MovieChat Forums > Baldur's Gate (1999) Discussion > Movie?

Movie?

posted 18 years ago by Oldmate
6 replies | jump to latest

What's the chances of this gem (and possibly the sequels) being made into movies? When you consider the vast amount of video games that become films these days I think it could definitely be done. If you take into account the current trend of 'fantasy' movies, the enormous popularity of this game and the fact the storyline is so much more in depth and well developed than most that make it there is huge potential.
I think the hardest part would be developing the central character. Already we have a great villain and supporting characters. Think about it: Sarevok, Imoen, Gorion, Minsc, Jaheira etc. Who would play all of these great characters? Is it a realistic chance one day? There is so much to imagine and consider.
What do you guys think?

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"Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things."

[–] fjolvar 18 years ago

There's so much that can go wrong, movie makers dont't understand what's made the game so good, resident evil for example (not one of my favourite game series but still a good example), Uwe Boll could get his hands on it, your views on this game is probably not the same as mine wich makes it hard to reach out to everybody, Eragon a flop, Dungeon Siege most likely a flop! people getting tired of (bad) fantasy films so this one could be flop before it's finished. A pity because the charakters are great, as always from Bioware and they are true wizzards of game making :)

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] barlowe2003 17 years ago

I entertained this notion for a long time at one point, and even began leading a little "movement" on one pathetic former Interplay message board, convinced that my particular movie idea was the best ever and that I had a snowball's chance of getting it made if I went into film.

However, as I began to try and write the script, I became frustrated at how skeletal the material was to begin with, or at least my limited dedication toward it. I ultimately gave up. That's not to say that I don't think it could be made, but I've long since lost interest. In trying to write the screenplay, I soon realised that I couldn't get what I wanted out of the BG storyline.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Wonderboy2402 15 years ago

Exactly, if they failed so miserably making a basic DND film I doubt they could master one as great as Baldur's Gate tale.

[–] IrenaPekokas 15 years ago

Well I think that DnD movie was always going to be a failure because they had no real story going into it. It's like the people behind that film weren't even trying.

That being said it's of course entirely likely that the same thing could happen with the adapting of a BG movie. No matter how great the source material, if you don't have talented, creative and passionate people on board directing, writing, producing, etc than you're going to end up with a crappy movie. I always point to the example of the LotR films where it's so clear how dedicated the entire crew was to adapting the books and getting them right... In the end it showed and the movies were beautiful/amazing/awesome.
If there were dedicated, talented and passionate people doing a BG then it could be incredible.

Of course BG is a particuarly special case, because I can see elements in the story that would be perfect for an epic tv series (like something on HBO or Showtime), not just a motion picture trilogy. There are so many amazing side quests and characters that would have to be cut from a movie, but those quests would be ideally shown in episodic format. (I mean, lol, you could even have Drizzt Do'Urden show up in an episode or two as a special guest like he does in the game, something that a movie wouldn't have time for). There's also segments of the plot that could be perfect for the typical 'ebbing and flowing' story arcs you see in other television shows today. The evolving story of the Nashkel mines, the bandits, the Cloakwood mines, culminating in the unwrapping of the mystery of the Iron Throne's shenanigans, on and on, just seem very strongly suited to a television series. And of course you get to know the characters much better in that format.

But then again, major motion pictures are obviously of a far better quality because of the money that gets poured into them. Tv shows often suffer from poor CGI or having to film in cheaper sets and locations that don't look nearly as pretty as some of the sets they had in, say, the LotR movies.

So aarrgh, it's hard to decide what would more appropriate for a live-action version of Baldur's Gate.
Perhaps we should wait and see how the Game of Thrones tv series turns out. Those are a long series of dark fantasy books being turned into a television show for HBO, and hey, if it turns out great then maybe the same thing can happen for BG.

Was it love, or just something that reminded me of
Something that felt a lot like but wasn't love?