Battleship

[DoomsdayApex]

To most people, making a movie based on a video game is no different.

I don't see how it's any more relevant. Battleship is a frickin' board game.

In addition, this generation grew up with Halo, not Battleship.

 

[KenK]

I don't see how it's any more relevant. Battleship is a frickin' board game.

In addition, this generation grew up with Halo, not Battleship.

I grew up with, and LOVED playing Battleship as a kid. As did several kids since the mid-60s. Not to mention the game has actually existed since the early 30s. Like it or not, it's a far more indelible piece of Americana than Halo, who has only existed since 2001.

 

[TheVileOne]

LOL, it's a ****ing board game! A board game. I mean lots of stuff is part of Americana but c'mon.

A movie where they are fighting aliens from Battleship? LOL.

 

[KenK]

LOL, it's a ****ing board game! A board game. I mean lots of stuff is part of Americana but c'mon.

A movie where they are fighting aliens from Battleship? LOL.

The argument isn't whether or not it's stupid. The argument is, is it stupider than doing a movie based on a video game. It isn't. Battleship's a far more recognizable name to gamble on, than a video game, especially in an era where most video games go out of their way to include cinematic elements to them, thus rendering a movie adaptation pointless. Thus forcing filmmakers to change as much as they can to justify the film being made. Which will lead to fans being extremely pissed at the changes made, even if the general public were to eat it up.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

The argument isn't whether or not it's stupid. The argument is, is it stupider than doing a movie based on a video game. It isn't. Battleship's a far more recognizable name to gamble on, than a video game, especially in an era where most video games go out of their way to include cinematic elements to them, thus rendering a movie adaptation pointless. Thus forcing filmmakers to change as much as they can to justify the film being made. Which will lead to fans being extremely pissed at the changes made, even if the general public were to eat it up.

Yeah, that's a load.

Halo is a far more recognizable brand name than Battleship. That's a given considering this generation was raised by game consoles such as Playstation/PS2/PS3, Super-Nintendo/N64/Gamecube/Wii, Saturn/Dreamcast and Xbox/360.

Your debate point falls flat. If Universal were appealing to those who grew up with Battleship then they wouldn't be marketing the film to teens and young adults. Yet, that is clearly not the case as you've seen from the trailers.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

By the by, I find it ironic that you're defending the adaptation of Battleship but yet criticize Halo when this film has nothing to do with Battleship: The Board Game. If anything, this film is closer to Halo 2.

 

[KenK]

By the by, I find it ironic that you're defending the adaptation of Battleship but yet criticize Halo when this film has nothing to do with Battleship: The Board Game. If anything, this film is closer to Halo 2.

When did I criticize Halo?

Halo is a far more recognizable brand name than Battleship. That's a given considering this generation was raised by game consoles such as Playstation/PS2/PS3, Super-Nintendo/N64/Gamecube/Wii, Saturn/Dreamcast and Xbox/360.

What kind of rebuttal is that? It doesn't explain anything, and it just makes you sound like someone who takes what they have for granted. "I grew up with all these game consoles, so everyone in my generation must have grown up with these as well. Why wouldn't they?" I never did, that's for sure. The first game console I ever got, my sisters got for me what I was 20 years old. And even then, I've never played Halo.

Your debate point falls flat. If Universal were appealing to those who grew up with Battleship then they wouldn't be marketing the film to teens and young adults. Yet, that is clearly not the case as you've seen from the trailers.

Of course they wouldn't market the film exclusively based on nostalgia. You're gonna market your film based who's the easiest to get money from.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

What kind of rebuttal is that? It doesn't explain anything, and it just makes you sound like someone who takes what they have for granted. "I grew up with all these game consoles, so everyone in my generation must have grown up with these as well. Why wouldn't they?" I never did, that's for sure. The first game console I ever got, my sisters got for me what I was 20 years old. And even then, I've never played Halo.

My point is pretty straightforward. For you to claim otherwise is asinine.

You can't compare the popularity of game titles like Assassin's Creed, Halo, Starcraft, Pokemon, Super Mario, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, Metal Gear Solid, etc to board games like Battleship, Candy Land, Sorry, Life, Monopoly, Connect Four, Checkers and Boggle.

No competition at all, especially in this day and age. Just because you didn't receive a game console when you were younger and/or you didn't care them doesn't mean everyone else didn't.

Of course they wouldn't market the film exclusively based on nostalgia. You're gonna market your film based who's the easiest to get money from.

Bingo! So what's the point in naming the film Battleship, when it has nothing to do with Battleship? It's basically Transformers 4.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

Bingo! So what's the point in naming the film Battleship, when it has nothing to do with Battleship? It's basically Transformers 4.

That's unfair, it's still about warfare on the water. It even showed ships firing at each other and sinking into the water in the latest trailer. It might have brought aliens into the mix and made it about a global invasion, but it still is the basics of Battleship.

 

[Evil Twin]

Yeah, that's a load.

Halo is a far more recognizable brand name than Battleship. That's a given considering this generation was raised by game consoles such as Playstation/PS2/PS3, Super-Nintendo/N64/Gamecube/Wii, Saturn/Dreamcast and Xbox/360.

Your debate point falls flat. If Universal were appealing to those who grew up with Battleship then they wouldn't be marketing the film to teens and young adults. Yet, that is clearly not the case as you've seen from the trailers.

Teens and young adults haven't played Battleship?

I tend to think that you're vastly underestimating the penetration of Battleship into the popular culture. Who, under the age of 65, hasn't played Battleship at one point or another? Combined with a simple game concept, it's a pretty easy to understand and explain game. I bet there are more people that can explain the concept behind Battleship (or Monopoly or Yahtzee or Clue) than can explain the premise of Halo.

