Have you given up on films based on games?

[poet_lawreate]

Okay, I can't think of one very good film made of a game. It just doesn't seem like a genre that is ever going to work.
So- do you think there could ever be a successful one? If so, what games do you think could work as films?

 

[Trivun]

I definitely liked the Resident Evil films, even though they took immense liberties with the story of the games, they were still really good and kept true to the spirit of the game series. The main bulk of bad films made from games are generally down to Uwe Boll, and that's no exaggeration. Fine, not every game that's been made into a film was done by Uwe Boll, but a hell of a lot were, and they're the ones that end up getting more attention on forums, because they were so crap and people like to rant about things. [/rant] xD

 

[Talendra]

I gave up on them a long long time ago, however I some how cant stop myself from watching them and being disappointed each time.

 

[poet_lawreate]

I definitely liked the Resident Evil films, even though they took immense liberties with the story of the games, they were still really good and kept true to the spirit of the game series.

I wasn't a massive fan of RE films (though I love the games) but then I think that they were good precisely because they were so different to the actual game stories.

Also... if Boll wasn't messing up all these games, could anyone else do any better?

 

[-Tom-]

I liked advent children, but thats just cuz im a nerd
I was hoping the bioshock movie would be good but they had some problems or something

 

[Anoos]

There was a movie/mini television series ( it was two 1hour 30 min movie episode sort of things) made on XII (It's a game based on a comic but still). Was a decent watch, that and advent children, all the other ones i have seen have been pretty awful, though sometimes unintentionally hilarious.

 

[Altorin]

Capcom originally claimed that the movies were entirely non-cannon, but several games released since the movies have linked themselves to the movies, so who knows. They're not that bad.

Doom also wasn't that bad. Not the best movie, but one of the better game movies.

Mortal Kombat, while some consider it a travesty, has a cult following, although most consider the sequel absolute garbage.

Street Fighter the Movie.. I liked it. I wish the movie was based on a game with a bit more story built into the gameplay so that the screenwriter wouldn't be so ridiculously wrong, but it had fanservice out the wazoo, and I really enjoyed it. The new one has been pretty badly panned, and I didn't want to see it in the theater, so I haven't seen it yet, I'm not holding my breath.

Double Dragon - absolute garbage.

Super Mario Brothers - ditto, complete trash.

Tomb Raider wasn't that bad either. But I hated the games. So maybe a bad game makes a decent movie, and a great game makes a horrible movie.

Uwe Boll's movies Postal, Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, etc have been universally panned, and I see no reason to elevate them.

Dungeons and Dragons the movie was a LOL. It had the most bizarre ending I've ever seen in a film. I never saw the sequel, although it wasn't really a sequel from what I heard.

That's about it for Hollywood, and it's pretty dismal, but there are enough glimmers of hope for there to be a hope.

Squaresoft's movies were pretty bad, Spirits Within shouldn't have been called Final Fantasy, and it probably would have been a bit better, and Advent Children appealed only to diehard fans of 7, and some of those fans felt cheated by the storyline.

There are some independent films that have been pretty good. Movies like River City Ransom, which was apparently pretty awesome in a cheapo indy movie sort of way, and the new Mega Man movie that's in development looks absolutely awesome.

I'm holding out hope that one day there'll be a video game movie fad, like there was a comic book movie fad a few years back (still to this day even I guess, but I don't think it will last forever). Comic movies prior to the fad really starting up, were pretty lousy. There were gems, like Superman, and the original Batman, but as those movies got sequels, they got worse and worse, and the other movies of the genre were pretty horrible from the getgo.

The same thing will probably happen with video games. I'm hoping the Mega Man movie shows what a game movie CAN be, and I hope Hollywood is watching.

 

[Valiance]

I gave up a long time ago.

I went into Doom expecting it to be bad, but I didn't expect them to take all the footage in the commercial and stuff it into the last 8 minutes of the movie, while the first hour and a half was simply ripping off resident evil.

