what shouldn't be made into a film?

[Thaluikhain]

More or less anything by Lovecraft.

You just can't put a new colour never before seen by humans on a TV screen, and good luck trying to get dimensions that can't exist in our universe, though you can hint at that.

You can put big monsters with tentacles and all, but that wasn't the appeal of Lovecraft. Any hack can do that, and half of them do. But to create a sense of dread...you need a good director et al to do that, and if you have that, you don't need to do a Lovecraft story.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Don't make a Call of Duty movie. That's my last thought <.<

>.>

how would a CoD movie suck worse then the CoD games? /trolling


but imo: Shin Megami Tensei anything, mostly because it would probably be based on the Persona branch, which means high school, which means the characters would be whinny little shits I'd want the demons to eat ... -.-

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

The Dark Tower series by Steven King. They are superb books, but I don't think a movie could capture the characters, or the sense of scale that the books portray. Most of what makes the books so good is what is going on inside the characters, and that you couldn't put on the screen!

The other thing is that the book doesn't describe everything, allowing your imagination to plug the gaps and build the scenes... I cant see how they could accurately portray the thinny either, that is something that is described to a point, but the rest of it is up tou you how it really works, and looks. They keep talking about putting on the screen, but I don't think it will work if they do!

 

[gideonkain]

What shouldn't be made into a movie? All the games that are like movies. Bioshock, Mass Effect, Alan Wake, Uncharted.

 

[The Shadowlord]

Any video game. It just can't be done right. They're two different mediums altogether, and while occasionally a book can translate well into a film and vice versa, it's because those two require no interaction from the viewer and create the visuals all by themselves. Video games require a player in order to create atmosphere and immersion. They just look silly when made into films.

Oh, and it's always written by terrible writers.

 

[Pebblig]

The Hobbit. Why do you have to tarnish this too Peter?

The other thing I would say would've been the Terry Pratchett Discworld novels (my favourite set of books), however they actually did a fantastic job (The Hogfather, Going Postal and Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic) of converting these to TV. So much so that I actually look forwards to them doing more. I think they captured the characters and some of the humour particularly well.

 

[WWmelb]

The Dark Tower series by Steven King. They are superb books, but I don't think a movie could capture the characters, or the sense of scale that the books portray. Most of what makes the books so good is what is going on inside the characters, and that you couldn't put on the screen!

The other thing is that the book doesn't describe everything, allowing your imagination to plug the gaps and build the scenes... I cant see how they could accurately portray the thinny either, that is something that is described to a point, but the rest of it is up tou you how it really works, and looks. They keep talking about putting on the screen, but I don't think it will work if they do!

Last i read this was being filmed over 3 feature films and 2 television seasons... which SHOULD be enough time to tell a fairly good chunk of it. And it had Ron Howard at the helm, which could be hit and miss.

Javier Bardem was supposedly penned in to play roland (good choice) ... and i'm actually really looking forward to seeing if ole Ron can pull off something this epic.

Buuuut... yeah.. we'll see. One of my favourite serieseses of all time... If they fuck Oi... i'm going to hurt someone.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Mass Effect, as the choices you make are too crucial, unless they did it in a Sliding Doors format.

ALpha Protocol, on the other hand, would be good as a movie IF they decided beforehand how they were going to play Michael Thorton (maybe do a survey as to whether they want a suave/aggressive/professional Thorton that people can vote on, then play out the entire movie that way).

Soul Calibur would be a terrible movie simply because they'd choose the most douchebag action director and writers to do it. The story is not strong to start with and they need someone who can elevate it, not completely obliterate it.

 

[soes757]

Mass Effect and Bioshock are at the top of my list. Mass Effect because it's to deep to be three hours. Bioshock because it wouldn't be the same. I don't get to play that weird plumbing game or kill splicers, just, not as fun.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Buuuut... yeah.. we'll see. One of my favourite serieseses of all time... If they fuck Oi... i'm going to hurt someone.

That's the thing I am woried about... there is a lot to try and pull off!

Who whole section with Susan and the backstory there... will that be done justice...

And I agree with the worry about Oi! I can see him just ending up as a bad CGI version of a poodle, rather than the honey-badger-esque version I have in my head! :/

 

[II2]

More or less anything by Lovecraft.

You just can't put a new colour never before seen by humans on a TV screen, and good luck trying to get dimensions that can't exist in our universe, though you can hint at that.

You can put big monsters with tentacles and all, but that wasn't the appeal of Lovecraft. Any hack can do that, and half of them do. But to create a sense of dread...you need a good director et al to do that, and if you have that, you don't need to do a Lovecraft story.

Dagon (2001) and Dreams in the Witch House (2005) sat well with me and even 80's horror stock like Reanimator and From Beyond were enjoyable, despite a more schlocky presentation and tenuous relationship to the source material.

I agree though that making Godzilla with Cthulhu would just be pandering fan service and miss the point, though, and generally agree with you despite my fondness for the aforementioned Stuart Gordon movies that play out as conventional horror movies made as love letters to Lovecraft.

 

[Trivun]

The Hobbit. Why do you have to tarnish this too Peter?

The other thing I would say would've been the Terry Pratchett Discworld novels (my favourite set of books), however they actually did a fantastic job (The Hogfather, Going Postal and Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic) of converting these to TV. So much so that I actually look forwards to them doing more. I think they captured the characters and some of the humour particularly well.

Very good news then... The Mob, the company who made the first three features, are already in the process of making a fourth, based on Unseen Academicals (following their break to make Skellig last year). Which I also greatly look forward too, though I still wish they'd do either Night Watch (one of my favourite Watch stories) or Monstrous Regiment (including the lesbian subtext between Lofty and Tonker - partly because I'm a perv, and partly because it genuinely was one of the really interesting aspects of the book)...