However, that doesn't mean that people necessarily want to see a movie based on a game that they're familiar with. I don't think people are clamoring for a Battleship movie anymore than they're clamoring for Chess: The Movie.

Edit: I think you're vastly overestimating the reach of something like Halo as well. Halo's combined sales are between 30 and 40 million copies for the whole series. That's a lot, but it's hardly a universal game. You can play Battleship on your smartphone, in person, or on your computer.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

That's unfair, it's still about warfare on the water. It even showed ships firing at each other and sinking into the water in the latest trailer. It might have brought aliens into the mix and made it about a global invasion, but it still is the basics of Battleship.

Exactly. What does aliens and a global invasion have to do with Battleship? Nothing.

It'd be the equivalent of Connect Four: The Movie mixing in a Dan Brown conspiracy plot. All's fine so long as the protagonist connects four clues/pieces in a row.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Teens and young adults haven't played Battleship?

I tend to think that you're vastly underestimating the penetration of Battleship into the popular culture. Who, under the age of 65, hasn't played Battleship at one point or another? Combined with a simple game concept, it's a pretty easy to understand and explain game. I bet there are more people that can explain the concept behind Battleship (or Monopoly or Yahtzee or Clue) than can explain the premise of Halo.

However, that doesn't mean that people necessarily want to see a movie based on a game that they're familiar with. I don't think people are clamoring for a Battleship movie anymore than they're clamoring for Chess: The Movie.

You missed my point. I, myself, played these board games when I was younger but my debate point was that this generation would rather see a Halo or Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect adaptation over a board game adaptation.

 

[KenK]

My point is pretty straightforward. For you to claim otherwise is asinine.

You can't compare the popularity of game titles like Assassin's Creed, Halo, Starcraft, Pokemon, Super Mario, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, Metal Gear Solid, etc to board games like Battleship, Candy Land, Sorry, Life, Monopoly, Connect Four, Checkers and Boggle.

No competition at all, especially in this day and age. Just because you didn't receive a game console when you were younger and/or you didn't care them doesn't mean everyone else didn't.

That goes both ways. Flaunting the popularity of video games doesn't prove that the popularity of board games as diminished as significantly as you're implying. And it's kind of funny you'd even mention Pokemon, when many could easily argue that the card game counterparts to it, and other properties like it and Yugioh, and Duel Masters, are just as popular as their video game counterparts. I've actually gone to bars were games like Connect Four, Sorry, Boggle, and Jenga get played rather frequently. There's still a fairly large market for role-playing games with nothing more than a board and a 20-sided die. If the impact of the video games you mention were really as significant as you're making it out to be, these board games should have been phased out by now. There shouldn't be whole stores devoted to just selling board games.

 

[Evil Twin]

Maybe they would. You should argue that point then.

I would say that many video games are so cinematic that they make a movie redundant. Would you rather watch someone else play a game well or play it yourself?

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

Exactly. What does aliens and a global invasion have to do with Battleship? Nothing.

It'd be the equivalent of Connect Four: The Movie mixing in a Dan Brown conspiracy plot. All's fine so long as the protagonist connects four clues/pieces.

They spiced it up to cater to the GA. There's very few people I know that would be interested in a movie that's strictly about ships battling each other on the water, including me. Regardless of the elements they've added, it still retains that battleship DNA. I would understand if it was ships battling in space, but it isn't. Board games are fun to play but if they're going to be made into movies then some changes are necessary, which is the deal with basically anything made into a movie. And if there was a Connect Four movie about the protagonist having to gather four clues/pieces/artifacts then I'd be fine with that. It beats literally connecting 4 discs together, sounds pretty boring.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

You missed my point. I, myself, played these board games when I was younger but my debate point was that this generation would rather see a Halo or Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect adaptation over a board game adaptation.

Our generation probably would rather see those video games adapted into a movie, but we don't make up the majority. More people know what Battleship is, including our generation, than they do Halo, Assassin's Creed, or Mass Effect.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

I just read an interesting article indicating the Board Game industry's collapse and resurgence (in 2008-2009).

The Video Game industry has steadily increased in sales every year (even in the Recession). So while, board games haven't been phased out yet, it doesn't mean games like Battleship and Scrabble beat out games such as Halo and Assassin's Creed in popularity -- especially in the 2000s.

 

[nite-owl]

I still see this flopping.

Or sinking.

 

[The Guard]

I know that this movie was probably developed first and THEN called BATTLESHIP, but what I think is kind of amusing is that this movie is sort of structurally, if not thematically similar to the game itself. In the game, elements from "above" control the action, and the battleships are confined to a certain area. Something similar's happening in the movie, only much cooler. Imagine what the people inside those tiny ships in the game experience when a massive human being sticks a peg into their ship. True, the movie is using robots, but...

It looks like stupid fun, but it does look like fun.

They even have the pegs in the film.

 

[Micromind]

I still see this flopping.

I don't see this movie sinking, it may surprise many.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

Man, this movie is really trying to capitalize on Transformers in terms of style.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

I don't see this movie sinking, it may surprise many.

Don't it will flop either; this is why they went down the route to make this look like a Transformers movie. Transformers made it big at the BO, and I think this may follow in it's footsteps.

 

[Project862006]

Japanese Poster & Trailer

 

[Superfreak]

Or sinking.

you know that one critic is gonna get there hands on the classic tagline!

 

[nocomics]

Halo? Whats Halo? Is that the thing u see angels wearing in religious art workt:
Maybe they basing the movie off of Electronic Battleship game?