Movies from Video Games: Are There Any Good Ones?

[Seven]

@nevermore

I thought Resident Evil was really cool, actually. the second one was teh suck to the suckth power, but the first one had just the right balance of suspense, action, and Milla Jovovich to keep me entertained, and I don’t know or care anything about the game.

I right there with you on all accounts except for “teh suck”.

RE2 wasn’t pluck-your-eyes-out bad, it was just a bit clunky. The big bad-ass dude in it (I forget his name) was just movie makers phoning in their jobs. The bulk of the movie outside of that wasn’t too bad. Not great, but not deep suck.

RE1 had some nice elements to it. A fair amount of creep-factor, a nice ease into the plot, and Michelle Rodriguez to drool over.

To be honest when I heard they made RE1 I was all about the rolling eyes. A zombie movie based on a video game?? I went into it expecting a crapfest. By the end I was totaly sucked in and it’s on my list as one of the better of the zombie movies out there (Shawn of the Dead being number one).

[slortar]

I like RE1, but having watched both a few times, I think I like RE2 a bit more. More zombies. Higher cheese factor, too, which is a bonus for me.
My favorite part of the Streetfighter movie is definitely the extraordinarily loud “stealth boat”. Every time that scene comes up I make a point of making loud “ENGAGE STEALTH MODE!!! AAAOOOOGAH AOOOOGAH CHUNKACHUNKACHUNKACHUNKA RRRRROOOOOWWWWRRRRRR” noises.
Double Dragon tends to get a lot of love when these sorts of discussions come up. I haven’t seen it all the way through, myself, so I can’t really make a statement either way. Most of my friends think it’s a good movie. Hell, even my mom enjoyed it, which says something, because she didn’t even know it was a video game until I told her.

[smiling_bandit]

I admit, I couldn’t stand RE1 because of the immensely stupid “elite mercenaries.” Yes, we all know the Umbrella Corporation has a seriously weak security budget. Still, you’d think they could find someone with half a brain. Plus, I could see the ending coming a mile away, and I didn’t like it.

[ultrafilter]

@slortar

Double Dragon tends to get a lot of love when these sorts of discussions come up. I haven’t seen it all the way through, myself, so I can’t really make a statement either way. Most of my friends think it’s a good movie. Hell, even my mom enjoyed it, which says something, because she didn’t even know it was a video game until I told her.

Go find yourself a copy and watch it. Good movie.

[Max_Carnage]

I really enjoyed RE1, RE2, and Mortal Kombat, plus the new Silent Hill looks like it has promise.

[Scoundrel_Swanswater]

@Stark Raven Mad

Advent Children, which is a movie sequel to the game Final Fantasy VII, is pretty damned good.

Well, that’s what you get with a username like that.
Advent Children is complete and utter incomprehensible dreck.
Final Fantasy : Spirit Within was a master-piece in comparison.

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

Anyone with a few minutes to spare might find this article interesting. A lot of Video to Hollywood adaptions are deliberately bad.

[DeadlyAccurate]

That link doesn’t work for me, Tapioca.

I hated the second RE, because of the quick-cut camera work that made it quite literally impossible to follow the action. I even had to look away a time or two because it was making me motion sick. I detest that style of camera work, and it can completely ruin a movie for me.

I did like the first RE, though.

I’ve seen Double Dragon. My husband and I spent the whole time MSTing it, it was so bad. (we were the only ones watching it at his dad’s house, so we weren’t being rude to anyone)

[Skywatcher]

@RealityChuck

The movie was definitely original.

*Well, not “original” in the sense that it was something new, but it was not based on any specific game or movie.

I meant that I think they both were released at the same time.

[DeadlyAccurate]

@DeadlyAccurate

That link doesn’t work for me, Tapioca.

Well, now it’s working. Disregard, please.

[mazinger_z]

@Jonathan Chance

I’m another one who believes Street Fighter to be one of the best video game movies existant. It knows exactly what it is: a silly movie version of a silly game and plays that to the fullest extent possible.

Street Fighter a silly game? No, it’s the greatest fighting game (specifically, Super Street Fighter II Turbo) of all time!

To keep this post slightly on topic, best serious movie, I’m going to have to say Mortal Kombat. Worst: Hands down, House of the Dead.

