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Uwe Boll barred from big budget film photo

At some point or another you've likely sat through one of Uwe Boll's movies. In this day and age it's almost a rite of passage for an eager, doe-eyed youngster to have his hopes of an excellent movie of his favorite game dashed.  That moment just as the light of optimism and hope fades from their eyes, when you can practically hear their brain clawing it's way out of their skull via the nasal cavity; yeah that's the good stuff.

It seems now that my previously staunch atheism is a highly suspect dogma, for only under the watchful eye of a just and loving God could the brutalizer of our favorite franchises have his security blanket (made entirely of $100 bills) yanked from around his shoulders (he wears it like a cape, you see).

Bolll's recent appalling effort, In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (which cost $70 million to make), did so badly (bringing in $3 million over the weekend) that he is now without the funds to keep making big budget movies.  Previously Boll had funded his films through a German tax shelter, displaying a surprising level of intelligence in the process, which have since been banned, leaving Boll budget-less.  But don't sound the victory trumpets just yet.

In spite of the fact that his career is issuing its death rattle Boll seems unperturbed:

“In the future, I will focus on small films such as (the video game adaptation) ‘Postal’ or (the Vietnam war drama) ‘Tunnel Rats,’ ” he said. “These are films that represent my true passion, and they can be done with small budgets.”

You've got to hand it to the man, in spite of his body of work being labeled complete garbage by the majority of it's intended audience and thus setting off the ruination of his career, he's just as tenacious as ever.

[Via GamingToday]


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54 comments | showing # 1 to 50

Y0j1mb0's Avatar
Y0j1mb0 at 01/15/2008 15:47
I think the CIA is now using his films over waterboarding to extract information from terrorist cells.
EternalDeathSlayer's Avatar
EternalDeathSlayer at 01/15/2008 15:49
You've got a good point: The guy still won't give up. He's as determined as ever. Does he really think he can make a good film, or is he only motivated by money? I don't understand this man at all. But I'll give him credit for his misguided ambitions.

Plus, he makes the internet laugh.
YellowHare's Avatar
YellowHare at 01/15/2008 15:51
@ Y0j1mb0

I'm not even liberal, and I would protest against such a tactic. Cutting off fingers, electrocution, Uwe Boll movies... some things are going to far.
CaffeinePowered's Avatar
CaffeinePowered at 01/15/2008 15:53
There is a god
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar
Kyousuke Nanbu at 01/15/2008 15:58
Finally, I'm glad they finally got rid of that tax thing he always used, now can someone please investigate how in the fuck Uwe gets such good actors?
Clockwork's Avatar
Clockwork at 01/15/2008 16:05
Seems like were never going to hear from him again. Awesome. Unbelieveable, Dungeon Siege cost 70 mil. and they've only made 3 mil....holy shit!
michiyoyoshiku's Avatar
michiyoyoshiku at 01/15/2008 16:07
Uwe Boll is the Ed Wood of our Generation.
Baron Calico's Avatar
Baron Calico at 01/15/2008 16:10
I have to ask the community here: How many of you have ever actually seen an Uwe Boll film? And which ones? I'm always curious, meaning no slight against anyone here.

For the record, I have seen House of the Dead, Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, and yes, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale.

I would never have seen Bloodrayne or King had I not started up a website for movie reviews back in Sept. It's fun to write negative criticism =) Not so much fun to sit through his movies though... =(

(shameless self-plug) www.ZeroSpoilers.com, if anyone's wondering... (/shameless self-plug)
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 01/15/2008 16:12
Thank youuuu
Qais Fulton's Avatar
Qais Fulton at 01/15/2008 16:15
@michiyoyoshiku: Take that shit back right now, Ed Wood is the king of schlocky B-Cinema where as Boll is just a talentless douche.
Y0j1mb0's Avatar
Y0j1mb0 at 01/15/2008 16:17
@Qais Fulton:

You beat me to it.
Patriot SE's Avatar
Patriot SE at 01/15/2008 16:20
Well I can say that collectively my friends are responsible for about 100 dollars for In the Name of the King as we went to laugh our asses off.

