Live data from Hacker News

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

washingtonpost.com

351–357 of 357 posts

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

#351
my personal feeling with Hollywood today is that they probably can't show something new.

It seems that every corner in this medium has been covered and faded it shine(?)

I'm afraid that knowing this, they seeked to explore new grounds like games and comics books, nevermind that it basically the same story but utilizing the special effects to attract young audience.

So i think it's not just video game movies, imo it's the whole medium struggling to stay relevant.

knowing this, i keep my eyes on the black and white movies. they don't try to impress, they're simple and easy to follow and the actors are really great.

one of my favorites is Buster keaton, the greatest stuntman ever imo.

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

#352
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of Paul W.S. Anderson video-game movies are entertaining AF. Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Alien vs Predator. ALL well crafted & inspired movies. They're not going to win Cannes Palm d'Or, but they will hit the spot.

> well crafted & inspired movies. Applying those words to the Resident Evil sequels surely is some form of crime against humanity

I didn't apply them to the sequels. I applied them to the Paul W.S. Anderson movie.

Directors pretty much define the quality of the movies, so it's more important to follow them instead of the franchise itself.

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

#353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I still play the original game boy mario sometime. 9 years old is ok.

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

#354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When i think about Mass Effect, what comes to mind are these long sequences in the Citadel where you do nothing more than talk, learning about the biology, technology qnd geopolitics of the game's universe. I don't think this kind of content would fit a blockbuster movie, and without it what remains is a bunch of space marines shooting aliens.

I view Mass Effect as KOTOR without a Star Wars license. It has always felt to me like Bioware wanted a parallel universe to a popular universe, one they could have creative control over. Kind of like Warcraft was basically Warhammer without license and Starcraft feels in many ways similar to WH40k.

Warcraft and Starcraft are similar to Warhammer and Warhammer 40000 only at the superficial level of having several races and cultures fighting a multilateral war. Races are similar, but generic and traditional; space marines and hive-mind insectoid aliens, for example, are an old standard of science fiction (Starship Troopers has both). The more peculiar elements of the settings, on the other hand, are vastly different, particularly the basic conflict: crowded races and invasions, with peaceful and deranged people on all sides, in Warcraft and Starcraft, feel very different from the fanatical mutual destruction effort of the Emperor and the Chaos Gods of Warhammer and Warhammer 40000.

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

#355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It also runs nicely under Wine (helped by being old), meaning you can play it under Linux and macOS if you are interested in doing that.

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

#356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rampage's plot: "Three people are turned into giant monsters and start destroying cities." That's a pretty good B-movie plot. Do a good job making the rubber monster suits and that's half the film right there.

Are you both aware that Rampage is now an actual movie? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampage_(2018_film)

Yes, I know.

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

#357
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with the "mostly", without some quantified support. Unless you mean that most of the games selected are substandard stories, but I didn't see a list of the 35 mentioned. I would posit that perhaps the filtration system of making a wide audience film has more impact on how the screenplay is adapted and I haven't noticed that being discussed.

> disagree with the "mostly", without some quantified support Yes, it's not merely "mostly", it's nearly all. Except if we talk about some old-style adventure games (and even those aren't any narrative masterpieces either, they barely make it into "adult fiction" level), video games are just some very basic plot skeleton -- as opposed to a plot. If they have nuance and atmosphere, that's in their visual, audio and in…

So you're pointing out that Tetris, Asteroids, and Angry Birds don't have plot and narration?

Taking a complete list of every interactive program that qualifies as a video game and saying 99% of them don't have a plot seems similar to saying 99% of books don't have a narrative or plot.

Perhaps I should have been more specific, but I thought the parameter of -games that were intended to actually narrate a story- was heavily implied in this thread.

Post reply on HN