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Space Invaders: The Movie 244

Posted by timothy from the they-want-our-unobtanium dept.
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.
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Space Invaders: The Movie More

Space Invaders: The Movie

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  • Plot... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09, 2011 @02:50PM (#36706788)

    Drop Down, Reverse Direction, and Increase Speed!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Ihmhi ( 1206036 )

      Seriously though, I think this is the only way they could pull it off.

      Just accept the fact that the idea is ridiculous and run with it.

      SCENE: a military installation monitoring space-based radar. A silhouette of mysterious signals appears on the radar screen, zigzagging ever closer to earth. Have the radar beep like the actual game. Throw in a joke about the radar being "from way back in the 70s".

      Cue Independence-Day like scenes, Fiery clouds over... Omaha, Nebraska. (It's never Nebraska.) Suddenly, big, bl

  • I'm still waiting for the Pacman movie (Score:3, Funny)

    by Hsien-Ko ( 1090623 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @02:52PM (#36706798)
    and that Tetris film

  • They'll simply profit from the name. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by John R. Isidore ( 2330334 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @02:53PM (#36706818)
    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.

    • Re:They'll simply profit from the name. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by AliasMarlowe ( 1042386 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:00PM (#36706868) Journal

      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...

      • 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...

        Er... are you serious? I think it was implicit to anyone the reason the film would have little to do with the original game was... that the plot of the original game was virtually nonexistent anyway! Yes, Hollywood is notorious for dicking about with stuff, but in this case the joke would be trying to make a "film" using this as the plot:-

        A group of earth-invading aliens moves in lockstep formation attempting to shoot lone ship on ground that's trying in turn to blast *them* from behind some shields. Plot

      • 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...

        Were the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies all a waste of time? Those were movies "based on" a theme park ride.

        That's not actually meant as a complete defense, since at least the first 3, which I've seen so far (recently), I wasn't a huge fan of them... but they were at least mildly amusing.

        Basically, I don't think it's completely impossible that a movie called "Space Invader

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by KDR_11k ( 778916 )

      Considering the alien sprites from the game are highly iconic and used as trademarks they'll likely be required to use them at least once in the movie.

    • Wait until next year: Battleship: The Movie [imdb.com]. Yes, Battleship, the children's guessing game, is being made into a movie. Monopoly, too. Really, it's not too far-fetched when one realizes that GI Joe and Transformers were created solely to promote a line of toys kids 12 and under. And wasn't Clue a great movie based on another hoary old game?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by artor3 ( 1344997 )

        Clue at least shared a plot with the game. Mr. Body is murdered, and all the characters from the game need to run around the mansion trying to figure out whodunit. With Space Invaders and Battleship, what plot is there to share? Are the Space Invaders going to be fended off by a single ship that can only move horizontally? Will Battleship be about a naval battle in which all the radars stop working and all the crew are suddenly stricken blind?

    • The name 'Space Invaders' rings a bell for a lot of people...

      Some people will make a little mistake and accidentally rent "Spaced Invaders", http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100666/ [imdb.com], and they will probably be far better off. :-)

  • I've read the proposed treatment (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09, 2011 @02:55PM (#36706826)

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

    • Sounds like my general review of most porns

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

  • It's not April is it? (Score:3)

    by king neckbeard ( 1801738 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @02:58PM (#36706854)
    Somebody tell me this is a joke. This is in line with the Robot Chicken sketches where Hungry Hungry Hippos and Chutes and Ladders were made into films.
    • It's not 'Chutes and Ladders' it is 'SNAKES and Ladders'. Damn PC police.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by vux984 ( 928602 )

        Its not the PC police.

        The game is still sold as as "Snakes and Ladders" in many places from other vendors, even in the US.

        Its "Chutes and Ladders" to many because that's what Milton Bradley called his version when he "introduced" the game to the United States in the 40s.

        I expect it was probably done for copyright and / trademark / marketing reasons not PC reasons.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jd2112 ( 1535857 )

          Its not the PC police.

          The game is still sold as as "Snakes and Ladders" in many places from other vendors, even in the US.

          Its "Chutes and Ladders" to many because that's what Milton Bradley called his version when he "introduced" the game to the United States in the 40s.

          I expect it was probably done for copyright and / trademark / marketing reasons not PC reasons.

