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Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

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Re: Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

#21

Post by jandrese »

lihes wrote: post #2

It's very simple: those two are not the same media. A movie, a book are made to tell a story. A video game is made for playing, not for telling a story. They should stop adapting video games, it's pointless.

I remember back in the day the Final Fantasy 7 trailers had a voiceover that went something like: "Dozens of characters, hundreds of locations, a plot spanning 40 hours, they said it couldn't be done in a movie, they were right."

Lots of games tell stories these days. There's no fundamental reason those stories couldn't be adopted to the silver screen. Of course many of these stories aren't really very good, but the same can also be said of any medium. There are elements that might not translate, but that's true of any adaptation. For instance Bioshock's infamous "Would you kindly" plot point won't come though the same way in a movie.

Re: Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

#22

Post by jandrese »

jakebasile wrote: post #13

There have been good video game movies, but the number is vanishingly small. Many are "so bad it's good" such as anything Uwe Boll makes, but there are a couple that seem to be created by directors who genuinely love the source material and take it in interesting directions (e.g. the first Silent Hill film, the first Resident Evil film, arguably Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within). Also, Mortal Kombat (1995) is a good…

I suggest not going back and watching Mortal Kombat again if you want to retain your memories of it being a good film.

Maybe it's best just to listen to the soundtrack instead.

Re: Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

#23

Post by krakaan »

jandrese wrote: post #21
lihes wrote: post #2

It's very simple: those two are not the same media. A movie, a book are made to tell a story. A video game is made for playing, not for telling a story. They should stop adapting video games, it's pointless.

I remember back in the day the Final Fantasy 7 trailers had a voiceover that went something like: "Dozens of characters, hundreds of locations, a plot spanning 40 hours, they said it couldn't be done in a movie, they were right." Lots of games tell stories these days. There's no fundamental reason those stories couldn't be adopted to the silver screen. Of course many of these stories aren't really very good, but the…

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children might interest you.

Re: Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

#24

Post by ebbv »

jakebasile wrote: post #13

There have been good video game movies, but the number is vanishingly small. Many are "so bad it's good" such as anything Uwe Boll makes, but there are a couple that seem to be created by directors who genuinely love the source material and take it in interesting directions (e.g. the first Silent Hill film, the first Resident Evil film, arguably Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within). Also, Mortal Kombat (1995) is a good…

Kinda cheating to call the Spirits Within a video game movie. It was titled Final Fantasy but was a wholly unique story and new characters and everything.

Re: Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

#25

Post by avar »

The 2016 Warcraft movie doesn't count? It got a 77% audience score, and a 27% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, grossed almost half a billion, and is the highest grossing video game movie of all time[1].

I watched it out of a sheer morbid curiosity, and haven't played any Warcraft title newer than II: Tides of Darkness. I thought the movie was crap.

But maybe I and critics just aren't the audience for these movies. Seems most people who saw it liked it. Doesn't that make it at least "Good"?

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_video_g...

Re: Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

#26

Post by dfxm12 »

Mostly because videogame plot lines aren't as good as we give them credit for. Videogames are great at being interactive diversions, but their stories leave a lot to be desired and are really just thin background dressing for the real reason we play videogames: for the gameplay.

The most successful videogame movies tend towards genre films like Mortal Kombat (the film) and Resident Evil (the series).

Of course, let's not forget that it can be hard to make a good movie, period.

Re: Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

#27

Post by maxerickson »

ebbv wrote: post #14

This is an easy answer I’m sure I’ve given on here before; when you adapt a book to a movie you have an excess of story and character development. You boil it down to its essential ingredients. Sometimes it still turns out bad but this is why book adaptations are far more successful than video hames. Video games get away with a lot less plot and character development because of their interactive nature and because th…

Yeah I think that's the crux of it.

The "Doom" movie is arguably an excellent adaptation of the video game. But that doesn't make for much of a movie.

Re: Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie?

#28

Post by umjames »

Not just video game movies, but also movies based on books about video games.

Having read Ready Player One and then seeing the movie, it's like they didn't even try to capture what made the book successful. The book had clues that were hard for the characters to figure out, but in the movie, it was basically trivial for them.

They should have done 3 movies, each one focusing on obtaining a single key and opening its respective gate. It would have left plenty of room for character development and the underlying love story that are in the book. They could have been Netflix movies too.

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