Five Great Movies About Videogames

More Fun To Compute

New member
Nov 18, 2008
4,061
0
0
eXistenZ is a really well made film. I wonder what the people who hate it thought of Cronenberg's other films Videodrome and Naked Lunch. Maybe they just hate it because it is weird and has what can be called an "anti gaming" message.

If you look at board games as well as video games then I think Jumanji is pretty good film about a game. Games can be used as a good trigger for crossing the threshold from the normal to a strange world of adventure. Films about game mechanics or video game stories are just crappy though.

LiquidGrape said:
The lack of respect for David Cronenberg in this thread disturbs me.
Cronenberg's film is on another planet in terms of quality to the other films but that is the one that gets the hate. Really, The Wizard is a fine example of the art of cinema but eXistenZ is horrible?
 

skylog

New member
Nov 9, 2009
153
0
0
I stand by my belief that an Ace Attorney movie could be great. They just need to get the tone right, somewhere between My Cousin Vinny and Twelve Angry Men.
 

Chipperz

New member
Apr 27, 2009
2,593
0
0
ckeymel said:
So it's not an actual video game movie, but the entire time I was watching Eden Log (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1087842/) I couldn't help but draw parallels to how videogames unfold and the story - it was ripe for being made into or made from a videogame.
You know, I rented that on a whim ages ago and watched it all the way through. To this day, I have NO idea what it was about, and that's after reading the wikipedia article on it. Great film though, and you're right, could easily have been a video game.

OT - I agree with the top three. The Last Starfighter was just so awesome that it still remains one of my favourite movies, even after I've taken off rose-tinted nostalgiavision.
 

Frybird

New member
Jan 7, 2008
1,632
0
0
More Fun To Compute said:
eXistenZ is a really well made film. I wonder what the people who hate it thought of Cronenberg's other films Videodrome and Naked Lunch. Maybe they just hate it because it is weird and has what can be called an "anti gaming" message.
It's one thing if a film is weird, but another if the plot goes nowhere other than a BIIIG STORY TWIST that almost seemed like a excuse for the plot going nowhere. And if the Dialogues are horrible. And it proves to have as much knowledge about videogames as other films have when they show a kid wildly swinging around a Playstation 2 Controller with 8-bit "boop-be-doop" sounds (Made even worse by the constant "I'm a Game Designer!" Lines).

I like Cronenberg, but for things like Eastern Promises, History of Violence and The Fly (one of the best horror movies ever made). But even when you compare it to stuff like Naked Lunch, eXistenZ is STILL pretty unremarkable and tame.
 

cathou

Souris la vie est un fromage
Apr 6, 2009
1,163
0
0
if they remade Last Starfighter today, it'd probably involve Army Recruiters showing up at kids' front doors when they unlocked Call of Duty achievements: "You're pretty good at pwning noobs, son. Now, Uncle Sam wants you to pwn the enemies of freedom!" I can't decide if that sounds like the best thing ever, or the worst.

first episode of Stargate Universe used that same exact plot...

otherwise i pretty much agree with the choice, but i would have put Tron before last Starfighter.


wing commander was quite good to me, but not enough to made it top 5
 

HardRockSamurai

New member
May 28, 2008
3,122
0
0
Good list MovieBob, although I honestly think that The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters should replace The Wizard as #5.
 

Agent_PoRK

New member
Jan 4, 2009
18
0
0
people on the internet apologize to much, its the internet your going to offend someone, see you offended me by apologizing for offending other people.
 

Ken_J

New member
Jun 4, 2009
891
0
0
I'm starting to hate moviebob for introducing me to TV tropes.
3 words: Electronic. Crack. Cocaine.

Edit: Why doesn't he have an Avatar?
 

GrandmaFunk

New member
Oct 19, 2009
729
0
0
Resident Evil and Advent Children are probably the better "based on a video game" movies.

tho Advent is probably lost on non-ff7 fans.
 

jabrwock

New member
Sep 5, 2007
204
0
0
Frybird said:
It's one thing if a film is weird, but another if the plot goes nowhere other than a BIIIG STORY TWIST that almost seemed like a excuse for the plot going nowhere. And if the Dialogues are horrible. And it proves to have as much knowledge about videogames as other films have when they show a kid wildly swinging around a Playstation 2 Controller with 8-bit "boop-be-doop" sounds (Made even worse by the constant "I'm a Game Designer!" Lines).
Definitely agree. The plot had stagnated about halfway through, and so by the end I found myself apathetic about the whole situation. The "twist"... honestly at that point I yawned and said, "really? you're going with that? that's not a twist, that's a cop-out".
 

Lono Shrugged

New member
May 7, 2009
1,467
0
0
I guessed every movie on that list. I must say I had an awesome childhood.

I would put a case forward for the Matrix (first one) It ticks a lot of boxes the other ones do too. (also ticks a lot of Campbell's boxes) although you can argue that it seems to be about video games considering how much it inspired them retrospectively.

Something for your mind-grapes.
 

Monshroud

Evil Overlord
Jul 29, 2009
1,024
0
0
Pipotchi said:
What about The King of Kong? that was a great Videogame related movie
The King of Kong is more of a documentary than a feature film. I loved it and wish it would show again on G4 so I can grab it on my DVR.
 

In Limbo

New member
Nov 4, 2008
78
0
0
A solid list, but I still vote for Crank + High Voltage for their portrayal of GTA-style video game violence.

Avalon is an okay film, but I think the tone is better than the actual execution. It's a shame, because I really wanted to love Avalon.

Also, has anyone seen Brave Story? It has a surreal video game vibe.
 

The Great JT

New member
Oct 6, 2008
3,721
0
0
It's not movies ABOUT video games that always suck, it's movies BASED on video games that always suck.

Sad fact, I'm afraid. But like you said in the Transformers: Revenge of the Suck review, there is potential for a good movie in anything. The idea is in there for video game movies, it's just poorly executed.
 

More Fun To Compute

New member
Nov 18, 2008
4,061
0
0
Frybird said:
It's one thing if a film is weird, but another if the plot goes nowhere other than a BIIIG STORY TWIST that almost seemed like a excuse for the plot going nowhere.
A big story twist that whole movie was a foreshadowing of. Right.

And if the Dialogues are horrible.
Which is a very accurate aside about how horrible the dialogue is/was in games.

And it proves to have as much knowledge about videogames as other films have when they show a kid wildly swinging around a Playstation 2 Controller with 8-bit "boop-be-doop" sounds (Made even worse by the constant "I'm a Game Designer!" Lines).
It is a science fiction film so of course the technology is nothing like real technology. eXistZ is about drama management AI and virtual reality that is as convincing as reality. Two technologies that people who are into games should know about but are not even attempted by most games and may not even be technically possible to do well in 50 years time. The film is about players dropped into a realistic dramatic role playing game having no idea what they are doing. They say stupid things that they think their character's might say, "I'm a superstar game designer, guh huh." They have inconsistent and bizarre motivations that would have a dungeon master rolling his eyes and the game AI struggles to cope with them.

I like Cronenberg, but for things like Eastern Promises, History of Violence and The Fly (one of the best horror movies ever made). But even when you compare it to stuff like Naked Lunch, eXistenZ is STILL pretty unremarkable and tame.
It may not be his best film but it is still a lot better than the best of the rest in this narrow criteria.