Potentially good game-to-movie adaptations?

[Sharingan]

Let's face it: most films based on games have been utter crap (save for a few that were passable). There is a lot of potential to be had from taking an established game universe, and moulding it into a nice movie, but somehow they always manage to mess things up. Most often, the problem is trying to fit too much story into one and a half hours, resulting in a flick that no one understands, and characters that no one bloody cares about.

Is there any game that, in your opinion, might just make an excellent film? Are there any existing game-movies you've seen that have been huge wasted opportunities? Any work-in-progress game-to-movie adaptations that you have doubts about?



Potentially good

My first mention is Flashback from Delphine. It's a pretty cinematic experience already, and with some tweaks here and there, I think there's potential to be had there.

Then there's Metal Gear Solid. This game has 'WIN' written all over it - memorable characters, great protagonist, and a storyline that isn't half bad. A film has actually already been announced, but so far, not a lot has been revealed about it yet. Supposedly, Christian Bale is one of the people whom Hideo Kojima wants as Solid Snake.

God of War might be pretty sexy.

Diablo: Somehow, I think there's potential in this one as well.



Wasted opportunities

Wing Commander: haven't actually seen it yet, but judging from all the comments I've heard and read about, it was a bit of a mess. A shame - I loved the atmosphere in the game.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: Wonderful animation, but a horribly convoluted storyline. The film that basically bankrupted Square Pictures. A big shame - I would've liked to see more done with the rendering technology they'd developed.



Works-in-progress that I find doubtful

Soul Calibur: Not quite sure how they can write a coherent script for this one. Beat'em ups just don't lend very well to being made into movies, I suppose.

Warcraft: Supposedly, there are plans for a film based on the Warcraft universe, but not on any of the existing storylines per say. This could either turn out to be something huge, or a disaster of epic proportions (a la Final Fantasy). They'd better hire some competent people for this one!

[Submeg]

I second that MGS, that would be an awesome movie! They could make the entire series!

[Demon Cleaner]

God of War would be great, a trilogy in a LotR like setting made by Peter Jackson.

Wing Commander was awful, only watched it because I was somewhat curious, but it's crap.

When it comes to Final Fantasy, I did like Spirits Within, but it wasn't a pearl, would give it a 6/10. But I pretty liked Advent Children.

[AlexJ]

Soul Calibur: Not quite sure how they can write a coherent script for this one. Beat'em ups just don't lend very well to being made into movies, I suppose.

Oh God. I fear we may have another Street Fighter on our hands...

[Demon Cleaner]

...or Mortal Kombat.

Another Street Fighter movie will be released in 2008, sigh.

[Harrison]

Will they ever learn? Fighting games made into films have never been successful to date, so what is the likelihood that another one will be? Soul Calibur is one of my favourite fighting series right from the original Soul Edge so if they ruin it with a crap film I will be mad! And the less said about another Street Fighter film the better.

The Wing Commander film was quite bad and not worth watching unless really bored. The atmosphere they needed for that film was perfectly created in the current Battlestar Galactica series. Now that is one series that contains some amazing space opera.

BTW, going off topic for a second, has anyone else tried the free BattleStar Galactica demo mod for Freespace 2? It is amazing and perfect recreates flying one of the fighters from the new BG series. You can download both the demo mod and Freespace 2 for free too.

Back to films, I also liked Spirits Within, and own the DVD. It was badly panned at the time by the critics but I personally couldn't understand why. It was very well created with some amazing 3D that quickly made you forget it was rendered and not real (in my view anyway). If there is one criticism it is that they moved away from what made the Final Fantasy games so great and set it in a world that was too normal. I would have loved to have seen more of a cyberpunk fantasy setting as seen in many of the games in the FF series.

God of War would make an excellent transition to film. Imagine the epic fight sequences you could create on screen. That would be brilliant. Vin Diesel could be good in that role.

Not so sure about Flashback. It could be good if done correctly, but equally I would just as much like to see a modern remake of the actual game, or even a sequel!

[Puni/Void]

I believe there are quite a few games which have an advanced enough universe for a movie to be built on. No shock perhaps, but I therefore think that a movie based on the Fallout series could be excellent. When writing the "series", I literally mean the two first games, and not Fallout Tacts or Brotherhood of Steel. Anyway, imagine a movie based on the first Fallout game, where the quest for the waterchip is in focus. Could be a great movie, with plenty of action and adventure - perhaps a bit in the style of Mad Max.

And how about an Elder Scrolls fantasy movie? Lord of the Rings became a big success, so it could be possible that a plot from Morrowind would do fine. It is an interesting universe the Elder Scrolls takes place in. You have different races, religions, along with a ton of history that Bethesda created. I would definitly not hesitate visiting the movies to check out an Elder Scrolls movie.

Oh, and how about a Superfrog cartoon? Perfect for the kids.

There are plenty of other games I can think of, like Warcraft which has been mentioned here. Like in Elder Scrolls, there are a lot of history and such to build on.

Cool topic btw, Sharingan! And welcome to the forums!

[Demon Cleaner]

God of War in a 300 setting, Kratos is also persian.

[J T]

Soul Calibur: Not quite sure how they can write a coherent script for this one. Beat'em ups just don't lend very well to being made into movies, I suppose.

Oh God. I fear we may have another Street Fighter on our hands...

I don't know, Street Fighter the movie sure did suck but it had some bits that were so bad they became great, like when the head bad guy (M. Bison) says something along the lines of

For you, Bison coming to your village and slaughtering everyone was the most significant day of your life, but for Bison..... it was a Tuesday.

[Harrison]

It also killed of Kylie's acting career which is no bad thing. Much better she sticks to music.