Uwe Boll Slams Game Publishers

[Apex]

Reported on Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62899)

"The dangerous thing right now is that a lot of people bash me without thinking about the movies. It's fashionable to hit on Uwe Boll, and this is what I don't get. And I don't get why this comes so harshly from the games press," Boll says.
Yes, everybody is saying his films aren't that good. His films are simply misunderstood ... yes ... that must be it :p

[PantherModern]

Sigh. It might actually be a different, more humorous story if the guy owned up to it and just admitted said "Hey guys, I'm Uwe Boll, and I make cheap, terrible films based on franchises that aren't screaming for film adaptations. Come join the fun!"

But no. He has to try and be all artistic and serious and come off like a prat.

Dork.

[Mrbunchypants]

He has to take off his blinders. He does not know how to make good movies.

[Cha-Ka]

I don't think 'hit on' is quite the phrase Uwe was looking for there, but maybe I'm wrong. Isn't his entire film career just one big tax dodge, anyway?

[Conner Dain]

This person lives in a self-delusional wonderland. John Romero lives right next door.

[Mortis]

He probably hasn't even watched the final cuts of any of his films. /kicks Uwe

[Citizen Philip]

Why do we make fun of you? Easy dear Sir! You make bad movies with the name of a computer game as a title.

Let's make a movie about Mrs. Boll, Uwe's mother....

you fill in the blanks.

[Klade]

Why does the video game press have to make fun of him so much?

Maybe because he takes video games that we all know and love and turns them into horrible, horrible movies not worth half the price of admission.

[Wyrm]

He should know why his movies are terrible. He's probably the worst movie maker of all time. There are better PORNOS than the movies he's made.

[nemyhlovecraft]

Well, if you count Bloodrayne, he's made pornos.

[[Jez]]

he must know, no one can naturaly be that stupid... I think he just enjoys the abuse

[Vjornaxx]

GameTrailers did a video interview with Uwe Boll once.

Here's the link:

CLICK (http://www.gametrailers.com/gamehead.php)

It's the 3rd one down.

[n3rdXcore]

man, all of uwe boll's interviews are so damn entertaining. that guy is crazy in the head. plus his broken english adds some humor :P

[Echani]

Dr. Boll has foregone the right to slam anything, other than his head into a wall.

[bradlay]

We just watched Alone in the Dark as a joke. Not even so bad it's funny. Just painful.

[Atepsflame]

Well, when your method of measuring how good your movies are is how well you pay back your investors, it's obvious that art doesn't come into the equation anywhere. As for him getting out of game movies after Far Cry, go for it Uwe. Do us all a favor.

[Sl1pstream]

Without publishers, no games, without games, no more Uwe Boll movies.

BAN ALL VIDEOGAMES!

[UnderHero5]

I dunno. I don't think his films are THAT horrible. I've seen much worse.
Of course, I'm one of those people who will watch pretty much anything. As long as I'm entertained, be it by a good story, or a BAD story, I end up enjoying the movie. I like the "so bad they're good" movies.
That said, I don't think most of his movies fall under "so bad they're good". They are just fun, semi-low-budget movies that entertain me for a couple hours.

I'm no critic. I couldn't do better myself, I'm sure. The only slight problem I have with his movies (or game movies in general, not just Uwe's) is the fact that they almost never stick to the games original story... but then again.... we're talking about an action games "story" which is usually not that strong to begin with. Doom?.... I mean... Aliens or Demons, the movie would have been the same.

Maybe they're just picking the wrong games to make movies from.

At any rate, I have seen and enjoyed most of his movies. *shug*

[see colon]

Zombie Doom < Uwe Boll movies < Skinned Deep

[TheKeck]

I don't think 'hit on' is quite the phrase Uwe was looking for there, but maybe I'm wrong. Isn't his entire film career just one big tax dodge, anyway?

I'm always hitting on Uwe Boll. Rowr.

[The Continental]

Why does the video game press have to make fun of him so much?

Maybe because he takes video games that we all know and love and turns them into horrible, horrible movies not worth half the price of admission.

You loved House of the Dead, Alone In the Dark, Bloodrayne, Postal, and Dungeon Siege, even in video game form?

Half of his problem is that he buys up cheap ass licenses for game franchises that don't have any kind of strong fan base to begin with. The other half... well the man makes shitty movies.

The article is a fun read, particularly because he thinks he's doing the gaming world a favor by making shitty movies out of sub par to average games that nobody ever wanted to see made to begin with.

Video games are their own unique medium, it's a form of entertainment for those who want to BE in the story. Translating an active story telling experience to a passive medium is destined for failure as it contradicts the very reason we play video games. What few assses you might put in the seat via brand recognition, will even out when you make a shitty movie having attempted to craft a cohesive narrative based around a shallow video game plot.

To summarize, Uwe Boll needs to die in a fire.

[SuperMonkeyFighter2]

You know what? This dude is just blind. I saw all of his flicks (I like self-torture, so sue me) ... there is NO way that Blood Rayne is anywhere near Underworld 2 (and Underworld 2 kinda sucked). Point is, his movies are terrible. It's not about marketing ... he places mismatched casts together (Michelle Rodriguez as Billy Zane's daughter?? WTF?) and he does not direct them well. His actors seem lost and uninterested. I honestly give him credit for getting funding and licenses ... but he needs to acknowledge he cannot direct, and perhaps move to producing or something.

