.

In all honesty, a Castlevania movie *could* be done well, but it would take a director and screenwriter who is both a fan of the games AND creative with a script in order to give the appropriate amount of fanservice, while also adhering to classic monster-movie and action movie sub-tropes.

(obviously I want post-MK Paul S. Anderson to stay the HELL away. Thank god he's no longer associated)

[Sinewav]

I never like it when people suggest this. Samus is all alone most of the time. I don't think a movie could properly capture the Metroid spirit without heavy modifications.

I would suggest a Left 4 Dead movie, myself. Featuring Louis, Zoe, Bill and Francis, of course.

I think a Metroid movie could work, but you'd have to go in an extreme, experimental, artsy-fartsy direction with it... and in the end, it probably wouldn't have the mass appeal to do all that well, and no one would fund it.

I've toyed around with the idea of a action/revenge twist on Mega Man. Mega Man makes a Kill Bill-style list of the 9 robot masters (and at the bottom in all caps it says "KILL WILY") and starts hunting them down one by one.

[Crulex]

In all honesty, a Castlevania movie *could* be done well, but it would take a director and screenwriter who is both a fan of the games AND creative with a script in order to give the appropriate amount of fanservice, while also adhering to classic monster-movie and action movie sub-tropes.

(obviously I want post-MK Paul S. Anderson to stay the HELL away. Thank god he's no longer associated)

I think it takes a fan and creative script writers to make ANY game movie, seeing as how most of them done by people who aren't fans suck.

I'd like to see Mega Man X or Zero done with a Movie. Anyone remember that anime thing that came with the remake of MMX? If they did something like that, it might work. In all seriousness, almost anything could work if you know what you are doing.

[The Coop]

I think it takes a fan and creative script writers to make ANY game movie, seeing as how most of them done by people who aren't fans suck.

It doesn't take a fan to potentially make a good game movie. It takes people who are willing to look into the history of the franchise, see the stories and characters, and be willing to use all of the mythos that franchise has to offer in building the script. From there, it takes people who are actually good at their craft... be it acting, directing, cinematography, whatever. And then of course, you need people who are good at special effects, set design and so forth.

The problem with game movies, is that most of the time there are several of those things missing. They might find decent actors, or get some nice shots, but the majority of what gets laid to film feels like everyone was slacking off... they it was just being done for a paycheck (i.e. anything by/for Uwe Boll).

There's nothing that says a fan will be good at writing, acting, directing, or any other aspect of making a film. Being a fan doesn't make that person skilled. You just need people who really care about their craft enough to be good at it, regardless of what the source of their movie is.

[Theophany]

I think it takes a fan and creative script writers to make ANY game movie, seeing as how most of them done by people who aren't fans suck.

Most of the fan movies I've seen suck worse. Hero of Time, there was also that mega man thing awhile back that was pure awful. Part of me hopes that one day there will be a video game movie that doesn't suck, and is actually a really solid, entertaining movie. I know most people hate this idea, but I'd have to say if there was ever a game I wouldn't mind being made into a movie (or my idea of what the movie would be), it's Metroid. There's a lot that appeals to me in that series, and the idea of solitude, exploration of an alien world, and a single hot woman with eons-advanced weaponry versus an entire world of hostile aliens is something I find really awesome.

The only sticking points for me is the events surrounding that part of the story, and the whole idea of having to deal with Samus as a human character with a backstory that I'm not really interested in. I like the idea of an artsy-action thriller. I think that's the only way I'd be interested in it. Not artsy-fartsy, though, that would really kill it for me

[Deep Thought]

I'd like to see Mega Man X or Zero done with a Movie. Anyone remember that anime thing that came with the remake of MMX? If they did something like that, it might work. In all seriousness, almost anything could work if you know what you are doing.

IMO there'd be very little room to work with without filling in plot holes. And it seems that capcom would refuse to do so in order to capitalize on the resurgent Mega Man series. If they actually went with the whole "cataclysm" plotline it could concieveably be worth the money.

[The Author]

I think a Metroid movie could work, but you'd have to go in an extreme, experimental, artsy-fartsy direction with it... and in the end, it probably wouldn't have the mass appeal to do all that well, and no one would fund it.

