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[MarkMclovin]

Maybe Gary Whitta can save them?

/s

 

[lazygecko]

Mortal Kombat worked out, for a bunch of reasons.

1. The people who actually cared to see a Mortal Kombat movie, got to see the movie, while they were still in their prime period of caring about the game.

2. Mortal Kombat has a very basic premise and the characters aren't any deeper than what they look like + their 5 sentence paragraph in the game manual.

3. In light of point #2, that basic premise fit an existing movie type, very well. The fight tournament movie. Enter the Dragon. Bloodsport. The Quest, etc. And not to mention, movies with lots of fighting, in general. There is a market, for that. Especially back in 1995. The characters didn't need much adapting and you just sprinkly in some aesthetic, on top of a fight tournament movie. Which it so happens, is a perfect way to adapt a fighting game. I mean, so far, everything is falling into place. You have a marketable movie type for general viewers and you also have a movie which reminds fans a whole lot of the game.

4. The production didn't suck. In 1995, cool visual effects were still novel and cutting edge. and all of that just felt like hyper real adaptation of the game's rough graphics and effects. and even people who didn't care about mortal kombat were like "holy $#!T awesome!" when Scorpion's snake thing came out his hand, etc. and people hadn't yet seen Jet Li take apart a gun with a single hand snatch. So, Sub Zero got VFX points on that, too.
Goro was done by a real creature shop.
Mortal Kombat had real movie making magic put into it. and viewers got real magic, out of it.

5. And with the visuals, as whole: it was a good, fairly direct interpretation of the game's art direction and graphics. It was "Hyper real" Mortal Kombat. It was actually cooler looking, than the real thing, the game, itself.

6. Dance music was hot right about then and they made that crap catchy and dancy. My mom was head of a cheer squad at the time and you can bet she worked Mortal Kombat in, between Jock Jams tracks. and our football team was like hell yeah our cheerleaders are playing Mortal Kombat!

Mortal Kombat isn't a good movie. But, it was just the right experience for fans. And had plenty of crossover appeal, with general movie fans and pop-culture. and it happened at a key time, when that was more than enough.

Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China was one of the main inspirations for the vibe of the film. They also played it 100% straight by casting Liu Kang as the protagonist with Robin Shou (even when they had names like Cristopher Lambert attached), instead of completely whitewashing the film like what happened with Street Fighter.

 

[Shredderi]

I actually think many games would translate wonderfully well to film if they had a director, cast, and crew that had a vision and followed through on it. A Soulsborne by Nicolas Winding Refn would be great if he made it similar to Valhalla Rising. A mysterious protagonist going through constant trials and tribulations in a nightmare world full of all manner of monsters, mad men and even worse things. Make the other characters few and far between but make them colorful and weird in a very Souls like style. Even incorporate the game mechanic into the game similar to Edge of Tomorrow with the protag constantly dying and being forced to repeat things but slowly gaining the knowledge and skills to overcome the increasingly towering odds.

That would be pretty cool. Valhalla Rising was very surreal and nightmarish. Loved it.

 

[JimmyRustler]

I feel like people who say that game narratives are bad know nothing about story telling or have never written a story themselves. They just follow the myth that game narratives are bad as if to say there's just one note to the whole medium

No, I feel it's either hypocrates who say the stories are bad but enjoy blockbuster movies with equally as bad/good stories or it's actually fedora wearing film/game critics that only watch independent or niche movies that are made by a handful of people and don't realize that big games cannot target such an audience.

I generally never understood the people who seem to be unable to differentiate between deep and entertaining writing. Both are good, just different.

I can watch "Arrival" and enjoy it one day and then "Predator" the next and just because Arrival's story stay with me much longer, it doesn't make Predators writing bad. Both serve their purpose and entertain me in their own way.

 

[More_Badass]

Hell, I'd argue that Fast and Furious 4, 5, 6 feel like video game adaptations of video games that dont exist, except somehow they'll also good enjoyable fun action movies.

 

[Ambient80]

Silent Hill to me is a great example of I guess where many video game films that try to stick to the games have stumbled. It's actually great throughout as it stays a mystery. Then it stupidly tries to explain everything but it can't go back to the games to lift that because not only has the plot been cobbled together from multiple games in the series but it has been altered in a number of ways. And proceeds to lose almost everything it has going for it.

