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[NandoGip]

This year alone we've had a handful of movies that were either adaptations of popular video games or side stories and they all were critically panned. We all know historically game movies have been terrible.

Whether it's an acclaimed director with a decent budget or Uwe Boll, it seems like the second a script get's approved, it's already doomed.

Now, for my arm chair directors and writers, why do you think video game movies have always sucked and what can a studio do to actually release a good one?

Bonus question: Have there been any VG movies that you liked or thought was objectively good?

 

[To Far Away Times]

This might stretch the definition of video game movie, but "King of Kong" was pretty good.

 

[Reset]

Mortal Kombat.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Mortal Kombat was the shit

 

[daviyoung]

This might stretch the definition of video game movie, but "King of Kong" was pretty good.

that doesn't stretch it so much as completely rewrite it

 

[Walter White Walker]

Wreck-It Ralph was good.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Mortal Kombat.

It's a great adaptation of the games, but the games are terrible schlock, and, as such, so is the film.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

The idea of the game is just a starting point for the writers.

Also, I'm sure focus testing with teenagers is a nightmare.

 

[Grym]

I liked Wreck It Ralph and anticipate the sequel

 

[Azoor]

90% of them choose games with either little to no storyline like Super Mario, or games with rather shitty storylines like Tomb Raider or Resident Evil.

 

[wamberz1]

They shouldn't TBH. It's like, to me theirs nothing a movie can do to enhance the experience of a game that already exists. Why not just play the game?

And wreck-it ralph is great but C'mon, it's a movie based on video games not a movie based on a single video game.

 

[HStallion]

I think its just the disconnect between movie makers and game makers. It seems a lot of people in the film world just can't discern what aspects of a game to focus on that would translate well to the big screen. Instead they either misread the material they are trying to adapt and don't get what the appeal was in the first place or worse just try and do their own thing with it and just use the games premise as a very basic starting point for a movie which is often what happens.

I actually think tons of games would translate well into movies. I thought Max Payne would have been such a no brainer to make into a movie because of the already heavy reliance on film noir and other pulpy elements but NOPE! They give us instead some muddled, confused turd with Mark Wahlberg that didn't even have good action scenes. I could also say the same with Silent Hill though the movie version that was at least half way decent but still missed the mark a lot.

 

[cereal_killerxx]

I have high hopes for Assassin's Creed movie. The trailer impressed me and it has Michael Fassbender in it. Nuff' said.

 

[El Daniel]

This might stretch the definition of video game movie, but "King of Kong" was pretty good.

I read this as King Kong and was confused.

 

[JimmyRustler]

I thought that Silent Hill was quite decent.

But yeah, I don't really get why they fuck it up every time.

 

[daviyoung]

I have high hopes for Assassin's Creed movie. The trailer impressed me and it has Michael Fassbender in it. Nuff' said.

nuff said indeed

 

[Grym]

And wreck-it ralph is great but C'mon, it's a movie based on video games not a movie based on a single video game.

That didn't help Pixels

 

[Smokey_Run]

90% of them choose games with either little to no storyline like Super Mario, or games with rather shitty storylines like Tomb Raider or Resident Evil.

Honestly, I think that's the best route to go. You need a rich world and you have to pick a game where the narrative isn't the reason people are drawn to it. It's why Uncharted will bomb, because the moment Nathan Drake is seen/heard, people will instantly write it off.

However, The Division film allows you to write whatever you want. Man-made virus with a super high mortality rate is released on money on Black Friday, and you need to find the source to develop a vaccine. Go.

 

[Glass Shark]

They suck because they don't have to be good. They are made because of the name recognition.

 

[Timu]

Street Fighter II The Animated Movie is still one of the best.

I guess they just don't put effort into them, which is odd since superhero movies were mostly crap until the 2000s.

 

[Dash_Riprock]

Well shit, someone beat me to making this thread. I'll just post my OP here then:

So with Assassin's Creed movie reviews coming, and with the nickname ASScreed being more appropriate then ever, I felt it was time to approach this subject again. Some people think we've already had one or two good video game movies, like Mortal, Kombat or Silent Hill. I'm not here to argue that. What I'd like to know is what needs to change in Hollywood so that we get consistently decent -to-good video game films, not just one or two flukes that even mainstream critics just see as passable at best? What will it take to get video game movies into the same rhythm and flow comic films have now?

