46 réponses à ce sujet

[Reverendtrigster]

You know this actually started as a reply in another thread, but as you can see it got a little out of hand!

OK, so first off a caveat: While I'd much rather they not just straight-up adapt the games, but come up with an original story set in the ME universe. Maybe as a prequel (First Contact War seems trite, but still a viable, if unoriginal possibility) or a interquel  (is that a word?) like Paragon Lost or a story running parallel with the games. Don't see it happening though. I'd also prefer a femShep movie. Don't see that happening neither.

So, I can't help but wonder, if one had to make the story of ME1 into a 2 hour movie format, what would be the best way to go about it? What would need to be cut? What would need expanding on? Which characters need to stay and which need to go? Nevermind so much which "decisions" they'll make, since it's probably a safe bet that they'll go with the basic premise of a broShep/soldier/Paragade.

So yeah, here's my thinking: -

Characters

The basic problem here is numbers. Too many characters across three games and so many of them have such minor roles that some just have to go, and/or have their role altered/reassigned.
So, which of our favourite characters are Glorfindel and which are Arwen warrior princess? Which are to be as indespensible as Sir Lancelot and which as destined for obscurity as Sir Not Appearing In This Film? Which missions are to be expanded into the Battle of Helms Deep, or go the way of the Scorching of the Shire? (Yes, I know I'm overusing the LotR references, but it the only comparable adaptation I'm familiar with!)

• Ash & Kaiden: The first thing that leaps to mind is to combine Ash & Kaiden into a single character, who is doomed to a one-way trip to Virmire. Nothing against either character, but their impact on the second & third games was minimal. Maybe the romance should start with this character, making the loss more meaningful and personal? Of course that makes Liara the rebound...

• Liara: So, if Liara is to be the love interest, then she needs to appear a *lot* sooner in the plot. Maybe (and believe me, it pains me to say it) merge her character role with Tali's and have her be the one introduced on the Citadel. That way you can introduce her and Wrex at the same time, establish that she found "something" while on a dig and is on the run from the Geth & Saren's agents. Bonus points for setting up the Shadow Broker connection extra early.

• Wrex: Well, if it ain't broke, right? You just gotta have Wrex. Wrex is Wrex! He shoots things and and makes with the funny one liners. Moving on...

• Garrus: Now don't get me wrong, Garrus ain't broke either, but let's be honest for a sec. ME1 Garrus doesn't have much depth or anything to do besides get high strung over things that have little to do with the thrust of the narrative. He doesn't even calibrate things! While I'd certainly include him in a supporting role/cameo during the early Citadel "hunt for evidence" scenes, I think it's best he wait it out until film two where he can really be the Garrus we love. Tough, but fair.

• Tali:  Again, tough, but like garrus she just just doesn't have as much to do after her initial introduction. Plus, as previously stated, Liara needs that extra screen time!

• Supporting Characters: Bit of a mixed bag this lot. Most can probably get by as glorified extras (Adams, Presley, Chakwas) but others like Joker Udina, Anderson and Hackett pretty much need to stay as they are. Contunuing the Lotr theme, these guys are the White Council. No prizes for guessing which one is Saruman!

• The Villains: There's really only three in the game (Saren, Benezia & Soveriegn) and they pretty much all need to stay as they are. Beneziais the only one that *could* be cut, but if anything I'd say her screen time needs to be increased. With Liara's presence increased, her personal stake in the mission must follow suit. Saren's threat is established fairly early on, but in the game Benezia is really only there to dump exposition and summerily killed. The mystery of why she went bad and her internal stuggle with indoctrintion certainly lends itself to a more fleshed out character arc.

Structure

This is the really tricky part. So many missions. So many hour spent trying to unwedge the Mako from a rocky crevase and no way in hell that they can all fit into the movie. So let's just stick to the main missions: Eden Prime, Therum, Feros, Novaria, Virmire & Ilos. But first....