 

[UltimatheChosen]

Video game storylines are generally too episodic to fit well within a movie. There are a few that might work well as TV shows, however... maybe.

 

[chuckman1]

Yes I've given up on them.

 

[willard3]

doom sucked because they blamed the mutations on a genetic experiment instead of an inter-dimensional gateway to hell being opened up, damn you Hollywood.

This. They did touch briefly on Hell by

Spoiler

suggesting that the presence of evil in a person is responsible for whether they go psycho-mutant or become super-strong,

but it was more of a tease than anything.

I actually liked Max Payne, though it shouldn't have been advertised as an action film...it was most decidedly an action-drama, with more emphasis on the drama.

The Tomb Raider movies were at least fun, though wildly improbable and unrealistic.
Resident Evil 1 was meh, 2 was pretty good and in the spirit of the games I thought, and I haven't seen 3.

 

[Ridergurl10]

I actually kind of enjoy movies made from games
*ducks all objects thrown by people who think I'm nuts*
Seriously though, some of them are pretty entertaining, even if they are bad. I love the resident evil movies, basically because I wish I could kick ass like Alice. Also I thought Doom was entertaining, but I just like that kind of movie. I LOVED FF:Advent Children (hence my avatar). I will admit I never played FF:VII but the movie made me want to play.
Ok I will admit that some of them suck like Alone in the Dark and In the Name of the King (hmmm . . . I think they might have something in common . . . nah can't think of it, it must be a complete coincidence that they both sucked).

 

[Citrus]

I'm hoping that they don't completely destroy Prince of Persia at this point.

 

[Strain42]

I haven't given up entirely. I think every movie based on a video game has done at least one thing that I've liked. Whether it's a certain actor or taking a premise to a new unexpected location, stuff like that I suppose. But I've never walked out of a movie based on a game and added it to my top 5 movie list.

However, I actually really did like the Hitman movie.

And once I thought I really enjoyed the Metroid movie starring Uma Thurman...but then I woke up and realized that it didn't exist. It looked good in my head though

 

[Eric the Orange]

I'd given up on films based on games back when the Mario movie came out.

But hilarious(sp) To me is when they make games off of movies, that were based on games. Like for example Street Figher the Movie the Game.

 

[Aedwynn]

Gave up?

I never had any hope for them in the first place. I just hope that eventually, people will stop paying money to go and be disappointed by them - and Hollywood can go back to adapting comic books instead of trying out original ideas.

Ok... yeah, that was a bit bitter. Sorry. I just don't see the point of adapting everything into a new form of media. It just feels so redundant.

Mortal Kombat (the first one) was amusing. Thought the Resident Evil movies were okay, in a mindless entertainment kind of way. Can't think of any other computer game movies that I liked. I usually avoid 'em, though.

 

[Teh_Doomage]

I never have high hopes for movie tie in games, the only one I'm looking forward to isn't really a movie tie in more of...a sequel/retelling is Ghostbusters....

 

[willard3]

doom sucked because they blamed the mutations on a genetic experiment instead of an inter-dimensional gateway to hell being opened up, damn you Hollywood.

This. They did touch briefly on Hell by

Spoiler

suggesting that the presence of evil in a person is responsible for whether they go psycho-mutant or become super-strong,

but it was more of a tease than anything.

I actually liked Max Payne, though it shouldn't have been advertised as an action film...it was most decidedly an action-drama, with more emphasis on the drama.

The Tomb Raider movies were at least fun, though wildly improbable and unrealistic.
Resident Evil 1 was meh, 2 was pretty good and in the spirit of the games I thought, and I haven't seen 3.

yeah but the slight reference to evil doesn't stack up to the zombies being straight from hell, or the fact that there were more than one pinky.

I completely agree with you. The movie was largely a letdown, but they at least made a vague reference, as opposed to making it a 100% generic zombie movie.

Plus there was the Rock's classic line "Semper fi, ************!"