I used to think we needed actual, dedicated fans to write and direct the movies. People who understood and respected the source material was what was needed to finally get a good video game adaptation. Yet after the Warcraft movie I realize even that is a pitfall: the director of Warcraft was such a huge megafan that he didn't stop and realize that casual movie goers would have trouble understanding what was going on in the film, among other problems with the script. So it seems to me we need a balance: Someone who respects the source material BUT also knows that needs to be changed/removed so that casual moviegoers can be engaged with the story.

 

[HStallion]

I have high hopes for Assassin's Creed movie. The trailer impressed me and it has Michael Fassbender in it. Nuff' said.

About that...

 

[daviyoung]

Bonus question: Have there been any VG movies that you liked or thought was objectively good?

Warcraft

 

[More_Badass]

AC had all the strengths and hallmarks that should have made a good movie, it just sounds like they made a bad movie (rather than bad because it's based on video game)

- Don't try to copy the game. Do what Marvel does for comics, take what works for the story and strip away everything else
- Don't try make a video game movie. Make a movie based on a video game. The former refers how to most in this subgenre try to look and evoke the game: scenes that look like gameplay, highlighting specific aspects as if they're specific winks to the players in the audience, etc.
- Keep it simple and write it for the people who never played the game rather than for fans.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

I'm trying to think of any video games that I legitimately think have stories that I'd stack up against excellent films. Maybe The Last of Us...I'm coming up blank otherwise, even among game stories I enjoy. So already we're trying to take something that puts gameplay above storytelling (even when they want the story to be taken seriously) and turning it into a non-interactive experience.

The pacing in storytelling is also completely different. A game, even a short one, gets to hold your attention and introduce these concepts over at least 6+ hours. A movie has 2. Look at your more cinematic games. People take all the cutscenes and put them on YouTube and you're still looking at 3,4,5 hours worth of content. That's several films.

On Hollywood's end, they've probably just seen it as a quick action movie cash in to get young male audiences. Release it in Q1 of whatever year and fans will probably watch, no matter how stupid it is.

Objectively good? None. One that I enjoyed? Silent Hill. It captures a lot of the elements of the games while also just being an alright horror movie. It drops the ball in the third act when it does a very clunky and long exposition dump to explain the story.

 

[VeryGooster]

It's just crazy a) studios still even try to chase this whale, and b) we're all still waiting for the one movie that just gets it 100% right when I doubt it ever happens

Bonus question: Have there been any VG movies that you liked or thought was objectively good?

Mortal Kombat. It's not a good movie. It's schlock, but that's what the game is and is based on B-C-martial arts movies so it captures that spirit well

 

[HvySky]

I read this as King Kong and was confused.

Glad I'm not the only one.

 

[Osahi]

Videogames, even the ones with suposedly good stories, tend to have very bad or mediocre stories, which don't exactly have enough good characters or ideas to get adaptee into something good.

And a lot of videogames that do have good stories or characters, work best in the context of interactivity

 

[Mupod]

has there ever been an attempt to make a game movie that didn't re-interpret the setting and characters in a lame hollywood way? I know Mario Bros was the extreme example but all of them are guilty of this.

MK may not be fine art but it worked because it didn't go absolutely stupid with the re-imaginings, and what they did could be handwaved by MK barely having a plot to begin with. You could forgive Reptile being some kind of weird statue creature because that scene fucking kicked ass. Hell the beginning of MK9's story mode pretty much just reverse-adapts the movie and it works fine.

 

[HStallion]

The two best videogame movies weren't even based on videogame properties and that would be Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and Edge of Tomorrow.

 

[The Pope]

I have high hopes for Assassin's Creed movie. The trailer impressed me and it has Michael Fassbender in it. Nuff' said.

Haich!

 

[richardhawk]

Stop making them. We already have enough fan service with Marvel / Starwars.

 

[Robdraggoo]

Honestly, I think that's the best route to go. You need a rich world and you have to pick a game where the narrative isn't the reason people are drawn to it. It's why Uncharted will bomb, because the moment Nathan Drake is seen/heard, people will instantly write it off.

However, The Division film allows you to write whatever you want. Man-made virus with a super high mortality rate is released on money on Black Friday, and you need to find the source to develop a vaccine. Go.

That's the plot of the Game?

I played it but never paid attention lol

 

[Veritigo_X]

The two best videogame movies weren't even based on videogame properties and that would be Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and Edge of Tomorrow.

Hey, I wanted to post this!

 

[NealMcCauley]

For starters try to find a story that doesn't require a shit ton of exposition just to explain the basics to the audience.