However, from what I understand of the tax shelter he uses in Germany is that it wasnt necessarily banned but restructed to prevent out side companies from using it to gain a huge tax credit. Boll on the other hand uses a German production company located in Germany and uses the shelter for entirely legititmate reasons.
bleep's Avatar
bleep at 01/15/2008 16:23
hurray I get to use my Uweshop again!
Zenith's Avatar
Zenith at 01/15/2008 16:26
“These are films that represent my true passion, and they can be done with small budgets.”
doesnt he mean "they can be done badly with small budgets. Though i read somewhere that postal 3 was possibly gonna use the source engine so if he just made the whole film in game then he would be able to pull it off with a small budget, even if it was crap we could download the 'sets' maps that he used and recreate us some movie fun. But with voice chat add libs
Spartacus's Avatar
Spartacus at 01/15/2008 16:35
Qais, you get +8 awesome points for that picture.
DJTyrant's Avatar
DJTyrant at 01/15/2008 16:37
Yeah "In the Name of the King" was really bad. I wrote a review of it on my c-blog if you want to see it >_>.
YellowHare's Avatar
YellowHare at 01/15/2008 16:37
@ Baron Calico

I have seen 2: House of the Dead and BloodRayne. I saw HOTD before I knew what a Uwe Boll was, and hated it. I saw BloodRayne after I knew what a Uwe Boll was, braved it, and hated it.
CannibalCalvin 's Avatar
CannibalCalvin at 01/15/2008 16:42
Maybe this is what he needs to start making good movies. A smaller budget often forces directors and actors to think more about the acting and the small amount of money they have to spend.
Tragic Hero's Avatar
Tragic Hero at 01/15/2008 16:43
I saw HOTD and Alone in the dark. I laughed during HOTD and just said "WTF" during Alone in the Dark. I also saw the film where Uwe beat the hell out of some reporter in a boxing match and IMO that was his best work ever.
Eschatos's Avatar
Eschatos at 01/15/2008 16:44
So hopefully only one more video game movie he gets to ruin.
Colette Bennett's Avatar
Colette Bennett at 01/15/2008 16:51
The line about the true passion scares me. What does Uwe Boll's true passion look like?
Harkonnen's Avatar
Harkonnen at 01/15/2008 16:58
I can't hate this guy. He really tries hard, and you have to admit, if he weren't so keen on videogame movies you wouldn't hate it as much (hell, you wouldn't even know him).

I would also like to make a stand for his directing skills. I can't say he is a bad director. He seems to like his movies, so maybe things end up the way he wants them to be. He has an awful taste, though.
Cameron300ZXTT's Avatar
Cameron300ZXTT at 01/15/2008 17:04
HotD turned my theatre into a living MST3K episode. Everybody was making witty comments about the movie as it played on the screen.

Granted, there was only about 9 people in the theatre, but still great.

Ironically, I'm watching it right now.

From the little bit i've seen of Postal, I want to see more and not ashamed to say that.

Also, I thought a bit more on the Wood/Boll comparison and while they both have some atrocious movies, I think Wood had more passion for his films where I think Boll just wants to make movies.

But that's just my 2 cents.
NihonTiger90's Avatar
NihonTiger90 at 01/15/2008 17:07
Man, this is really great news. Made my day, certainly!
Orionsaint's Avatar
Orionsaint at 01/15/2008 17:07
SWE3tMadness's Avatar
SWE3tMadness at 01/15/2008 17:08
Eh, I see him the same way as people who audition for American Idol: he probabably is aware of how awful his films are, but makes a big fuss over them just so we'll post articles like this and talk about how much he sucks.

It's the same thing with Jack Thompson and the idiots who are complaining about the sex scenes in Mass Effect too. Negative attention is still more attention than they would get otherwise.
Big Z's Avatar
Big Z at 01/15/2008 17:11
Well, he's got conviction, I'll give him that. He's persistent, which is a nice attribute, but in this case it's more of a negative thing, like "I just can't get rid of these hemorrhoids in my asshole."
the vinny club's Avatar
the vinny club at 01/15/2008 17:27
I hate the movies but I find his tenacity pretty endearing. Especially when he fought those 5 critics in a row and completely owned them.
supremeFronk's Avatar
supremeFronk at 01/15/2008 17:29
i don't care what you say i'm plopping down my money to see postal! "My movies are funded with Nazi gold." priceless.
Fading Star's Avatar
Fading Star at 01/15/2008 17:30
Good luck Mr. Boll.
Corak's Avatar
Corak at 01/15/2008 17:42
I do admire his tenacity, its good to have. But it would be a little different if the vast majority of the movie going public actually liked his films, and say the critics didn't. I watched part of Bloodrayne on cable one night and I thought the lighting was done by a blind man, it was just shit awful. I've seen high school films that had better lighting. Every person I ask about his movies just rolls their eyes at me, and I feel the same way. I admire his tenacity, but Mr. Boll there is a time to gracefully step aside, not that you would be able to accomplish that at this point in your career, but you really should just fade away and live out your life somewhere tucked away from the rest of the world. Something Brittney Spears should have done some years ago.
akathatoneguy's Avatar
akathatoneguy at 01/15/2008 18:01
I want to fight Uwe Boll.

