Actually I'm pretty sure the only reason a movie wouldn't work is because the game is so engaging. You're allowed to take the story at your own pace, and on top of this; it kind of feeds you information slow-burn, little by little, until you get the point. I'm not saying movies can't do that. But if you take a look at the important points of the story, and condense them down, to about two and a half hours. What you'd get is a pretty standard Hollywood western revenge/tragedy. I can't think of a single unique thing about it.
I've said the same thing about Heavy Rain. For a game, it's pretty daring, and is engaging because it's interactive, but if it was a movie - no matter what the choices you made, audiences are pretty likely to see them all coming. It didn't surprise me then, when I heard David Cage had hired screenwriters to help him flesh out the possibilities in the story's timeline. It's a pretty standard thriller. It wasn't exactly Oldboy or anything.
Then again, if you can capture the tone that Red Dead had, this feeling that everything is hopeless, and violence is (mostly) just a desperate, pitiful attempt to postpone your own mortality - if it could get that across - somehow - it might register with some as a valid piece of art.
I guess where I'm going is the notion that the things making games like Red Dead great, are subtle, between the lines moments, that movies usually don't have the time for - not in these types of stories. If a screenwriter takes what 'he needs' as a screenwriter, and discards the rest, what he's going to end up with is "Government forces John Marston to kill his friends John dies in the process, son takes revenge; the end.
I do like the idea of a prequel, but only in animated form, and I think John could look especially cool in some ink.
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simian_ninja
13 years ago
I'm going to agree on that they shouldn't make a movie out of this. For one thing, Westerns don't tend to sell that well anymore and I can't imagine a producer wanting to risk it as the majority of people (aside from gamers) won't really know what it's about or be that into it.
As Bioparadoxous has mentioned, the story in itself is not that unique and has been around before.
I do, however, see this working as a maybe a two or three season show on something like HBO.
On a side note, a prequel in a game format I wouldn't be that into. I'd like to see Jack Marston's story told. Something where he finds love, where he learns that his father was also a hero and not just a gun slinger, where he too can rise above all things and be a better man.
After GTA IV, RDR and LA Noire - something...with a happy ending wouldn't be all that bad.
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king_of_bob
13 years ago
For one thing, Westerns don't tend to sell that well anymore and I can't imagine a producer wanting to risk it as the majority of people (aside from gamers) won't really know what it's about or be that into it.
Tell that to the producers behind True Grit. Further, this is a franchise with an established fan base. It's not like it's some completely new work of fiction.
As Bioparadoxous has mentioned, the story in itself is not that unique and has been around before.
So has pretty well every plot you've seen on film since it's inception. The major plots were all done to death before film was even invented.
On a side note, a prequel in a game format I wouldn't be that into. I'd like to see Jack Marston's story told. Something where he finds love, where he learns that his father was also a hero and not just a gun slinger, where he too can rise above all things and be a better man.
Personally I would hope any sequel would focus on a completely different person\family. Much like the GTA games which are only very loosely connected to each other. They take place in the same universe, but focus on completely different groups of people.
After GTA IV, RDR and LA Noire - something...with a happy ending wouldn't be all that bad.
Rockstar is pretty big on dark stories, and light happy endings don't usually work in those kinds of stories. I mean, would it really make sense to tag a happy ending on LA Noire(especially considering noir typically ends badly for the protagonist)? I wouldn't mind bitter sweet, but a happy ending wouldn't really fit in any of the games they've put out previously.
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