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@Jonathan Chance

I’m another one who believes Street Fighter to be one of the best video game movies existant. It knows exactly what it is: a silly movie version of a silly game and plays that to the fullest extent possible. It spends a bunch of time getting ALL the characters into the right costumes and then has fun with the chop-socky stuff.

Huh. I went to see it with pretty low expectations, and I remember it not meeting my expectations at all. Here were my expectations:
-The characters do their special moves.

As I recall, the characters didn’t do their special moves. How hard is it to get the characters to do their special moves? C’mon, guys! That’s what a movie based on a fighting game is all about!

Needless to say, I loved Mortal Kombat.

Daniel

[Silentgoldfish]

@Tapioca Dextrin

Anyone with a few minutes to spare might find this article interesting. A lot of Video to Hollywood adaptions are deliberately bad.

Only the ones directed by Uwe Boll.

[FordPrefect]

@Seven

RE2 wasn’t pluck-your-eyes-out bad, it was just a bit clunky. The big bad-ass dude in it (I forget his name) was just movie makers phoning in their jobs. The bulk of the movie outside of that wasn’t too bad. Not great, but not deep suck.

RE1 had some nice elements to it. A fair amount of creep-factor, a nice ease into the plot, and Michelle Rodriguez to drool over.

I liked RE2 better, mostly because of Michelle Rodriguez, who as has been stated in CS before is a shit nuke dropped in everything she does.

I also really liked Final Fantasy, but I haven’t played any of these games before. Hell, I didn’t even know that RE1 was a zombie flick until they were attacking

[FlyingRamenMonster]

I liked the ending to Out of This World.

Whether it counts as a “movie”, though, is debatable, since it’s not an FMV but made with the same techniques as the in-game graphics. But it’s pretty cinematic, just like the intro.

[Draelin]

@mazinger_z

Worst: Hands down, House of the Dead.

What bugged me most about House of the Dead was not how bone-chillingly bad it was, but how they gave up the character-death-screens in the middle of the movie. You know how when your character dies in a game you’ll get a nice posed sweep-around shot, and then a red screen that says GAME OVER? They did the sweep-around and the red-screen, then went back to the action. I thought that was genius.

And then they stopped doing it after like the second person died, and the movie went back to being crap.

Love Mortal Kombat, though. If only because it was the movie that made me realize that every bad-guy dinner scene has to contain an oversized turkey leg.

[pulykamell]

A think a re-watching of Mortal Kombat is in store for me. I saw it on its midnight debut (friends had free passes) and thought it was just about the worst movie I had ever seen at the time. Intentionally bad or not, it was painful to watch.

[Merijeek]

@FlyingRamenMonster

I liked the ending to Out of This World.

Whether it counts as a “movie”, though, is debatable, since it’s not an FMV but made with the same techniques as the in-game graphics. But it’s pretty cinematic, just like the intro.

How did it end? I remember playing that game a whole hell of a lot (a puzzle game that requires twitching and many reloads - ugh!), but I don’t recall the ending.

-Joe

[Azadeh]

I liked RE1 as a fun action movie that happened to have references to a beloved franchise (I was dork enough to carry an RPD wallet… until I lost it :(). However, I also agree that Rodriguez is not to my liking.

Silent Hill definitely looks like it has promise. I am even more geek enough about this, as I have the Halo of the Sun tattooed onto my body. So this film damn better not disappoint. And Akira Yamaoka has a big hand in it and is seen regularly talking to the director (who HAS played the games and is a fan), so I think things will turn out fine. Do video game movies generally not keep contact with the game staff? 'Cause that sure would explain a lot…

As far as Advent Children goes - I would say that it was fun, the fight scene choreography was amazing and the visuals were just gorgeous… but I don’t think it makes a whole lot of sense to anyone who is not a fan of FF7, and the plot does not have a whole lot of merit. I for one did not make it through much of the game, but even still, I get the impression that the plot was just a random idea someone had that would allow them to make the film and happen to bring back Sephiroth for the fans. It was definitely just eye candy, on my end.

And while I’ve never played Tomb Raider, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the movie as a fast-paced action film with an Indiana Jones-esque plot.

[Bryan_Ekers]

I kinda liked Wing Commander, actually.

And *Lemonade Stand* was brilliant.