Recipe for Disaster: Making Movies from Video Games
Video Games. Movies. Video game movies?! Past attempts in crossing over of a video game into a film have often been met with failure. The exact formula of convert a video game into a successful film has yet to be discovered.
One of the most recent rumors of such an endeavor came from Avi Arad and the video game studio Bioware. There's news swirling around the internet that Avi Arad is looking to produce a film adaptation of the popular Xbox 360 game Mass Effect. Avi Arad the former head of Marvel Film Studios is now head of his own movie studio Avi Arad Productions. You might know him from the popular films such as the Spider-man film series and X-men films. Some of his most recent work include the summer film Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Not a bad producer in his own right. Bioware, also not a bad game developer, has made popular role playing video games like Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect. Mass Effect is a role playing game that follows the story of Commander Shepard, the captain of an advanced ship, and elite agent for the galactic government. Bioware is in the process of making Mass Effect 2 with an anticipated release in 2009. How this latest foray into the realm of films will result, only time can tell, but if past endeavors are any indication, this film will end in failure.
Over the years, many have tried to adapt a video game into a movie. If you're old enough to remember, one of the first movies to spring up was an adaptation of the wildly popular video game Super Mario Bros. The film starred Bob Hoskins s Mario, John Leguizamo as Luigi, and Dennis Hopper as King Koopa. It portrayed the adventures of two Italian Brothers who work as plumbers in New York, as you might guess this film was a complete flop. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a freshness rating of an embrassing 6%. Street Fighter did a little bit better and received a freshness rating of 27%. Mortal Kombat was rated at 24%, Tomb Raider garnered a rating of 19%, and even the popular Pokemon series made a terrible film at 15%.... I could go on and on. See a pattern?
I think some of the of the problem is lack of quality in directors, producers, and actors. One of the worst directors across the board is Uwe Boll. He was slated to director the Halo film, but his appointment was blocked by many of the film distributors. I guess you could say I was happy that it's not being made. I would rather not have a Halo film than have it and have it ruined by the likes of Uwe Boll. It is pretty apparent that nobody has film in him to make a decent film. According to Joystiq.com, two years ago Uwe Boll said that he wanted to direct a film based off of Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid series. Let's just say that he's not going to be directing that film. Uwe tried again, according to the MTV Movies Blog this time approaching Blizzard Entertainment, asking to make an adaptation of World of Warcraft. Unsurprisingly, he was turned down.... again, but one thing I have to admire about him is his persistence and love of video games. I mean he's still looking to make movies even after an online petition was started asking him to retire. The man's got guts.
So you can see, I don't put to much stock into these type of films, I hate to make such generalizations, but after seeing crappy film after crappy film. I'm beginning to lose hope and I'm starting to think it impossible. So when I see trailers or news articles for films like Max Payne, Far Cry, and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, I don't get my hopes up. I probably won't waste my money, and I hope you won't either, while some of these films maybe rent worthy, they probably aren't worth the amount of gas to the theater or the price of a ticket.
Worst Video Game Movies.... Ever
-so if you ever see these titles avoid them and anything that has Uwe Boll in the credits
- Super Mario Bros.
- Bloodrayne
- Pokemon
- Hitman
- Resident Evil
- Silent Hill
- Tomb Raider
- Dead or Alive
- Street Fighter
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
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