          They probably thought that a game without 'snakes' in the title would sell better.

    • Sadly, I think a movie about Hungry Hungry Hippos would be more interesting.

      All these aliens-invade-Earth movies get really old: aliens come to Earth with high-tech guns and start killing everyone, humans almost die off entirely, some hero with a hot girlfriend kill off all the aliens, hero and girlfriend repopulate the Earth...

      If they did a "Triple-H" movie, they could mix it up: Hippos surround every major city and bounce people between each other devouring them as they get close, humans almost die off en

  • ....is already written.

    "he's hooked, he's hooked, his brain is cooked... Spaaaaace Invaders!"

    I first heard it on Dr. Demento, a long...long time ago.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McteLDT01Ig [youtube.com]

    Song by Uncle Vic.

    I love the "fair use" and "disclaimer" and other stuff this guy has on the posting.

    --
    BMO

  • At least they'll save money on the CGI graphics. Triangles shouldn't be that difficult to render.
    • oh wait, wrong 80's arcade game, what was the spaec one with the triangle? That, unlike space invaders would be a good film. Something tells me the only thing this film will have in common with the game is the name.
      • You're thinking of Asteroids. Which is also being made into a movie. Which also only has the name in common with the game due to a lack of plot and developable characters.
  • "Increase speed, drop down and reverse direction!"

  • If they somehow manage to bring the iconic "Invaders" style to the big screen in a way that leaves it recognizable but not looking completly outdated, this might result in a truly outstanding movie. Regardless of the plot. You know, some completly new visual style like what Matrix gave us.

    There should be a law that forbids buying the rights to only the NAME of something.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ae1294 ( 1547521 )

      If they somehow manage to bring the iconic "Invaders" style to the big screen in a way that leaves it recognizable but not looking completly outdated, this might result in a truly outstanding movie. Regardless of the plot. You know, some completly new visual style like what Matrix gave us.

      Yeah what he said.... and 3D!

  • Desperation in Hollywood (Score:5, Informative)

    by Animats ( 122034 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:08PM (#36706938) Homepage

    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. [coventrytelegraph.net]

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

  • Minesweeper (Score:3)

    by TypoNAM ( 695420 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:12PM (#36706968)
    Surely it will be a big hit like Minesweeper: The Movie [collegehumor.com]! Hopefully the question of "Why are the mines even here!?" is answered in Minesweeper 2: Flag Down.
  • I've been yearning for a long time to hear what those staples are really after...

  • I know (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dunbal ( 464142 ) * on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:13PM (#36706976)
    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.

  • Invaders, from Space? (Score:5, Funny)

    by riker1384 ( 735780 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:16PM (#36706990)
    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.

  • futurama Series 3 FTW (Score:3, Funny)

    by TDyl ( 862130 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:17PM (#36707004)
    Futurama S3 E18 [comedycentral.com].

    Who needs anything else?

  • Rhythmic and increasing in tempo throughout the movie. Enkt ... Enkt ... Enkt ... Enkt .. Enkt .. Enkt .. Enkt .. Enkt .. Enkt .. Enkt .. Enkt .. Enkt .. Enkt . Enkt . Enkt . Enkt . Enkt . Enkt Enkt Enkt

  • There actually was a short film based on space invaders. It was used as filler between movies on HBO in their very early days, and was credited as someone's student animation project. It involved a bunch of characters off of pinball games, including an Egyptian style god, coming to life and trying to fight off the waves of space invaders and defend civilians. Scenes where the defenders ducked and popped out from behind brownstones much like using the four space invaders shield walls still stick in my mind,

  • MPAA! (Score:2)

    by Teun ( 17872 )
    Once the movie is out they'll start going after the owners of the original consoles for infringement.

  • Plot! (Score:3)

    by graveyhead ( 210996 ) <`ten.scinorthctelf' `ta' `hctelf'> on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:32PM (#36707094)

    4 regular old marines that have more personality than most military types you meet - the black guy, the hispanic guy, generic WASP white guy and butch (but still cute and wears lipstick) lesbian girl - are sent new orders to show up to a secret base. In the secret base there's fancy new laser beam weapons that the marines are going to have to learn (queue montage).

    But wait! Evil Liam Neeson has made a deal with the aliens and sold out our greatest secret! The fact that we start to suck at shooting things when the targets move faster.

