Game Movies

It is widely and oft-debated how game movies flop in the silver screen. The criticsm always focus on its poor narrative style and the failure to captivate th same effective strides of the genre from game into a capsule of more or less two-hour cinematic viewing. But nonetheless, more game movies are set to debut in the silver screen.

So what makes them click if they are rated poorly in narrative and form? It has to be the audience. Just as the virtual game world is saturated with its countless enthusiasts, the game movies are almost sure of its theater attendance. It follows the trail for game buffs to relish on anything that relates to their inside world of virtuality. Just as Superman toys and comic mags would sell now that it is shown in films. This consumers' distinct personality is a sure ticket to success in marketing of game products and commodities.

We can only wish for now that there will be evolving modifications in the future of game movies. Hopefully, it would parallel the same thrill and story in games. But for now, let the game enthusiasts enjoy their fantasy-driven game leagues. Then, let us see how far they'll actually make it click!

The newest trend is to scout for sensual, real-life counterparts of animated characters in the action game adventures-- Angelina Jolie as "Lara Croft", Charlize Theron for "Aeon Flux" and so with Mila Jovovich for "Resident Evil". They are hot in their suits and sexier in their moves. But is this enough to sustain the same cinematic appeal and excellence of virtual game world?

Final Fantasy remained true to its game. In contrast to the real-life setting, it parallels to the animation of the game. Same characters but extensive schemes and story line. It's like stretching the game into a movie. What's good about it is that you'll experience the same suspense tricks and incredible action spins in capsuled dramatic fantasy. Energetic and, I don't know why, but it seemed more realistic or probable against off-the-wall and sometimes awkward action execution real life character presentation. If you're a fan, and you're really into the game rather than the hype of the film, then you'd appreciate it more in animated series.

Meanwhile, we have to hand it over to the ladies, heroes and the villains. They compensate for the lack of substance or unretained digital effects of the game. Certainly, they bring life to character compared to the voices dubbed in animation. They personify the virtual fantasy into actual heroic icons.

Both genres have the ups and lows. For the animated series, they dominate the virtual dome and visual effects while the real life setting runs poor on its executions. On the other hand, characters are revitalized with better charismatic appeal to the audience in real life cinematic action. The animated series, with too much effects, runs dry on characters and realistic emotions. We could anticipate that future game movies will evolve and revolve more.

Who introduced the trend of action game heroines? While Aeon Flux and the Resident Evil has garnered its recent success in the big screen, let us not forget who initially laid it all out for the Hollywood craze. It's Angelina Jolie a.k.a. "Lara Croft".

Although the virtual action game "Tomb Raider" entails better cinematic appeal and effects resolution, who could resist Angelina's voluptuous charm in tight-fitting costumes and sexy slithering moves. Yes, she's all that! The credit should fall under her name. If not for Angelina's mystique sensuality, I don't know how bad the movie adaptation could be. Frankly, the virtual adventures are far more breath-taking and true to the essence of an adrenaline rush. But just to be fair, it's really quite hard to adapt the game scenes to the real setting of the film.

If you've followed the trail, there's the part 1 and 2 of the Tomb Raider cinematic series. So if I'm saying that it does not compare with the excellence of the the virtual computer game, what makes it an instant hit? The whimsical creation of Lara Croft's character is an long-sought prayer for men's driven fantasy of a sexy woman who is ready to captivate the world with beauty and strength. And for women, the time has come to glorify them as heroes!

"Lara Croft" made its huge debut in setting the trend. Angelina Jolie's legacy paves way for virtual heroine cult in Hollywood flicks. In these films, what we should anticipate for is not the effects or the stories you may already know from playing, it's the personified characters brought to life by these fascinating ladies!

The Bloodrayne PC role playing game has been made into a suspenseful movie, and it is now available on DVD! In addition, to much of our surprise, the DVD package comes with a Bloodrayne 2 PC game, apart from a director's cut and an uncut vversion of the Bloodrayne movie! No, I think this is not at all surprising 'cause the movie did not reach the expectations its producers had on how it would do in the box office. But, this DVD release promises to be a sellout to movie enthusiasts and PC gaming lovers alike.

The original Bloodrayne PC game is full of excellent graphics and a very intriguing storyline behind the game plot. It starts off with literally a killer main character, whom is a vampire, that goes by the name of Rayne. Now Rayne isn't equipped with high-tech electronic equipment, nor the technical skills of a genius MIT engineer. She's (yes, she's a she) got these medieval chopping blades attached to her arms, plus a chain to grapple and grab her enemies. Plus, she has about around three mood swings, ranging from normal to carnal lust, in which the latter provides excellent artistry to the entire visual effects of the game! The game is set in Germany, about the time it was still Nazi Germany, and her enemies range from the Nazi scientists and generals to the experimental victims of Nazi Germany's concentration camps.

The Sum of All Fears video game was inspired from the movie of the same title which was based on a Tom Clancy book. Developed by Red Storm Entertainment, it was created for the Gamecube and PC by Ubisoft, while the Game Boy Advance version was developed by Crawfish.

If this video game is familiar to you, you might have noticed its similarity with the Rainbow Six series of games. The game play is very similar in the sense that it's fairly simple. This first-person shooting game allows you to lead a team of counter-terrorism experts out on a mission, 11 all in all, to eliminate terrorist from the the midst of the world.