• Prologue: Yup, one of these. They may not be able to get Cate Blanchett or Iam Holm to narrate it, but somwhere between the studio logos and the introduction of our characters, the audence needs to be (very quickly!) brought up to speed on what's going on.
  The discovery on Mars. Protheans. Element Zero. The mass relays. Biotics. The First Contact War. The Citadel races. All of it needs at least a cursory primer just so people aren't busy asking themselves how come some characters fling blue energy around and what's the deal with the guys with two jaws?

• Shepard's Introduction: While it's certainly a viable option to just dump this character on the audience and let them get to know the protagonist on the fly. I like the idea of introducing the world through Shepard's eyes. Maybe even steal that bit from the start of 'Serenity' where a history lesson becomes a dream which becomes a holo-recording. Like peeling back the layers of an onion, the viewer is organically introduced into the world and (arguably) the protagonist without feeling like they're having to do homework.
  In this instance the analogy would be Shepard giving the ME "how we got here" history lesson....as part of one of his signature speeches to a bunch of fellow marines on Elysium/Torfan/Akuze (doesn't matter which.) Cut to the battle...and freeze the recording as Udina, Anderson & Hackett discuss this possible Spectre candidate...

• Eden Prime: This bit is important but it needs to happen pretty fast. Indeed, I'd be inclined to have the attack happen *after* Normandy arrives. This allows Nihlus more time to be separated and subsequently killed by Saren. So he's gone to supervise moving the beacon while Shepard's squad stands guard at the Normandy. The attack hits and they make their way to the dig site only to find Nihlus dead and the site empty.
  This time the witness to Saren's betrayl (since it can't credibly be Shepard himself) can be the gibbering wreck that is Manuel. Crazy ranting. Fan service foreshadowing. "Thoughts the colour of oily shadows" and all that jazz. An exciting action sequence later (on a speeding cargo train perhaps?) and they have the beacon, but no Saren. Then of course fizzle, crash, VISION-OF-DOOM, and beacon-explode-inna-face. Cut to black.

• The Citadel: This section pretty much as it is in-game. Just less loosing at Quazar, getting nookie with the consort or long elevtor rides. It's a pretty straight-forward:-
  > Hey Garrus who I have just met, howz it going?
  > It sucks, Saren is a slippery customer.
  > No leads?
  > Just some Krogan we have down at the Precinct. Let's go see him!
  > Hey Wrex who I have just met, howz it going?
  > Great except there's some alien chick with dirt on Saren the Shadow Broker hired me to "rescue" but she's hiding out in a nightclub and these guys won't let me shoot up the joint to go get her.
  > How about we all go get her? Garrus?
  > OK!
  <Insert Exciting Nightclub Shootout>
  > Fear not alien chick, I have come to rescue you!
  
  Yes, this is where Liara shows up (see above!) Then it's off the the council with her evidence, something about Benezia. Spectrehood. Normandy. (Garrus stays a cop till the sequel) and off we go!

• Feros & Noveria: This is where introducing Liara early beings to pay off. For one thing, no need for Therum, so that's straight out the airlock. That leaves us with Feros, Noveria & Virmire. Since the purpose of these three is to piece together what Saren is up to, they can basically be combined Fero & Noveria into just mission.
  So let's just call it Noveria, a colony under attack by the Geth (no time for corporate shenanigans!) Shepard and co must get up to the Peak 15 facility where Benezia is hold up. There we find the the Thorian being studied by Cerberus (ah-ha! had to introduce them somewhere and there's ain't no time for dead Admirals!) The rachni plot is also out since again, it goes nowhere. the rachni
  themselves may still appear of scary monsters (more Cerberus projects?!) to get shot at and die,
  but that's it.
  Here, Benezia has been given to the overgrown turnip-squid instead of Shiala. <insert mother-daughter drama scene> Thorian (and rachni queen?) is killed by neutron bombardment. Benezia gives Shepard the cipher and then dies. Goodbye little wing.

