Why Can't Hollywood Make a Good Video Game Movie? • Hacker News Board

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

#341

Post by sp332 » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 4:59 PM UTC

ByThyGrace wrote: post #316

sp332 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That Dragon, Cancer; Portal 2; Grim Fandango; Her Story; What Remains of Edith Finch; The Vanishing of Ethan Carter; Papers, Please And just to make the point: the only games on this list I have played and finished are Portal 2 and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. The others, I either know of the story because people liked it so much I learned it second-hand, or the gameplay was so boring that I just quit halfway throu…

Papers, Please doesn't have a story per se, only a setting. You don't really beat the game, you just get one of several different endings which depend on more than just making mistakes and playing "badly". Getting a "bad" ending doesn't count as losing the game. But that's what makes it perfect for an adaptation (for a different reason you were arguing about). Its movie script won't break a plot that doesn't exist, w…

Yeah, but the incident that interrupts you early on (level 3?) in Papers, Please is pretty famous. You're right that "story" is not the only interesting criterion, because some games make scenarios where lots of interesting stories can play out, and others just evoke make a mood/vibe without much of a story going on. Those would also be good options for movie adaptations.

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

#342

Post by __david__ » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

unethical_ban wrote: post #197

__david__ wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doom could have better. They gratuitously changed the plot, which is funny because Doom has practically zero plot at all. And they managed to change it without improving it in the slightest—for the purposes of the movie, they could have easily gone with the "opened a portal to hell" and the rest of the movie would have been the same. Their changes were really dumb and completely pointless which was really frustrating…

The first person part was harmless and was a call out to the game. It was fun.

I thought it was embarrassing, poorly done, and not fun at all. And I love first person shooters.

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

#343

Post by Digit-Al » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 6:11 PM UTC

jonhendry18 wrote: post #339

bonesss wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a bit of a tortured example: Boba Fett was highly popular, a named character, and was featured in literature and promotional materials. Mass Effect has no character remotely as iconic or well established as Boba Fett, much less a side character, much less "a different angle". Star Was illustrates my point quite nicely: after a couple decades of world building they're already plumbing diminishing returns in one…

"I have high hopes for the Han Solo prequel, but Disney isn't putting money behind "alternative" Star Wars narratives until the nostalgia well is tapped, and even then they're going full-court on a trilogy." Um, Rogue One?

Rogue One is not an "alternative" Star Wars narrative - it's linked very strongly to the original story.

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

#344

Post by salatschussel » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 6:16 PM UTC

chvid wrote: post #29

Wreck-it Ralph is a good movie. And so was the first Resident Evil movie.

Wreck-it is not a video game movie in the sense that it adapts the original storyline of a video game to a movie, it is a movie about characters living in a video game. It is good though.

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

#345

Post by jonhendry18 » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 6:25 PM UTC

Digit-Al wrote: post #343

jonhendry18 wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I have high hopes for the Han Solo prequel, but Disney isn't putting money behind "alternative" Star Wars narratives until the nostalgia well is tapped, and even then they're going full-court on a trilogy." Um, Rogue One?

Rogue One is not an "alternative" Star Wars narrative - it's linked very strongly to the original story.

Yes, but unless I'm mistaken it's largely new characters.

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

#346

Post by mywittyname » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 6:59 PM UTC

sametmax wrote: post #322

Lewton wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you ever play New Vegas? It got a lot closer to the magic of fallout 1+2

Nope, but I've been told the same about to many things I have a hard time believing advices on modern games now.

NV is widely considered to be the best neo Fallout. Additionally, people seem to prefer either FO3 or NV, but rarely both. So if you found FO3 lacking (as I did), then it's likely you'll enjoy NV.

With the caveat that it's a nine year old game at this point.

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

#347

Post by hinkley » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 9:32 PM UTC

Bluestrike2 wrote: post #259

sirmarksalot wrote: post #44

So many video game movie projects are missing the simple question, "why?" So many of these games are inspired by movies in the first place, and their stories are mostly just cliches based on their source material. It's fine in the context of the game, because the player is doing something, but when you put that into a non-interactive medium, the flaws become obvious. If you take Indiana Jones, turn it into a game wit…

What's really interesting is that there are a number of video game franchises with nuanced backstories that have spawned successful and surprisingly well-written novels. So it's definitely possible to take a video game and turn it into a book. And there are plenty of books that get turned into excellent movies or TV shows (of course, there are plenty that get turned into bad ones, FWIW). Books like Eric Nylund's Halo…

When adapting a book the set and costume designers, directors of photography, casting and special effects have a lot of flexibility to collaborate on the tone and feel of the movie.

In a video game situation most of these people need to look at the game and build a world that looks like it’s ripped from the game, or the fans get cranky. But once the director does this, isn’t he/she tainted by the source material?

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

#348

Post by romwell » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 9:47 PM UTC

mipmap04 wrote: post #203

romwell wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The game was of no interest to me, but I enjoyed watching Milla Jovovich running around, and the slice-n-dice scene was pretty memorable. I was about to bring this movie up as a counter-example, but I guess the opinions on this are very much split.

The last entry into the franchise was abysmal. I shouldn't be this bored by a zombie movie!

Ah, that's the folly! I wasn't even really aware of the franchise (movie-wise).

As with many other franchises, the follow-ups aren't worth watching.

It's always refreshing to see movie directors make a great movie that has a potential for mediocre sequels, but not give in to that temptation (e.g. Matrix).

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

#349

Post by FooHentai » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 10:04 PM UTC

ionised wrote: post #324

dfxm12 wrote: post #26

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…

> Mostly because videogame plot lines aren't as good as we give them credit for. I wouldn't agree with that. Sure, AAA-level blockbuster video games have simplistic, unoriginal and derivative stories and that's what most gamers play unfortunately, but there well-written games are definitely out there. Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 were both better written than any Star Wars movie by a long stretch. Planescape:…

Agree, and on top of that isn't it interesting that the more successful game movie adaptations are in those areas where the game plot was thin or non-existent. Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter both fit into that - Little to no plot for the games, then movies come along and are probably successful because they're not so constrained.

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

#350

Post by strangecasts » Thu, Apr 12, 2018, 10:49 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #171

coldtea wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such as? Besides adventures games Infocom or Sierra style and their descendants...

That Dragon, Cancer; Portal 2; Grim Fandango; Her Story; What Remains of Edith Finch; The Vanishing of Ethan Carter; Papers, Please And just to make the point: the only games on this list I have played and finished are Portal 2 and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. The others, I either know of the story because people liked it so much I learned it second-hand, or the gameplay was so boring that I just quit halfway throu…

Papers, Please actually did get adapted as a short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFHHGETsxkE

IMO it's an example of how to do a game-movie adaptation right: it gets both the mechanics and the themes of the game across effectively, and it uses the medium to set up scenes that would be hard to convey in the original game (e.g. the moment after Elisa leaves)