That is all.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 01/15/2008 18:15
I <3 Uwe Boll. He's gotta be the posterchild for optimism.
akathatoneguy's Avatar
akathatoneguy at 01/15/2008 18:19
Allow me to make a not-so-bold prediction. In 20, 30, maybe even 50 years, someone will make an ironic, dark-comedy biopic of Uwe Boll, where the actor who plays him will portray him as a passionate madman of a director. People will search out his old films and have a good laugh, and the biopic will be critically acclaimed, and somewhat successful commercially.

Also, I still want to fight Uwe Boll.

That is all.
SniperFodder's Avatar
SniperFodder at 01/15/2008 18:22
I swear I need a thesaurus every time I read something from Quail Futon...I r a publik skul grajitt. I also would like to kick Uwe Boll's ass.
Boolean's Avatar
Boolean at 01/15/2008 19:22
lol, 70 million to make that peice of shit. The first Matrix movie cost 60 million!
slayoyayo's Avatar
slayoyayo at 01/15/2008 19:37
it's not over.

uwe boll has passion for $$ and i think his direction aligns more closely with low budget cult schlock, which has a following. a lot of directors are shit, but have made good movies from good stories. i also think uwe boll is shit and just makes movies to make money.
Im OK's Avatar
Im OK at 01/15/2008 20:11
Wait... there was a Dungeon Siege movie? And it was made by motherfucking Uwe Boll? God damn. *disheartened sigh*
GuitarFearow's Avatar
GuitarFearow at 01/15/2008 20:13
$3 million? On a $70 million movie?

[sarcasm]Oh wow, I never expected that his movie would do so poorly. I expect better from you, Uwe Boll.[/sarcasm]
Im OK's Avatar
Im OK at 01/15/2008 20:14
@bleep

Isn't his name pronounced Ooh-vuh or something like that? At least, that's how they kept saying it in the Lowtax boxing match anyway. *shrug* Ewwie does fit him a lot better, though.
PetiePal's Avatar
PetiePal at 01/15/2008 21:48
It is a post-Christmas miracle. 2008 will be a good year.
David Quinn Carder's Avatar
David Quinn Carder at 01/15/2008 22:36
I've seen Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne, and another I can't remember. My favourite scene is in Alone in the Dark, shortly after the infamous "Marco Polo" incident . . . you can clearly see a supposedly dead actress get up before the scene finishes, which could have very easily been avoided in editing, but I guess they just didn't care enough. In Bloodrayne, I can't get over how bad the swords are.

For those of you who don't get why people don't like this guy, aside from his unintentionally horrible movies, check this out: http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/08/you-dumb-fck-uw.html
and then check this out: http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/08/uwe-boll-interv.html
Velt's Avatar
Velt at 01/15/2008 23:53
This helps me to end the day with a good news.
Noah's Avatar
Noah at 01/16/2008 00:00
He mentioned Postal as a "future" project, but it's already made. Did I read that right?
Amayirot Akago's Avatar
Amayirot Akago at 01/16/2008 02:25
He'll die a painful, lonely death.
Burnt Meatloaf's Avatar
Burnt Meatloaf at 01/16/2008 04:23
Big budgets are out this generation. Prepare for minimovies!
RICHARD BLOCKER's Avatar
RICHARD BLOCKER at 01/16/2008 08:26
Tenacity my ass. The only thing worse than being a total fucktard is being totally oblivious to being a total fucktard. I hope he gets mauled by a badger.
sirpalee's Avatar
sirpalee at 01/16/2008 13:46
Well, if there will be more movies like Postal, then go Uwe. Postal is a masterpiece. It's trully that...
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 01/16/2008 13:51
Thank god. Here's hoping game studios realize he doesn't even have a budget to make anything good for them.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 01/16/2008 16:43
I'm with Qais. If anyone ever mentions Ed Wood in the same breath as Uwe Boll, I will choke a bitch of my choosing. Wood was a saint.
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