• Virmire: Again, Liara can save us some time by already having the Mu Relay co-ordinates from that prothean dig site she escaped from (without getting pointlessly trapped) before the Geth tried to kill her and Saren's agents chased her to the Citadel. This can be mentioned early on, but it's significance won't be apparant till later as the whole Saren evidence thing pushed if off to the side. A chekhov's gun if you will.
  So basically this is the part of the film where it all goes ****** up and our hero gets knocked on his arse, just so he can pick himself up again later. Not sure if there's room for the genophage discussion here, but there probably should be some Wrex'age at some point here.
  Either way, Shep and co fight their way into Saren's base, finds beacon #2, gets filled with esoteric dread by Soverign. The mission goes bad and they loose Lt. Ashley Alenko (see above) when the base goes boom.

• From the Citadel to Ilos and Back Again: Not alot to say here. Pretty much as in-game. Normandy in lockdown. Council not buying the whole <finger-quotes> Reaper </finger-quotes>story. Anderson buys it and unlocks the Normandy by putting his fist upside Udina's face. Normandy runaway <insert Terminator rip-off sex scene> and the landing on Ilos.
  At this point I'd say they find Vigil almost straight off since a pitched battle, followed by a long conversation followed by a mad dash would rather spoil the momentum in a film. So it's long exposition scene--including flashback/footage of Prothean cycle--then the mad-dash, Blues Brothers scale car Mako chase to the conduit.
  Again, pretty much as in-game here. The save the council/not save the council decision can be safely side-stepped by the Alliance fleet showing up in time to save the DA's blue bacon (no input from Shepard required.) Saren suicide. Morphs into Marauder Sheilds Sr. <exciting fight scene> Soverign go boom. Shepard death fake-out. Queue heroic moment! Quick denouement. Normandy flies off into the sunset. Roll Credits.

• Optional Post Credit Stinger: <Shot of Collector General>
  Harbinger: Nazara has failed. We will find another way. Assuming control...

So those are my rough ideas, feel free to share yours! Do you think Tali should be kept instead of Liara? Garrus instead of Wrex? Would you keep the Rachni queen but ditch the Thorian? And just who the hell is the Tom Bombadill bloke anyway!?

[Han Shot First]

I actually don't think you need to combine any squad members from Mass Effect 1, as you are dealing with a rather small cast of characters. You only run into problems with too many characters as the story moves into the second chapter. I think it is ME2 where they'd need to either cut or combine characters.

[hiraeth]

Han Shot First wrote...

I actually don't think you need to combine any squad members from Mass Effect 1, as you are dealing with a rather small cast of characters. You only run into problems with too many characters as the story moves into the second chapter. I think it is ME2 where they'd need to either cut or combine characters.

Yeah, and I have nothing against the ME2 characters, but the ME1 crew is sort of the home-base crew that, if you play your cards right, can stay with you all the way through the end (minus the Virmire loss). I really love the ME2 cast, but as Han said there are simply too many to give each their deserved screen time. ME1 crew, on the other hand...I think you could pull them all off and give the viewer the chance to become attached to them. 

[arial]

I really fear it would turn out terrible.

the Hitman movie ruined that franchise for me, and I had been a fan since Codename 47.
The Super Mario movie was just... so stupid...so..so stupid...
the street fighter movies were wrong... just... so wrong..

[Phlander]

I know the logistics are difficult, but I think removing/combining characters can't happen in Mass Effect. In so many ways, the characters are what the story is about.

Modifié par Phlander, 29 avril 2013 - 02:46 .

[arial]

actually, its not just movies. Television shows based on games are usually equally as terrible,

I mean, anyone born in the early 80s will remember just how bad game-to-film adaptations can be with one phrase... "Do the Mario"

I give you, the end of the super Mario Supershow:

do you really want to see something that horrific?

[Reverendtrigster]

MassEffectFShep wrote...

Han Shot First wrote...

