Can a video game make a good movie?

[J.R.]

Okay, Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat 1 & 2, Tomb Raider, Wing Commander, Final Fantasy and Resident Evil all sucked. Is there any game you guys think might actually make a watchable film? A lot of people would say Metal Gear Solid, but I think it would only work if the story was changed a bit. All the stuff about everyone being related to everyone else and the cheesy sililoques toward the end should be cut. Duke Nukem or Quake might work, if they were played out like '80s action cheese, with little plot but lots of fun. Half Life would stand a chance.

[Steven Millan]

               You can also add 'Double Dragon" to that list of yours:that was a real cinematc turkey that not only killed off the thriving theatrical careers(at the time)of Mark Dacascos,Scott Wolf,and Alyssa Milano,but also badly wasted both Robert Patrick(Mr. T-1000) and Michael Berryman in truly silly villain roles,and nearly killed cinematic  video games-to-movies adaptations.

[Luke Bannon]

The first Mortal Kombat ruled! Mario bros. was OK. And perhaps some more adaptations may be good, it depends on the quality of the script, how much they rely on actual storylines from the games as sometimes this works, most of the time not, plus trying to make a film TOO like a computer game can ruin it, as well as if you try to inject too much originality it kills the whole game.

[BlackAngel]

From my library of games I have:

For live-action:
Syphon Filter.  For both its military and political espionage twists.  Metal Gear in regards to story was more straight forward than SyFi (destroy Metal Gear and the bad guys who have it), while SyFi had part coming from no where (bad guys want the chemical to rule the world, evil partner wanted chemical to destroy ally and rule the world, good guy supervisor wanted chemical to study and rule the world.  Somthing like that)

Grand Theft Auto 3.  It's been a while since we seen a good gangster movie.  And how sweet will it be to see one based on this gem.

For animation (conventional or computer):
SSX Tricky.  With so many wicked stunts, you know this is more computer than live action

*Blood Omen I & II
*Soul Reaver I & II
Think of it as those Star Wars: Episode I, II, III etc.

Jax and Daxter.  Having Brad Pitt to wear those extra long ears is not cute.

Two games that should never become movies:
Tekken
Virtual Fighters
We've already seen one good Mortal Kombat and one awful Mortal Kombat: Abomination, and that's more than enough.

[J.R.]

Syphon Filter was pretty cool. Especially the part where you run around the huge monastery blowing away guys dressed as monks. Put that in the film and I'm there. Star Fox could make an entertaining CGI flick, as long as it's not cuted up for the kids. Shenmue already seems like a movie, so that could work. Ooh, imagine Silent Hill done by a director who's good at dark stuff, like David Fincher or Christopher Nolan.

[Mofo Rising]

Well, it depends on the story of the game.

There's no point in trying to make the video game experience into a movie.  Video games are all about the interactivity between the player and the game.  Putting those elements into a static movie rob the game of just what makes it unique.  Like watching a cut scene that never ends.

So the success of a movie depends on how they can take the story of a game and update it for the screen.  Since most games are a wisp of a story in order to drive the action along, most movies made from them suck.  In fact, I'd say most movies made from video games are blatant attempts to ride on the game's success.  What was the point of SUPER MARIO BROS. and DOUBLE DRAGON?

As it stands now, every time I see an action scene in a movie, I wish it was a video game.  Video games are getting more complex and realistic all the time.  Once they reach near-movie quality, what will be the point of action movies?

But what do I know?  I liked the RESIDENT EVIL movie.

[slax]

their is a tekken movie and it's called Avenging Fist

reason it's not called Tekken the movie is because the makers forgot to ask the ppl who make tekken if it was ok first for them to make the movie based on their game...really

heard its uses tons of cgi

[jmc]

The thing is, if it's been a while since we've seen a good gangster movie, why not just make a gangster movie instead of making a gangster movie based on a video game?  

About the only video game I can think of that MIGHT make a good movie is Silent Hill.  

Comic book adaptations often fail because the source material sometimes isn't substantial enough to make a movie from [depending on who's attempting to do it.]  With video games, multiply the lack of substance by ten, and you'll have an inkling of why movies based on video games tend to suck.  

I avoid most new movies because I'm sick of movie adaptations of ANYTHING, be it video games, comic books, TV shows, or earlier, better movies..  I want to see original movies!

[Future Blob]

  Hey, I LIKED Resident Evil (parts of it, anyway).

  Silent Hill could definitally be a nasty movie. It would of course have to be rated R, but still..get tht guy who wrote Seven, or Cronenberg. Maybe Carpenter if he still has it.

[jmc]

Been thinking about this more...I think the reason video game movies fail is because the people who make the films don't have any real interest in the material.  The comic book adaptations that have worked have been by people who had respect for the material, or at least an interest in the characters [the Burton BATMAN movies weren't really "reverent" but he was interested in examining the character of Batman.]   The likelihood of someone making a videogame movie who has that level of interest or respect is not very high.  

I think SILENT HILL would have a better chance than others, though, because there is more of a story.  They would probably have to re-do some of the monsters, though---those flappy birds and the dogs are scary in the game but I don't think they would work that well in a movie.

[Neville]

The problem with older computer game-based flicks was that those games were too primitive to provide a real plot, and filmakers would not provide a good one because:

a) They thought that would prevent diehard gamers to watch the movie, and without their support it would be a financial failure.

b) They didn't take the effort.

But today there are more and more games that provide an experience that has more in common with cinema without forgetting of the gaming part (Half-life, Resident Evil, Final Phantasy series). Because of this, I think computer game based movies are improving and will still get better. It is not that computer games are better, it is that their are closer to movies than ever. And the relative success of films like "Resident Evil" shows that there is an audience for those movies beyond the computer flicks... if they are well made.

Can't believe nobody bothered to mention the "Final Phantasy" movie. I thought it was pretty good, despite the badly drawn / developed supporting characters and the obvious miscast of a Ben Affleck-looking hero.