    Suddenly there's alien spaceships in the sky! Oh no, and they start moving faster and faster! So fast in fact that you can't actually see what's happening on the screen! How did they know our greatest weakness (DAMN YOU LIAM NEESON). The hispanic guy gets wounded, then the black guy dies. The white guy saves the day (by finishing the level) and the lesbian goes straight and marries the white guy. The hispanic guy is the best man at their wedding.

    The end.

  • I think after what they did with Doom the only thing that is certain about this movie is that it will not have space or invaders. Otherwise it is all open.

    As others have said, this is probably sheer desperation in needing to use a title people know to get punters to go rather then say a trailer with all the action shots or a female star taking her top off.

    Space Invaders the movie... when people mention it dear Hollywood they were making FUN of you. NOT making a suggestion.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by PCM2 ( 4486 )

      I think after what they did with Doom the only thing that is certain about this movie is that it will not have space or invaders.

      Eh? The way I remember it, the Doom movie was a pretty dead-on version of Doom III, albeit with more characters a fewer monsters. They even had a whole section of the movie that went into first-person shooter mode. How much more like Doom could they have made it?

  • Lather, Rinse, Repeat. (Score:4, Informative)

    by sneakyimp ( 1161443 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:44PM (#36707148)

    I'll base the plot here on what I've seen in other movies like Independence Day and War of the Worlds (the Tom Cruise version).

    Aliens attack earth to steal our water on account of its amazingly high specific heat capacity which they need for cooling their interstellar space drives. Despite the ability to travel interstellar space easily, the aliens somehow failed to read Sun Tzu's "the Art of War" and, assembling in a highly primitive phalanx formation reminiscent of the techniques of Ancient Romans, they are slaughtered wholesale by Global Hawks and F-22/F-35's manned by a people's army of inspiring ethnic diversity.

  • Blame "Pirates of the Caribbean" (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Required Snark ( 1702878 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @03:44PM (#36707150)
    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.

    • It is a classic, and will be appreciated by generations of movie goers.
      No... No, it isn't.

      It's a convoluted, excessively long trilogy with backstabs and double crosses galore, and with each successive film, there is yet another story thread added. There's no suspense because only two non-nameless, non-faceless people actually die and everyone else is immortal, uninjured, and/or just plain too fucking slapsticky to die. It's tiresome to watch due to the length, yet another comeback or double cross, and the s

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by carlzum ( 832868 )
      I don't know, Pirates of the Caribbean was entertaining because it didn't rehash old characters and plot lines. It's not responsible for the A Team, Transformers, etc. The fact Space Invaders is starting from a blank slate gives it a chance. The moment "let's remake Planet of the Apes" was uttered, it was destined to suck.

      PS: Don't rip on the Chipmunks, my 6 year old's kindergarten will be on you like Muslims on a Danish cartoonist ;)

  • There are a lot of unwritten and written stories that are worth translating to movies. The frame of invaders is not.

    I hope Hollywood achieve some economical bankrupt to acompany the creativity bankrupt and the paralizing fear to tell new stories. I know is because money is coward, but I feel I am allowed to hate this cowardize.

  • As per subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VczbbiRmDik [youtube.com]

    From the description:
    SPACE INVADERS is the 2nd video performance of the GAME OVER Project, directed by the Swiss artist Guillaume REYMOND (NOTsoNOISY creative agency). This stop-motion video was shot and played during and for the "Belluard Bollwerk International" festival (Fribourg, Switzerland | www.belluard.ch) on June 24th 2006.

    Can someone argue about some copyright issues? TFA states the option to acquire the rights, not that they've been granted

  • coming up with a captivating universe, especially for video game adaptations, is no easy task.

    I think the screenwriting experience is vastly underappreciated. While it's rough, perhaps, to think about what an alien world would be like, and then try to imagine some fictional situation, a much easier route is to just write about what you know, and then, embellish! Every day you go through events that you later tell others about, because they're inherently interesting stories... they're real world situations that people can relate to. These are perfect as inspiration for a movie plot.

    For instance, p

  • Colour (Score:3)

    by arthurpaliden ( 939626 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @04:47PM (#36707494)
    Will it be shot in 4 bit colour and in a none wide screen format?

    • Will it be shot in 4 bit colour and in a none wide screen format?

