Dante's Inferno

[DaelJericho]

I stumbled over the "Animated Epic" of Dante's Inferno, which lead me to the actual game, that is developed by now. Deeply impressed I felt a strange urge to again read the actual piece. After finishing it I suddenly asked myself: If that movie made me read the actual piece, will it do the same to other people? And will the game have the same effect? I'd like the idea of the game encouraging people to read more. However, I'd traverse at least two circles of hell to see the face of a 13 year old kid, who, after cutting several heads of in the game, discovers the 'Comedia Divina'.

What do you think?

[snpurerandomness]

i would love that kind of thing as well the whoe idea of
game based on film based on text or anything like that.
what would probably help the popularity of this thread is if you posted a lik to the film you saw.
also i have already read it anyway. i read old books if my flash skills were better i would be glad to make such a thing.

[DaelJericho]

I know exactly what you mean. I'd love to give the old epics a little, modern shot and present them in Newgrounds. However, my drawing skills are somewhat retarded (this strange lack of skill seems to be common under writers; a conspiracy by the drawing part of humanity? ), but I work on it. Anyway, here is a link to the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-wHD_2Za 9E

I think anything more but a YouTube-Trailer would offend the guidlines of this forum.

[DaelJericho]

Too late for that, my friend. I'll keep telling everyone I see "games reached puberty". And they won't stop for anything that looks like money, which indeed troubles me. I see a lot of artistic potential in them, they could tell so much more!

[Raethen]

Whenever I see "Based off of the hit novel" on a movie title, my first instinct is to forget about the movie and only read the book. Very few adaptations live up to the actual written form. There are cases where I preferred a movie over the novel (Stardust being one of them).
I love movies and games that use ideas and methods portrayed in literature, but I tend to be turned off by "remakes". Bioshock's Rapture was based off of Atlas Shrug's utopia. The characters and their attitudes reflected that of those in the book. I thought it was a wonderfully made adaptation. But making an entire game exactly like the book, with the addition of heavy metal and unneeded violence, turns me off. I would try not to let it get in the way of entertainment value, but like a lot of people I would probably bitch more than play/watch.
If a movie/game motivates people to read, then I really have no room to complain, whether it did the book justice or not. I just get off more when I see old ideas being put in new lights, not just another "remake".

[JuanBlanco]

It might inspire me to read the Cliff's Notes again! LOL!

[sinfulwolf]

While the Dante's Inferno game, and the anime film version, are okay, they are not really anything like the original poem. I'd say its more inspired by the Divine Comedy, rather than a remake.

As for adaptations of books, it is indeed true that the movie can not usually live up to the original story, there are debatable exceptions though. I loved the Lord of the Rings movies, but couldn't get into the books. It was the language, and the way it was laden down with unnecessary details (Like the songs the Elves sung. I didn't need to read through the full song). That is debatable however.

There is another series that has taken off in popularity since the original book was made into a video game. Rainbow Six was a great book, but the games have extended so far beyond the original Tom Clancy novel that the original characters aren't even in it anymore.

[DaelJericho]

I didn't thought about that. I know what you mean with the "Lord of the Rings"-Story. The books were great, but the old language had its difficulties; so even if a game could inspire the gamer, he'd rather not read the original story. Does this lead to a far greater responsibility for the developers? How they interpret the classic pieces they adapting? Rise of the Argonauts was both a miserable game and a crude miscut of the original tale. But then again, playing Jason's adventures with all the detail of the original seems rather boring for a game.
Damn it, its so hard to find a good balance between entertainment and ascertainment.

[sinfulwolf]

I didn't mind the Rise of the Argonauts game, but as you said, it had been split so completely from the original tale.

Perhaps what games should do, is focus on legends and tales... where no one is really sure what happened. I will again reference Arthurian legend. How many books are there out there about King Arthur? I've recently read one book titled Gwenhwyfar, and another series called the Warlord Chronicles, that completely changed the way I looked at those old tales. Nothing is certain or set in stone with that legend, just like Robin Hood, as they were first told orally, and so there were already so many versions floating about in history.

We have versions where Arthur is Christian and King of England questing to find the grail. There are versions where Arthur and many others are Pagan, and Arthur as High King of the British Kingdoms must defend his land against the Saxons. There are common threads and characters in all these stories (the queen's betrayal of the king with Lancelot, Merlin, Mordred, the round table) but all are portrayed in varied ways. I've seen Merlin as Wizard, Druid, and old man. I've seen Lancelot as fabled warrior, and as silver-tongued coward who knows how to play the bards. I've seen the queen be called Guenevere or Gwenhwyfar, and be a lady, a warrior, or something in between.

I think if there are going to be remakes that are going to so completely change around the story, people should stick with stories where there never has been a set in stone telling.

In tune with that, curious to see Ridley Scott's new Robin Hood movie. Another story that has been told and retold in so many different ways. Speaking of which, does anyone know of any good Robin Hood novels or stories?

[DaelJericho]

Well, I too enjoy a good interpretation of old ideas. It may not be the best example, but the "Dark Knight" movie really made something out of the Joker, who was till that point just another standard "bad guy" for me. As long, as games keep the essence of the tale, a wider interpretation of the setting may do no harm. At least the values of those tales will live on in new clothes, which is a comforting thought.

About Robin Hood: I can advise the movie with Kevin Costner (but chances are high you already saw it!), but that may be out of the fact I sort of grew up with that movie. However, there was some kind of anime I think, which showed Robert as dark vigilante, consumed by hate and gave the other characters a sweet twist as well. I just can't remember the title right now. I'll google it. But I didn't saw books or text interpreting that old tale again, though a lot of other media-products are basing on Robert Huntigton (see Green Lantern, etc.)