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Video games.  Movies.  To many, this combination spells cheesey special effects and a crappy arse story, myself included.  It all started with Super Mario Brothers, as far as I know.  The movie, I thought, was fairly good.  In comparison to the game, however, it was kinda crap.  Then came Mortal Combat.  Same situation: fairly good movies that pale in comparison to the games.  Next came Tomb Raider.  I have been told that it was a pretty good movie, but, once again it was not as good as the game.  Resident Evil: fair movie, awesome game.  These are just my opinions, so individual views may vary (i.e. DON'T YELL AT ME!)

What I want here are ideas for a game that would straight-up make a good movie, with little variation from the game itself.  I have one in particular---Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.  An incredible story-driven game with action and horror, along with intriguing, involved characters.  Creating a movie almost directly from the game's script would, as I see it, be an instant hit.  If you have an idea, post it here.  I want to know some good game-to-movie thoughts.  Have fun with it!

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Charlie:Let's go to my house,sew a bunch of blankets together and make a circus tent!
Gregg:That would probably make you mom snap...
Me:Then we can collect all the Welcome Mats in uptown Butte,lump them together like an elephant,and charge people five bucks a ride!
::laughter::
-Art Club results

Might have been thought or mentioned before, but i think that if FF7 were to be a movie, it'd be awesome. Also Metal Gear solid, the game was practically a movie, if you could see it in a giant screen it'd be really good.


Silent Hill wouldn't be bad either, athough the storyline was  bit predictable IHMO.

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BAWK

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Super Mario Brothers, as far as I know.  The movie, I thought, was fairly good.  In comparison to the game, however, it was kinda crap.  Then came Mortal Combat.  Same situation: fairly good movies that pale in comparison to the games.  Next came Tomb Raider.  I have been told that it was a pretty good movie, but, once again it was not as good as the game.  Resident Evil: fair movie, awesome game.

I get your point and I positively HATED the FF movie (No Airships, Moogles, Chocobos, Hiryuus and such) and trying to make the words "Final Fantasy" get a deeper meaning was stupid.
I would still like to see the game "Ganja Farmer" get made into a movie.  Not gonna happen though...The game is hardcore anti-government aligned.    Would make a great movie though.

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN

Contra would be a good action movie.
Silent Hill would be a good horror movie.

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Why do kamakazi pilots wear helmets?

Yeah, in my opinion, the Silent Hill franchise has the best opportunity for quality game to movie transfer.  It has the best story and it's such an open ended situation (plotwise, there are almost no connections between the first and the second, so the movie doesn't have to be tied down to anything).  I can't imagine what was predictable about it though.

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Arts

Farts

Twarts

I thought they were making a Silent Hill movie.  Or is that just something that got churned through the Rumor Mill?  

Actually, I agree that FF7 would make a decent movie, if you cut out all the side-quests and non-essential bits.  I also agree that the actual Final Fantasy movie was a disappointment in every way.

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"Turd-cookies!...they're hot and soft, though..."

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, Are heaped for the beloved's bed; And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, Love itself shall slumber on.  - Percy Bysshe Shelley

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if FF7 were to be a movie, it'd be awesome

I think ANY part of FF is good material, but for an anime series. (Me and my older bro' call FF's "our favourite anime series")

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN

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I think ANY part of FF is good material, but for an anime series. (Me and my older bro' call FF's "our favourite anime series")

Would that be the Final Fantasy Unlimited, or the Final Fantasy: Legend of the Wind Crystal (or what ever it was called)

Final Fantasy Unlimited was a cool anime series.

As for what would make a cool movie, I'd have to agree with MGS.  Very sweet game, and is almost a movie itself.



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"And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped” -Sir Bedevere the Wise

If it was given a decent budget and a good director, the Game serise Mechwarrior would make a good live action flick. Who woun't want to see two Mechs beating the bolts outta one another?

FF movies eh. I never saw spirits within.

But FF6 would be good but it has to be split in two parts
WoB and WoR, the game is so long that two movies will have to be made.

Also I'd like to see the Entire Baldur's Gate Saga be made into a series of movies. Problem would be who is the protagonist.

