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[Redpyramidhead]

Who's goin to see it tonight?


_RED_ stuff

[Faile]

I'm going on monday. Excited!

[Redpyramidhead]

I just got back from the movie. Ready for the moment of truth? *drum rollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllll*............................................ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ....................

No wait... maybe you can't handle the truth!!!

OK OK... I wont be an ass...

The truth is I loved it. Did I love it because Im a fanboy? Of that I am not sure... but to me it turned out much better than I was afraid it might. Christopher Gahns went to great lengths to make this the best videogame to film adaptation yet. The vast majority of the time he was successful. That is saying a lot for this type of movie. I will save my full critique for later. I do not want to give much away so I wont say anything else here other than it is definately worth seeing! So what are you guys waiting for? I mean you've heard it from the horse's mouth right? I am the Red Pyramid Head aren't I? *bwahahaha*



_RED_ stuff

[Uchiha Sasuke]

Ok heres my two cents. *Spoilers*

First off I will go to say that it is the best video game adaption yet. But the film does have its share of problems. First off would be length. For some reason the film seemed to drag in some spots, with quite a few senseless scenes. Plus there wasn't any real scares. I mean there was plenty of disturbing images and scenes but nothing that really got under your skin and gave you goosebumps. Other than that it was pretty darn awesome. I liked the changes Gans made to accomdate the ending he though of, which was pretty neat. But yeah I would suggest seeing it.

~Will

[REChick14]

I personally enjoyed the movie. I thought it was great. The soundtrack was just like the game, I loved this a lot. It wasnt that scary but it was similar to the game. I just thought there could have been more to it but overall it was well done.

[DSgamer]

I liked it but I'm pretty sure someone who hasnt played the games will be like "what the F?" I personaly enjoyed it though

[Redpyramidhead]

Here's one of the best reviews you can probably find on the movie:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/s...d.php?t=478334

Watch out... there are some small spoilers in it.


_RED_ stuff

[Bogart]

It's actually one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time, and one that can ruin the Silent Hill brand in the mind of some people that would like the games. My friend, who never played the game, said the game was one of the most idiotic thriller movies he had seen in his whole life, and he couldn't imagine how the game could be any better if it was based on the same concept. Ugly work of the director - when you make a movie about a videogame it doesn't mean you must use the same camera angles used in a game - weak and stupid storyline - it seems they have gathered the most stupid elements of the series leaving aside what was truly important, especially in the best installment, Silent Hill 2: character development - incredibly cheap special effects that made everybody in the cinema laugh. In my opinion, I think that to make a good video game to movie adaptation, a director needs to take a different approach - only an "author", and not a sub-average director, can make justice to a franchise like Silent Hill, somebody willing to create his own idea of Silent Hill.

[Redpyramidhead]

It's actually one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time, and one that can ruin the Silent Hill brand in the mind of some people that would like the games. My friend, who never played the game, said the game was one of the most idiotic thriller movies he had seen in his whole life, and he couldn't imagine how the game could be any better if it was based on the same concept. Ugly work of the director - when you make a movie about a videogame it doesn't mean you must use the same camera angles used in a game - weak and stupid storyline - it seems they have gathered the most stupid elements of the series leaving aside what was truly important, especially in the best installment, Silent Hill 2: character development - incredibly cheap special effects that made everybody in the cinema laugh. In my opinion, I think that to make a good video game to movie adaptation, a director needs to take a different approach - only an "author", and not a sub-average director, can make justice to a franchise like Silent Hill, somebody willing to create his own idea of Silent Hill.

Ok, first of all, this post should be pretty much spoiler free:

A lot of people also enjoyed the movie and were annoyed by those extremely rude people laughing at a movie simply because it wasn't something they expected to see. All these immature kids apparently keep going to see certain movies expecting a slasher flick and all these other people come with preconcieved notions that videogames are not an artform, therefore they figure they shouldn't respect a movie adaptation of one. I admit that if you know nothing about the true Silent Hill experience, though, you may be very lost as to what kind of movie you are supposed to be seeing exactly. Like Gamer said, you might be thinking "WTF?!"

