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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?

#221

Post by robryan »

dtech wrote: post #151
mozumder wrote: post #141

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

First movie was pretty good, second was solid, then they went downhill from there. I didn’t hate the last one but that is definitely a case of coming in with very low expectations and having then slightly beaten.

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

#222

Post by dmix »

egypturnash wrote: post #189
emodendroket wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of those premises sound fine though. Jean Claude Va Damme mad three different movies with the plot of Bloodsport, which in the first place wasn't much different from Enter the Dragon. Plenty of people enjoyed them. On the other hand, Rampage seems like something that's hard to work into a movie.

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.

>That's a pretty good B-movie plot.

It can be good... in the right hands.

We're all debating various complex semantics when the only thing that ultimately really matters is talent... who ultimately is in control of these building blocks. Talent with the director, talent with the screenplay, talent with the acting, etc.

There has been plenty of dumb plots, stories, concepts, etc that have been turned into great movies by talented people. Reservoir Dogs, Clerks 1, Napoleon Dynamite, The Abyss, etc would all sound dumb, boring, or cliche on paper, but were made highly watchable by talented film makers working in their prime.

Just like startups, the only thing that matters is people, not how clever your original idea is. You could have the perfect movie idea, which many big budget have had (which translate well into trailers and per-release marketing), but turn out to be awful once it's turned into the 1.5hr+ long final product.

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

#223

Post by this_user »

BosunoB wrote: post #146

Hot take: 95% of major releases are bad. So if we get up to 20 video game movies and there still isn't a good one, then maybe we can let ourselves think there's a problem.

The reality of the situation is that the big studios are not trying to make good movies, they are trying to make movies that make the most money. As a result, scripts are created by committee and according to what market researchers say will maximise the potential audience. In the end, you have have an endless stream of incredibly formulaic blockbusters. Take the Marvel MCU as an example: Most of these movies are pretty run-of-the-mill, but they are printing money. Same goes for the latest Star Wars movies. None of those were terribly inspired, but they were never meant to be. Disney played it safe, because they knew they would make a ton of money that way.

At the other end of the spectrum you have something like "Blade Runner 2049", which was a great movie with a large budget, but it basically bombed at the box office. It's easy to see why studios are hesitant to take risks with projects like that.

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

#224

Post by gknoy »

omg_ketchup wrote: post #140
gknoy wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that, like Mars Attacks and Starship Troopers, it's a movie that one benefitted a lot from expecting a B- or C, and being pleasantly surprised by a B (or B+)-ish experience.

Starship Troopers was an A+ movie masquerading as a B movie.

As someone who read the novel after seeing the movie, I can see why people who loved the book were disappointed by the movie. The movie, to me, was a hilarious parody of a propaganda-heavy war machine (which might also be why I find Warhammer 40k's Ciaphas Cain novels so funny).

That might be one of the first times that I learned to enjoy both a movie and a book separately, even if the movie is (objectively) a poor portrayal of what was in the book. Now, I actively enjoy things like that, which are faithful in only a few of the dimensions of the original.

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

#225

Post by baddox »

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…

I think you overlook the importance of execution in filmmaking. Especially for genre films (which most video game movies would probably be), the premise (the “why?”) isn’t really that important, and even the thinnest premise is possible to execute well.

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

#226

Post by canada_dry »

avar wrote: post #25

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. Se…

This.

I'd suggest it was the exception to the rule. Sure, it's not Oscar material, but it was a thoroughly well made movie - and the ratings support this.

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

#227

Post by nhebb »

BosunoB wrote: post #146

Hot take: 95% of major releases are bad. So if we get up to 20 video game movies and there still isn't a good one, then maybe we can let ourselves think there's a problem.

Well, I wish I knew what the 5% are. Maybe I've grown too cynical, but I'd struggle name more than a half dozen movies I've liked in the last 5 years. I did like the first Hitman movie, though, so it's not like I have refined taste.

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

#228

Post by dragonwriter »

omg_ketchup wrote: post #140
gknoy wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that, like Mars Attacks and Starship Troopers, it's a movie that one benefitted a lot from expecting a B- or C, and being pleasantly surprised by a B (or B+)-ish experience.

Starship Troopers was an A+ movie masquerading as a B movie.

> Starship Troopers was an A+ movie masquerading as a B movie.

Starship Troopers was a C- bit of social commentary masquerading as a an adaptation of a work to which the creator of the film was hostile without reading.

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

#230

Post by jkingsbery »

irrational wrote: post #41
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…

Hmm, I don't play video games, but I do play board games. People that play board games say the same thing - you don't play a board game for the theme, you play it for the gameplay or the game mechanics (though a fun theme doesn't hurt).

"Settlers of Catan: the Movie"...

Any takers?

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