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Comment by adpirz | Hacker News Reader

I still have hope. It took many decades before we entered the golden age of comic book movies, and while I don't think the wait will be as long, I think we're still not quite there yet with video games. What makes a good video game movie is what makes any movie good: when the creative team behind the endeavor believes in it and is tied to the source material. Read some of Nolan's early interviews before Batman Begins comes out and you'll get a sense of that.

I would love to see a Bioshock movie done right, or honestly a proper Metal Gear film. But if the filmmakers don't relate to the material or see it as more than just another narrative engine, we'll get the dime-a-dozen action flicks that try to hype up a few moments without capturing what makes so many VG experiences special.

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> a proper Metal Gear film

They're working on that (Jordan Vogt-Roberts, guy who did Kong: Skull Island). I have no idea how you could possibly turn Metal Gear into a movie that is appealing to people who haven't played the games, but he seems to be a huge fan of the series, and has claimed to have "cracked the code" about how to make an appealing movie based on a video game, in the same way that Hollywood has cracked the code for making comic book movies. He's also working with Hideo Kojima. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Mulling over the concept, I think the only way to direct a quality Metal Gear film is to ditch the idea of mass appeal and intentionally attempt to create a cult classic that captures the spirit and story of the original, not unlike Dredd or the new Blade Runner film. And with the correct marketing and angle, hopefully crossover into mainstream appeal like Mad Max: Fury Road. Tricky, but there's a first time for everything.

Alternatively, they could go The Shining/2001: A Space Odyssey route and just make a very good film that doesn't resemble the original work very much. But Vogt-Roberts is not the Kubrick for that, nor does he seem like the type to piss off original authors.

Here is the reddit AMA where he talks about it a bit: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/5y9y4o/i_am_jordan_...

A Bioshock movie would be very hard to get right because so much of the plot revolves around free will and choice, which is of course entirely missing in film. However there was a book [1] set in the Bioshock universe which could work.

[1] http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/BioShock:_Rapture_(Novel)

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