What is with video game based movies and different plots?

f'nar f'nar · #1 09-13-2008, 10:38 AM

First final fantasy: the spirits within, a movie so terrible it sank the whole production company, probably because it was the worlds biggest bait and switch and had nothing to do with the series, which is what everyone really wanted.

Then resident evil, which despite the relative simplicity of the game plot, the producers decide to make it about some chick with superhuman powers, I mean, where was Chris and Claire? Leon and Wesker? The only person who appeared in the movie that was in the games was Carlos Olivera, and he wasn't even a main character in the game!

Hitman got it right but wasn't that good. Final Fantasy: Advent children was on the money but wasn't THAT good of a movie (great fight scenes though). The mortal kombat series was ok, the first one was good but the second not great. Wing Commander was terrible but somewhat related to the game (same characters, same basic principle).

And now we have Max Payne, a game about drugs and the mafia with only text based allusions to norse mythology. The game features a drug called Valkyr... a drug. Guess what the movie is about? ACTUAL VALKYRES! That's right, the norse creatures who carried the souls of fallen heroes into Valhalla. The whole thing is this Constantine-esqe plot.

What the hell is so hard about making movies out of games, the skeletons of the plots are already written for heavens sake!

I know I know, nobody wants the movie to be exactly the same as the game but come on, theres a difference between artistic license and just putting a well known name to a completely unrelated movie! It's infuriating!

I swear to god, if the ruin Devil May Cry, Tekken or Metal Gear Solid (all of which have been anounced) I'm going to snap and kill some hollywood producer anus.

P.S. Anyone ever play broken sword: shadow of the templar? I heard they're making a movie of that, that'd be great!

Unrepresented · #2 09-13-2008, 10:53 AM

This phenomena is not nearly as recent as you think. I present to you an article from one of the sites that consistently makes me giggle.

http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0905/

Croox · #3 09-13-2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f'nar f'nar

First final fantasy: the spirits within, a movie so terrible it sank the whole production company, probably because it was the worlds biggest bait and switch and had nothing to do with the series, which is what everyone really wanted.

with the exectpion of a few NPCs all the final fantasy games are diffrent. x and x-2 are the only ones that had stuff in common. I thought Spirits Within was a good moive

Quote:

Then resident evil, which despite the relative simplicity of the game plot, the producers decide to make it about some chick with superhuman powers, I mean, where was Chris and Claire? Leon and Wesker? The only person who appeared in the movie that was in the games was Carlos Olivera, and he wasn't even a main character in the game!

cant say much the only one i saw was extinction. No plot, just hot naked chick(s?) explosions and zombie killing.

Quote:

Hitman got it right but wasn't that good. Final Fantasy: Advent children was on the money but wasn't THAT good of a movie (great fight scenes though). The mortal kombat series was ok, the first one was good but the second not great. Wing Commander was terrible but somewhat related to the game (same characters, same basic principle).

Hitman was great, I never got into the games, but the movie was worth it. and the MK movies were made before anyone gave a rats ass about video game movies.
Advent Children was great I own two copies of it (region one and two) and I thought it was well done, execpt all the children looked like emo kids

making movies based off video games in a marketing ploy, "wow a halo movie!!! you go in pay for the movie and have your eyes raped. by bad actors and the only thing video game related was the movie name.

ehque · #4 09-13-2008, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Croox

with the exectpion of a few NPCs all the final fantasy games are diffrent. x and x-2 are the only ones that had stuff in common. I thought Spirits Within was a good moive

Exactly. I've played most of the FF series and they have nothing to do with each other except that they're made by the same company. A movie by the company's movie arm legitimately carries the FF name without having to follow the series in plot, because there is no series to speak of.

I thought The Spirits Within was a good movie as well.

GeneralElectric · #5 09-13-2008, 11:13 AM

Spirits within was a great movie, unlike that boring convoluted crap fest that was Advent Children.

/nerd

sarcastro83 · #6 09-13-2008, 02:25 PM

they do it because hollywood knows they'll make a good buck off of the fan boy demographic regardless.

Happynoj · #7 09-13-2008, 02:48 PM

I thought that the Hitman film was really good. Stuck with the premise of the games, great fight scenes, and for me (massive Hitman-game lover) the best bit was that they had the same voice actor for Diana.