A lot of things hung in the balance with the making of this movie and Christopher Gahns made an honest attempt at making as many fans of the series happy as possible. The person in the last post is saying they shouldn't have used the similar camera angles and other visual aspects of the game that made it so special to fans in the movie adaptation? That just doesn't make any sense at all to me. To me that is the foundation of a videogame to movie adaption and this is the first time they got that part right!

It is true about the character development being an extremely important element of the game and some of its translation to film here was lost, but I think it may have a lot to do with what kind of character interactions and dialogue might work in a game versus a movie. That important difference hasn't been quite figured out yet and as long as directors keep trying to figure it out it can only get better.

Its interesting how in a game a lot of the character development is left up to you. Your reactions are based on what happens because of your total immersion into that world by taking on the role and actions of a main character. Your experience with secondary characters in the game is an intimate one because of this (uncomfortably so in Silent Hill.) While, in a movie, there are actors living out that immersion on the screen instead of you and you are left having to watch their reactions to whats going on instead of being able to feel it yourself directly. It's that extra degree of seperation from the story I think that makes it so hard to adapt a game into a film effectively. That extra degree is a large one. How does one even begin to figure out how to fill in the blanks?

I went to this movie in the mind-set of somebody not knowing what to expect, except for a lot of work put in to recreate the overall feel of the atmosphere and creatures found in the game (including both sound and visual immersion.) The fact that I went in with that expectation and was genuinely excited with what I saw and heard certainly says a lot. With the visuals and sounds to create atmosphere and creatures alone, I largely felt like I was in the game again and even experiencing Silent Hill in a new and interesting way.

I didn't expect a lot in terms of the acting and dialogue because in the back of my mind I must have been aware of the difficulty of translating this type of thing from a game to a movie. I ultimately felt that most of it turned out better than I thought it would in those aspects, though, and for that reason I was able to enjoy what I was watching. The only thing I will say i had a problem with is that the acting is inconsistent. There are some great moments of acting by some of the same actors who screw up the dialogue in some other scenes. Again, I wonder if it is so much their fault as it is the ability to translate whats acceptable to hear in a videogame to a movie with that extra degree of seperation from the experience I talked about earlier.

This movie isn't your typical horror movie just like the game isnt your typical survival horror. It's power is based on its ability to disturb rather than give you quick jumpy frights. I am glad they didn't try and change that aspect for the movie.

Overall, this movie is fun and better than most will expect from a videogame to movie adaptation. A lot of the same aspects of the atmosphere of the games excited me about the movie and that wasn't easy for them to pull off with Silent Hill.

My advice is to go into this movie with the idea of letting yourself go and get dragged under by a visual and audio feast. Let that take you to Silent Hill again.

Oh, and again, I am quite awesome in this movie. If you had any doubts just to how much of a monster I truly am, you will no longer

If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? Enjoy


_RED_ stuff

[Sleazy P Martini]

Originally Posted by gamer

I liked it but I'm pretty sure someone who hasnt played the games will be like "what the F?"

Thats what my buddy said. He never played the games so he was kind of lost. Personally I have no intentions of seeing it. Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil pretty much turned me away from video game movies.

[DSgamer]

Originally Posted by Bogart

It's actually one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time, and one that can ruin the Silent Hill brand in the mind of some people that would like the games. My friend, who never played the game, said the game was one of the most idiotic thriller movies he had seen in his whole life, and he couldn't imagine how the game could be any better if it was based on the same concept. Ugly work of the director - when you make a movie about a videogame it doesn't mean you must use the same camera angles used in a game - weak and stupid storyline - it seems they have gathered the most stupid elements of the series leaving aside what was truly important, especially in the best installment, Silent Hill 2: character development - incredibly cheap special effects that made everybody in the cinema laugh. In my opinion, I think that to make a good video game to movie adaptation, a director needs to take a different approach - only an "author", and not a sub-average director, can make justice to a franchise like Silent Hill, somebody willing to create his own idea of Silent Hill.

are you faile?

[Pu the Owl]

Originally Posted by gamer

are you faile?

Oh please... The fact not anybody agrees with you and your taste means it has to be Faile?

I don't think I'm going to see this movie. Movies and videogames aren't the same thing. What works for videogames doesn't work for movies, and vice versa. They use similar languages, but similar doesn't mean it's equally effective in both cases. I don't think Silent Hill would make a good movie. I don't like horror much in general. It's a cheap genre, if it's not made by a great director. This is not the case. Mr. Gans directed awful movies before this one IMO.

