Tag: Video Game Movies

Hop Onboard with The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud

The humour is not too overdone and ultimately it’s the spacecraft’s female commander who has a secret to help win the game.

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By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Well GO USA

Coming to Digital 
December 18, 2020

The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud joins the long line of films that transports an unwilling hero into a video game world. What makes this movie different is that Sarah (Isabelle Allen) wished for it and a mysterious lady from outer space shows up to grant it! Oddly, she can’t control Jake, the digital male avatar her spirit occupies. Her best friend Cowboy (Franz Drameh) has to play the game to see how this program ends.

When this video game character is the ship’s cook, I wondered how this particular zero becomes a hero. Sarah is no different. She’s a recluse, and this adventure helps her come out of her shell. Plus, we see some character development between her and this boy, which turns into love. Thankfully, this distraction isn’t part of the tale. Instead, it’s in how these two real life individuals have to work together to help video game characters Jake (Elliot James Langridge), Max (Scott Adkins) and Rexy (Sally Collett) to prevent Revengor’s (John Hannah) army from taking over their spaceship. It’s the only means of escape for everyone on the prison planet!

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Prepare for Max Reload and the Nether Blasters!

Max Reload and the Nether Blasters Movie Poster
Order it on Amazon USAMax Reload and the Nether Blasters

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Playing at select theatres & VOD
August 7

DVD/ Blu-Ray Release:
August 11

I never knew the retro Colecovision console could pump out 90’s RPG style games like the one featured in Max Reload and the Nether Blasters. This movie unloads a fair bit of nerd culture–especially in the history of video games–while Max Jenkins (Tom Plumley) attempts to save the world! The backstory is cool enough to hook me: every century or so, a pawn gets selected to play a very cosmic game with a mysterious figure only known as The Harbinger to determine the fate of the world. The first time this happened, destiny was determined at the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Just why the Sumerian culture was said later is beyond me; I know their ziggurats are shaped differently. I can dismiss this oops in a movie written and directed by Scott Conditt and Jeremy Tremp. The film they made together is a hilarious adventure, filled with easter eggs to keep me wanting to rewatch to find them all.

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On Rampage and Its Salute to Toho Films

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By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Somewhere along the way, the movie adaptation of the video game Rampage forgot its video game roots. The monsters were once human. They were mutated from the craziest of sources and to tell the entire backstory is a movie in itself! I’m okay with this core change. It would have made for an amusing B-Movie horror film back in the 50’s, but these days, the demands are elsewhere.

Audiences want it loud. Production studios want realism. For me, I have too much of a cat’s curiousity. I want to see what kind of story can materialize from many an 80’s arcade game. Not all of them had enough of a narrative to begin with.

No matter what, Dwayne Johnson, can do no wrong. His natural charm and the investment he makes into the roles will usually get me buying a movie ticket for. Even when he was a wrestler, this guy is the only reason I paid attention to the WWE. I can smell what The Rock is cooking, and that’s his natural charm. When he has that pearly white smile, you know you are in for a ride. He makes anything he appears in just that gosh darn fun.

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You Beta Believe It — Interview with Nicholas Gyeney, Seattle Filmmaker on Upcoming Films

HkqH1L8F-300x300By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Nicholas Gyeney is an independent filmmaker based out of Seattle, Washington and his upcoming film, Beta Test, will definitely break one cinematic record that I’ve seen and am excited for. It will feature a really long continuous shot of well-coordinated fight scene! Getting a film noticed in the sea of summer blockbuster material is tough, and I feel this director succeeded.

His past works include The Penitent Man (2010) with Lance Henriksen in an important role, and Matt’s Choice (2013), starring Edward Furlong, Lee Majors and Margot Kidder. In my interview with him, he revealed that he creates the characters with specific performers in mind, and that alone has me interested in seeking out his earlier material to check out. After seeing his latest movie, I found myself appreciating Manu Bennett (Arrow) and Larenz Tate’s (Crash) talents more. A review can be found on this website titled, “Playing Video Games Can Be Dangerous in the Film, ‘Beta Test'”

This movie is set to debut in select theatres across the USA on July 22nd (see below for listings) and it will arrive on VOD the following month at outlets like iTunes, Google Play, Amazon. I have to thank Gyeney for taking the time to answer my questions.

ES: Can you please introduce yourself to readers unfamiliar with your movies?

NG: I fell in love with film at a young age. Dad introduced me to it all. He died when I was 12. It changed my life. I discovered filmmaking when I realized the impact movies had on my ability to get through losing my father. I decided to work towards creating films that could return the favor.

ES: How did the story come about?

NG: It was born out of a desire to make an indie action film that injected, hopefully, a bit more class into the indie action sub-genre. Most of the films we see in this market are plagued by sloppy production values from the top down. I wanted something to help change the conversation. A movie that says, just because we are small, doesn’t mean we have to be bad. With that said,  I knew I had to come up with some sort of spectacle that could sell the film, which is where the idea for the longest single-take fight sequence was born.

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Ranking the Video Game Movies of 2016

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

So far, this year’s crop of movies inspired by video games is not making the grade. With two films out and at least three more due this year, I’m ranking the remaining couple by order of appeal and anticipation. After a lull in the previous years for the number of properties being turned into a film, I have to wonder what makes this year special. Another title, concerning a gentleman thief in an anthropomorphic world was slated for this year, but I’m dubious that it will come out in time before the year is over. I list this “Sly” film anyways, in hopes it comes out in time.

Will these features be good? Hard to say, since half the time these movies are made, it’s mostly to reignite a dying franchise. Just how Angry birds manages to stay on top after eight years is amazing. Rovio Entertainment must be making pigs fly to keep their flagship product alive. I’ve played the game and enjoyed it, but the novelty has died for me after their take on Star Wars in 2012. Kudos goes to the company for making a very addictive game (for some), and it just makes a glancing blow in making my top three of the movies I want to see.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Release Date: September 2, 2016

After five films, this zombie-fighting franchise still shows it’s tough to put down the undead. Milla Jovovich looks great as always, and although the title implies an ending to the saga, to see how the Umbrella Corporation finally gets put down makes this film the number one product to check out. I’m just hoping the studio doesn’t do the no-brainer idea and simply reboot it with a new leading lady.

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