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What Game Would You Like To Be Turned Into A (Good) Movie?
With the release of Uwe Boll's latest masterpiece it had me thinking of what games I would like to see turned into a movie (a good movie – let's just assume it would be good).
So my question this week is, “What game would you like to be turned into a (good) movie?”
It is rare that a movie will improve or surpass their source material, but it is possible as seen in the Lord of the Rings movies. (Yes I know that the books are still better, but seeing Tolkien’s world come to live on the Sliver Screen was something to behold … and Gollum was incredible.)
This question is pretty tricky because I have to honestly say that most games I think are probably better than any movie they could make. The recently released Mass Effect and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune I could argue are interactive movies. However, one game I would love to see turned into a movie would be Bioshock. Not only do I think this could be a great movie with a rich story, interesting characters, and the fantastic Rapture, but it’s actually “normal” enough that I can see a mainstream Hollywood director taking it on. In fact, if Spielberg released a movie which took place in the Bioshock universe – and the game never existed – I don’t think anyone would find it any stranger than his past films.
Of course, what I would really love is to see someone take on Guitar Hero (how would they do that?) or Tetris (ditto) or even Super Mario Galaxy. Hum, on second thought, maybe I wouldn’t want to see that. I still have nightmares about the last Super Mario Bros. movie.
What about you? What game would you like to be seen turned into a good movie?
KOTOR, NWNII, Oblivion, and Chicken Invaders. :)
Posted by GamerMommy at January 21, 2008 11:55 PMoh yeah...and the Syberia's.
Posted by GamerMommy at January 21, 2008 11:58 PMI can see ICO being a great indy film. Dialogue expressed more in emotions and facial expressions than in words. It would be one of those surreal movies, like Memento or Pi.
On the more mainstream level, I can see the Phoenix Wright series being made into a movie, combining a courtroom drama with a little paranormal.
Lastly, on the standpoint of pure comedy... Portal. Enough said.
Ah speaking of ICO, even Shadow of the Colossus would be rather epic.
Posted by Steven Mills at January 22, 2008 12:58 AMHoly Moses! Someone else has played Syberia! Yes those games would make a fantastic movie.
Hey how about someone picks up our Superpower story in the forum and makes it a movie, that would be nice! Har har har!
Posted by PatMan33 at January 22, 2008 1:27 AMMetal Gear Solid 1 would make a great movie IMO..
Take a few bosses out, keep otacon and meryl... Keep the helicopter battle and the fight with Sniper Wolf... Would be awesome if you could find the right Snake... Hey maybe David Hayter himself could do it?
Posted by Michael at January 22, 2008 1:49 AMThe Longest Journey would be an epic movie. The story is compelling and when the characters are convincing life versions, and events & situations are scripted and organized well there is much potential.
You just need good devotion for this movie because the ideas and background lore and spirit of the world (worlds) need to be transformed well for newcomers and fans to like the many symbolisms of this game.
If they make Aapril this convincing as in the game ? Lots of women will like this movie and identify with the sci-fi part :)
They could maybe make a 3 hour movie of this: but probably a miniseries would be better (if you do that right you can leaves each episode with increasing suspense, just like the game chapters are.)
Posted by CosmicD at January 22, 2008 2:57 AMWing Commander IV. Ignoring the original Wing Commander movie totally. (I thought it was a fun movie... but it was no Wing Commander.) Anyway! Wing Commander IV was practically an interactive movie already, but it's one of the few games I've played through multiple times just to see the story again. (Knights of the Old Republic and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past are the others, but I don't think either of those would make good movies.)
Posted by Fobok at January 22, 2008 3:58 AMPlanescape: Torment would be awesome if done right. Although there's so much material in there nothing short of a series of episodes would be enough to do justice to the game.
Posted by Sonny at January 22, 2008 5:23 AMEternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem would rock as a movie, especially if they included the insanity effects towards the end. Imagine a cinema full of people suddenly thinking that bugs were crawling on the screen, only to have them disappear in the next shot.
The Chzo Mythos would make one of the most kickass series of films ever.
Primal could work. Strong heroine character with cute/funny sidekick who (spoiler warning) ends up as a huge warrior gargoyle.
Posted by Adam at January 22, 2008 6:07 AM!!HALF LIFE SIERIES!!
and i'm VERY surprised no one said that allready.. common guys.. talking about GREAT characters.. compeling and mystirios story.. you will be glued to the screen just to end up wanting another one.. (resaulting in 4 years of shooting, in the middle of which a version will be stolen and distributed, then a tv show started to have "shooting time reduced")
Common.. there is going to be a HALO movie.. and HALF LIFE is better on so much levels.. so just make that half life clasic and be over it ;)
Posted by kost at January 22, 2008 9:07 AMMyth : The Fallen Lords!
