# Video games that you THOUGHT would make bad movies but surprised you. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 29, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371 "2011-01-29T03:17:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/41 "2011-02-03T16:15:17Z")
Wait. What was so idiotic about the ending? It certainly wasn’t High Art, but it wasn’t particularly stupid. It’s been a few years, so remind me. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/42 "2011-02-03T16:27:48Z")
Dude, I am a dirty, dirty Silent Hill whore. I have all the games and have played each of them through to all possible endings. I _love_ Silent Hill. This board introduced me to the games, btw. Even so, the ending to the movie sucked. Maybe they were reaching for “enigmatic.” All they achieved was “muddled.” Believe me, as a fan of the game series, I am well aware that not everything in Silent Hill is resolved nor is everything internally consistent. Hell, lots of times things just plain don’t make sense. I still found that ending idiotic. Are they dead? Are they in a parallel world? Both? Some other fourth thing? Edited to add: The sequel begins filming next month supposedly. In 3D. I don’t have a lot of confidence that they will produce anything memorably good. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/43 "2011-02-03T16:47:16Z")
> [@](#): > > I still found that ending idiotic. Are they dead? Are they in a parallel world? Both? Some other fourth thing? As you said, though, this seems fully in keeping with the game. What was idiotic about it? I’m sincerely asking, by the way, not trying to win an argument. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/44 "2011-02-03T17:29:46Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > As you said, though, this seems fully in keeping with the game. What was idiotic about it? > > I’m sincerely asking, by the way, not trying to win an argument. For me, the problem was the lack of resolution. The games are often confusing and/or inconsistent on background details, notably what is causing the strangeness in silent hill. The games do have (multiple possible) endings that wrap up the story of the main character, though. In SH1, the canon ending\_based on the fact that there is a SH3\_is that Harry finds [a form of] his daughter and the two of them leave Silent Hill together. Dahlia et. al. perish. In SH2, James finds out that his wife is dead and he is the killer. In SH3, Heather takes revenge for Harry’s murder and learns more about her own background. In SH4, Henry saves (or doesn’t) Eileen and ends (or doesn’t) Walter’s nefarious scheme. In SH Homecoming, Alex finds out what was really going on and how is brother actually died. In SH Origins, the canon ending has Travis safely leaving Silent Hill after helping Alessa create the baby containing half her soul. None of the game endings, even the joke ones, leave the player with a “WTF just happened!?” feeling like the movie did. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/45 "2011-02-03T18:47:41Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > For me, the problem was the lack of resolution. The games are often confusing and/or inconsistent on background details, notably what is causing the strangeness in silent hill. The games do have (multiple possible) endings that wrap up the story of the main character, though. In SH1, the canon ending\_based on the fact that there is a SH3\_is that Harry finds [a form of] his daughter and the two of them leave Silent Hill together. Dahlia et. al. perish. In SH2, James finds out that his wife is dead and he is the killer. In SH3, Heather takes revenge for Harry’s murder and learns more about her own background. In SH4, Henry saves (or doesn’t) Eileen and ends (or doesn’t) Walter’s nefarious scheme. In SH Homecoming, Alex finds out what was really going on and how is brother actually died. In SH Origins, the canon ending has Travis safely leaving Silent Hill after helping Alessa create the baby containing half her soul. None of the game endings, even the joke ones, leave the player with a “WTF just happened!?” feeling like the movie did. I can understand that, and if I were as interested in the entire storyline, I might feel the same way you do. To me, the movie felt like a way to summarize the huge plot arc in the span of a movie’s length. I thought that by focusing on the atmosphere of Silent Hill, as well as the (really rather nasty) undertone of twisted sexuality that pervades it, they really succeeded with the movie. The ending did clunk a bit, I suppose, given the husband’s (Harry’s?) storyline, but eh, it was the least interesting bit of the story anyway. Alessa’s nightmare world was the star, and if they do SH2, they can always do something with Harry’s part, and whether they are alive or not. I guess I’m saying I don’t care THAT much for the moment, and we obviously have a different (if related) story in the movie(s) than in the games. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/46 "2011-02-03T20:30:34Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > [sub]I kinda liked _Wing Commander_[/sub] You really should find a smaller font, a _much_ smaller font, when writing that. I kinda like the original Tomb Raider movie. Final Fantasy: Spirits Within I enjoyed too. None will win any awards but I enjoyed them. Cautiously holding my breath for Bioshock. Could be amazing, will probably suck horribly. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/47 "2011-02-04T19:54:13Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Final Fantasy: Spirits Within I enjoyed too. I thought that _Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children_ was a pretty good sequel to the game. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/48 "2011-02-04T22:27:30Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I thought that _Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children_ was a pretty good sequel to the game. Yes and no. I found it awesome visually, but even if you played the original game the scenario didn’t make a lick of sense. The visuals are more than enough to distract one from that, though. I watched it in full “WOAAAAH!” mode. And the little touches were really cool, like one of the bad guys having the traditional “combat won !” jingle as his cell phone ring (and of course getting called just after he thoroughly thrashed Tifa) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/49 "2011-02-04T22:31:25Z")