One thing Silent Hill really copied well was the look and feel of the world. Really, up until the cult characters take over the story.

Never saw the sequel.

Spoiler

Pyramid Head ripping that dude's flesh off was probably the peak of the film in so many ways.

I still haven't seen these movies. I wish they were on Netflix and/or Amazon Prime or something where they were easily accessible.

 

[nachum00]

Just get David Lynch to direct a Silent Hill 2 adaptation.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

If fans can make some good ones I don't see why Hollywood can't with more resources.
This Star Fox one is pretty cool.

 

[gutter_trash]

they fail because they are business titles with a loose adaptation that doesn't please fans and does nothing to attract non-fans

 

[UrbanRats]

The Ezio arc is basic storytelling 101. Man seeks revenge, joins a cause greater than himself, learns to fight for the cause, etc, etc.

Again, it doesnt matter how the story was done in the game. A film isn't a direct adaptation. Only the broad strokes and general concept matter

Sure, and? The details of it weren't all that great at all, what i'm saying is only having the "Ezio arc" as an incipit is meaningless in whether or not you can make a good film out of it.

 

[Abilidebob]

I've yet to see it myself but from the very start it seemed to me like it'd be unapproachable for someone who isn't already a Warcraft fan. I simply don't have time for movies but I should try and sneak it in somewhere.

Eh, I've watched it with some friends that never played a Warcraft game in their lives, and they enjoyed the movie, although got kinda confused at some plot points. Even if you're not a fan I think you can enjoy it.

 

[benjipwns]

Hell, I'd argue that Fast and Furious 4, 5, 6 feel like video game adaptations of video games that dont exist, except somehow they'll also good enjoyable fun action movies.

The Fast and The Furious series has become the Saints Row films.

 

[HStallion]

Justin Lin should direct an F-Zero or Wipeout movie

 

[Gnome]

Justin Lin should direct an F-Zero or Wipeout movie

This is a great idea! Remember the Speed Racer movie?

No?

Nvm.

 

[HStallion]

This is a great idea! Remember the Speed Racer movie?

No?

Nvm.

I actually loved the Speed Racer movie. I thought it was one of the more visually arresting and spectacular films we've gotten in a long time. Its also got a pretty solid if simple story to it and the themes of family and such were all pulled off really well. I think its a great movie for kids and adults. It was just horribly misunderstood which is sad.

 

[kswiston]

I just realized that we have had 5 video game films this year, and the second highest rated one was Warcraft at 28%. Angry Birds was #1 at 43%

 

[Penguin]

Hell, I'd argue that Fast and Furious 4, 5, 6 feel like video game adaptations of video games that dont exist, except somehow they'll also good enjoyable fun action movies.

Like honestly I was surprised when Need for Speed didn't try to be a Fast and the Furious rip-off

Like it seemed the perfect chance since believe first movie was partially influenced by the Need for speed games

I just realized that we have had 5 video game films this year, and the second highest rated one was Warcraft at 28%. Angry Birds was #1 at 43%

Yup.

And then don't think another one in the 20s....

And Angry Birds at 43% is the 2nd highest of all-time

 

[Gnome]

I actually loved the Speed Racer movie. I thought it was one of the more visually arresting and spectacular films we've gotten in a long time. Its also got a pretty solid if simple story to it and the themes of family and such were all pulled off really well. I think its a great movie for kids and adults. It was just horribly misunderstood which is sad.

So you're the guy who liked Speed Racer.

Spoiler

I've never seen. Didn't know the Wachowski made it, wow.

 

[Tosyn_88]

No, I feel it's either hypocrates who say the stories are bad but enjoy blockbuster movies with equally as bad/good stories or it's actually fedora wearing film/game critics that only watch independent or niche movies that are made by a handful of people and don't realize that big games cannot target such an audience.

I generally never understood the people who seem to be unable to differentiate between deep and entertaining writing. Both are good, just different.

I can watch "Arrival" and enjoy it one day and then "Predator" the next and just because Arrival's story stay with me much longer, it doesn't make Predators writing bad. Both serve their purpose and entertain me in their own way.

Well said.

Lol @fedora wearing critics, too true on that one.

 

[UrbanRats]

This is a great idea! Remember the Speed Racer movie?

Yes, it's great.

