|
Post by ironhammer on Nov 28, 2018 21:14:12 GMT -5
Since you guys love video games, I am curious on a related subject, why do video game-based movies always suck? Like almost all of them are regarded universally as turd quality not worth paying a ticket to watch. But my question is, why is that? I mean, bad video game movies abound, going back to Super Mario Bros in 1993 and Street Fighters in 1994, the stench of badness was already reeking all over. And a whole list of turkeys followed, like Mortal Combat, Dead of Alive, Doom, Resident Evil, Wing Commander, Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark etc, none are considered remotely good (well...actually I have a soft spot for Mortal Combat and Resident Evil, those two films are sort of entertaining if you are in the right frame of mind).
In fairness, there are a few exceptions, where video game movies are actually entertaining to watch (although still regarded negatively by critics), the 2018 Tomb Raider starring Alicia Vikander was prety solid, as far as video game movies go. And 2006's Silent Hill was creepy and unsettling, capturing the mood from the games pretty well. And Assassin's Creed in 2016 with Michael Fassbender was actually alright.
But those are exceptions. Many say you just can't capture the interactive experience of game playing with the passive experience of movie-watching. Others argue the nature of game story doesn't translate well to the big screen because the often simplistic game characters and shallow plots become glaring on the movie screen. Some even say critics have a bias against video game movies (possible) or that the genre attracts flashy but incompetent directors (infamous examples include Uwe Boll and Paul W.S Anderson), more interested in making a quick buck than producing a good quality movie.
So why do video game movies suck?
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Nov 28, 2018 21:21:34 GMT -5
Most game stories are either too lame or too long to work in a two hour movie. Or both. Game stories tend to be written to facilitate the gameplay.
Similarly, novels usually don't turn into great movies either. Novels tend to have stories that are too long and too complicated to be made into movies. If they do, it means there has been a sh*tload of the story left out. Shorter works, like "novellas" tend to make better movies.
YA novels tend to be simpler (and often shorter), and for those reasons they often make for better movies than mainstream adult novels.
(Of course, there are always exceptions to these generalizations.)
|
|
|
Post by ironhammer on Nov 28, 2018 21:42:46 GMT -5
Most game stories are either too lame or too long to work in a two hour movie. Or both. Game stories tend to be written to facilitate the gameplay. Similarly, novels usually don't turn into great movies either. Novels tend to have stories that are too long and too complicated to be made into movies. If they do, it means there has been a sh*tload of the story left out. Shorter works, like "novellas" tend to make better movies. YA novels tend to be simpler (and often shorter), and for those reasons they often make for better movies than mainstream adult novels. (Of course, there are always exceptions to these generalizations.) Not sure if I agree with that. The number of good movies based on novels far exceeds the number of good movies based on video games. I mean, a number of novel-based movies have won Oscars, like the English Patient, 12 Years a Slave, No Country for Old Men, all won Oscars and were all based on novels.
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Nov 28, 2018 21:46:01 GMT -5
Most game stories are either too lame or too long to work in a two hour movie. Or both. Game stories tend to be written to facilitate the gameplay. Similarly, novels usually don't turn into great movies either. Novels tend to have stories that are too long and too complicated to be made into movies. If they do, it means there has been a sh*tload of the story left out. Shorter works, like "novellas" tend to make better movies. YA novels tend to be simpler (and often shorter), and for those reasons they often make for better movies than mainstream adult novels. (Of course, there are always exceptions to these generalizations.) Not sure if I agree with that. The number of good movies based on novels far exceeds the number of good movies based on video games. Yes but it is FAR fewer than the number of good novels! It really is true that the typical novel would have a ridiculous screen time if you filmed even most of it.
|
|
|
Post by gnu2vball on Nov 28, 2018 21:50:39 GMT -5
Isn't this why a screenwriter is so important in making a great movie? While not video games, I can think of a few Philip K. Dick stories (that sucked) that we're made into pretty good movies--thanks to good screenwriters.
|
|
|
Post by ironhammer on Nov 28, 2018 21:51:22 GMT -5
Not sure if I agree with that. The number of good movies based on novels far exceeds the number of good movies based on video games. Yes but it is FAR fewer than the number of good novels! It really is true that the typical novel would have a ridiculous screen time if you filmed even most of it.Well novel and movies are different mediums, so you cannot translate word for word to the screen, unless you are doing a miniseries which can capture the spirit of the book better. However, novel-based movies is a pretty well-accepted genre (I mean the Oscars have a "best adapted screenplay" category), utilized by many well-established and talented directors. But not so with video game movies. Irrespective of the actual quality, the whole enterprise is automatically treated with suspicion and doubt even before one watches a video game movie. The difference between the two genres in terms of respect is pretty clear.
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Nov 28, 2018 21:51:37 GMT -5
Isn't this why a screenwriter is so important in making a great movie? Yes.
