So last year, I had 2 projects going on simultaneously. I had the 60/60 Project and the Musical Mondays countdown. This year, I obviously have the 50/50... but what about the second project? It took me a while, but it finally clicked with me. It won't be as time consuming seeing I don't have the worry about "extras" with the 50/50 list as I did with the previous. So what I'm going to do...
...is the Evolution of Video Game Movies series. I'm going to start in the 80s and work my way up through 2012. As of right now, I have 45 movies on the list--but that's assuming the Silent Hill sequel actually comes out this year and the next Resident Evil isn't pushed back. But assuming those are all on board, I'll have that amount.
A lot of the films I've already seen (29 of the 45 listed... I also happen to own... 10 of the listed films, as well, either on VHS or DVD). So what I'm going to do along with the actual review is a bit of research. I'm going to discuss some history and whatnot and how it works as an adaptation (and/or fan reactions if I'm not privy to the game myself). So yeah... I want it to be entertaining from a review side (we all know video game movies tend to suck), but I also want it to be kind of educational and maybe spur some discussions. I'm not going to group the movies by type or anything. I want to view in chronological order. So here's how it's gonna go down... as best as I can plan.
(Note: I'll start this the same week as the 50/50.)
(Note 2: If I'm missing anything major... please let me know. There's space I could easily fill up here.)
JANUARY
-Cloak and Dagger (1984)
-Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen (1986)
-Super Mario Bros. (1993)
FEBRUARY
-Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994)
-Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994)
-Double Dragon (1994)
-Street Fighter (1994)
MARCH
-Mortal Kombat (1995)
-Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
-Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998)
-Wing Commander (1999)
APRIL
-Pokemon: The Movie 2000 (1999)
-Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
-Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
-Resident Evil (2002)
-House of the Dead (2003)
MAY
-Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
-Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
-Alone in the Dark (2005)
-Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
JUNE
-Doom (2005)
-BloodRayne (2006)
-Silent Hill (2006)
-DOA: Dead or Alive (2007)
JULY
-Postal (2007)
-The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)*
-BloodRayne 2: Deliverance (2007)
-Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
-Hitman (2007)
AUGUST
-In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2008)
-Alone in the Dark 2 (2008)
-Far Cry (2008)
-Max Payne (2008)
SEPTEMBER
-Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)
-Street Figher: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
-The King of Fighters (2009)
-Tekken (2009)
OCTOBER
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
-Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
-Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)**
-BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2010)
-Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2011)***
NOVEMBER
-Tekken: Blood Vengeance (2011)
-In the Name of the King 2 (2011)
(?)
-Silent Hill Revelation (2012)****
*I know this is a cheat, but it's a damn fine movie and there's a LOT to talk about with it.
**This film comes out about a month prior to this review schedule... but I don't want to put this at the end of the month due to timeliness, nor do I want to put it before the review of the film that comes before it.
***This is a web-series, but I cannot pass up discussing this.
****This will be shifted depending on if/when it gets an official release date.
I haven't seen many video game movies, mostly because they're terrible, but I'm still intrigued by what you think about some of these films. I might even watch a few. I've been meaing to at least see one Uwe Boll before I die.
ReplyDeleteI hope you watch some, too! As far as Uwe Boll goes... I've unfortunately seen quite a few. The only ones I can recommend are "Rampage" and "BloodRayne."
ReplyDeleteBloodRayne is so ridiculously awful that it's freakin' hilarious. Rampage... is actually good. Yeah. Uwe Boll has made one actually good movie.
I'm quite happy to see Wing Commander on the list. This was a big deal for me back in the day because it was the first movie based on a computer game rather than one from a video game system. I worked in the industry at the time; people were crapping themselves over it.
ReplyDeleteI've seen about two thirds of your list here... and you're in for some badness. I still think Alone in the Dark is in the top ten worst movies I've ever seen. As for BloodRayne, it was a much better game than a movie, even in terms of story line. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteSteve: Indeed. I actually saw that one in theater, I believe!
ReplyDeleteAlan: Yup. Actually, the only ones on this list I have not already seen are...
-Super Mario Bros (the 1986 Japanese one)
-Fatal Fury
-Street Fighter II (I've seen parts of it)
-BloodRayne 2
-In the Name of the King
-Alone in the Dark 2
-The King of Fighters
-Tekken
-BloodRayne: Third Reich
-Tekken: Blood Vengeance
-In the Name of the King 2
And, of course, the 2012 releases. But I've seen all the others.
Nick, this sounds like a really fun series, even with the bad movies. I'm personally thrilled that you get to again experience the greatness of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Not to mention the double-bill of Street Fighter and Double Dragon from the mid-'90s. Pure magic.
ReplyDeleteGiven the subject, I think you're totally justified in including the excellent KING OF KONG.
ReplyDeleteThis is certainly an admirable project. I am looking forward to seeing what you have to say about most of these, and I think it's a good idea to add King of Kong in there. At least you will be treated to one great movie that way.
ReplyDeleteI've been a blog commenter for many years and have often used the "what he/she said" or "ditto to that" comment, but never has it been more true than with what James said.
ReplyDeleteI admire the comprehensiveness of this list, but I have little to no interest in most of the movies - not only are many terrible, but I didn't play the games, so I wouldn't care about an adaptation.
Dylan: Read the articles anyway, dammit!
ReplyDelete