The only odd bit was that The Agency was changed to The Organisation.

Warpticon · #8 09-13-2008, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f'nar f'nar

First final fantasy: the spirits within, a movie so terrible it sank the whole production company, probably because it was the worlds biggest bait and switch and had nothing to do with the series, which is what everyone really wanted.

This doesn't make any sense. Final Fantasy doesn't have a plot. It has something like 15 of them, and, excepting the FF7 remakes and FFX-2, none of them are related at all. Why should you have expected any different from a movie?

Rody · #9 09-13-2008, 03:41 PM

I never played Silent Hill, but I thought the movie was very enjoyable...

Cheers Rody

ps FFVII-AC is great but clearly only for fanboys...which includes me ;-)

RobTheSkanker · #10 09-13-2008, 04:59 PM

You forgot about Doom.

ok. off of doom now, too bad to even talk about.

If they do go through with the Metal Gear Solid movie, it better not suck, I like that series too much. I may just have to sneak up on some execs in a cardboard box.

hartke20g · #11 09-13-2008, 05:09 PM

the Hitman movie was a good movie no question, but it was just that- a movie. so many of the main focal points of the real story were changed. first, they made the assassins orphans instead of clones. then they have an 'epic' sword battle- because all assassins carry 2 short swords behind their backs at all times.

and what was with baby-faced Olyphant being cast as 47? he couldn't even get the voice.
i REALLY hope that the Max Payne and MGS movies stick to the game plots. i'm pretty disappointed in most game -> movie situations. any game that gets adapted to a movie is obviously popular enough that you don't have to change anything to reach a broader audience, since the majority of the population at least has an inkling of what the games are about. this whole misunderstanding is why these movies end up not really following the games. the movies should follow the games, as the games are what created the stories in the first place.

f'nar f'nar · #12 09-13-2008, 08:44 PM

I am aware of the fact that every FF is different (I'm a huge fan of the series), however they all have certain things in common with each other, they are:
-Summons/Espers
-Magic
-Swords (generally big)
-Limit Breaks/Trances/Overdrives etc.
-Generally something about crystals etc.
-A main antagonist that only becomes apparent later in the games.

These are just a few of the things that these games have in common, when I thought final fantasy movie, I expected to see at LEAST 3 or more of those features, preferably more. However Final Fantasy: Spirits Within had none of these, it would have been a fantastic movie had they not put Final Fantasy in the title. The mere fact it was by squaresoft (enix) would have the fanboys creaming.

Benjamin Strange · #13 09-13-2008, 09:22 PM

I can't wait for the Tetris movie to come out. That looks awesome, although I must admit that they've probably changed a little bit of the plot...

Tetris: The Movie preview

Sean S · #14 09-13-2008, 09:26 PM

Doom....

The only possible redeeming quality was the 1st-Person shooter scene.

Matt Till · #15 09-13-2008, 09:45 PM

Best movie/video game setup:

They made a Street Fighter movie, which was of course based off the video game, but then they made "Street Fighter: The Movie" the video game.

Benjamin Strange · #16 09-13-2008, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean S

Doom....

The only possible redeeming quality was the 1st-Person shooter scene.

Another redeeming quality - my friend did the soundtrack.

heroincredible · #17 09-13-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rody

I never played Silent Hill, but I thought the movie was very enjoyable...

Cheers Rody

ps FFVII-AC is great but clearly only for fanboys...which includes me ;-)

As a Silent Hill fan since SH2 came out...the movie was crap

. Pyramid Head in the movie? Arg. He is a manifestation of James' subconscious (from SH2) as punishment for killing his wife...*** is he doing there?! Because of that they are including him in Silent Hill: Homecoming (as well as using the art direction and transformation from foggy Silent Hill into Otherworld Silent Hill...which they renamed Hell world

). I'm sure they put Pyramid Head in the movie as fan service, but is it really fan service if none of the fans wanted him in there unless he was done properly?

I have TONS more issues with the movie, but probably the next biggest one is the lack of new music from Akira Yamoaka for the movie. Oh, and the overuse of the song Promise. The music was great in the games, but it felt totally out of place in the movie.