With video game technology reaching all time highs, the action in current big name video game titles is abundant. Hollywood realizes this, and wants to try and mimic this action on the big screen. Hopefully they can get it right this time, since they are all well aware that it has failed miserably in the past. A lot of people have rumored about Halo becoming a film, but a lot of my research has disproved that. I have seen a number of different release dates, and many different actors that will be in it. Also I have seen several different directors supposedly directing Halo, with even Speilburg being on the list. All of these uncertainties lead me to believe that the Halo film is probably not really in production. Its idea may be, but the film itself has not really taken off yet. So my research has led me to believe that there are 10, hopefully good, video game titles that will hit theaters prior to Halo.
Dead Space - "Set in deep space in the 26th Century, the thriller focuses on an engineer who responds to a distress signal from a mining ship, only to find it infested with monstrous creatures called Necromorphs, human corpses that have been re-animated by an alien virus. The engineer and his team retrofit most of their weapons from tools on the mining ship, and try to stay alive long enough to discover the "hive mind" that is controlling the creatures."
Bioshock - A huge xbox 360 original. The game has been out for several years, and a production deal has been signed. Although a script hasn't been written yet, this film will probably be in the big screens before Halo
The Sims - Obviously can be put onto the big screen, and hopefully well done too. The ideas are endless since it is just a family living together. This is a strangle title to be making into a film, but i think its mass popularity will help it. Even my Mother was addicted to The Sims!
Gears of War - Another massively popular title, with intense action. Several years ago, the action that is Gears of War couldn't be achieved without advanced technology like the xbox 360 and PS3 have to offer. With this newly found technology supporting such intense action, a movie like Gears of War would probably make a good appearance on the big screen.
World of Warcraft - Another huge title that everyone is familiar with. With someone like 10 million subscribers, people who pay monthly to play the game will definitely check the movie out. This movie will be similar to Lord of the Rings, with its setting being in medieval times. This is a for sure title, with Sam Raimi directing the movie after he is finished with Spider Man 4. This is a big chance for Hollywood with this huge title... hopefully they get this right!
Asteroids - Seems like a strange title for a movie... but at the same time it could work. Although the game doesn't offer much material for a film, it could still work with the right aspects. It will be directed by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. Di Bonaventura, "We've crafted a really strong, deep mythology for the thing. Without divulging too much about it, it's two lead characters – two brothers – who have to go through a seminal experience to figure out their relationship, against this huge backdrop."
inFAMOUS - Sheldon Turner from the Longest Yard will be in charge of this one. I do not have a good feeling about this title though. When Hollywood makes movies with people getting recently infused super powers, they don't seem to work very well. That Jumper movie that came out recently did not do very well at all, and it looks like this one holds the same premise aside from being based on a video game title.
Mass Effect - Story follows Commander Shepherd and his crew as they save alien species from the systematic eradication that a random species must face every 50,000 years from a pitiless mechanical foe. And a crusty bureaucracy stands in their way at every turn. This one does not look terribly exciting to me, but I keep seeing this title constantly reoccurring in my research.
Duke Nukem - ! Sweet! I used to play this title all the time as a kid. I probably shouldn't have been, but I dont think my parents knew what I was really playing. This will be a sweet title, with one exception. Hopefully they don't make Duke as cheesy as he is in the game. The action and story line is pretty sweet, and so are the characters and guns. Could definitely be a cool title.
Area 51 - An old game, a revolutionary one with its first person shooting. The screen play was originally started in 2007. "Set in the U.S. government's most top-secret military facility, storyline revolves around a hazardous materials specialist who is called in to investigate a viral outbreak that could be extra-terrestrial in nature."
All of these are upcoming titles, and all definitely look interesting. All of these should be checked out when they come out... and you heard about them from me first!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
A Shot at What I Believe Would Work
HALF LIFE, and eventually HALF LIFE 2! This game would be an excellent candidate for a movie. The main character Gordon Freeman, a Ph.D of chemical engineering from MIT, who is involved closely with the Black Mesa Facility. This facility is depicted as a vast series of underground research laboratories as well as surface constructions such as offices, chemical waste disposal plants, and personnel dormitories, all powered by a hydroelectric dam and connected by an advanced tram system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mesa_Research_Facility#Black_Mesa_Research_Facility). Obviously everything to awry at this facility, while Gordon Freeman is doing the hands on testing. It opens a portal and aliens and other goodies are released, along with the whole plant being destroyed. The object of the first half life is to escape the facility, but there are obviously a number of restrictions. Many tunnels have been destroyed, the tram system doesn't work as its supposed to, and the military has been sent in to cover up the whole disaster. These vague ideas are just enough for a great story line, and if done correctly would make an excellent film on the big screen.