 

[Camjo-Z]

Most of the video game movies I've seen suffer from one of two problems.

A. Trying to fit an unconventional game/narrative into a conventional movie framework
B. Just being a shitty movie in general

Making a good game adaptation is the same as turning any property into a film - treat the source material with respect while focusing on making a GOOD MOVIE above all.

 

[Tanston]

I actually loved the Speed Racer movie. I thought it was one of the more visually arresting and spectacular films we've gotten in a long time. Its also got a pretty solid if simple story to it and the themes of family and such were all pulled off really well. I think its a great movie for kids and adults. It was just horribly misunderstood which is sad.

Yeah I loved speed racer I never understood the hate. The visuals were fantastic and still set the bar for live action anime IMO. The rest of the film was average. Pretty great cast, serviceable story, average acting. Certainly not the train wreck it was painted as. I enjoyed it. Not every movie I watch needs to blow my face and mind away like the Matrix.

Regarding the topic. Most videogames have horrible stories compared to other mediums. Books, Movies even TV tend to have better stories. We tend to judge video game stories only VS other videogame stories. If we held them up to the standards we hold books and movies they'd fall short. So yeah if you adapt a bad story you get a bad movie.

 

[jstripes]

So you're the guy who liked Speed Racer.

Spoiler

I've never seen. Didn't know the Wachowski made it, wow.

Speed Racer is one of those rare movies that manages to pull off "stupid but really enjoyable".

The story and acting never got to a point where it was painful to watch.

 

[Trance]

There's a lot of moving parts in adapting a movie to a game that seem to trip up the end product. I think filmmakers need to take a deep look at what the essence of the source game is and ask themselves "does it makes sense as a 2-ish hour three-act narrative?" (which is probably the structure they need to work within, although I'd welcome a different direction if it were an option). I think the solution lies more in sticking with the spirit rather than the letter of the law.

To those posting about Scott Pilgrim, Edge of Tomorrow, Inception (I'd argue against its inclusion - sort of): I think those movies are stories structured in the form of video games rather than function. Their stories use game systems to craft the narrative. When having this discussion about games to movie adaptations, we also need to consider if we want to adapt the forms alongside the function.

Just taking the story premise of AssCreed and turning it into a regular movie is one thing. To really dig into the game structure of AC and baking that into the movie's narrative is a whole another thing. Specifically with AC being a game within a game, I think the latter is more advisable. The franchise's form leads to questions about the nature of reality and our perception of history that could've made a cool smart movie*

*I have not seen the AC movie, but I feel like I can assume they took the premise of the franchise and then backed themselves into a corner by trying to be misguidedly faithful to the source

 

[pantsmith]

Westworld is a better video game movie than most video game movies, and its a 10 episode television series.

I also vouch for Scott Pilgrim, despite it not being a strict "video game" movie.

 

[inm8num2]

Honest Trailers - Mortal Kombat

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Because 99% of video game stories suck and that unsurprisingly transfers over to other media. Especially when the main point of that media is storytelling.

 

[PSqueak]

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.

Coincidentally, the videogame was better than both the source material and the movie.


Personally, i know they weren't 100% faithful to the original, but i liked the first Silent Hill movie, it was a decent modern horror movie.

Warcraft was the movie the game deserved, i know it didn't make bank, but i thought it was well done.

If i remember correctly both of Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider movies did pretty well at the box office.

This is a great idea! Remember the Speed Racer movie?

No?

Nvm.

I actually loved Speed Racer and my only complain about it was precisely "Well, this will delay any chance for an F-zero Movie cause it'd be too similar"

 

[nachum00]

Coincidentally, the videogame was better than both the source material and the movie.

Except it wasn't

 

[The Silver]

Because 99% of video game stories suck and that unsurprisingly transfers over to other media. Especially when the main point of that media is storytelling.

and yet Marvel was able to take dogshit like Civil War and make a movie everyone liked out of it.

It does not matter how the story was told in the game, all you need is the core concept and world and do whatever you need to do to make a good film out of it.

There is no reason at all Ass Creed couldn't have been as good as your average Marvel movie.

 

[PSqueak]

Except it wasn't

Hey, don't get me wrong, all 3 are good, but the videogame is basically the end game of Scott Pilgrim, it's basically it becoming what spawned the idea in the very first place.