I actually don't think you need to combine any squad members from Mass Effect 1, as you are dealing with a rather small cast of characters. You only run into problems with too many characters as the story moves into the second chapter. I think it is ME2 where they'd need to either cut or combine characters.

Yeah, and I have nothing against the ME2 characters, but the ME1 crew is sort of the home-base crew that, if you play your cards right, can stay with you all the way through the end (minus the Virmire loss). I really love the ME2 cast, but as Han said there are simply too many to give each their deserved screen time. ME1 crew, on the other hand...I think you could pull them all off and give the viewer the chance to become attached to them. 

Well the way I see it, cutting them in ME1 makes the cuts in ME2 that much easier to manage. I'm basically approaching this as the basis for two more films so--for example--if Liara is the protagonist's main love interest through the whole trilogy and she's going to be largely absent in movie 2 then you need to give her a *lot* of time in ME1 to make an impression, so you miss her in 2 and are glad to see her back in 3. The movie can only be two and a bit hours long, so more of one character means less of another. So it's either cut someone, or reduce them to a glorified cameo. If it were up to me, rather than have them standing in the background of some shots and maybe a line to two in the whole flick, I'd set Garrus up for a return in full glory as Archangel and save Tali for a much more badass introduction as his side-kick on Omega.

Similarly, Ash/Kaiden are absent from 2 and don't do much in 3. Hell they don't do much in ME1 come to think of it besides quote poetry and dither about like an old lady, respectively. Combining them into one character saves the trouble of having to pick one to survive Virmire and saves a pointless cameo in 2 and a disappointing return in 3. Thus freeing up time in 2 & 3 for other characters.

The idea with Tali and Garrus is that you'd bring them in for the sequel since both Liara & Wrex are out of the picture. Maybe have Tali be part of Garrus's vigilante team on Omega? With that as a starting point, you can include or cut the ME2 squaddies more or less how you see fit and can quite easily kill them all off. The point of the exercise is to give the audience a whole movie with Garrus & Tali while the opportunity is there so by movie three you should be invested in all the classic squadmates and maybe a few of the ME2 ones.

arial wrote...

actually, its not just movies. Television shows based on games are usually equally as terrible,

I
mean, anyone born in the early 80s will remember just how bad
game-to-film adaptations can be with one phrase... "Do the Mario"

I give you, the end of the super Mario Supershow:

do you really want to see something that horrific?

Well that's what happens when you try and adapt something like Mario or Street Fighter that has no plot to speak of. Mass Effect has a plot. This is just a fun thought excercise to postulate how it *could* be done. Look at it not as a game, but as an existing IP making the transition from one medium to another. 'Game of Thrones' & 'The Walking Dead' to name but two recent examples. Both very faithful and yet much changed from the souce material.

Modifié par Reverendtrigster, 29 avril 2013 - 02:54 .

[Han Shot First]

MassEffectFShep wrote...

Han Shot First wrote...

I actually don't think you need to combine any squad members from Mass Effect 1, as you are dealing with a rather small cast of characters. You only run into problems with too many characters as the story moves into the second chapter. I think it is ME2 where they'd need to either cut or combine characters.

Yeah, and I have nothing against the ME2 characters, but the ME1 crew is sort of the home-base crew that, if you play your cards right, can stay with you all the way through the end (minus the Virmire loss). I really love the ME2 cast, but as Han said there are simply too many to give each their deserved screen time. ME1 crew, on the other hand...I think you could pull them all off and give the viewer the chance to become attached to them. 

If I were filming the Mass Effect trilogy I'd make major changes to the adaptation of Mass Effect 2. While that would no doubt enrage many fans of the video game series, you have to if you want to make it filmable. Films and video games are two entirely different mediums, and and a filmmaker has only 2 to 3 hours in which to tell a story where has a game like Mass Effect has between 30 and 60.

