Best Video Game to Movie Transition

Thread title explains it all. What do you think? And which conversions (Mario Bros. ¬_¬) really pissed you off?

Man, for some reason I can`t really focus on my options right now. But, after watching Silent Hill (Finally) last week I don`t think it did such a bad job. Even if it took plot elements from more than one game in the series and mixed them up.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Silent Hill is pretty much the only game franchise that actually had potential for being made into a movie. And that's because most of the other games that had movies, it was not a game that had most of the "gaming experience" coming from gameplay but from the story and the mood, which both are things that can be translated to a movie. Gameplay on the other hand is impossible to translate.
Plus, Silent Hill was pretty much the only game-movie that wasn't basically an essence of a certain kind of movies.
Resident Evil for example was a game based on various Zombie Movie cliches.
Mortal Kombat was a game that was based on Hong Kong style martial arts movies.
So... to make a movie based on such a thing is basically like making a copy, of a copy, of a copy.
Silent Hill might have been influenced by some things, but essentially it was something new. So it could be translated to another medium without the copy-of-a-copy losses.
Doom was IIRC the first movie that tried to bring some of the "gameplay" into a movie, but ultimately failed.

Personally, I wouldn't want ANY more game-movies. Simply because the industry usually picks games that are impossible to translate simply because the game franchises have been successful. Silent Hill is pretty much the exception so far. A Metal Gear Solid movie could be cool. COULD BE. Still it's nothing I'd want to see.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Silent Hill was definitely the best, but I personally feel it was still a below average film on its own. It was kind of disappointing seeing one of the greatest games adapted by a greater writer and directed by a great director and the product not being astounding. I lost all hope for video game movies at that point.

The one that has pissed me off the most is Resident Evil. They started with it being just barely based on the game and keep taking it farther and farther off course to the point where it's hardly even related.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I'd say Silent Hill. I liked that film as well.

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Wtf? Why is Eleo banned? O_ô
*heads over to the ban discussion*

Yeah, that's another story. Most movies throw the gaming content overboard. Be it Doom, or RE. Sheesh... I really don't get it why they threw the Demons and Hell theme overboard with Doom. Fear of the christian right?

I was speaking idiomatically.

I say ban all game to movie transitions, they are all pretty poor. Having seen the likes of Street Fighter, Resident Evil and Super Mario Bros, I can't say that making films from games is all that good of an idea. With the worst being Super Mario Brothers. That film was awful beyond belief.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Eleo

The one that has pissed me off the most is Resident Evil. They started with it being just barely based on the game and keep taking it farther and farther off course to the point where it's hardly even related.

I watched both. The first one I slept through, and the second one...well...I just could not stop laughing the entire time the monster and what's her name were fighting. It was hilarious.

I think the Armored Core series could be turned into a CG Movie. Dunno how it would be plot wise, but it certainly would do well on the action parts if they get the same crew as in the intros from the later Armored Core games.

Oh, and there is another VG movie. Final Fantasy: Spirits within. I thought it was so-so. Certainly the best when compared to other movies I have seen(I have not seen Silent Hill yet).

FELIPE NO

I would have to say the first Mortal Kombat film. Most will say Silent Hill I would guess. However, in college we watched the MK film several times, and my roommate bought the soundtrack. (I believe the film faded out with Orbital's "Halcyon?") We always had fun watching the film. There were a few things that seemed a little cheesy, but not that many considering the film was based on a "fighting" genre game. (Certainly nothing like Street Fighter, comparatively.) Because we enjoyed watching the film and watched it several times, which is more than I can say for any other game movie made, and because you didn't need to know anything about the games to "get" the film and enjoy it, MK gets my vote...

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

...Does FFVII: AC count? >_>

Sure it's not the most awesome thing ever, but I prefer it to every other game to movie conversion. At least I was entertained, and the music sure helped. Awesome stuff.

P.S. I saw SMB several months ago on TV. Now I am traumatized for life.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by MTGNecro

Oh, and there is another VG movie. Final Fantasy: Spirits within. I thought it was so-so. Certainly the best when compared to other movies I have seen(I have not seen Silent Hill yet).

