Tomorrow at 9PM est/pst in the US, Starz is premiering their new Starz Inside series. Why does that matter here? Because the first special is Hollywood Goes Gaming.
I happened to be sent a copy for early screening a few weeks back, and it pretty much delivers on what the title promises. The show features the history of the movie-game and game-movie connection, and has a plethora of people giving their insight. Some who you probably don’t care about (Bushnell, Shia Labeouf, and more) and others that make sense (Paul WS Anderson, Uwe Boll, the guy who did the Mario movie, The Rock [who should talk in every documentary], etc.)
It starts off with the obvious current connection on everyones mind: Surf’s Up. (To be fair, when they were filming it it WAS a huge multi-platform simultaneous release.) We quickly head into backstory land, where they talk about the history of games as movies, why the early movies failed until Mortal Kombat, and how Tomb Raider changed it all. (It’s really interesting to hear the thoughts of the people behind the Super Mario Bros. Movie, and how they knew it would suck before they even began writing it.)
One thing this does that I really do like (other than give me my two favorite things in one feature) is give gaming its due. Unlike a lot of other documentaries, Hollywood Goes Gaming admits that gaming is becoming just as big as Hollywood. Whether it’s huge directors talking about how they think games and movies will merge eventually or game developers talking about how they got their influence from movies (Saving Private Ryan inspiring every single WWII shooter since its release, anyone?) it’s a great look at how the two biggest forms of entertainment are joining together.
In case you’re wondering, they do feature Uwe Boll, and he does get some talking time. Believe it or not, he makes a good point. Unfortunately, that’s sandwiched between several horrible ones and clips of boxing matches.
Also, if you don’t like Paul WS Anderson, this pretty much paints him as the savior of game-based movies. Whether or not you agree with it, could you think of someone who’s had more successful game-to-movie translations?
For gamers who also like movies, consider it a must-watch. If you don’t care for movies much it won’t be quite as good, but it’s still entertaining to see the thoughts people had towards the older movies such as Street Fighter, Mario and Mortal Kombat, and how Jean-Claude almost killed off any hopes of another game becoming a movie, much like he almost killed his career with Legionnaire.