For a film series it would be entirely too jarring to introduce an entirely new cast of characters in the second chapter, only to have them replaced again in the third by the original cast. It would make more sense to have the original cast follow Shepard all the way through, while perhaps introducing two or three of the ME2 characters in the second film.

Side missions and DLC would also have to end up on the cutting room floor. So no Bring Down the Sky, Overlord, Omega, Leviathan, or the Citadel, and Liara doesn't become the Shadow Broker.

All of that being said...I really do not want these movies to get made.

Modifié par Han Shot First, 29 avril 2013 - 02:53 .

[10K]

I will only accept this movie is if it's CG animated. That way all they need is the voice actors. But most likely they're going to find Hollywood actors to play the characters, so honestly I hope this movie never happens.

[AlexMBrennan]

To be honest I would feel extremely insulted if you felt it necessary to dumb down ME1 to a story featuring just three characters and one location. You seem to love LotR even though that movie features a dozen characters, lots of locations and a couple of simultaneous plots

[Reverendtrigster]

AlexMBrennan wrote...

To be honest I would feel extremely insulted if you felt it necessary to dumb down ME1 to a story featuring just three characters and one location. You seem to love LotR even though that movie features a dozen characters, lots of locations and a couple of simultaneous plots

There's a difference between "dumbing down" and streamlining. Yes. LotR has dozens of characters on multiple threads across three movies. It also had three to four hours a piece to play with and *even then* there were swaths of the book cut out, altered, re-ordered etc. I don't see the ME movie getting anywhere near that runtime, or even as much oppertunity to spend on multiple character development in what is expected to be a PG or 15 rated sci-fi action adventure.

As I've already said, this is a thought excercise and the name of the game is what can you do given certain basic restrictions like a not unlimited budget and a realistic running time.

[AlexMBrennan]

Well, hypothetically you could cut a lot more - there is no need to have the Cipher at all (since that never goes anywhere). Wrex (comic relief but ultimately irrelevant), Garrus (irrelevant), Tali (irrelevant after handing over the information so just kill her off in the handoff), Benezia, the Shadow Broker arc (never goes anywhere, have some random alliance scientist discover the Crucible blueprints in ME3), Thorian (you propose to introduce a new enemy boss species just to kill them off immediately) and the krogan genophage (and the krogans whilst you are at it)

[Reverendtrigster]

AlexMBrennan wrote...

Well, hypothetically you could cut a lot more - there is no need to have the Cipher at all (since that never goes anywhere). Wrex (comic relief but ultimately irrelevant), Garrus (irrelevant), Tali (irrelevant after handing over the information so just kill her off in the handoff), Benezia, the Shadow Broker arc (never goes anywhere, have some random alliance scientist discover the Crucible blueprints in ME3), Thorian (you propose to introduce a new enemy boss species just to kill them off immediately) and the krogan genophage (and the krogans whilst you are at it)

You've got it backwards. It's not about how much you can cut so much as how can the story be adapted into a two hour movie. So it's about making the *minimum* number of cuts and staying as true to the source material as possible while still having a coherant story. Call it narrative triage if you will. Save what you can, but focus on those most likely to survive (figurativly speaking.)

You think I want Tali out of the film? You see my avatar? She's my favourite character. If it were up to me, cutting her would be like pulling teeth. However, it's *a* solution that--to my way of thinking--serves the film as a whole. I never said it was the *only* one though.

Modifié par Reverendtrigster, 29 avril 2013 - 03:39 .

[Han Shot First]

To be fair the LoTR movies also cut some portions that were in the books. Two of the biggest examples were the whole postscript to Return of the King with Saruman having seized control of the Shire, and that useless twit Tom Bombadil.

Modifié par Han Shot First, 29 avril 2013 - 03:34 .

[JDee3]

from what I've read, a lot of you seem to be treating this as if it will be one movie. If they are going to do Mass Effect it better be a trilogy. If it's not a trilogy it better not involve Shepard and just make it about humanity's discovery of the Mass Relay and the war that happens.