Silent Hill was ok IMHO. Pretty creepy with a decent enough cast. The Resident Evil films are ok stupid zombie films Street Fighter was hilariously bad. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/50 "2011-02-05T02:57:36Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > I found it awesome visually, but even if you played the original game the scenario didn’t make a lick of sense. I think this may be another thread altogether, but the _Final Fantasy_ games have never been widely renowned (amongst my circle of friends, anyway) as telling the most coherent stories. I’m STILL trying to figure out _Final Fantasy VIII_. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/51 "2011-02-05T03:22:47Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I think this may be another thread altogether, but the _Final Fantasy_ games have never been widely renowned (amongst my circle of friends, anyway) as telling the most coherent stories. I’m STILL trying to figure out _Final Fantasy VIII_. And I’m still trying to work out how you have an entire series of games with _No relation to each other whatsoever_. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/52 "2011-02-05T03:27:30Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > And I’m still trying to work out how you have an entire series of games with _No relation to each other whatsoever_. All with the word “Final” in their title. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/53 "2011-02-05T03:33:51Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Final Fantasy: Spirits Within I enjoyed too. Oh, dear god. That movie was almost **Pearl Harbor** bad. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/54 "2011-02-05T15:43:40Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > Sign #2 your movie sequel is going to suck: You decide to kill the comic relief/most interesting character from the first movie who survived (i.e. Johnny Cage) off in the first 5 minutes. To be fair, the filmmakers pulled that plot point from **Mortal Kombat 3**. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/55 "2011-02-07T22:57:33Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > And I’m still trying to work out how you have an entire series of games with _No relation to each other whatsoever_. There’s a relation, it’s just not from the plot. However, items, people, and things have similar structure among the games, and the pacing of the storyline generally is pretty similar ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/56 "2011-02-08T03:19:36Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > There’s a relation, it’s just not from the plot. However, items, people, and things have similar structure among the games, and the pacing of the storyline generally is pretty similar Sorry, not buying it. It’d be like having a movie directed by George Lucas entitled _Star Wars Episode XVI_ and instead of it being set in a Galaxy Far, Far Away, it’s set in India during World War I and is about a postman and his cat delivering mail to a Maharajah and his beautiful daughter. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/57 "2011-02-08T05:35:13Z")
Inspired by [this fanfilm](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWL6j0SvqV0). > [@](#): > > **Joey Packman** is a backyard scientist who has invented a new technology, a motorcycle helmet that allows him to see an alternative spirit world. His invention is not taken seriously, until the city is overrun by _Wraiths_; Zombie-Ghosts that kill to create an army of undead. > > Everyone can see the Wraiths when they want to be seen, but only Joe has the technology to see them at all times. A motorcyclist, Packman hunts down and locates the Wraiths. > > There are four main Wraiths, all dangerous killers in their past lives, now trapped in limbo, whom he gives nicknames: > **Inky** - a tattooed biker gang leader who Packman used to know when he had been alive, > **Blinky** - a serial killing rapist, > **Pinky** - a nurse who euthanised her patients, > **Clyde** - a contract assassin. > > They live in the sewers, subway tunnels, and old city underground, where they sneak through vents and pipes into skyscrapers and malls, staking out for potential victims. > > But destruction of the Wraiths will not be easy. They don’t succumb to bullets or fire. Packman’s girlfriend, **Michi** , a chemical scientist, concocts a special liquid energised by electricity as the only way to destroy them. > > Packman invents a weapon that utilises the liquid, the _Evaporator_, but it’s large and ungainly and requires fuel cells that are heavy and difficult to carry. He leaves fuel cells at strategic locations throughout the maze of tunnels, in preparation of his attack. > > He must be careful. If he doesn’t manage a clean kill, the Wraiths do not evaporate and can return to their sewer home and regenerate. > > Riding his motorcycle through the underground tunnels, he and Michi chase down the Wraiths one by one. Though armies of lesser wraiths get in his way, killing off the main four will also defeat all others, like cutting off a limb of a family tree; Kill the source, you kill their descendants. > > But they must watch out for the _Wraith Queen_, the Source of all, who still remains hidden in the depths of the sewer tunnel maze… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/58 "2011-02-08T10:46:15Z")
And of course there’s [Tetris: the Movie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE_1KlWFJyA)… ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/59 "2011-02-08T18:25:39Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Sorry, not buying it. It’d be like having a movie directed by George Lucas entitled _Star Wars Episode XVI_ and instead of it being set in a Galaxy Far, Far Away, it’s set in India during World War I and is about a postman and his cat delivering mail to a Maharajah and his beautiful daughter. It’s not that bad. FF games have a general setting that’s been increasing in technology slowly over the course of it’s history. It’s always some part medieval/part sci-fi fantasy world where you use swords and magic in addition to guns and technology. In addition to that, much of the enemies, spells, items, and location names are related or the same. There’s always a guy named Cid/Sid in them. The protagonist is always some plucky youngster out to save the world from a great evil. From the playing perspective, if you are familiar with one game, it makes it a lot easier to pick up and play a different one, even if the battle mechanics are changeds It’s more like if Lucas tried to remake the prequels into something that isn’t the prequels, but simply set in a different time, trying to copy his first 3 movies, telling a different Jedi story using many of the same characters ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371/60 "2011-02-09T20:00:06Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > [sub]I kinda liked _Wing Commander_[/sub] WC was a decent enough movie about an aircraft carrier _in spaaaace!_ I enjoyed it as long as I ignored (1) the violations of microgee / freefall / vacuum, and (2) any connection to the game of the same name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-games-that-you-thought-would-make-bad-movies-but-surprised-you/569371.md?page=4)