The best real time tactical game ever made and also has a huge story typical to all other Bungie games
Ah good ol' Legendary Frog already thought about the idea of a tetris movie.
http://onering.legendaryfrog.com/movies_or3_w.php
When it goes to the menu, hit trailers and watch the "Deleted Movie Trailer"
Posted by Met at January 22, 2008 10:19 AMA movie of the game of E.T. would certainly be interesting. An hour and a half of watching a rubber alien fall in pits.
On a more serious note a movie of Dungeon Keeper could be very interesting if done correctly. The viewpoint of the badguys is underpresented in fiction ;)
Posted by Krakow Sam at January 22, 2008 10:35 AMPlanescape: Torment, if it hadn't been for Memento. Fallout and S.T.A.L.K.E.R -- both would also make excellent TV-series.
Posted by Inglorion at January 22, 2008 10:46 AMBioshock is a great example of a potential game-to-movie success. To further that, any of the "Shock" games (SS1, SS2) would make for a great storyline. Now the whole rogue AI thing is probably passe by now, but SHODAN is really creepy and even the worst adaptation of System Shock would oust crap horror movies right out of the picture.
Another good one would be some of the old Lucasarts games like Grim Fandango or Full Throttle. Monkey Island, etc. '
And I agree that the Half-Life series would be incredible. Maybe even a Portal reference or two. The cake is a lie.
Posted by Tr0n at January 22, 2008 11:09 AMIn order of preference:
Warhammer 40,000
Prince of Persia (which is already going to be made I think)
Metal Gear (not Solid... those are practically movies already)
Half-Life series
Catan (like Pirates of the Carribean or Ocean's 11... a movie that captures the cutthroat strategies)
Inglorion, thanks for reminding me..
indeed - fallout would be realy great as a tv series as long as the quality of the production is high.. :)
kost.
Posted by kost at January 22, 2008 11:26 AMOh, dur, Myst!
Posted by PatMan33 at January 22, 2008 11:55 AMGod of War.
As long as they pick a new good actor, and not Vin Diesel and/or the Rock and/or that Olyphant guy they used in Hitman.
It's a tale about revenge served as hot as Hades. It has great story telling.
But, as with all videogame to movie thingies, seeing is believing.
Posted by DoggySpew at January 22, 2008 12:30 PMI'd like to see Blood Omen: The Legacy of Kain distilled to the interesting bits. Admittedly, its cut-scenes are basically the movie, but it is an intriguing story line, especially with the columns and the dead Oracle and such. Also, knowing the direction of Soul Reaver series ahead of time would help. I love sequels that completely turn the original upside-down, and Soul Reaver does that!
Posted by Robert Gauss at January 22, 2008 12:41 PMSplinter Cell Series - The Demise of Sam Fisher
Total Overdose: Chan-like action with some Latin Rapper
Monkey Island Series, naturally a Pixar movie
Zak Mc Kracken, produced with dolls like Team America
and of course, and no one mentioned it before:
Any Grand Theft Auto Game!
(ok, they relate to movies themselves, but CJ's story for example would be great stuff for a major motion picture, or what?)
Why would you need a good actor to play Kratos in a God of War movie? That's as generic as they come minus guns. Vin Diesel is a perfect fit, and it'd be a good action flick with uber special effects, just like the game is a standard 3rd person action game with good graphics.
All these open world RPGs are a terrible idea. That only works in a videogame. Seriously, KOTOR? It's already been done. It's called STAR WARS!!!
A good movie adaption would most easily be done via a linear, dialogue heavy AAA game with a unique premise. Bioshock certainly has that potential, as does Uncharted.
Posted by Sander at January 22, 2008 1:41 PMXCOM - UFO Defense
Pirates!
minesweeper: the movie!
the trailer is already on youtube! i mean, c'mon! this could be a classic!
Posted by xenomorph at January 22, 2008 2:57 PMZack Mackraken and the alien mindbenders from lucasarts
it's an old click and point adventure
it's got aliens from space, martian pyramids, a love story, a two headed squirl and the king who is not dead yet.
These ingredients should have it all to make it, into a movie
Posted by Beneke at January 22, 2008 3:10 PMSander, *OBVIOUSLY* KOTOR is an extension of the Star Wars franchise (based on several already-made movies). But the story and characters in the video game differ from the storyline of the existing movies enough, and I found them interesting enough, that they could make good movies on their own. Steve was asking people's opinions, and I gave mine. His opening up a topic for suggestion does not entitle any of us to diss other people's suggestions and opinions, or to try our best to make others look stupid.
