Archive for the 'Based on Video Game' Category

Film #166 - Shenmue: The Movie (2001)

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

A lot of people would cry “foul” at my including a film like Shenmue: The Movie on this blog. For one thing, it was not released to theaters in the United States. For another, it is made up almost entirely of in-game footage from the Sega Dreamcast title Shenmue, rather than being a […]

Film #161 - Doom (2005)

Sunday, July 22nd, 2007

Over twelve years ago, I visited my brother who was then living in Pennsylvania. He was going to school, so, naturally, he had a computer. After spending several days getting to know the machine, I came away with two bits of knowledge. First, I didn’t think I’d ever wrap my head around […]

You Don’t Need to Catch This One: Day #353 - Pokémon Heroes (2003)

Tuesday, December 26th, 2006

Viewed December 19, 2006
Pokémon Heroes is the 2003 entry in the annual Pokémon film series (and the last to be released theatrically in the US). Like the TV series, it follows the adventures of Pokémon trainers Ash Ketchum, Misty and Brock as they learn about the world of Pokémon. This time, they come […]

Sucks: Day #290 - BloodRayne (2005)

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006

Viewed October 17, 2006
Okay, so I get some of what Uwe Boll does. I get the whole make-it-cheap-and-fast thing. I get the whole cast-whoever-is-available thing. What I don’t get is the change-everything-about-the-storyline thing. After all, someone somewhere down the line had to have actually played the games that his films are […]

Doesn’t Dig Too Deep: Day #282 - Lara Croft: Lethal and Loaded (2001)

Tuesday, October 17th, 2006

Viewed October 9, 2006
Lara Croft: Lethal and Loaded tells the story of the creation and rise to prominance of the lead character from the Tomb Raider series of video games. It has a bit of a cheeky tone, but hides a bit of depth behind its veil of fluffiness.
Overall, though, it’s a bit too […]

Film #128 - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Tuesday, May 16th, 2006

Viewed May 8, 2006
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is one of the better videogame-to-film adaptations, but given the genre’s history, that’s not that great an accomplishment.
The story is typical of the loopy ones seen in the ‘Tomb Raider’ games, revolving around ancient magics with just a hint of archaeology. (Tomb Raider’s obvious aping of […]

Film #075 - House of the Dead (2003)

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006

Viewed March 16, 2006
Hoo boy! I know I found myself somewhat defending Alone In The Dark earlier this year. There was some stuff in there that I thought was pretty good. The same cannot be said about director Uwe Boll’s previous video game adaptation, House of the Dead.
House of the Dead is […]

Film #051 - Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Friday, February 24th, 2006

Viewed February 20, 2006
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is the film that brought down the mighty house of Square. Until making this film, Square was a highly respected and successful video game company, mostly on the strength of its “Final Fantasy” series of RPGs. The Spirits Within was to be their big crossover […]

Horror on the Cheap: Day #003 - Alone In The Dark (2005)

Wednesday, January 4th, 2006

Viewed January 3, 2006
Okay, Alone in the Dark is a bad movie. It has a ridiculously convoluted plot, a lot of the acting is sub-par and none of it really comes together in the end.
That being said, I’ve certainly seen worse movies. I’ve sat through The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961), for heaven’s […]