If it's a trilogy they could definitely have some characters introduced in the second or like have tali be introduced in the first and come back in the second or third when they address the quarian and geth war.. if they do. Definitely have Liara, Ashley, Kaidan in the first and kill Kaidan or Ashley.. or both

[arial]

Han Shot First wrote...

To be fair the LoTR movies also cut some portions that were in the books. Two of the biggest examples were the whole postscript to Return of the King with Saruman having seized control of the Shire, and that useless twit Tom Bombadil.

hey Han, don't mock Tom Bombadil. he may not have played an overly important role in the novels, but he is still an important character lore wise.

Tom Bombadil is Older the the elves themselves. Lore-wise Tom Bobadil IS middle-earth. He is pretty much the embodiment of all the nature and land within Middle Earth. this is why he chooses to live in the Old Forest, the oldest wood in Middle Earth, and is not bothered by the trees which would kill most intruders.

Its because of this He is immune to The One Rings Corruption. Men, Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits, Dunedain, and even the Maiar can all be corrupted by its power. Tom Bombadil is immune however.
it can be argued the good ole Tom, is actually more powerful the Sauron himself...

while at the Council in The Last Homely house (right before the Fellowship was formed) they even considered getting Tom to guard the ring from Sauron, but Gandlaf said no as Tom Bombadil really wouldn't see the point and would likely misplace it somewhere easy for the Nazgul to find

Modifié par arial, 29 avril 2013 - 03:48 .

[Banul]

The best way to adapt ME into a movie is to not adapt ME into a movie.

[JDee3]

Banul wrote...

The best way to adapt ME into a movie is to not adapt ME into a movie.

^
This

I'm more comfortable with a tv show even though that would be too expensive and will never happen.
You just can't do anything based on the games. Too much story for a movie

[chemiclord]

It's a big problem with adapting ANY game into a movie. Even if you streamline EVERYTHING in a game to the barest possible essentials, most games would STILL be considerably longer than what most people would be willing to sit in a movie theater for (not to mention the level of paring needed would reduce the tale into a very bland one).

[AresKeith]

Banul wrote...

The best way to adapt ME into a movie is to not adapt ME into a movie.

[MassivelyEffective0730]

AresKeith wrote...

Banul wrote...

The best way to adapt ME into a movie is to not adapt ME into a movie.

[Steelcan]

MassivelyEffective0730 wrote...

AresKeith wrote...

Banul wrote...

The best way to adapt ME into a movie is to not adapt ME into a movie.

who doesn't want to see a spectacular failure of a film that could kill interest in the series?

[sUiCiDeKiNgS13]

The only way this works is if they give it the full epic treatment. I'm talking on the same level as Avatar or LOTR. It cant be half assed just to test the waters. So either make it an Epic or leave it alone.

[Star fury]

MassivelyEffective0730 wrote...

AresKeith wrote...

Banul wrote...

The best way to adapt ME into a movie is to not adapt ME into a movie.

Pretty much. Just make a standalone film in ME universe not directly connected with Shepard.

[Salarious]

sUiCiDeKiNgS13 wrote...

The only way this works is if they give it the full epic treatment. I'm talking on the same level as Avatar or LOTR. It cant be half assed just to test the waters. So either make it an Epic or leave it alone.

This, I really believe that the possibility for making a great film is there, it just needs the proper treatment from the right people. Will it get that? Probably not. If you look at the video game landscape there are many titles that studios would jump at before considering a Mass Effect film. That being said, I think you also need people who worked on the game to be involved at least a little bit. If it's a really unfaithful adaptation I think you lose a lot of the stuff that makes it worth adapting in the first place.

P.S. Don't change Tali's role, Just bring her in as a new character in the second installment. Start her story on Haestrom, perhaps have some connection to one of the pre-existing characters so she isn't so out of left field.

Modifié par Salarious, 29 avril 2013 - 07:39 .