[Bogart]

I am not referring to the extreme angles used in the cinematic sequences of the game but to those during the normal gameplay sections, that are only functional to the gameplay and not expressive per se; it is ridiculous to see the camera following the actor from a back top-down angle like it would when you walked through the corridors of the game. I imagine the director (or whoever actually created those scenes) thinking: "hey this will make fans of the game happy" without asking himself if what he was doing made some sense in a movie. In any case, in general, my opinion is that the movie lacked quality (directing, acting, special effects) and (and this is what I really cannot stand in a SH movie, also for the reasons you mentioned, in particular blanks left in a videogame that a gamer must "fill" as he plays) creativity. With the obvious differences in the plot that influence the overall style of the movie and make it a bit enjoyable, I don't think Silent Hill is that much superior to the horrible Resident Evil movie. I always dreamt about a David Lynch version of Silent Hill, and I mean the "good" David Lynch, the one of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet. I always expected the movie version of Silent Hill to be something closer to Twin Peaks than to a bad thriller/horror movie, the work of a person with a coherent and provoking creative project in mind. But I guess I should have learnt the lesson, like Sleazy P Martini did.

[Harry]

Gamer, trolling is not tolerated in these forums. If you have nothing to say, do not post. Also, Bogart expressed his more than legitimate ideas, like you like to do.

I agree with Panuru, Bogart, and Sleazy P Martini - whenever I watch videogame to movie adaptations I have the feeling they may cause brain cancer.

[Pu the Owl]

Originally Posted by Bogart

I always dreamt about a David Lynch version of Silent Hill, and I mean the "good" David Lynch, the one of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet. I always expected the movie version of Silent Hill to be something closer to Twin Peaks than to a bad thriller/horror movie, the work of a person with a coherent and provoking creative project in mind.

I think the creators of the series mentioned Lynch as one of their original inspirational sources. Lynch is a great director. He would make a damn creepy version of Silent Hill, but average fans would not be happy, I suppose. Since his style is too "cerebral" and requires more than the "I like the game" attitude that usually draws players to movies based on games.

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Harry

whenever I watch videogame to movie adaptations I have the feeling they may cause brain cancer.

Oh no, but I don't think any videogame movie adaptation would cause as much brain cancer as the in-production "Dead or Alive" movie.

First off, I never played the games (Silent Hill), so I won't see the movie, so that settles that. But, on the topic of videogame to movie adaptations, it can be a little tricky because it all boils down to one's own opinions and preferences.

There are people, like Bogart, who prefer a more stylized, creative, and independent adaptation of videogame movies while there are others, like Red, who prefer the stays-true-to-the-game feel of the film. But is either of them truly better than the other? Who really knows because there is no definite answer for this. Even though I'm not a huge fan of videogame movies, I can't say that I don't sympathize with the directors and the screenwriters because they have a lot of pressure on them. On one side, there's the group who want to see an adaptation of videogames while on the other side, the group wants to see the actual videogame on screen. So who should they satisfy?

I'm kind of inbetween the two because I feel they should satisfy the "true-to-game" group since, after all, the game is what made people like it...so why wouldn't they want to see the movie stay true to the game? Like the certain camera angles that are similar to the ones in the "Silent Hill" game, I think this provided fans a little thrill and rush because it's these camera angles that created a memorable moment of tension for the gamers. So to see it onscreen and done right, it's like "Wow, that's fantastic!" It's exciting because it brings back the memories of the experience in the game, so it's like reliving it all over again. And doing an adaptation can be somewhat bad if the elements they adapted are totally off. Like in the second "Resident Evil" movie (I didn't see it) where the Nemesis became a good guy (or something like that), this was completely ridiculous to fans of the game because this should not and would not be remotely possible.

But then again, I also agree that certain aspects of videogames are hard to put onscreen since videogames are part of fantasy and certain "fantasy" moments are just ridiculous looking when placed in a realistic setting. Such as, oh I dunno, the "FF" series? Perhaps this is why "Advent Children" was made in CGI because they know it's just not doable. Or, I cannot imagine, no way in hell, the spectacular bosses in "MGS3" with real living people. It's just not possible to exude such coolness if you're a real person, I'm sorry. So when certain things that worked out well in the game come off downright cheesy in the film, this is where an adaptation would come in handy. It creates a more coherent, polished, and generalized plot and feel to the film and the director, if feeling rather stylish, can direct it the way s/he envisions the game or the message behind the game.