Does Final Fantasy even count? The only thing it had in common with any of the games were chocobos (on pajamas) and a dude named Cid.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

For accuracy FFVII:AC: The movie is EXACTLY a sequel to the game. Its not an 'adaption' of the original story, or an alternate universe, its a movie sequel. For that aspect it was entirely accurate. The story was weak, but lots of action,
and... well... okay voice acting. The charater development was non existent except for possibly Cloud.

For Plot/Story probably Silent Hill, although I haven't been able to see it yet (I.e., NOT AN EXPERT SPEAKING HERE). Most people have had positive reviews though, so that's an indication.

Mortal Kombat is a suprisngly good film. For what it is, and what the source material provided, it turned out to be a decent action flick. The plot, as crazy as it was served more-so as a setup for the fights, and gave the reason for the more un-human combatants.

Worst: Hmm, while Mario Bros could be looked upon for its camp/so-bad-its-funny value, Alone in the Dark is a shitstain on the used underwear of Paul W.S. Anderson, so naturally Uwe Boll picked up the tab.

Predicted Runner Up: 2-Way Tie between Resident Evil Extinction and DOA.

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Definitely Silent Hill for me. The story followed pretty closely to the source material, had the creepy vibe and was a pretty decent horror flick. Honorable mentions would be Mortal Kombat and the Street Fighter Animated Movie. That should've been put into theaters instead of the Van Damme shit fest. Ironically, I remember watching it all the time when I was little.

How ya doing, buddy?

I'd have to say Silent Hill is the only real movie to have done it "right" (being subjective here lol). At least you can tell that the filmmakers must've at least played the games, so understand the source material a little better.

In contrast, I remember hearing Paul WS Anderson saying he played Resident Evil 2 for like 20 minutes (which isn't very far unless you've already beat the game a few times and know all what to do and when), and then butchering what could've been a pretty good horror movie (still pisses me off how the "boss" of the first movie was just a regular monster, albeit one of the cooler ones, but still, just a "normal" monster. Where the heck was the Tyrant? That bastard still gives me the creeps of all the times I missed his claw swipe). Granted, the second one was slightly better, but mostly just because the actress playing Jill was kind of hot, and the comedy in the movie was pretty funny (if a bit out of place), although I still didn't like Alice and her "I can kick everyone's ass, even if I just look at them through a camera" attitude.

It's going to be difficult to make a good video game based movie, particularly if the filmmakers never played the games themselves, or aren't into gaming (they don't have to be hardcore, but I hope they at least played the games they're about to adapt long enough to understand it). And part of the problem is some games simply aren't going to make good movies (well, Mortal Kombat was okay, since it had somewhat of a backstory, but watch them make a movie out of Pong lol). Doom didn't have much of a storyline either (at least the ones prior to Doom 3, and I still remember the first game's backstory just essentially giving you an excuse to blow stuff up and kill aliens, which was okay cause it was fun), but they turned it into a movie, so don't say it can't happen lol (I doubt Nintendo will allow another Mario movie unless it's in CGI and Miyamoto okay's it, which is unlikely).

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Dark Nation

The charater development was non existent except for possibly Cloud.

Although to be fair, Cloud was about the only character with unresolved issues from the last game. Everyone else had sort of completed their character arc entirely within the game with next to no possibility of further development, while Cloud's character was ever so slightly open-ended. (Of course Vincent's mysterious character got his own game.)

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Thread over.

Spoiler:

Silent Hill was my favorite. At the very least they got the atmosphere down, and I felt they did a great job with the art direction. Unfortunately the story wasn't told very well and the acting/writing was stilted.

FELIPE NO

Come on, is this thread even real. Everyone who has a brain knows the only VG movie (non animated) that was actually good was the first Mortal Kombat. They should have stopped making VG movies after it because nothing else will ever be as good.

It also has the advantage of being the only VG movie I have ever purchased. Watched it so many times it ain't even funny. Nothing else has been as quotable, hilarious, bad, and so AWESOME at the same time.

It is the essence of what a conversion for a game of that type should be. Some people talk, they fight, someone dies, SHADOW KICK, GET DOWN HERE, PUNCH TO GOROS NUTS, good guys win, TECHNO THEME SONG.

