Slashdot Mirror


Space Invaders: The Movie

rainmouse writes "Hollywood, clearly after witnessing the staggering success and endless critical acclaim of other computer game adaptations with their typically engrossing story line and deep, believable character development, have now apparently picked up the rights to make a film based upon Space Invaders. 'The classic 1980s arcade game from Taito and Midway, which is ranked as the top arcade game of all time by Guinness World Records, is heading to the big screen courtesy of producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Odd Lot Entertainment's Gigi Pritzker.'" Please help out by providing appropriate plot-lines and character sketches below.

15 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Plot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Drop Down, Reverse Direction, and Increase Speed!

  2. They'll simply profit from the name. by John+R.+Isidore · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The name 'Space Invaders' rings a bell for a lot of people. It has no meaning in regard to the story apart from alien invasion, but the name 'Space Invaders' has deep ties in popular culture, meaning much more people will go see the movie because of the it, even if it has little or nothing to do with the game.

    1. Re:They'll simply profit from the name. by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The name 'Space Invaders' rings a bell for a lot of people. It has no meaning in regard to the story apart from alien invasion, but the name 'Space Invaders' has deep ties in popular culture, meaning much more people will go see the movie because of the it, even if it has little or nothing to do with the game.

      So it will be as much like the original as the "I, Robot" movie was like Asimov's stories.
      What a waste of time. I'll skip this one...

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
  3. I've read the proposed treatment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The pacing starts out a little slow, but by the ending it really flies with a back-and-forth recklessness that is thrilling.

  4. Re:Plot? by Irick · · Score: 5, Funny

    It was about the struggle for woman's rights. You see, it was all symbolism for male oppression. You see, the phallic flack tank shot down the dreams of the the feminine invaders while skirting their attempts of rebuttal using the previously established male-bias structures in society. Very deep stuff.

  5. Desperation in Hollywood by Animats · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hollywood is out of second-tier comic book superheroes and the plastic-toy genre has been well covered. As for remakes, "Police Academy 8" has been green-lighted, so the bottom of the barrel has been reached there. Some major franchises have reached end of life. The final Harry Potter movie, and what's probably the final Bond movie, are about to come out.

    On the video game front, Rockstar won't let a studio make a GTA game; they think it would devalue the franchise. So Hollywood has to go through the bargain bin of video game rights.

    The state of the industry is pathetic. Warner Bros. is doing so badly that only one of their movies last year made the top 100. (It was "Hot Tub Time Machine".) There's a backlash against bad 3D movies.

    The desperate attempts to insure a hit on a big budget by redoing something that worked before are backfiring.

    1. Re:Desperation in Hollywood by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Funny

      As a comic book fan, I can assure you that tons of first, second, and third tier heroes and villains still need recent movie treatment. When Forbush-Man is the star of a movie, you'll know it's time for them to move to greener pastures.

  6. Re:I'm still waiting for the Pacman movie by vux984 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why? because two seasons worth of animated series wasn't enough?

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083461/

  7. I know by Dunbal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bad Guys come, threaten the safety and well being of all loving earthlings - especially a Young Hero and his Unconsummated Love. Young Hero gets the shit kicked out of him. Unconsummated Love somehow placed in mortal danger. Young Hero finds a way to overcome the Bad Guys, rejoin his Unconsummated Love and save the entire world. Mix in oodles of special effects magic. $8 please, or whatever it is they charge for movie tickets nowadays.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  8. Invaders, from Space? by riker1384 · · Score: 5, Funny

    All right. It's Saturday night, I have no date, a two-liter bottle of Shasta and my all-Rush mix-tape... Let's rock.

  9. Re:Plot? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Frankly, this seems like a very pragmatic move on the studio's part: If all you can do is create two-dimensional characters, a classic arcade game is perfect source material...

  10. Blame "Pirates of the Caribbean" by Required+Snark · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The sad truth is that this was all sparked by the critical and financial success of Pirates of the Caribbean. The Disneyland ride had no plot and no characters. All it had was a bunch of cartoon like stereotypes.

    So starting with nothing they came up with a witty plot and some great acting, and they had a legitimate hit. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow is an inspired character and he and Geoffrey Rush make the movie. Keira Knightley is no slouch either. It is a classic, and will be appreciated by generations of movie goers.

    This success brought the 'Dark Side' of the Hollywood machine into play. Producers realized that they could look for movie concepts where there was no plot to begin with. From their point of view all they need is a recognizable concept/title. Think Alvin and the Chipmunks, Marmaduke, etc. So we are now facing the dreadful reality of the Space Invaders move. In 3D.

    --
    Why is Snark Required?
  11. subject by Legion303 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Dear Hollywood: Fuck you.

  12. Re:I'm still waiting for the Pacman movie by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Funny

    and that Tetris film

    You mean this one?

  13. Re:Plot? by HornWumpus · · Score: 4, Informative

    That series started going downhill when he expanded 'Enders game' from an excellent short story (in one of the Pornelle 'There Will be War' collections) into a long winded and pretentious book.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'