      It will be filmed in tall screen format, and monochrome. But, there will be strips of transparent colored tape across the screen at various levels to simulate a color display.

  • Hoping it'll be something like This [youtube.com]

  • Can't wait till they make a movie about differently shaped blocks falling from the sky.

  • subject (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Legion303 ( 97901 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @05:39PM (#36707776) Homepage

    Dear Hollywood: Fuck you.

  • it was a cold dark night (Score:4, Interesting)

    by decora ( 1710862 ) on Saturday July 09, 2011 @06:34PM (#36708060) Journal

    on the dark side of this planet. this ugly, misbegotten planet. another hole in space to make, another sphere full of screaming, dying blobs of flesh.

    i try not to think about it, but it gets to you after a while. last week lenni went crazy. he started writing on the wall with his blood and his shit mixed together... sort of like an 'outline font'. he wrote something about the 'last coming of the jesus lizard'. i couldnt read the rest of it. they closed off his bunker and hosed it down so nobody was really sure what happened to him, exactly. someone said they heard a shot, a loud shot in the night. but i dont think that was like lenni. lenni was more into knots and ropes. although i guess a plasma burst would be a hell of a lot faster and more painless.

    i wonder what he was thinking, those last seconds before he pulled the trigger. probably nothing. thats what this job does to you. a hundred years of extermination. a hundred years of terror. a hundred years of making way for civilization - a civilization that you will never get to take part in. sure, maybe if you retire, but how many make it that far? out of my first squad class, there are only 3 left. 3 out of 50. all of the rest are dead or insane.

    so why do i keep doing it, you ask? and who are you, i wonder? im writing this in a secret code in an ancient form of communication, called 'paper'. i picked it up on beta star seven stroke 6, alpha quadrant. some dead rat had a whole room full of the stuff, and a long cylindrical object that you use to scratch with onto the surface. it leaves an impression and a marking. its kind of fun once you get the hang of it really.

    but im just avoiding your first question. why keep doing it? this shit hole fuck up of a job? no life, no future, no responsibilities, no nothing. actually thats kind of the good part. the bad part, the nightmares, the voices, the memories. the emptiness. you fill it up. the ship has an endless supply of drugs, of joues, of fake anthropods from every species upon which you simulate procreation. they even got simulated babies and families if you want it. dont know why you would, sick fuckers who do that shit are the ones you have to watch out for. they are the ones that really got nuts - they dont just off themselves in the privacy of their own cube hole. no. they take out an entire squad with them. they rain down parts onto whatever shit hole we are invading, like some kind of kid throwing candy from a pinata. they laugh, like corricks, that guy, he just started laughing and killing everyone. friend, enemy, commander, didn't matter. base lost 4 of its top ribbons, each with 200 years planet clearing experience... wives, pensions, families.

    they tell us we arent supposed to mention his name. they killed a guy last week for doing it. actually it wasnt 'they', it was this shit hard sergeant named dooley. he's about as fucked up as lenni was, but dooley would never off himself. he loves pain too much - seeing other people in pain. he keeps them like that for weeks, keeping them barely alive so he can listen to them scream. then he offs them right as he ejaculates. dont ask me how i know this.

    i would like to chop his dick off, though. just to see the look on his face. and then what? id become like him i guess. whatever. thats just a way to stay alive - either go crazy and off yourself, or go crazy and off everyone else. where is the middle ground here? go crazy and write into a little secret book, that nobody can find. hide it under your sleeper, train yourself to pass the mind-scanning test they do every week. become expert at logic twists and bending diagrams, to explain that 'no, you have no contraband information on your person or in your thoughts' because, well, technically, they dont even know that 'paper' exists... and so how can it be contraband?

    anyways. another mission up. some shit fuck ass planet called 'earth'. it looks blue with smears of brown all over it, some green. and white all over the place. the inhabitants are like little blood pustules, stubby

  • Personally, I think as far as classic video games go, Joust has much more story and plot potential than Space Invaders.

    Though John Newcomer and Williams didn't give any deep details about the world the game takes place in, it at least has the makings of just a good sword and sorcery fantasy flick, featuring bird mounted knights fighting other mounted knights throughout the course of whatever quest and adventure they are on in thrilling bird on bird action.

    Sadly though, it appears that Joust is already on the road to being fucked [rottentomatoes.com] as far as movie possibilities go:

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