I used to have a preliminary treatment of a Metroid movie, based on the first Metroid.

It kinda went like this:

Samus arrives on Zebes and starts fighting her way to the old Chozo armory where the missile hupgrade for her suit is, it's an all out action scene. Until she fights a space pirate, where we get a flashback to her home planet being wrecked by the pirates. Flashing between the emotional tragedy and the cold calculated battle between her an the pirate until Samus wins. More exploration. Once she reaches the Chozo statue holding the missile upgrade, she touches the statue and flashes back to her childhood on the Zebes with the Chozo, how they healed her and educated her. We get a first glimpse of Mother Brain.

With the missiles, she goes to find Kraid, who holds the upgraded suit, and part of the key to Tourian. She fights towards Kraid showing how she got the suit, and her training as a "Chozo warrior." When she is almost up to Kraid's lair she finds a federation scout corpse, who happens to be a member of her former squad. She then flashes back to her training with the federation, and we get a first glimpse of Adam as her CO. She then battles Kraid, and after a tough battle, she gets the Varia suit and the first half of the key. All she needs now is to defeat Ridley.

She makes her way towards Norfair, and we are treated to the relationship between Samus and Adam along the way, there are hints of a budding romance, but at the same time, we see Samus gets dissatisfied with the Federation and their methods. Having reached Lower Norfair, Samus walks into a large cavern, where Ridley is waiting. Ridley taunts her, tells her that he knows they've met before. Flashback to Samus' parents death at the hands of Ridley. They battle. Samus is getting her ass handed to her, however she recognizes a Chozo rune on the wall, blasts it open and grabs the ice beam. She then freezes Ridley mid flight, sending him plummeting in a deep chasm, followed by a nasty crashing sound. Samus finds the second half of the key and makes her way to Tourian.

This time, her mind is on Mother Brain's betrayal of the Chozo and the destruction of Zebes. She was away with the Federation, and they refused to help her planet, stating it would be too expensive and not part of their duty. A bitter Samus walks into Tourian, and she faces metroids. The battle is hard, but she survives thanks to the ice beam, she slowly crosses the tunnel to Mother Brain, battered and bruised as she is, she manages to defeat the defense systems, and as mother brain begs for her life, she takes the killing shot. But Tourian is about to self destruct, so she rushes to the surface, makes it into her ship that was at a safe distance to see the explosion. Samus removes the power suit, and see a picture of Adam she has in her ship. She sees the day she left the Federation. Adam had just died, and no one cared beyond calling him a hero. She says that she will not stay behind as there are enemies to fight out there. In the past, Samus leaves aboard her ship, back to Zebes, Samus sheds a tear or two, gets in the pilot seats and leaves Zebes.

Roll Credit.

Bonus Scene, the gunship is shot down.

[Ferret]

I don't think I've ever said this before, but I'm beginning to think that part of the problem with video game movies isn't in getting the licensing or writing a script (both of which are hard enough--you basically have to drop wads of cash on the game company to borrow the title and then condense a 50-hour game into less than three if you aren't making up your own story instead), but the fans.

Yes, the fans are part of why game movies suck. Because they go into the theater expecting the film studio and the script writers and the set designers and the actors to get every detail exactly freaking right and when they see something that is entirely contrary to what they were expecting they go ballistic and start slinging mud at the film.

If taken as separate from the series that they are based on video game movies can be good, even enjoyable. What makes them fail is, like every other movie, the people that go see it. The people that hate this element or that and based on their own preferences tell their friends and family members and coworkers not to see this movie.

And then the movie bombs and these "fans" get up on their high horse and say "see, I told you so!"

Idiots.

[Arcana]

I think a big difficulty is that the pacing in a game tends to be not parallel to a movie's pacing. In many games, you spend most of the time shooting stuff or killing stuff, and not actually watching the characters do stuff. They're rarely interacting with other people, and many times their backstories are nothing more than "something's bad happening! Do something!"

And then so the script writers have to adapt the screenplay. So they do things like insert plot, dramatic backstories, and motivations for the characters to actually be in the situation they put themselves in. They add sidekicks and so forth.

The other thing is that a lot of people think that pure action movies are super easy to do or are interesting... many times they aren't and it's easy to mess an action movie up and make it entirely forgettable.