THINQon : Computer game movies and The Prince of Persia

Cinema Room General Computer game movies and The Prince of Persia

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George Browning, I like to play the flute.

Computer game movies and The Prince of Persia

Latest Post: August 17, 2010 at 4:02 AM

14 followers

"That's impossible."
"Difficult, not impossible."

I liked this line in the movie trailer for The Prince of Persia as it captures the feeling and culture of the Prince of Persia game completely. A game where you constantly found yourself in a predicament which seemed impossible but then found a way how to solve it.

Besides this line I don't have much to say about the new Prince of Persia film. It's a "Whatever" film. Some piece of Blah, not too bad and not too interesting. There is a short part in the beginning which reminds one of the game, but most of the movie doesn't manage at all to transfer the experience of playing the game.

I don't play many computer games. Do any of the computer game movies transfer the feeling of the game? Lara Croft maybe as perhaps a significant part of the interest in the game was also to look at the pretty character. What about Resident Evil ?

What's the point of movies made by computer games? I would think it nice to enter a story in a world which you know so well and feel you lived there, with characters you know. Still, shouldn't they also transfer the experience of the game?

Films Discussed

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time [Blu-ray]

Resident Evil Trilogy 1-3

Lara Croft - Tomb Raider / Lara Croft - Tomb Raider, The Cradle of Life

Reply to:

Sam Carter

June 9, 2010 at 2:11 AM

1 follower

For me, what makes great game sagas great, is the storyline, character development, new release tension etc. I'm thinking games like the Half-Life series, and Metal Gear Solid. These games developed with an in-depth story in mind are always going to be held in high acclaim by regular gamers.
What I find difficult to grasp with movies made straight from games is they prohibit further development of that story, leaving a franchise where game after game is released with no real progression. All 3 films and their playable counterparts you've mentioned suffer from this. Sure, a Tomb Raider game is fun once in a while, but you can't connect with it.

Can the experience of any of these games really be transferred? I don't think (yet) that it can be ported to the silver screen, however I can't predict how this could be changed.

George Browning sent kudos.

Reply to: or

Claire Stark

August 17, 2010 at 4:02 AM

1 follower

Why would you make a game into a movie or a game into a book (halo) or a book into a movie (everything by hollywood these days)?From a producers point of view its the audience. There is already a group of people who know the characters or plot line or something about the story.... hopefully enough to come and see it.
example: Prince of persia played the game loved it watch the movie wasnt half bad. But when i was at the box office i had 8 choices and choose the one that i knew something about.
You really cant transfer the experience of a game to a movie. You can fail in a game and not get passed a road block. You can take hours of yout time to finish it. Most importantly you are the character for the time you play and you make choices. You just cant have that in a movie the course is preset and you cant change it.