Are Game-to-Movie Adaptation’s Worth It?

Over the past decade or so, there have been a tonne of movies based around some of the world’s most popular video games, with more video games announced to be turning into movies every year. But is there really any point to video game movies?

The thing is, a lot of the video game movies seem to be made, and the wrong directors or writers are chosen for the job.

[reddeadite]

If they are made properly, without making stupid obvious references and treated with the same care and respect as a good non-video game based film. I still haven't seen one. Though Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was very good it wasn't based on a video game. I think the director also needs to have played or watched the game it's based on and to truly experience and understand and bring it successfully to the big screen.

[Kran]

It seems to be comic book movies such as Scott Pilgrim (atleast thats what I think a movie like Scott Pilgrim would be put under) which seems to get the money and praise. It's weird, but awesome. You'd have thought high budget movies would get higher praise. Hell no xD

[darthv72]

the hardest part...
is if the game spans several hours of play through...the movie can't be the same length.

I dont have a problem either way (game-movie / movie-game) so long as it is done right. That seems to be the consensus.

Doom 3...prime example of how NOT to make a movie from a game.

[Kran]

I just hope the future games-to-movies are better than 2000's ¬¬

[kdogdaddy]

They rely too much on the consumer fan base and the pre-conceived notion that the millions of fans that enjoy a particular gaming title will welcome a new media release with open arms.

Such could not be further from the truth.

There really is yet to be a well done, plot-driven game to move adaption that really can make the bridge between gaming multimedia and cinema.

[AssassinBrotherhood]

I Enjoyed Prince of Perisa Movie alot and it is exactly what Prince of persia the movie should be. ( and yes i have Played Prince of persia the sands of time Warrior with and two thrones) ( and Also for the TOpic about Making Games in to Movies Yes i know alot of them arent good but i am sure uncharted movie will change that For sure.

[kdogdaddy]

Meh, Uncharted is still a 50/50.

[tigertron]

If done properly, they can be good.

In my opinion, the TR movies, SH, and the RE movies are all great, but are guilty pleasures.

[Nicaragua]

silent hill was OK but the rest have been cack

[theonlylolking]

They are if we see the same faces in movies as we do in video games. I cant watch the uncharted film because I am use to nathan drake, sully, and the other characters from the game. You cant just change their voices and looks and expect people who play the games feel good with it. For the uncharted movie they should have just done cgi all the way and just have voice overs for the characters so we can see and hear what they are supposed to be like.

[ReBurn]

Depends. When you put a company like Disney behind a project like Prince of Persia and work with what was already a great storyline then it can be worth it.

When you do something like Street Fighter where you completely ignore the back story of every single character, throw them into a completely contrived storyline and market based on the star power of an actor that had just moved to the B-list then you get something that we make fun of for generations.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should unless you can do it right.

[OhReginald]

I think there worth it for people that do not play games at all. But as a gamer, while it bugs me that there aren't many (or any) movie based of games that are good. I mean it took a long time for super heroes to get good, it wasn't until batman (1989) to finally show critics super hero movies can be amazing.

[Hellbound1978]

I really wanted to hate Prince of Persia, mainly because of Jake Gyllenhaal but after seeing it I enjoyed it. It's head and shoulders above other videogame movies. (Nowhere near as bad as Hitman) OOOHHHH SHUDDER!

[Lamarthedancer]

It depends, I mean young directors and screenwirtters have a better chance at making an amazing game adaptation because most of the people, who are older, that do the game adaptations don't even touch the game, while the younger generation have played the games that are Game to Movie material.

Paul W.S anderson said he plays on Resident evil but theres still a part of me that thinks he dosen't like it as much as he says he does, I mean he said RE5 was the best and his favorite RE game. The guy thinks he's doing justice for the fans. ¬¬

Then you got David O Russel who said that Uncharted has nothing more then a title and character names.......How wrong can someone be.

Seriously this is why I'm doing a uni course for Media Production where we do Script writting and learn directing skills just so I can try myself to make a worthwhile game adaptation. If you want something done right...do it yourself and trust me most people on this site, if they put their minds to it, could end up making a great adaptation aswell :)

[Wolf873]

Some of them are.

[DigitalAnalog]

No No No No No No.
I remember watching POP: the movie. Sad to say, it fails to bring the magic the original SOT brought on the table. I felt Jordan Mechner was just a gimmick to put some credibility to the film. It didn't feel immersive nor and the characters have no charm or life to them.

The only thing I see here is just another way to make money of the video game franchise. Don't get me wrong, the movie is decent. But like all "referenced" films, the best ones are those that are faithful to the sources. They seem to exert 120% when it comes to books and autobiographies but suddenly they make half-assed nonsense when it comes to video game stories? What's next, a portal movie? Good lord, help us all.

-End of Line

[Sugreev2001]

It would be worth it,once someone from our generation (people born in the 1980's onwards) make movies based on games.