Comparing Japanese and Western video game movies.

One quick question. Do you think that Spirits Within is still a "Western" movie just because Squares headquarters was in Honolulu at the time. Thought the staff was still primarily Japanese?

Actually, now after thinking about it it was made for a Western audience...so never mind.

I don't really think they're really all that comparable. Hell, the franchises that've been tackled in film adaptation in both the east and west seem to be entirely coincidental, or based simply off the fact that the franchise is so profitable and far-reaching as to eventually merit that more than one person make a movie about it.

Also, couldn't agree more with your characterization of certain bad guys, though my most recent bane required having a LOT of ammunition and ultimately running out multiple times, developing "ingenious" evasion tactics, and staying alive long enough to chip away at his remaining health.

There's an "Instant Kill" difficulty in WotS3 that you unlock after you get a whole bunch of Samurai Points. Doesn't have the limb damage chance of Bushido Blade at all, but HP becomes completely irrelevant.

If you don't mind gaming the system for a few minutes, you can eat a radish and die as the entirety of your playthrough to net you a "Vegetarian" title, and a load of points.

I'm surprised you're frustrated, which has me interested in your review.

Have you ever watched the Ryu Ga Gotoku (Yakuza) movie?

To this day, I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a serious adaptation or not. I like Takashi Miike for Audition, Ichi The Killer and Gozu, but that film was borderline Uwe Boll at times.

Why not give the game to someone else who is capable of reviewing it Anthony?

Going along with that point, I would have loved a Jim review of Demon's Souls.

"Sold Demon's Souls a little while ago"


Pussy.

Magnalon:
That's what "Either I'm not gonna review it" was referring to.

@Ant
Oh. Well with Dale, he just didn't give a score, which is what I was referring to.

I always thought western games were bad though.

Why on earth would you sell Demon's Souls?

That game is beyond solid.

Spirits within is acutally a US/Japan co-produced film and therefore totally misplaced in your comparision.

Isn't this exactly what Michi was doing with his blogs?


Rev, don't do dat.

"Sold Demon's Souls a little while ago"


What a mook.

I completely agree. It's really because Hollywood is filled to the brim with hack writers and studio heads that don't know Shakespeare from Stephenie Meyer (I heard your HAWPcast, that girl in "that general area of hate" has the same mindset of today's studio head). Not to mention, most, if not all, of the good writers (all three or four of them) wouldn't bother adapting a videogame to screen, and even if they did, getting a studio to buy in on a good video game movie would probably be damn near impossible. I'm reminded of Ben Stiller's monologue during the end credits of Dodgeball "I hope you're all happy now. Good guy wins, bad guy loses. Big friggin' surprise. I love happy endings. You know, that's the problem with American cinema. Can't handle any complexity in it, ya know. 'Don't make me think, I just want to be entertained'. Alright, fine, you want a little something for the ride home? Check these boots out for size. *Fat man plays with boobs as that milkshake song plays* There, happy now? Fatty make a funny?" This truly does epitomize the relationship between Hollywood and the American audience. That's why we can't get a good video game movie, because it's hard enough to get a good movie, period.

Can't remember the last Japanese game you unequivocally enjoyed? How about Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story?

I agree with you that comparing Japanese and American videogame movies is like comparing piss and crap, both are pretty atrocious, while one is marginally less atrocious than the other. Neither are to be particularly commended though!

The more watchable movies from either side of the fence:
America: Dead Space: Downfall
Japan: Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie

perseverance Anthony. never give up. find the weakness/flaws and exploit them.

Ah come on, man! The U.S. Super Mario Bros. movie is obviously so bad it's good!

Yeah, but all adaptations have sucked.

All the article said was "Well, even though the Japanese ones are still awful, they're better because they were more faithful."

Faithfulness to the source material =/= quality

@ Gatsby

Faithfulness to the source material does matter if you care about the source material. If you go watch a movie based on a game, with the intention of seeing an adaptation, then that's how you're going to rate it. If you're going to watch the movie having never played the game and don't care, you won't care.

It does matter depending on what angle you come at it with.

mario was great. zelda was great. sorry but yea im getting pissed here at great japanese games.

I disagree. Street Fighter: The Movie, starring the late-great Raul Julia, is one of the greatest pieces of cinema - maybe even humanity. Seriously, I love that movie. Maybe not for the right reasons, but it's better than the animated counterparts from Japan.

Also, Japan may have not made a House of the Dead film (do the CG scenes in the games count?), but they did make a "Oneechanbara" film. I haven't watched it, *yet*, but generally unless the film does not take itself seriously I tend to not like too many Japanese films - based on franchises or not. Also, I hate, HATE Hollywood films, so maybe I'm just a jackass.

Mortal Kombat was pretty decent, but that doesn't count in this case.