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Nov 28, 2018 21:54:50 GMT -5
Yes but it is FAR fewer than the number of good novels! It really is true that the typical novel would have a ridiculous screen time if you filmed even most of it.Well novel and movies are different mediums, so you cannot translate word for word to the screen, unless you are doing a miniseries which can capture the spirit of the book better. However, novel-based movies is a pretty well-accepted genre (I mean the Oscars have a "best adapted screenplay" category), utilized by many well-established and talented directors. But not so with video game movies. Irrespective of the actual quality, the whole enterprise is automatically treated with suspicion and doubt even before one watches a video game movie. The difference between the two genres in terms of respect is pretty clear. Right, but my point here was that many of those adapted screen plays are adapted from fairly short works. Short stories. Novellas. Parts of novels. Some genres of novels translate to film better than others, but still, it's generally easy to make a movie out of a short story than a novel.
|
|
|
Post by ironhammer on Nov 28, 2018 21:59:34 GMT -5
Well novel and movies are different mediums, so you cannot translate word for word to the screen, unless you are doing a miniseries which can capture the spirit of the book better. However, novel-based movies is a pretty well-accepted genre (I mean the Oscars have a "best adapted screenplay" category), utilized by many well-established and talented directors. But not so with video game movies. Irrespective of the actual quality, the whole enterprise is automatically treated with suspicion and doubt even before one watches a video game movie. The difference between the two genres in terms of respect is pretty clear. Right, but my point here was that many of those adapted screen plays are adapted from fairly short works. Short stories. Novellas. Parts of novels.Some genres of novels translate to film better than others, but still, it's generally easy to make a movie out of a short story than a novel. Not necessarily in all cases. Some of Stephen King's novels run well into many hundreds of pages and yet pretty much all of them have turned into movies (of varying quality, but some are pretty good).
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Nov 28, 2018 21:59:38 GMT -5
People have taken the cutscenes and some personal gameplay of video games and edited them into a movie. See, e.g., The Last of Us. All the boring stuff like collections and crafting were, of course, edited out. But you need a game with an okay story and decent character development. A game like Borderlands which has ZERO character development would NOT fare so well.
This was how I introduced my wife to The Last of Us. We just watched someone's movie version of the game and it was decent. Of course, it was 6 hours long!
|
|
|
Post by XAsstCoach on Nov 29, 2018 2:27:26 GMT -5
I actually liked Doom, Mortal Kombat (first, not second), Resident Evil (entire series), Tomb Raider and Wing Commander. Guess I'm not the picky type that needs the movie to be exactly the same as the video games as there are going to be some differences. Like Tomb Raider with Alicia Vikander...in the game her father is dead, but in the movie he is alive but killed at the end...no problem.
Had to watch Assassin's Creed a couple of times to kind of like it. Was just weird that they're like playing the game in the movie (yes, I know its playing through the memories of an assassin reborn or something along that line...confusing at first).
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Nov 29, 2018 3:01:57 GMT -5
And then there are movies that are actually made with video games ....
|
|
|
Post by XAsstCoach on Nov 29, 2018 3:56:53 GMT -5
Youtube is blocked for me, but Adam Sandler's Pixels comes to mind. Very nostalgic...seeing Donkey Kong. Granted I sucked at Donkey Kong, but still was fun to reminisce.
|
|
|
Post by ironhammer on Nov 29, 2018 10:26:24 GMT -5
I actually liked Doom, Mortal Kombat (first, not second), Resident Evil (entire series), Tomb Raider and Wing Commander. Guess I'm not the picky type that needs the movie to be exactly the same as the video games as there are going to be some differences. Like Tomb Raider with Alicia Vikander...in the game her father is dead, but in the movie he is alive but killed at the end...no problem. Had to watch Assassin's Creed a couple of times to kind of like it. Was just weird that they're like playing the game in the movie (yes, I know its playing through the memories of an assassin reborn or something along that line...confusing at first). Doom movie, yeah it is watchable if you are in the mood. Although I wouldn't call it a "good movie" by conventional measures. And speaking of the Doom movie, in my personal opinion, this is the best part of the movie, when they actually captured the first person shooter feel of the game, a shame the rest of the movie don't hold up as well:
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Nov 29, 2018 15:38:48 GMT -5
I don't really need a movie adaptation of a video game. I think the video games are fine by themselves.
I also don't really need a movie adaptation of novels. In fact, it's rare for me to like movie adaptations. You can't really capture fully what's in a novel, especially inner thoughts and feelings and certain details that give more flesh and life to the story.
The first time I really understood this was when I was young. I had just read Mario Puzo's The Godfather when I was 9 or 10 -- which is waaaaay too young to be reading this kind of novel, but I was far advanced for my age. While my peers were reading 4th grade level readers, I was reading mass paperbacks intended for adults. It was a ground-breaking book for me because it opened my eyes to the world. Anyway, the book goes into great detail about Sonny Corleone's big...umm...body part. I mean, it was a big deal in the book. In the movie, there was only one brief reference. It was in the opening wedding reception when Sonny's wife makes some sort of descriptive gesture about it. That's all. So, yes, the movie is a classic and a masterpiece. I love the movie myself but that's only because I treated it separately from the novel. They're both VERY different. As an adaptation, it's not that good. But I haven't seen a good movie adaptation of any novel.
|
|