Posted by GamerMommy at January 22, 2008 5:52 PMI would like to see a dramatization of Half-Life 2 in a movie format. Though I'm pretty sure the plot may confuse those not familiar with the events in Half-Life 1. They may have to do both or do HL2 in a movie and HL1 in a TV mini series.
Posted by Eligecos at January 22, 2008 6:31 PMA good movie, eh?
If I had to choose just one game, I'd probably choose...as much as it pains me to say it, Hegemonia. The storyline of the game would probably make a good two-movie-long story, the first being of the game's Earth-Mars War and the expansion into nearby star systems, and into the start of the Kariak War.
The second movie would go into the end of the Kariak War, the Solon Discovery, and the Dhar'zok War.
Seems like it could be represented quite well in a movie format. Who knows; maybe if they take a BAD game like Hegemonia, they might actually make a GOOD movie.
Posted by Paroxysm at January 22, 2008 9:36 PMZak Macraken - I'd forgotten all about that one. Fun idea. I'd like to see an old one, Superhero League of Hoboken.
Posted by Karen at January 23, 2008 1:21 AMI thought of another one - the adventure game, Sanitarium, would make a good horror flick.
Posted by Karen at January 23, 2008 6:24 PMI think Mass Effect could be translated to the big screen well, and I actually think KotOR has some legs insofar as it's far enough from the original Star Wars timeline that you could potentially tell some new and interesting stories but still have that rich source material to draw on. Maybe a KotOR prequel that explores Revan and Malak's past... or maybe just give us the actual ending for KotOR2...
American McGee's Alice could work as a Tim Burton-y project -- someone at Universal apparently agrees with me as the rights were sold but the most recent update I've seen is from 2005, so the project may be in limbo (and if they're serious about Sarah Michelle Gellar as Alice, it can STAY in limbo). Besides, I believe the actual Tim Burton is doing an Alice In Wonderland movie anyway, so the window on that project is closing...
I also wouldn't mind seeing a No One Lives Forever movie. Cate Archer was cooler than Lara Croft anyway, and I think there's still mileage in intelligent spoof of the Bond (and other 60's super-agent) movies.
Posted by Pfellah at January 25, 2008 12:23 AMHalf life series. Maybe start with half life 2, then do a prequel movie about the events of half-life and in between the games, maybe tie-in portal once we figure out how that works. They would probably end up doing away with the silent protagonist thing though...although that'd be awesome if they could pull it off. They could do it from the POV of a resistance member/group, too.
Halo..bah. It wouldn't be that interesting.
Posted by Gungnir at January 25, 2008 5:56 PMBioShock could be an extremely compelling movie!! They would just have to leave "as is" this wonderful opening sequence where you first see Rapture... Beautiful!!
And of course Half Life! Actually, in both cases I'd say a movie is a "probable" event to happen, but I'd HATE it to be done as a easy-money blockbuster. I'm glad Valve maybe thinks of licensing their Half Life universe for a movie, but with a LOT of caution. We wouldn't want Uwe Boll for that, wouldn't we?
Finally, I support the idea of The Longest Journey posted earlier. Completely forgot about it, but it could become a great movie, methinks...
Posted by Doubleclick at January 28, 2008 6:15 PMRemember the Infocom game "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," based on the novels by Douglas Adams? They should have based the movie on the game instead of the book.
The scene in which Arthur tries over and over (and over and over) again to get the babel fish into his ear would be gripping drama, well worth the price of admission.
By the way, bundled with the Hitchhiker's Guide game was a pair of authentic Peril Sensitive sunglasses, which, if you wear them, improve the experience of watching an Uwe Boll film. Or so I'm told.
Posted by BlueBottle at February 2, 2008 2:12 AMFallout
Posted by Luc at February 6, 2008 2:30 PMMass Effect.
k, so this one would be interesting with the interactivity of the game being taken out but I honestly think with the depth of the story and how well it was written would make a great movie. The vibrant world of the game could make it (if its done correctly, keep that in mind) the new great science fiction movie. An added bonus is that Mass Effect is a trilogy. Not only that, but because the story can take so many paths in game with the interactivity, it would be interesting to see how they shape the movie storyline. Get going on it Hollywood!
Another idea for all you guys is Call of Duty 4. I'm not gonna to get into it but just an idea for future posters to comment on.
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