The player as the captain of the team leads the pack of equally skilled men and get them to plant bugs, rescue hostages, kill the terrorists and save the world. It may be exciting as it sounds but the graphics and sound effects are not as cooperative. In addition, the game makes us of the same interface for every action which makes it repetitive. But it is a game that's very easy to complete.

One of the most disturbing games I've ever played is Silent Hill. I found it disturbing not because the games contain scenes with explicit gore, the game's theme had more effect on me. It featured some occult believes by real life devil-worshipping cult, although it was not explicitly expressed in the game. Anyway, because of the lasting effect it had on me it became one of my favorite games and when I heard that a movie based on it was made, I was a little cautious.

Based on my experience, most movies adapted from games have proven to be disappointments. Most of the time they strayed away too far on the game they are based upon. Take Resident Evil for example. Although it was about the outbreak of the biological weapon manufactured by Umbrella, you don't get to see your favorite characters in the film. However, I must say I'm pleased with Silent Hill. Although the characters have been changed, the plot of the movie was quite close to the game's storyline.

What I really loved in the movie is that it's ending is more conclusive than the game's. See in the game you have numerous endings based on how well you played. Of course they can't do that to the movie right? So they gave it a more defining ending which I'm sure shocked the people who weren't familiar with the game. Although some still dismiss it as a lame movie, I for one am satisfied. Hey, it didn't become a box office hit for nothing.

I think Hollywood is setting a trend. What used to be as popular computer games are now playing on the big screen. Well, this is either the latest craze or Hollywood is running out of original plots and ideas. Whatever it is, we should expect for more computer-games-turned-movies as the years pass by.

One such game is Resident Evil. For the record, I am not a big fan of this game and the times I played this can be tracked by my ten fingers. But I am one among the millions that was lured into the belief that this movie is par excellence. Who can ever resist a gorgeous and hot Mila Jovovich do stunts before one's very eyes? Actually, it was Mila's beauty who saved this flick from distress, at least in my opinion.

The movie being based on a popular video game, there is no much storyline to expect. The plot is set in the 21st Century where a big and nasty corporation is conducting conspiracies such DNA manipulation and virus generation under the guise of top secret military research. The virus gets asunder and the computer controlling the underground society becomes glitched up. The next thing I knew there are zombie-eating and other mutating creatures. That was all that happened and it was disappointing in every sense of the word. If I could only turn back time, I wouldn't waste a dollar watching this in the big screen. I should have waited for its DVD copy, pirated or not.

From Paramount pictures comes Aeon Flux starring Charlize Theron as the superheroine out to kill the government leader.

There have been much hype about this movie especially because it stars the Oscar Award winner, Theron. Many are anticipating that this movie will become a box-office hit.

This movie is based on comic and on the popular MTV series by Peter Chung that has the same title. There has been a DVD release of the series.

Aeon Flux is placed 400 years forward where most human beings were killed by a deadly virus. The surviving people lived in a city called Bregna and is enclosed in a protective bubble. Charlize Theron acts as an acrobatic action hero who works as a spy and an assassin out to get the top leader. People are disappearing from the city and Marton Csokas's character, Trevor Goodchild, is the main suspect.

Aeon Flux was hired to kill Goodchild but when her sister gets lost, it becomes personal. Theron is a sight to see with her fabulous body and enchanting face in skimpy black outfits.

Make sure to bring lots of popcorns with you because this movie is truly enjoyable.

There is also a video game available for people who can't get enough of Aeon Flux, available in PlayStation and Xbox formats.

The trend of technological development today is the fusing of different devices into a single multifunctional device. High-tech cellular phones, for instance, are fusions of at least three devices, namely, digital camera, phone, and computer. Technological development allowed not only the effective communication of people, but also the efficient execution of the different business processes. Technological development benefited not only communication, but also medicine, business, government, and entertainment. The effect of technological development can be directly observed through the trends in the entertainment industry. For instance, almost all difficult special effects in movies are now rendered using computer generated images.

Technological fusion is also directly observable in the trends in entertainment. Some movies are adaptations from literary sources such as novels and comic books. Movies are also sometimes inspired by historical events. It is seldom that a movie is adapted into other forms of media or entertainment. Classical movies such as Gone with the Wind and Three Musketeers are movies inspired by literary works. It is only recently that movies are adapted into other forms such as cartoons. For example, the fantasy-comedy movie, The Mask, was adapted into serial animation of the same title. Movies are now also adapted into computer games. Movies such as Star Wars and Star Trek have game versions. Conversely, computer games such as Mario Brothers and Tomb Raider have movie versions.

You know what I mean: For every good (or at least passable) video game movie, there are at least two bad ones. For every Mortal Kombat, there's Super Mario Brothers and Double Dragon. You get the drill. Why, then, do they do such injustice to the games?

If a game is good enough to warrant a movie adaptation, then why do they butcher the elements that made the game so popular? Take the Mario movie. No mushrooms, no turtles, no dragon-turtle hybrid King Koopa, just Dennis Hopper in a suit (who is arguably more evil than Koopa will ever be).

Things started to make headway when Mortal Kombat was made. It featured all the characters from the game, and had the same atmosphere as the game did. Then MK: Annihilation came along, and effectively did a fatality for the movie franchise.

Tomb Raider showed some promise, with the delicious Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. Unfortunately, the sequel didn't fare too well and its fate as a movie franchise still lies in the balance.

Hopefully the Doom movie will continue to give gamers the hope that games can be adapted to good movies.