Anyway, I'd argue that most franchises either shouldn't be made into a film or TV show, or should but only if given the right director and crew/cast. Yes, I'm doging the question here, and doing so deliberately. Sue me. The thing is, I would argue against a lot of people and say that some games, for example, have been turned into films successfully. The only failure in them comes from diehard fans comparing them religiously to the source and refusing to see them as great films or whatever on their own grounds. Silent Hill, for example. I love the film, and the atmosphere and the style of filming really do pay great tribute to the feel of the games. The only things fans should really see as being 'bad' are the changes in character (replacing Harry Mason with a mother instead, i.e. Rose) and that kind of thing. The homages were nice to spot too. As a standlone film, it was a very nice, creepy horror, and I loved that.

I will go out on a limb here, and say that I'd like to see an Alan Wake TV series, not based on the games but instead detailing a seperate story within the same canon (already done quite well with the Bright Falls webseries, released online as a tie-in before the game's release). Also, a Halo film would be good, provided it was a new story within the universe and was done by the right crew (I'm still thinking Jackson/Blomkamp here...), a Half-Life film (again, different story in same universe, and done by the Purchase Brothers who did Escape From City 17 a couple of years ago), and a film series or TV series based on the Three Worlds Cycle (given the success of A Game Of Thrones). If you don't know what the Three Worlds Cycle is, look it up. It is seriously one of the best, and most underrated, fantasy series I have ever had the good fortune to read...

 

[Esotera]

Final Fantasy ohhhhh wait.

OT: Films about celebrities, usually just after they die. I assume they're currently making one about Steve Jobs, and it just seems like a cheap cash-in. There are a few exceptions to this (like the social network), but for the main it doesn't work for me. Also most video games...they don't seem to translate well into films yet, compared to other media such as books.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

Personaly i don't think the Zelda series should get a film. Mostly because of the fact that the best thing about Hyrule is the many different areas and people that live ther, and two or so hours could never give the gorrens, zoras ect ect the development that they deserve.

While I agree that a traditional Hollywood style Zelda movie is a horrible monstrosity that should never be allowed to see the light of day... ever, I actually do think that a Zelda movie done right could be really really good. Imagine if you will, something perhaps more akin to a feature-length (perhaps even longer) art film. We, as the camera, follow Link (a character who never speaks a word, even when others speak to him) on his journeys through Hyrule. While there would be some sort of a plot, the main focus would actually be capturing in film the beautiful and charming world the characters inhabit.

Of course not every area of the Zelda world could make it into this film, but the director could choose some of the most visually interesting places, use them to stitch together a plot (It really wouldn't be difficult at all to put together the kind of simple plot which Zelda games have), and throw in some great action sequences. I for one think that would make for one hell of a movie. Granted, a movie whose plot has been constructed primarily for the purpose of showing off gorgeous set pieces and linking various fight scenes might not be the most complex film, but it seems to me like the sort of thing which could be amazing just for the simple things it does right.

As for what I feel shouldn't be made into a film, I can't think of much that couldn't be made into a interesting film if done right. The big problem most of the time when people make movies out of books, comics, games, etc... is that they try to fit the various properties into the context of a traditional Hollywood film, when instead they should be breaking out of the confines of the Hollywood movie so that their film works to express some of the things the original property had.

Take for example the new Akira movie I keep hearing rumors about. Akira is already a great film, we know that there's a way to make an awesome movie out of Akira because it's already been done. All the things that make the new Akira movie sound so terrible have to do with various attempts to Westernize the plot and fit it into a more traditional Hollywood genre film. I would argue that you can make a good movie out of anything (except perhaps something like Pong or Tetris... which would probably make for a really stupid movie), the problem comes in when people try to take a property and fit it into a type of movie it shouldn't be.

 

[lacktheknack]

Calvin and Hobbes. I'm terrified that once Bill Watterson dies and the copyright falls into someone else's hands that we're gonna be a bunch of stuff that will literally punch us right in the childhood.

Yeah, I'm gonna agree with this one. Impassable problem 1: Who would voice Hobbes?

 

[WWmelb]

Buuuut... yeah.. we'll see. One of my favourite serieseses of all time... If they fuck Oi... i'm going to hurt someone.

That's the thing I am woried about... there is a lot to try and pull off!

Who whole section with Susan and the backstory there... will that be done justice...

And I agree with the worry about Oi! I can see him just ending up as a bad CGI version of a poodle, rather than the honey-badger-esque version I have in my head! :/

With any luck they'll hire the same VFX crew that did Antebus in King's Kingdom Hospital. That was an awesome CGI character.

I'm "hoping" that drawing of the three / wastelands will be one of the tv seasons, because those two books deserve a long, in depth telling.

(captcha : Obey Society... fuck you)

 

[Shadowstar38]

Generator Rex. Ben 10 looked stupid as hell in live action. I dont want the same to happen to this.

Candy Land- Seriously? What the fuck Adam Sandler.

 

[Whateveralot]

What shouldn't be made into a film?

Games in general. Games need to stay games and can become movies as much as they need to. They don't need a movie.

 

[putowtin]

Any video game. It just can't be done right. They're two different mediums altogether, and while occasionally a book can translate well into a film and vice versa, it's because those two require no interaction from the viewer and create the visuals all by themselves. Video games require a player in order to create atmosphere and immersion. They just look silly when made into films.

Oh, and it's always written by terrible writers.

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damn Ninja's!
always read my mine... so they be wise!

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(Wise words indeed!)

 

[Xerosch]

You liked Tom Bombadil?

I found him to be the worst part of the book. It's about 1/4 of all the pages and nothing happens.

I will instantly second that! I found him to be completely obnoxious and irritating in the books and I rejoiced when he didn't show up in the Extended Version of The Fellowship as well.