I may have done a poor job describing the storyline of Half Life, and if you want a grossly detailed outlined storyline, visit this website. http://www.members.shaw.ca/halflifestory/timeline.htm
Half Life 2 would be an even better candidate, but half life the original sets a bit of background for the second. Half life 2 is a bit of a 1984 setting. Instead of trying to describe the whole story line myself, I have found a relatively in dept well written guide. "City 17 is the base of operations for the Combine on Earth, with its Citadel forming the headquarters of Wallace Breen, the human administrator for the Combine. The Citadel itself is an exceptionally tall structure of Combine design, reaching both deep underground and approximately 2.5 kilometers[8] into the clouds, forming an ominous presence in City 17's skyline. The Citadel serves as a reference point to help the player navigate, as well as providing a long-term goal to drive the player's action.[9] In Half-Life 2, the player initially arrives in City 17 by train but, after being discovered, flees the city via its canal system.[10] When the player returns later in the game, the city has been turned into a war zone as the citizens mount a full-scale rebellion against the Combine rule. The player eventually enters the Citadel itself to confront Breen, destroying the dark energy reactor and teleporter at the top of the Citadel. This proceeds to destabilize the Citadel's main reactor, which the player, accompanied by Alyx Vance, must temporarily stabilize in Episode One to allow for the population to be evacuated. The Combine try to accelerate the Citadel's collapse to send a message to their native dimension, requesting reinforcements. The Citadel eventually explodes at the end of Episode One, destroying City 17 and forming a super portal to the Combine dimension which the player must work to collapse in Episode Two.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_life_2)"
A plot for two video games this detailed is just begging to be made into a film. This idea hasn't been touched on too much by film, if you look closely at the story line. It does follow a bit of a cliche sci-fi movie idea, but I believe in the details is what would really differentiate this film from other failures. The futuristic ideas of 1984 were briefly hit on by V for Vendetta, and that was the main reason it had its success. If the half life series were given a shot on the big screen, I believe it would do much better than any previous overpowering government propaganda.
Good and Bad!
Movie studios have always looked to video games for film ideas. If a video game was so popular, why can't it work on the big screen? With nearly 30 years to crack the formula, Hollywood still hasn't managed to tame this beast. Many game to film transitions have yet to work, ET for example in an earlier post, Jaws, Super Mario, and Street Fighter as other examples. There have been a few decent films, and I think this blog has yet to regard the rare good films. Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, and Silent Hill all did relatively well.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - This is, perhaps, the best movie ever inspired by a video game. Granted, that's a short list with cruddy company, but Lara Croft: Tomb Raider stands out among today's action movies in general. Lara is a unique heroine with just enough of a comic-book flair to make her interesting without going too far over the top, which is crucial in the transition from game to film. The James Bond and Indiana Jones combo works very well in the spirit of the game series, and that vibe translates very well onto the screen with Ms. Jolie in the part. This movie remains true in essence to the source material while still delivering an engaging story. Angelina is wonderful in her portrayal of the ferocious and sensual Lara Croft, and she is fun to look at! She breathes life into Lara's polygonal origins, and nice for Angelina that she gets to work with her dad.
Mortal Kombat - This film may have not been great in the critical sense of film study. The time invested in producing this movie, and the skill of the actors/actresses is what made this film a good watch. The martial arts in this movie are particularly interesting, as there were many highly trained martial artists in this film. The story is told quite well, and the film in general is based highly on martial arts.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - This was an excellent film, although it was completely animated. I think the animation portion was necessary, at least from doing research, to fully illustrate the things needed to make this film. There are many scenes are fights that would have been extremely difficult to reenact with actual actors and actresses. The only bad part about this film is if you have not played through the game itself, the movie is a bit pointless. The movie itself is not long, and bases heavily off the storyline of the game. If you're not familiar with the actual storyline of the game, you will be incredibly lost throughout the duration of the movie. The only good part will be the action scenes and the beautiful cinematics, which I believe would still be worth watching.
Resident Evil - Another example of a well done transition from game to film. The resident evil series is based heavily on suspense and puzzle solving. Only one of these two really work in film. The suspense in this film is what makes it work well, and gladly there is not someone walking around a mansion for 2 hours solving puzzles. The actors and actresses do a good job with the overall acting, which is a downfall for many video game movies, since the budget is not usually that great. With a poor reputation from video games to film, it is hard to find the proper funding, which is another reason perhaps the switch does not work that well. Resident evil did a good job of this, without just throwing zombies in your face with a side of poor acting. Good film all in all.
Silent Hill - This movie was crazy! Moved a bit from the game story line and the end was a bit cheesy, but definitely a thriller and will keep your attention. The movie opens with music lifted straight from the game itself - in fact, the entire movie contains original tracks from the game as well as some remixed score. This was a very nice touch, as it kept the movie to its roots even though the story line itself underwent a bit of a change. Aside from the story line changing, the visuals held on to the game quite well. The main villain in it, a huge pick carrying "thing" (for lack of a better word), was recreated beautifully! Some of the other enemies of the game were put into the movie quite well, the little girl without her mouth, and the contorted body all added to the horror and suspense of the film.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - This is, perhaps, the best movie ever inspired by a video game. Granted, that's a short list with cruddy company, but Lara Croft: Tomb Raider stands out among today's action movies in general. Lara is a unique heroine with just enough of a comic-book flair to make her interesting without going too far over the top, which is crucial in the transition from game to film. The James Bond and Indiana Jones combo works very well in the spirit of the game series, and that vibe translates very well onto the screen with Ms. Jolie in the part. This movie remains true in essence to the source material while still delivering an engaging story. Angelina is wonderful in her portrayal of the ferocious and sensual Lara Croft, and she is fun to look at! She breathes life into Lara's polygonal origins, and nice for Angelina that she gets to work with her dad.