 

[Reckless Abandon]

Mortal Kombat was the shit

I tend to respond similarly to such topics but I am beginning to wonder if that's just them sweet 'member berries. I'll have to give it a re-watch and see if it holds up at all. I watched that shit like at least 20 times back in the 90s.

Christopher Lambert surely still nails it as Raiden, though. No way that changes.

 

[Azoor]

Honestly, I think that's the best route to go. You need a rich world and you have to pick a game where the narrative isn't the reason people are drawn to it. It's why Uncharted will bomb, because the moment Nathan Drake is seen/heard, people will instantly write it off.

However, The Division film allows you to write whatever you want. Man-made virus with a super high mortality rate is released on money on Black Friday, and you need to find the source to develop a vaccine. Go.

I disagree, what makes a good movie (aside from technical aspects like cinematography or music) is a good story. Many of these movies failed not just because they're bad adaptations because they're fundamentally flawed as movies.

 

[slightconfuse]

Realize video games are an interactive medium and you need to take time to adapt it to a visual one.

 

[More_Badass]

I'm trying to think of any video games that I legitimately think have stories that I'd stack up against excellent films. Maybe The Last of Us...I'm coming up blank otherwise, even among game stories I enjoy. So already we're trying to take something that puts gameplay above storytelling (even when they want the story to be taken seriously) and turning it into a non-interactive experience.

The pacing in storytelling is also completely different. A game, even a short one, gets to hold your attention and introduce these concepts over at least 6+ hours. A movie has 2. Look at your more cinematic games. People take all the cutscenes and put them on YouTube and you're still looking at 3,4,5 hours worth of content. That's several films.

That only really matters if you're trying to adapt the game. Rather than making a movie based on a game. The stories of most games wouldn't work well for film anyway, due to the pacing of gameplay versus film, among other factors

 

[Regiruler]

AC had all the strengths and hallmarks that should have made a good movie, it just sounds like they made a bad movie (rather than bad because it's based on video game)

- Don't try to copy the game. Do what Marvel does for comics, take what works for the story and strip away everything else
- Don't try make a video game movie. Make a movie based on a video game. The former refers how to most in this subgenre try to look and evoke the game: scenes that look like gameplay, highlighting specific aspects as if they're specific winks to the players in the audience, etc.
- Keep it simple and write it for the people who never played the game rather than for fans.

Scott Pilgrim flied in the face of all of this and is really good because of it, so I'm not so sure how effective these are.

 

[Violence Jack]

Mortal Kombat worked because they took the characters and basically remade Enter The Dragon. It was stupidly fun and entertaining.

Silent Hill had atrocious dialogue, but managed to be entertaining while having some great visuals.

 

[Kthulhu]

Because you take out the most important part of the game: the gameplay.

The two best videogame movies weren't even based on videogame properties and that would be Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and Edge of Tomorrow.

What does edge of tomorrow have to do with games?

 

[itwasTuesday]

Same way marvel did it. You get Capcom to go to Disney and marvel and say how do I do this?

MVC: the movie

Done. 850 million

 

[More_Badass]

Scott Pilgrim flied in the face of all of this and is really good because of it, so I'm not so sure how effective these are.

It's a comic book adaptation. It doesn't have to worry about those issues.

 

[Kill3r7]

If we are being frank the very best game stories make for B-tier movie scripts. The rest are pure junk. Games unlike movies are not a linear experience. That makes writing a coherent and interesting script a significant challenge. Even the most linear game story needs serious work to be adapted to the typical Hollywood 3 act story structure.

 

[Shaanyboi]

The two best videogame movies weren't even based on videogame properties and that would be Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and Edge of Tomorrow.

You forgot Inception.

Starts in a James Bond game, ends in a level from Modern Warfare 2.

Even the concept of "dream-sharing" is comparable to videogames. The government wanted a way for soldiers to shoot and stab eachother and still have their men wake up.

 

[QuantumBro]

Why do people care so much about adapting movies from a medium where story is one of the lowest priorities?

Maybe Tetris has a chance?

 

[Osahi]

Because you take out the most important part of the game: the gameplay.



What does edge of tomorrow have to do with games?

Its structure

 

[-griffy-]

Considering most video games are a la carte aping movies for their storytelling, plot elements and visual language, I think trying to take that stuff and turn it back around into a movie is just a losing battle.

 

[Sojgat]

I thought Like a Dragon and Ace Attorney were good.

So yeah, maybe just get Takashi Miike to direct your video game movies.