Why couldn't this movie be made, instead of Final Fantasy or Dungeons & Dragons? (1 Viewer)

[Morgan Jolley]

I agree that a great movie could be made from any source, but I can't see the storylines of WC/SC/D making movies based on what is given. They would probably have to do a major FF:TSW kind of overhaul (place the setting on Earth, use an original story). I would be interested in seeing a movie with 3 different sides to it with alien races fighting over control of the galaxy or something, but not all of america would want to see that, and that is a major issue. Final Fantasy had a huge bunch of changes between the games and the movie, and Tomb Raider had an original story with new characters. Diablo may have great cutscenes, but how would that translate into a profitable feature length film?
I heard that they are not making a movie of WC or SC (one of them) but rather making a DVD with CG that tells the story of the game. That might end up being a good purchase, but it targets a small audience (or at least smaller than many big name movies) and might not make much money. This is a rumor I heard, dunno if its true.

 

[Kenneth]

I agree that a great movie could be made from any source, but I can't see the storylines of WC/SC/D making movies based on what is given.

Obviously they would need to think out of the box, as you suggested. The Diablo II DVD which contains the 20 minutes of cutscenes sewn together has an excellent commentary track where they talk about their story decisions for the cutscenes. In the case of Diablo II they decided to tell a parallel story to the game. It borrows locations that you have or are about to visit, but it is not about the character's activities. For gameplay reasons they did this because of the different character types, however, it also shows them capable of the "think out of the box" mentality needed to have a shot at a successful film. Who can say if they will make a movie, or whether it would be successful, but I think they have the potential to make a "good" film.
Kenneth

 

[Morgan Jolley]

One of the problems with Diablo is that it has a more medieval setting, and some people are afraid that Lord of the Rings is going to bomb because of a similar look in the trailers. Many people aren't into that look, and the only ones who are are the people who read those kinds of books or play those kinds of games. That is the problem in marketing it. Final Fantasy was marketed as an action film, where it was more of a sci-fi film. They did this because nobody wants to see a bunch of people talking about aliens, but they would rather see them shoot the aliens.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Final Fantasy was not a bad movie(It wasn't AMAZING mind you, but a solid 2.75 stars), it was just very very very Japanese. which will confuse most US moviegoers because, like the very Japanese language, it makes assumptions of background that most Americans just don't have. But yes, the spirit of the Earth was the only real tie to the games, and it shouldn't have been called that. The extras and the beautiful animation swayed me, I'll be buying the DVD.
Jeff Kleist

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Actually, the spirit of the Earth isn't a big part of the games. FF8 abolished the idea completely, and FF6 didn't mention it either.
What background was there that people didn't know? They put hints in there about events that happened that motivated the characters (General Hein's motivation to destroy the Phantoms is mentioned when he talks about how his family was killed) and everything else is explained either too literally or not literally enough. I think the script might have needed some work, but overall it was pretty good. It could have been longer, too.

 

[Jonathan Gross]

One of the problems with Diablo is that it has a more medieval setting, and some people are afraid that Lord of the Rings is going to bomb because of a similar look in the trailers.

Huh? Who in the world made the statement that they think the LOTR will bomb becaucse of the setting? What's the point in making the movie if it isn't in the correct setting? That's what made the books what they were. Whoever thinks that better be ready to be shocked in Dec.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I was saying that some people don't like the medieval setting, and they think that it will bomb because the story is so medievalish. I'm not saying it should have space ships and such, but many people will get turned off to it because of the medieval stuff, not because its LotR.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

quote:
The reason I can't see WarCraft, StarCraft, or Diablo being turned into movies is because they have too much gameplay and not as much storytelling. They might have great stories, but Final Fantasy games have epic stories than span the entire planet and engulf all of civilization, where Diablo has some hack n slash action in a old tomb.
[/quote]
I think that's the whole point of this thread. Computer games like Warcraft, Starcraft, or Diablo do have wonderful stories that the current art of "story-telling", cinema, can take advantage of. The relationship between Raynor and the girl can be better explored. The old general dude (I can't remember the names for the life of me