In my opinion, one game that could make a very good movie (and that are already working on) is Deus Ex.  It practically stands on its own as film material, but I fear that the movie makers will butcher the franchise by trying to stuff ten hours of material into an anemic 90-minute package.  If I were to make this movie adaptation, it would have to be a three hour rollercoaster of action and espionage, with few breaks, since that's what would be required to make it anything close to the original.

I fear that the studio bigwigs will fumble the ball yet again on this one, though.



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~Status Report~

* Completed... Dragon's Head
* Completed... Soldiers of the Empire: Disciples (release pending)
* In Progress/Undecided... Of Love and Betrayal
* Planning/Assembly... Where it all Began

My friend and I were discussing an FF movie... the only problem is I dont see how they could make one that was less than like 20 hours, which would defeat the purpose (although I would still watch it)

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Old enough to know better
Not old enough to care

Chrono Trigger would be a pretty cool movie to see. Time traveling, midevil times, dinosaurs, the works.

I think Suikoden III would have made a good movie. They just would have to cut it differently. Also, leave out a lot of Thomas's quest. His quest was just tad on the boring side. I don't agree that it would make a great live-action movie. In fact, I don't really think any games make good live-action movies. I'm not comfortable seeing someone like Link say played by an actual human being. Sure, in Soul Calibur II they get him looking pretty darn homo sapien but an actual human would just seem wrong. I don't know. I just don't like the games to live-actions movies idea. It just doesn't sit well with me. Games to anime, though, I see no problem with. Games to CG animated or whatever the hell that stuff is called is fine. At some point, I will ponder psychologically why I have such an adverse opinion of games being made to movies in live-action but not at this time.

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Elena Indurain

Currently Playing: Suikoden II

They should make Lost Vikings into a movie. it would be so funny!

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Why do kamakazi pilots wear helmets?

anyone here every play clock tower? it was a tough game to get into, but that would make an AWESOME movie.

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You watch the world exploding every single night
Dancing in the sun, a newborn in the light
Say goodbye to gravity and say goodbye to death
Hello to eternity and live for every breath

Your time will come...

Quote (monkey-wrench @ 14th February 2003 20:48)

Contra would be a good action movie.
Silent Hill would be a good horror movie.

Well look at you there, sir! As predicted, there was a Silent Hill movie, and it was indeed freaking awesome. I think they did an honestly good job with making it. Haven't seen the sequel though.

After this forum thread came and went, movies based on or around certain video games have become much more common. The Resident Evil series was at least financially successful, and movies like Hitman and the more recent Assassin's Creed have tried to tap in to the latest trends. Both weren't reviewed very well, though.

I really enjoyed the Warcraft movie. I've been a Warcraft nut ever since the original games, and this was a real treat to watch Blizzard attempt to unify their story into one cohesive narrative, a difficult task after the various retcons and re-imagining of the origin story of the Orcs. I really hope they make more movies, as there are some absolutely incredibly stories that would translate well on screen if done right. Arthas, anyone?

If they ever make it, The Last of Us could be a pretty good movie! But last I heard, it is stalling in the development process.

And if I were to dream of movies I personally would love to see....well, the Baldur's Gate games are still among my favorite stories ever, maybe hard to move to the screen but if there's enough humor (Minsc!) it could be done. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was a reasonably memorable plot for a Star Wars game. To The Moon would be quite the heartwrenching experience.

I'd have to say that my guilty pleasure is watching the original Street Fighter movie, in all of its terrible glory. Jean Claude VanDamme playing the American Guile? The completely messy plot from beginning to end? It is singlehandedly saved for me by the performance of Raul Julia as M. Bison, and his story behind the scenes is equally interesting. And then there's also this gem, my favorite of the movie.

I'd love to see someone attempt Xcom. Or even better a television series for Xcom as squeezing all that into 2 hours might be too much. Then they maximise the shock of soldier permanent deaths. Killing off characters is so popular since Game of Thrones, any chance to jump on that ban wagon.

