Movies adapted from video games -

***Nate*** · #31 02-16-2013, 04:57 PM

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What is the age rating for M movies? Logic would dictate that a mature movie is 17+. How did he even get in?

The ratings for films in Australia are:

G - everyone
PG - parental guidance is encouraged
M - recommended for 15 or older, but not actually enforced
MA15+ - must be 15 or older, or with a parent
R18+ - must be 18 or older

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@Nate - How weird. Seems your friend had some very odd expectations.

Well, he'd been very sheltered all his life. He didn't know any better.

Nepsotic · #32 02-16-2013, 05:09 PM

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The annoying thing for me is that there are plenty of games out there with a decent enough plot to base a movie directly on with a few abbreviations or minor changes, keeping the setting and characters, but no director seems to want to do that. Instead, they want writing freedom, and would rather have their own damned "alternate reality" storyline set in the same universes as the games with their own characters.

That's not the issue. The problem is that most directors basically try to recreate the game, and no director has yet realised that this is the completely wrong approach. What they should really be doing is making a movie so go alongside the games, a movie that actually works as a movie. Much in the same way that Resident Evil: Degeneration and Damnation did.

Sekto Springs · #33 02-16-2013, 10:47 PM

Most games are so much like films as it is, adapting them seems pointless. Bioshock, for example, was being opted for a movie adaptation at the height of it's popularity. Obviously it didn't pan out. I doubt film - a locked non-interactive medium - would be able to offer an experience greater than (or even equal to) the game, so an adaptation would not only be a moot endeavor, but actually a step down.

That's not to say I think games are better than movies, or vice versa, just that if you're going to adapt one medium to another, it should be an opportunity to expand and improve, not condense or detract. That's why older games are better candidates for adaptation, because they leave room for creative liberty and expansion. Of course, it's a two way street, as there's a strong possibility it will be adapted into something far shittier (see; Doom, anything by Uwe Boll).

MeechMunchie · #34 02-17-2013, 03:40 AM

Books of films are usually pretty terrible too.

AlexFili · #35 02-20-2013, 02:30 AM

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That's not the issue. The problem is that most directors basically try to recreate the game.

I would say that the reverse is true. Look at Doom, Street Fighter and Double Dragon. Are they anything like the games? No! The plot doesn't match, key scenes from the games are missing... I think they need to make them MORE like games. It happened to Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider films as well... they make their own 'version' of the game's story but end up pleasing no-one!

I think Milla Jovovich just had a bad run lately. She was good in Joan of Arc and she was great in Fifth Element in my opinion.

Phylum · #36 02-20-2013, 02:39 AM

The trouble with adapting a game to a movie is that often the characters, plot and setting aren't fit for anything outside of a game. This was the case of the movie adaptations of almost every example you mentioned.

Also, what key scenes were missing from Doom? By which I mean, what key scenes were there in the original game to omit?

Nepsotic · #37 02-20-2013, 08:47 AM

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I would say that the reverse is true. Look at Doom, Street Fighter and Double Dragon. Are they anything like the games? No! The plot doesn't match, key scenes from the games are missing... I think they need to make them MORE like games. It happened to Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider films as well... they make their own 'version' of the game's story but end up pleasing no-one!

But you can't make a game directly into a film because it would just be like watching someone play a game. The best videogame movie is Resident Evil: Degeneration because it slots nicely into the Resi' canon and you can tell it's part of that game series. It isn't boring and it isn't insanely different. It may not be an amazing movie in itself, but it's a prime example of a film based on a videogame.

Varrok · #38 02-20-2013, 09:48 AM

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But you can't make a game directly into a film because it would just be like watching someone play a game.

You say things like it and say that you're loving Silent Hill movie, make up your mind

Nepsotic · #39 02-20-2013, 09:56 AM

You're wrong. Silent Hill is not footage of someone playing a game. It is a film.

Manco · #40 02-20-2013, 09:58 AM

Yeah, a mediocre one that tosses out a lot of its source material's better qualities.

Varrok · #41 02-20-2013, 10:04 AM

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You're wrong. Silent Hill is not footage of someone playing a game. It is a film.

They couldn't make the beginning closer to the game. It's almost exactly the same (with a female protagonist)

Jbot123 · #42 02-20-2013, 01:02 PM

Apparently an Angry Birds movie is in the works. I imagine a movie with little to no plot and obnoxious voices for characters that are supposed to be mute. Angry Birds has had some good short films, though.

Sekto Springs · #43 02-20-2013, 05:00 PM

Is it in the works, or just being considered? Because pretty much every game that makes a buck is considered for adaptation, but nine out of ten times it doesn't pan out.

In fact, the more successful the franchise, the more doomed the adaptations. All those film politics mucking it up... rights are constantly being bought and sold, scripts are always under revision, etc. By the time they finally create a product worth shooting, it's no longer the flavor of the week and nobody cares. This is partly why the Halo movie didn't happen. Thankfully, a much better movie was born from it's ashes; District 9.