) from Warcraft can have his character's exploits better explained. Somebody could just as easily turn around and say that Final Fantasy is nothing more than a bunch of sprites that hack 'n' slash away at each other as well. Honestly, the big worry here seems to be that these computer games will simply be made to reflect the surface of these games, which is to make it into pure adrenaline, mindless action movies(which is fine by me, but I would like more). If filmmakers take the time to delve even deeper into the games, they would see the storylines/plots that so many gamers of the rpg/strategy game fall in love with. As for FF: The Spirits Within, I was slightly disappointed with the movie as I didn't care too much for the themes it tried to present, but I must congratulate Hironobu Sakaguchi for focusing on actually telling a good story (though heavily cliched) as opposed to turning the movie into just a simple representation of a turn-based battle. I think that FF: The Spirits Within is a good representation for how to construct a video game/computer game to movie translation.
P.S. Does anybody else think that Billy Bob Thorton would be perfect for Raynor from Starcraft?
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"I don't know, Marge. Trying is the first step towards failure." - Homer J. Simpson
[Edited last by Dome Vongvises on August 19, 2001 at 05:07 PM]
[Edited last by Dome Vongvises on August 19, 2001 at 05:08 PM]

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The big problem with movies based on games is the time constraint. Yes, they could make a 30 hour movie, but nobody would watch it. But then again, how else could they fit a game into the length of a movie? This is one of the big problems and I see that they sort of fixed this with the "new storyline for the movie" idea. I would love to see Diablo, WC, or SC be made into films, but the main point of those games is gameplay (storyline is big, but gameplay takes up most of the game). TR is the same thing, which is why it turned out to be a total action movie. FF is usually a split, as there are CGI scenes mixed with real-time scenes in the games and an equal amount of gameplay. RPGs usually have longer and more developed stories than action games, which is probably why FF turned into the best videogame movie. I hope they will be able to do the same with future game movies.
Has anyone heard anything about Resident Evil?

 

[teapot2001]

I think the following, part of an interview from the L.A. Times with Hironobu Sakaguchi, will give some people a better understanding of the story:
"Q: Many video games don't lend themselves to movies because the stories underlining games tend to be very shallow. What makes "Final Fantasy" different?
A: The stories for both the games and the movie were inspired by the death of my mother. So the theme of this story is a bit more sophisticated, a bit more mature. That alone separates it from the other games. We also incorporated some of the mystery-solving aspects of the game into the movie. Just as with the games, we don't want to make it too difficult or too easy for people. So the plot has a few mysteries tied into it for the audience to solve along the way. It keeps people more engaged.
Q: You mentioned your mother's death as a source of inspiration. How did this come about?
A: After my mother's death, I had a difficult time dealing with it. I coped by thinking about aspects of physics that get into the more philosophical realm. I started thinking about life after death in a more metaphysical sense. It's my hope not only that people enjoy the movie but that people who have lost a loved one can see something they can relate to, something that would give them hope. But I didn't want it to be preachy. That's why I set it in a more scientific, action-oriented movie."
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la...028jul12.story
I really liked how Sakaguchi made the movie interactive for the audience. What is one of the few ways to make a movie interactive? Make the audience think. How did Aki obtain the 8th spirit? What happened during the ending sequence? What are the 8 spirits? What exactly happened to the alien planet...
~T

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The reasons why you (and many others, including myself) liked this movie is a big reason many people hated it. It was a little too complex for some people, yet they had no problem understanding the ending to Planet of the Apes.

 

[teapot2001]

The thing that bothers me is that many people didn't try to understand the story and dismissed it since it was based on a video game or because it looked great.
~T

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The problem with this movie came from two sides: the ignorant and the die hard. Either people didn't understand the story, or they considered it to be too much of a rip-off of Final Fantasy 7 (which was inspired by a book somewhat). People were also mad that there were no summons or battles like in the videogames, but I think they would have been crappy and pointless in a movie that takes place on Earth. Overall, I'm happy that they went in the direction they did. Resident Evil is also going in the same direction with new characters and a new story, all of which are similar but not the same as the games.
After a little bit of thought, I easily figured out what the whole thing was in the ending of TSW (themes, messages, what was happening, etc.). Then again, I saw the movie twice and that helped a bit.

 

[DaveF]

The big problem with movies based on games is the time constraint. Yes, they could make a 30 hour movie, but nobody would watch it.

I disagree with the idea that games are too long, and so a movie couldn't be made based on them.
That's like saying, that there's no way a two hour movie could be based on books, since they take 10 to 20 hours to read. Well, if they can make a couple of movie versions of the 1500 page book "Les Miserable", they can make a movie from anything
Like others, I think the "Starcraft" game is ideal for a movie. There is a great story lurking in there, with romance, loss, betrayl, political intrigue and subterfuge, way cool aliens, and killer hardware In the ideal case, the story would come fromo Blizzard, using professional script-writers, with James Cameron directing. It has the possibility to be the equal to, or even surpass, "Aliens."