Mortal Kombat - This film may have not been great in the critical sense of film study. The time invested in producing this movie, and the skill of the actors/actresses is what made this film a good watch. The martial arts in this movie are particularly interesting, as there were many highly trained martial artists in this film. The story is told quite well, and the film in general is based highly on martial arts.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - This was an excellent film, although it was completely animated. I think the animation portion was necessary, at least from doing research, to fully illustrate the things needed to make this film. There are many scenes are fights that would have been extremely difficult to reenact with actual actors and actresses. The only bad part about this film is if you have not played through the game itself, the movie is a bit pointless. The movie itself is not long, and bases heavily off the storyline of the game. If you're not familiar with the actual storyline of the game, you will be incredibly lost throughout the duration of the movie. The only good part will be the action scenes and the beautiful cinematics, which I believe would still be worth watching.
Resident Evil - Another example of a well done transition from game to film. The resident evil series is based heavily on suspense and puzzle solving. Only one of these two really work in film. The suspense in this film is what makes it work well, and gladly there is not someone walking around a mansion for 2 hours solving puzzles. The actors and actresses do a good job with the overall acting, which is a downfall for many video game movies, since the budget is not usually that great. With a poor reputation from video games to film, it is hard to find the proper funding, which is another reason perhaps the switch does not work that well. Resident evil did a good job of this, without just throwing zombies in your face with a side of poor acting. Good film all in all.
Silent Hill - This movie was crazy! Moved a bit from the game story line and the end was a bit cheesy, but definitely a thriller and will keep your attention. The movie opens with music lifted straight from the game itself - in fact, the entire movie contains original tracks from the game as well as some remixed score. This was a very nice touch, as it kept the movie to its roots even though the story line itself underwent a bit of a change. Aside from the story line changing, the visuals held on to the game quite well. The main villain in it, a huge pick carrying "thing" (for lack of a better word), was recreated beautifully! Some of the other enemies of the game were put into the movie quite well, the little girl without her mouth, and the contorted body all added to the horror and suspense of the film.
An Interview
Video Game Culture:
Video Games On Film
* What are some qualities that make a successful movie based on a video game?
* What are some qualities that make a successful video game based on a movie?
* What are some influential movies based on video games?
* What are some of the best movies based on video games?
* What are some of the worst movies based on video games?
* What are some of the best video games based on movies?
* What are some of the worst video games based on movies?
* Will the video game and movie industries continue to be intertwined?
* How will video games and movies interact in the future?
Interview asking all of these questions, an attempt to answer all of them. A very good attempt at that, definitely a necessity to watch this video if the transition between films and video game is to be understood.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A Classic Example: ET
ET has been rated the worst video game of all time, from a number of different sources. Its not just the pointless gameplayer that really brings this game down, its the fact that the games actually broken!
ET is an adventure game, with the object of collecting three pieces of an interplanetary telephone. This phone is of course used for ET to phone home, like the movie. Three pieces need to be collected in order to make the call. The whole time the player is searching for the phone pieces, an energy bar is depleting. This energy bar is refilled by eating Reese's pieces. When the phone is finally collected and the ship called, the game just restarts. The only difference is the placement of the telephone parts. This repeats until the energy bar is depleted, or the gamer undoubtedly quits.
This game has been rated by several different critics as the worst game ever created. ET doesn't really illustrate why the transition from games into film doesn't work though. ET was in a licensing feud between who would get the make the game. Atari won after a long battle, and the final ET name wasn't owned by atari till late July of 1982. The game was still to be finished in time for the holiday season. This left the designers roughly 4 months to finish an entire video game. ET was to be released in arcades too, but the rush to release just the Atari version turned out to be too much to also release an arcade version. This has got to be the main reason this game did so terrible, which still leave me asking the question - Why can't film make it to the media of video games? Hopefully we can answer that question
P.S. While doing a little research I came across a cool bit of info on the ET game. Supposedly Atari had an enormous number of copies (nobody knows for sure) of ET buried in a landfill in El Paso, Texas. Shows just how well this game sold!!
RIP ET!!!
A welcome
I figure this first entry should be a bit about the point of this blog. I want to talk about the transition of video games into film and vice versa. Generally, video games into film don't work very well, and some of the worst games every created have been based on movies. I know these are broad assumptions and presuppositions, but if you give me the time of day and read a bit more, I think you will start to understand why these two medias do not flush together very well. The research I have done will be poured into this blog, and hopefully your argument will begin to look a bit like mine, and perhaps we will share the same ideas! Enjoy.
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