Videogame movies that WOULDN'T work.

[SirDerpy]

Half Life. A silent protagonist just doesn't seem like it would work too well for movies. And if he talked, shit would be hitting the fan.

I thought that silent protagonism was a rather minor part of the games. Like in Half-Life (2)'s case, the silence doesn't add anything, it just does away with voices that interfere with our self-insert. Are fans really that stubborn on that one aspect?

If they did away with the silent protagonism, then that would be one hell of a movie.

 

[DrOswald]

Well, I just had a conversation with my brother about which games could be made into movies without departing too much from the original feel. But I just started wondering about games that couldn't make it into the silver screen. So I come to you, escapists, to ask you this: Which games couldn't be made into a movie?

Disclamer: This is NOT a thread to bash the story about a game you don't like.

My pick would be Rogue Legacy. Because it's a game about how the descendants of a legendary knight die in droves, making it difficult to have a protagonist.

Lets start with an idea. The objective of "The Game: The Movie" is not to 1:1 depict the game but to instead to take the original feel of the experience that make up playing the game and get it across to the viewer. With this purpose, I believe almost any game can be made into a movie. We just might need to adjust what we expect from that movie.

For example, I think you could make a really good movie out of the Legend of Zelda franchise. The essence of the experience is in the thrill of exploring and experiencing a new world and in the adventure that world holds. Zelda could make a great adventure fantasy movie (not a fantasy epic like LOTR, though. I don't think that would fit.)

On the other hand, we have a game like Donkey Kong (the arcade title.) There is not much of a story there and if we tried to make a depiction of what happens in the game we would certainly fail. But the essence of the experience can still be conveyed in a movie. In fact, such a movie has already been made: King of Kong. The movie successfully conveys the experience of playing Donkey Kong.

 

[FPLOON]

Pong.

Oh come on; you were all thinking it.

Damn... I was actually thinking of Tetris, the Russian film based on the popular video game of all time...

OT: Not to be "that guy", but I don't think a movie adaptation of Portal (or Portal 2) would work unless it's more of an origin-type movie under a different name or something...

And, yes I do remember that one Portal short film... (hence it being a short film...)

 

[Lugbzurg]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/The_Stanley_Parable_-_Screenshot_03.jpg
Take a wild guess as to what this image is connected to.
http://takeoffeveryzig.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/stanleyparable_splash.jpg

It would lose a heck of a lot more than even a Fallout or Mass Effect film would, due to just how much the entire game is build upon choices and rebellion against pre-determined fate. With those other two, there's still plenty of characters and established iconic worlds. With this... it's all psychological. And it really couldn't work in such a linear format.
http://2.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/56/48/7b28e84a54886234bdc59eba2d033f41-the-stanley-parable-explained.jpg

 

[Lugbzurg]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/The_Stanley_Parable_-_Screenshot_03.jpg
Take a wild guess as to what this image is connected to.
http://takeoffeveryzig.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/stanleyparable_splash.jpg

It would lose a heck of a lot more than even a Fallout or Mass Effect film would, due to just how much the entire game is build upon choices and rebellion against pre-determined fate. With those other two, there's still plenty of characters and established iconic worlds. With this... it's all psychological. And it really couldn't work in such a linear format.
http://2.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/56/48/7b28e84a54886234bdc59eba2d033f41-the-stanley-parable-explained.jpg

 

[sXeth]

Rock Band maybe? The story of a group of musicians people international superstars who hold concerts consisting of 1 cover tune? I guess it's possible, although it would be pretty damn silly.

Glee on a bigger scale, more or less. Or that awful one Tom Cruise was the main singer in more recently that I can't remember the name of.

Puzzle games are probably the main ones that would really struggle. Watching some actor muddle through a puzzle would very much be a different experience.

 

[Grach]

I'd say a Call of Duty movie, mostly because it'd be just another war movie.

 

[Strain42]

Tokyo Jungle.

No human characters (ignoring the DLC) and a huge variety of animals from pomeranians to lions to deinonychus just duking it out for survival in a post apocalyptic jungle infested tokyo. Complete with merciless slaughter and tons of mating.

Fun for on couch gaming with some friends just trying to see what sort of crazy shenanigans you can get into (nothing better than going to explore the sewers only for a panther to lunge from the shadows)

But nothing about it makes me feel like I'd want to spend nine bucks on a ticket and sit through it for two hours.

 

[FrozenLaughs]

Mirrors Edge. In all first person, like the game. (and those parts in Amazing Spiderman)

In 1080p.

In 3d.

 

[FrozenLaughs]

Glee on a bigger scale, more or less. Or that awful one Tom Cruise was the main singer in more recently that I can't remember the name of.

Puzzle games are probably the main ones that would really struggle. Watching some actor muddle through a puzzle would very much be a different experience.

Rock of Ages.

Also- Portal could work as a puzzle movie.

 

[BlackJimmy]

Any open world, sandbox RPG like Skyrim wouldn't really work since you'd need a linear plot and a very defined, fixed protagonist. It would necessarily go against the "be anyone, do anything" theme of the game.

It could, if they didn't insist on follwoing the plot of any of the games. Stories set in Tamriel would be pretty cool. If done right.

 

[Maxtro]

Legend of Zelda, Elder Scrolls and Half Life could all be excellent movies.

Just because a movie is based on a game doesn't mean it has to fallow all the conventions of the game. Of course Link and Gordon would talk in the movies.

The main character in a Skyrim movie doesn't have to do everything and be the head of every guild. Heck, a movie could be made about each of the guild quest-lines.

As for a game that wouldn't work as a movie. Flower. Good luck with that.

 

[Fireaxe]

"Spec Ops: The Line: The Movie"

Apocalypse Now is basically just that.

 

[Pescetarian]

"Spec Ops: The Line: The Movie"

Apocalypse Now is basically just that.

Nah, SOTL places more focus on its meta narrative about military shooters and player agency. Apocalypse Now is about the closest we can get, but it's a different story with the same plot, if that makes sense.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Anything that relies heavily on the following:
-Mechanics as metaphor
-Exploration
-Decision making(so good luck adapting RPGs that have rolled a snake eyes when it comes to the lore)

And games still wouldn't work that well as movies, because all you will be doing is converting the lore or the story of the game into a movie.

Which is like making an adaptation of a book based on its preface.

 

[Fireaxe]

"Spec Ops: The Line: The Movie"

Apocalypse Now is basically just that.

Nah, SOTL places more focus on its meta narrative about military shooters and player agency. Apocalypse Now is about the closest we can get, but it's a different story with the same plot, if that makes sense.

Film adaptation always takes the human interaction out, but once that's accounted for it's essentially the same thing -- the military shooter is the video game adaptation of the war movie after all and Apocalypse Now has a similar relationship with the war movies of its time as Spec Ops does with current day military shooters.

 

[clint5254]

i think infamous and infamous 2 made into a movie would be good.