I think what would make a good videogame movie is if the director combines a blend of true-to-the-game and adaptation. I don't know if any videogame movie has successfully done this (people might say the "Tomb Raider" movies, but I disagree) but it doesn't mean it can't be done if all the right elements are in place.

EDIT: A little tidbit fact I found from the IMDB: there was no CG used at all during the film of "Silent Hill" except for the fog in the beginning...all the monsters were real actors dressed in latex costumes and make-up. Impressive, especially for films nowadays where it's a huge CG-fest.

[Harry]

They did use CG; they just decided to use real actors and models for the monsters (a good choice) - but CG was then used to "refine" movements or to create a few of the less human creatures or the most extreme effects.

I agree with Bogart about the camera style and angles; he was not speaking of the angles in the "cinematic sequences", but of those that are commonly used merely to serve the gameplay, not to "communicate" something. A good director knows why he should use a camera movement instead than another, or why a medium shot is better than a long shot for a particular scene; while most horror movies are B-movies, the genre is often characterized by a well calculated usage of classic elements of the cinematographic language in order to guide the attention of the spectator, and in general to convey different emotional states, including fear or anxiety. Even those that can be considered the earliest horror movies - like German Expressionist movies of the early '20s, or the extraordinary Vampyr - were characterized by an extreme use of the camera, the scenery, and light and shadow to lure the spectator into their fantastic ghoulish world. Producers of American horror movies of the following decades (like the popular Frankenstein and Dracula movies) used the lesson of these early "art movies" to create commercial products; sometimes, the use of these techniques in these American movies was dull, some other times it was smart enough to create movies that entered the realm of popular culture.

Surprisingly, movies inspired by survival horror games - and videogame to movie adaptations in general, and movies that want to convey a "videogame feel" - seem to use way too often cinematographic techniques just to make the image look "cool" instead of meaningful. They do not invent new elements of the language, they just ignore, with a purpose (pleasing the average gamer, their "target audience"), the ABC of cinema. That's another reason that can make a person who hasn't played the game feel that the movie is "strange", "awkward", or completely idiotic. Of course, a fan of the original videogame has all the rights to like the movie (as some of you have mentioned these movies are made for the average gamer), but this doesn’t mean that from the point of view of a cinema enthusiast, these movies are often dangerous for the brain. And the heart. And don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed a lot of ugly movies. I mean, I grew up with Stallone and Schwarzenegger and a lot more awful, awful action flicks of the Eighties; but those were masterpieces compared to the amazing shit we are fed nowadays. So, while some of you have the right to say they liked the movie, some others can say they would sue Sony Pictures for tricking them into watching it.

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Harry

They did use CG; they just decided to use real actors and models for the monsters (a good choice) - but CG was then used to "refine" movements or to create a few of the less human creatures or the most extreme effects.

Oh, I didn't know that...I mean, I shouldn't be surprised since, after all, no movie can live without CG now, heh. Well, regardless, I just thought it was very smart of them to use real actors for the monsters instead of using CG because it makes it a bit more realistic.

[Harry]

Hehe, I agree - nowadays they use CG way too much, and it really doesn't add to realism as the press releases surrounding big Hollywood productions said it should. I love when there are real actors or puppeteers behind the monsters... they are often much scarier than any sophisticated CG creature I have seen in the latest years (now that I think about it, Christophe Gans' Brotherhood of the Wolf had one of the most ridiculous CG creatures ever seen in a movie!).

[Faile]

Can you imagine a Lynch directed Silent Hill film? It would be amazing. Twin Peaks struck me as being very Silent Hill when I watched it last year (incidently, I thought Twin Peaks was amazing and represents everything Television should be and could be but isn't). I was about to go to see the film but then everybody I've spoken to about it is less than happy with it, which was a shame because I was kinda excited and hopeful that it might actually be good. Oh, woe. I guess I'll just watch Fire Walk With Me instead.