As you are surly aware by now, the greatest gaming experience to come out of last year, BioShock, is to be made into a movie to be directed by the same guy who directed Pirates of the Caribbean. Most people seem to think this is a terrible idea and are gathering their best donotwant.jpg to use wherever they can.
I think BioShock would make a great movie, and a could easily lead the way in showing how a successful videogame can be used as source material for a movie. Let me explain why, in non tl;dr form.
Many games have been turned into movies. Nearly all of these have fucking sucked. To take Doom for example. One of only a few films I have ever rented and not watched all the way through. The people who made that movie failed to translate the strength of the game (which in doom is the gameplay). Instead they replaced these aspects with generic Hollywood crap.
This is where BioShock differs. Unlike most highly successful games, the strengths of BioShock do not come from gameplay mechanics. BioShock uses the techniques typically found in the medium of film; story, cinematics, sound and strong, deep characters all to pull you in. The fact it is a videogame adds the first person perspective and solid gameplay to fully emerse you into the world, but these are not the parts you will remember most vividly and are not the parts which make the game as good as it is.
It is because of the strengths of the game coming from film that mean that BioShock could move successfully to the big screen. The major strengths come from parts which can be used in both.
With this showing that the game is different from others in it's potential for success in film, the director, Gore Verbinski, has said a lot of things you should take note of:
Ken and I speak on a regular basis in terms of what characters we feel are working well and where he feels things should be different in a movie
We want to take all the strengths from the property. Of all the games I’ve played, this is the one that I felt has a really strong narrative.
I think we’ll go right up to the edge with the Little Sisters. I don’t want to soften it to the point where the core audience feels betrayed.
We’re prepared to make it an R-rated movie. I don’t intuitively see it as PG-13. The content and the graphic nature of the story itself is smarter than that. It’s not for young kids
This isn't me saying it will definitely not suck, there is no way anyone can tell at this early stage. This is me simply pointing out that there is a high chance that the movie will be a success.
(image totally not stolen from Ripten)
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(# 0) on 05/09/2008 11:16
(# 1) on 05/09/2008 11:20
(# 2) on 05/09/2008 11:20
Yes, it could not suck if it doesn't get made. But I will see this regardless, just not high hopes even though I can see it in my mind and it looks decent?
(# 3) on 05/09/2008 11:25
Imagine if the movie followed only the main character. People generally don't really like an adversary that only speaks through a radio. And even if that could work, it's hard to fit all of it into say, a maximum of 10 segments of dialogue before they meet. I can't even imagine the possibilities for destroying the epic moment of meeting Andrew Ryan in a movie...
Also the strength of the narrative is larger because it impacts you, the player. If all of the narrative in Bioshock was done in cutscenes, it would never have worked as well. I don't see that translating well into film at all.
I can see a nice Rapture, some epic action and a well meant try to include the symbolism of the game. But ultimately it would take a miracle and a better director to make that happen, imo :)
(# 4) on 05/09/2008 11:44
(# 5) on 05/09/2008 11:49
At this rate they should just take Deep Blue Sea and put the words BIOSHOCK over the title.
(# 6) on 05/09/2008 11:49
(# 7) on 05/09/2008 11:54
(# 8) on 05/09/2008 11:59
BUT STILL
(# 9) on 05/09/2008 12:01
On the other hand, the first Pirates movie was a successful adaptation of a THEME PARK RIDE.
So I'll just give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
(# 10) on 05/09/2008 12:03
(# 11) on 05/09/2008 12:21
The franchise has potential for a good movie, but I am skeptical. I don't think that you can capture the same feelings you get from actually making the decisions yourself in the game. Plus, seeing the big daddies up close at the beginning of the game has so much tension built into it from your relative vulnerability.
Although, if they get the circus of values vending machine role right, that could save the whole movie. WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS OF VAALUES!
(# 12) on 05/09/2008 12:58
(# 13) on 05/09/2008 13:00
(# 14) on 05/09/2008 13:01
Also, since the "Decisions" you make in the game really don't have THAT much impact on the story or how everything plays out, I don't really see it being a hindrance to the translation. Let's face it, the game was a pretty corridor shooter. You didn't really have THAT much of an impact on anything by the end. Sure, you could harvest or save little sisters, but it didn't change much of anything, really, except for maybe the final cutscene.
I think it could be decent. I'm keepin' my eyes peeled.
(# 15) on 05/09/2008 13:02
(# 16) on 05/09/2008 13:23
The choices in the game are of course an illusion, but the moment of deciding which action to pick evokes a conflict response that you wouldn't get by watching the events take place.
(# 17) on 05/09/2008 13:32
(# 18) on 05/09/2008 15:20
Enjoy your mediocre romance that overcomes Andrew Ryan, Fontaine, and Big Daddies.
(# 19) on 05/09/2008 15:23
And no matter how much it sucks, I WILL orgasm the moment I see a Big Daddy.
(# 20) on 05/09/2008 15:47
better than Boll or Bay, but still...