Steamer_KING · #44 02-20-2013, 05:31 PM

If they make an Angry Birds movie...I'm seriously lost in this world now. I need to find some guidance...

Jordan · #45 02-21-2013, 01:31 AM

If that angry birds movie ever comes to light i can see it making a shit tonne of money, regardless of how shit it'll be

Vyrien · #46 02-21-2013, 02:16 AM

I wouldn't even torrent that shit, let alone pay to see it.

Nepsotic · #47 02-21-2013, 06:52 AM

Who can blame them? They'd make a shit tonne of money. Who doesn't want to make a shit tonne of money, even if you do get your name on a terrible film?

Sekto Springs · #48 02-21-2013, 06:54 AM

I think an Angry Birds TV show performed with muppet-style puppets would make a lot more sense and be a lot more watchable than a CG movie.

Varrok · #49 02-21-2013, 06:56 AM

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Who can blame them? They'd make a shit tonne of money. Who doesn't want to make a shit tonne of money, even if you do get your name on a terrible film?

I don't. I blame them. Fuck them.

Sekto Springs · #50 02-21-2013, 06:59 AM

Making money off of something terrible and obnoxious isn't a good thing, Nep. However, since you're a fan of PewdiePie, you're obviously not aware of this.

Nepsotic · #51 02-21-2013, 07:18 AM

It's still money.

Varrok · #52 02-21-2013, 08:03 AM

There are things out there more important than dirty money

Sekto Springs · #53 02-21-2013, 09:34 AM

I think Nep is too young to understand the importance of integrity. Or maybe he's just a soulless little ball of greed.

AlexFili · #54 02-21-2013, 09:45 AM

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The trouble with adapting a game to a movie is that often the characters, plot and setting aren't fit for anything outside of a game.

Fair enough, but their replacements are complete garbage! Look at the Doom film, all they do is turn it into a generic space zombie thing. Admittedly the original story had elements of this but the main focus of the first few games were devils and hell, yet they instead focused more on Doom 3 and other sci-fi shooters at the time.

In the hands of a competent director, Max Payne and Resident Evil would make perfect films. Most of the characters are human, the plots are regarded as being interesting and compelling and each of the games ends with nice cliffhangers and has room for extra characters. But the directors decided to (for the most part) ignore the established canon and establish their own continuity, which clearly don't work as planned.

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Also, what key scenes were missing from Doom? By which I mean, what key scenes were there in the original game to omit?

Fair enough Doom didn't have much of a story, but it did have the invasion of Earth and it's own comic-book continuity. I dunno, it just feels like a "Generic Space Film". It didn't have 99% of the original monsters, no Cacodemons, Revenants, Barons of Hell, Mancubbus. In my opinion thats pure laziness. They had the most interesting monster designs of that era and what appears most... space zombies. It's like a terrible version of Dead Space.

Sekto Springs · #55 02-21-2013, 11:37 AM

And Dead Space is a terrible version of Alien.

You can't even compare the Doom movie to Doom 3 (beyond the designs). I regard it as one of the best first person shooters of the early aughts, especially in terms of design and atmosphere. It's one of those high-contrast genre hybrids that gelled so well; space marine with an arsenal of futuristic super weapons taking on primordial magic-wielding demons.

The movie was a sterile and irrelevant shot in the dark by Hollywood retards who thought removing the one element that made the games unique was a good idea.

A proper Doom adaptation would have been more like Event Horizon, but that may also be why they tried (and failed) to take the movie in a different direction.

dripik · #56 02-21-2013, 12:10 PM

Are we also discussing cartoon adaptations as well? Speaking of Dead Space, Downfall was pretty interesting in how it interpreted the outbreak of the Ishimura infestation. There was also Aftermath, an animated film that took switches between a 3D-esque style and a cartoon style (in order to designate flashbacks and such), but it wasn't as good as the other one, IMO. It's essentially a bridge between the first two games, you learn a bit more about Nolan Stross (Downfall also features him), and there's a reference to Isaac at the end. That's about it.

I don't usually go looking for movie adaptations of games. I think the only one I saw proper was Bloodrayne, but considering how I didn't play the game, I can't say much on how well it was adapted.

Nepsotic · #57 02-21-2013, 12:21 PM

Downfall was great and Aftermath was pretty good too.

AlexFili · #58 02-22-2013, 01:26 AM

I saw the Halo CGI 'film' a while back, I didn't enjoy it as much as The Animatrix. Is it really better to have 6 short stories instead of 1 long one? I can't really remember that working well in modern cinema, besides in Sin City.

Bullet Magnet · #59 02-22-2013, 08:07 AM

I didn't think they ever tried to bring it out in the cinema. Well, maybe in Japan, but I wouldn't know about that.

AlexFili · #60 02-23-2013, 08:37 AM

By "modern cinema" I was referring to the medium of films in general, not in the "cinema" itself. Like say you wanted to watch the Halo or Animatrix on DVD. You stick it in, click play and it would play from the first section to the final section, unless you specifically chose to start it somewhere else. So they're giving you the expectation of a full length movie, but splitting it up into different 'sections' or 'chunks'.