God I love that movie. I heard someone plasting the theme song from their SUV while I was out last week. It was the most heroic thing I've ever seen.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Actually, Resident Evil was probably up there in terms of adaptations. Yeah, it's a dumb movie, but then again, the game had a pretty lame and generic story, too. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

In that sense, the Silent Hill movie worked pretty well.

I think the most disappointing for me was Doom. For an adaptation of a FPS game, there sure wasn't a lot of monsters to shoot at.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Dark Nation

For accuracy FFVII:AC: The movie is EXACTLY a sequel to the game. Its not an 'adaption' of the original story, or an alternate universe, its a movie sequel. For that aspect it was entirely accurate. The story was weak, but lots of action,
and... well... okay voice acting. The charater development was non existent except for possibly Cloud.

Don't even get me started on that crapfest. Yes, I lack the FFVII nostalgia to fully appreciate that bucket of fangirl-service. Advent Children just... Sucks plain ass. Maybe it's a good transition of the game (which doesn't help me much, as I loathe Final Fantasy anyway), but as a movie it just fails. Bad script, bad directing, total overuse of supposedly badass camerawork...
Not to speak of the overall weakness on the technical side. It's just not good. In no part it offers.

How ya doing, buddy?

Mortal Kombat was actually kinda great. The theme song was excellent (Does anyone know where I could download it?) while the plot was cheesy and almost retarded. Just like it should be.

Resident Evil, I dunno. I mean, I enjoyed both of them. Well, the first one the most. The second one was a bit blah, but they weren't that bad. They just didn't really have anything to do with Resident Evil.

The worst is either Double Dragon, Street Fighter (The fact that Blanka didn't do anything and Dhalism was a peaceful scientist made me go Hulk) or Super Mario Brothers. However, fairs fair. All three movies made me laugh out loud. Especially Mario Bros. So fucking funny.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Tellurian

Don't even get me started on that crapfest. Yes, I lack the FFVII nostalgia to fully appreciate that bucket of fangirl-service. Advent Children just... Sucks plain ass. Maybe it's a good transition of the game (which doesn't help me much, as I loathe Final Fantasy anyway), but as a movie it just fails. Bad script, bad directing, total overuse of supposedly badass camerawork...
Not to speak of the overall weakness on the technical side. It's just not good. In no part it offers.

I'm not saying that the movie is anything close to a hollywood blockbuster, but in regards to the original question of OO I was answering: Best VIDEO GAME to MOVIE Transition.

The transition of FFVII:AC to A Movie was about as good as it will get because its not an adapation of the storylines (Silent Hill) or a reinvention of it (Ala Resident Evil). Mortal Kombat is second IN THAT REGARD.

THAT's the point I was trying to get across from my eariler post.

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Silent Hill easily. Resident Evil movies are so poor, they went in the wrong direction compeletely. My brother and I always make fun of the flying dragon kick she does on the dog.

Silent Hill the movie blew me away. Even though it wasn't that scary, the visuals of the film (Pyramid Head, the tranforming of the world, storytelling) and music from the games made it great for me.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I think the movie they made off of Starcraft... oh man, what was it called? Oh yeah! Alien v.s. Predator.

Now THAT was a good game to movie adaptation

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Hah yeah...I always thought that the alien movies had a starcraft vibe too it. Pretty nostolgic for me.

Hands down, Silent Hill won me over with its outstanding setting, music, and designs. However, the plot was decent and the acting was fair (not too exemplary but what can you say...Sean Bean yay!)

Watched Resident Evil, was a decent action movie. Didn't really watch it to see how it was based on the game for it would be inevitably off.

Can't say I have yet to see a game movie that faithfully follows the "plot" very well. Likewise, Silent Hill, the film that satisfied me, didn't accurately follow the plot of the first game (but it was interesting to see what they did with it).

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Tellurian

Not to speak of the overall weakness on the technical side.

You serious? Fanboy or no, it's impossible to argue the film's merits as an impressive feat of computer animation.

Or maybe you meant something else by 'technical side'.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I gotta go ahead and say the first Mortal Kombat movie.

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