Street Fighter 2 is a fun film, especially that fight scene at the end. Wreck it Ralph is my favourite video game film. And Advent Children is good fun.
Are there any other video game films worth watching? I don't think there are. I hear the latest, Assassin's Creed is awful. Doom I really wanted to like but, it's not good. Mind you, have to give them points for the first person sequence.

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'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.'

Before a game can make a good movie, someone must make a game where they spend some time making a good story.

I agree that games' stories have come a long way since "This yellow ball guy is trapped in a maze with ghosts, eat all the things until you run out of money," but they still are not on the level of something like, say, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, even.

It isn't hard to write a fantasy novel that even a child can understand. Look at The Hobbit, or The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. Simple stories without a lot of big and/or archaic language, but not irrelevant, and not devoid of drama or thought.

Final Fantasy VII (my personal favorite video game story) is still far far too emotionally sterile to make a good book, I think. It's greatest moments come when the plot is moved forward at the same time as the drama level rises right to 100%. I won't go into detail because it's spoiler-y, but at those moments, the game is doing it's level best to tell a story.

What is wrong with that? Well, it's missing one key element; theme. There are themes in FF7, but they are kind of haphazard in their prioritization. Which theme is the central theme? Loss, right? Is it properly delineated by the story? What did Cloud lose in this story? How did he deal with that loss? How did dealing with that loss affect his actions? How did those actions move the plot forward?

As near as I can tell, he dealt with the loss by simply moving forward, discovering he is being manipulated by Sephiroth, having a Mako-induced identity crisis, recovering with Tifa's help, then forgetting all about his feelings of loss except as lip service to motivate the party to win. Advent Children is no help either...you're telling me that a loss like that makes you simply depressed and blunt with people? I know better. Where's the emotional depth and dimension associated with loss? Too heavy for their target audience, I'll wager.

Why can't video game stories be like Tolkein and Lewis and others of that era, when fantasy novels began to really get interesting? Those characters had to deal with adversity and loss and change and stuff, and they seem more real to me than Cloud ever did. Cloud almost comes off as a personified sword by comparison.

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X is blue.

This may be a bit controversial, but I think that movies should be more like videogames. Let me explain.

My experience with movies is that they seem really compressed. Like, they try to introduce the setting then produce a coherent plot, all within the span of two hours and change. Compare, say, a TV show, which even if it's just a 12 half-hour episodes gives you about six hours of screentime (four if you're going by 20-minute episodes). Plus a lot more pacing options to establish the setting and tell a story.

So as a result my experience with movies has been that they seem to be a lot of sound and fury and drama that suddenly happens and then I kinda forget what happened. Unlike how I can easily remember important (and some unimportant) events in many of the TV series I've watched.

Videogames tend to have this slower pacing as well. A well-designed gameplay experience gives people some time to learn the gameplay system first and get used to it, and then start giving the player more complex things to do with the gameplay. This is true for puzzle games, for hardcore platformers, even for JRPGs where later-game bosses have more interesting attack patterns (hopefully at least).

I think that movies would do well to spend more time establishing the setting and its "rules". Rather than just plunging the audience into the story -- well, there are situations that call for doing that, but honestly I can't appreciate the drama when I haven't even learned the characters' names! But so, what I mean is, introduce me to the setting, the characters, the way things work. And instead of focusing on "cinematics" like "what's the most exciting angle from which to shoot this particular scene?", focus on things like "what's the best way to depict how this scene happens with reference to the rules of the setting?"

See, old games often seem very abstracted, but they could present drama just as well. Why? Because the player learned the rules of the setting, learned what they meant, and then drama was presented through use of those rules. By "rules" I mean things like the interface style, the way things are described in words and/or depicted in animations, stuff like that. So instead of "flashy scene! protagonist does things and antagonist dies! for some reason", I actually want to understand how the protagonist did things.

I've actually been kinda annoyed at how videogames seem to be aping movies, rather than the other way around, about this. Like, for some reason some people think the way to create drama is to make things look more like big dramatic slow-mo spinning camerawork scenes from movies...except that just serves to smack immersion in the face. I don't want flashiness; I want immersion.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 18th January 2017 19:56

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins