Comments on: A History Of Failure – Why Video Game Movies Suck

By: SamPD

SamPD — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:46:40 +0000

I have to disagree with pokemon. Being a fan of the thing itself I find it good enough. But I believe others just saw it as nothing more then piss because if you done some research on the thing,well all I have to say that the Americans are such pussys. The completle removed any referance of god and etc. Obviously so not to offend the Pope himself. If you get him to go on a crusade on your ass I can safely say you are doomed.

By: Eltanin

Eltanin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:42:57 +0000

To me one game that really felt like you were taking part in a movie was God of War.
I would love to see God of War made into a movie.

It starts off with the main character attempting to commit suicide. Then shows the events that led to him getting to that point. I think the way the story gradually evolved, giving you bits and pieces of his past would work on screen.
Just leave out a lot of the puzzle solving which doesen’t really work onscreen that well.
of course, getting the chains to work like real weapons would be a major obstacle and could kill that movie.
of course they would probably put Keanu Reaves in as Kratos.
I can see it now…
…. Dude Ares… that was totally not cool what you did to my family.

On second thought … please don’t make god of war into a movie

By: Eltanin

Eltanin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:24:50 +0000

That’s Uwe Boll for you.

He had a fightscene with two hot chicks in water…. and made it boring.
He made Ben Kingsley look like a bad actor.
If you watch Bloodrayne … and I don’t recommend it.. you can actually find the point where Michael Madsen quits trying.

By: Adrian Prasetya

Adrian Prasetya — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:41:36 +0000

I kinda like Resident Evil, scratch that, I like it a lot. Compared to other vidgame-based movies, the writers managed to create a solid story. A bit disappointment with the sequel, though. And unfortunately, the third movie didn’t do any better either :(

As for Mortal Kombat, albeit they could’ve done a better job with the casting, was quite an entertaining movie–much better than Street Fighter for sure. But they did a pretty good job at wrecking the sequel.

By: flaunt

flaunt — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:29:21 +0000

Studio execs make the decision to make video game movies, rarely creatives (if any). The reasoning is that video games already have a target market and are cheap to market to that core. At the same time, they want it to appeal to as many people in general with a 2-minute trailer. (the “If you loved that movie, you’ll love this movie” thinking). It’s not about making a good movie, it’s about hedging your bets, because execs are so busy covering their asses, they don’t have time to actually do any work.

Ultimately, the (Hollywood) studio execs don’t care about anything that can’t be sold to people who don’t speak English. It’s all about international audiences nowadays so the trailer’s got to say everything about this movie. “It’s got to look cool, it’s got to be loud, it’s got to have explosions!”.

Now, that may work for games, where flashy graphics and awesome gameplay are more important than strong unique stories — and that’s fine because games have the ‘challenge factor’. you’ve got to beat the bad-ass difficult mutha (boss battles) to keep progressing. Movies don’t whup the audiences’ ass until you have to go online for a walkthrough / cheat.

Creatives on the other hand aren’t invested in the material (source or otherwise) to imbue the movie with stuff that makes movies good — a relatable protagonist that grows from strength to strength. Even in games, your character can pick up new skills as you progress through the game, but most vid game adaptations have the character being able to do everything from the beginning (flying through the air while eating a cheese sandwich) without showing the struggle in developing that skill / themselves. Even in comic book movies you have characters who discover and develop their powers over the course of the first movie. In video games? Everyone and their mothers know how to shoot a gun… everyone’s born with a gun in each hand (and unlimited ammo).

But there’s hope. Currently most movie creatives are comic book fans (and cartoon fans), not necessarily video game fans. Fast forward a generation — maybe 10 years or so, and the people who grew up on Xbox’s and PS2’s instead of Saturday Morning Cartoons and X-Men will be in the industry — and might well care enough to write / direct that great video game movie. Or we could just have “Madden 2019: The Movie”

By: Michael Allen

Michael Allen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:49:40 +0000

I thought “Max Payne,” would do well based on the trailer (pretty stylish). But nothing can save a movie with bad acting and a poor story.

By: Arthas

Arthas — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:39:21 +0000

Why do people always mix up “good movie” with “movie i liked”?
Or even better “good movie” with “good content/content i liked in the movie”??
You talked about Postal a little while ago… and said many people say it was a “good movie”. No, it wasn’t.
Perhaps the people liked it because it was “oh so” anti and “brave” or anything (not that it was, but ya). But just because you liked the content of the movie doesn’t make it a good one, you know?
Bolls movies don’t “improve”, his first was just as bad as his last one. So no, he doesn’t improve.
And I’m not talking about the subjective stuff (like i said, the content, if you liked the movie or not etc).

By: Dragonslayer

Dragonslayer — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:37:25 +0000

I liked Max Payne

By: Juan

Juan — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:41:46 +0000

Metal Gear Solid. Half the game is storytelling. Enough said.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:38:40 +0000

Have you played these video games before watching their respective movies? I didn’t and I thought Resident Evil 2 & 3 were alright movies. Hitman was the best attempt yet in my opinion, though I didn’t even know it was a video game until it came up in your list. I wonder, does knowing a movie is an adaption of a game affect your opinion?