[Sl1pstream]

You loved House of the Dead, Alone In the Dark, Bloodrayne, Postal, and Dungeon Siege, even in video game form?

I liked House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark, does that count.

The games, not the movies, although the AitD movie was funny as hell.

[Roc Ingersol]

Uwe Boll is probably the most talented producer alive. Artistically, he's Ed Wood reborn.

Taken together, he's something of a supervillain.

[The Continental]

Uwe Boll is probably the most talented producer alive. Artistically, he's Ed Wood reborn.

Taken together, he's something of a supervillain.

Don't forget that he's german, and probably a robot.

[Evil Avatar]

Uwe Boll is probably the most talented producer alive. Artistically, he's Ed Wood reborn.

I think the difference is tht Ed Wood was trying to make good movies and was just so horrible at it that his movies became unintentional classics.

There is nothing classic in a Uwe Boll film, they are the worst kind of direct-to-video licensed trash and in 10 years no one will even remember his name.

Sci Fi channel makes HORRIBLE movies, butchering even things that should be an easy sell, and they still do a better job than Uwe Boll.

His true genius lies in the ability to sucker people into investing in his films.

[Liquidize105]

Hehe Uwe you clever fox! Figured people would trash you anyway, might as well get'em to watch your stuff are we?

[CapnAJ]

The man is no good at making films, he has poorly conceived scripts and plots, to put it simply you can't polish a turd.

[Kefkataran]

Aww. Par usual, I'm the only one who feels even slightly bad for the guy. Not really in a "I dig his movies" kind of way, but more in "he's German and has a cute broken English with accent". Anyways, everyone else posting here is altogether too angry about Dr. Boll. So he makes shitty movies? So do a million other people. It's not that big a deal.

[Gamefreaks]

Quite an insightful interview. Not only is the guy unable to see and take credit for the fact that his movies are shite (after all he claims its all us gamers giving his films 0 scores on IMDB outta spite and haven't even seen them), but he's also got delusions of grandeur. - "because I think that Doom remembered me in a lot of the camera angles, what the creatures were doing and so on... I think the guy who made Doom definitely saw Alone in the Dark."

[Roc Ingersol]

I think the difference is tht Ed Wood was trying to make good movies and was just so horrible at it that his movies became unintentional classics.
I doubt Boll's trying to make bad movies on purpose. Even kinda good movies would make him loads more money.

It's Ed Wood's persistance despite utter economic failure that makes him such a sympathetic character. Boll definitely can't compete with that. (plus he doesn't have nearly as amazing a personal history) But he certainly seems as clueless about how to make a good movie.

Personally, I think what invites the most scorn from gamers is that he's failing spectacularly with franchises that people care about, from a genre that fans are passionate about. Gaming IP has never really been given a chance, and every time Boll rolls out a new train wreck, an honest hollywood-budget adaptation is seen as less and less likely.

If Boll was making films from original IP, or licensing from novels no-one cared about, I'm thinking people would see them more similarly.

His true genius lies in the ability to sucker people into investing in his films.
Like I said, he's an extraordinarily talented producer.

[ProfPuppet]

"Sega did nothing for House of the Dead, and Atari did nothing to support Alone in the Dark. They developed Alone in the Dark part 5, parallel to my movie, and then they closed the LA facility and never finished the game. And I was standing there alone in the rain with my movie..."

Addendum in HP Lovecraft style:
'...Wild dogs approached, then fled howling as I raised Alone in the Dark above my head. Unnamable eldritch spirits writhed around me, finding no succor in the grasp of mankind's doom in widescreen format. Tears streaked down my face as a loathing for the primordial, indescribable horror named 'Internet forum users' filled my head with visions that no man could ever bear to see.'

I watched Alone in the Dark on a bet. I made 20$ and still felt like I lost something important. I'm really, really hoping Silent Hill is great, just so I can see Uwe comment on it, if nothing else.

[Tia]

"Boll says the point is that his movies get better as his career progresses - Dungeon Siege is "ten times better" than BloodRayne, which is ten times better than House of the Dead, and so on. "

LOL!!! 10 times 0 is still 0

[Sloth]

His movies aren't bad like they were done by some random dude off the street. His movies are bad in the sense that they are devoid of character and entertainment. Whatever. He can make all the movies he wants, I'm not going to make any effort to see them.

[Sensei-X]

His movies aren't bad like they were done by some random dude off the street. His movies are bad in the sense that they are devoid of character and entertainment. Whatever. He can make all the movies he wants, I'm not going to make any effort to see them.

You know if you made films directed by random people off the street I'd be willing to bet you'd have a much higher success rate.

[aversion2k]

I think he's trying to make people feel bad for him, get them all self conscious so they start being nice to him.
I do agree with him when he says you should watch his movies before making fun of them. And you will make fun of them, because they are really really bad. He's not the worst director of all time, he's a very bad director and his movies suck, but he's not the worst. The reason he's so popular is because he use's game titles. What did he expect?

[Ultima Thulian]

If Uwe doesn't want people bashing him or his work, then he needs to quit making this pigshit sandwhiches he calls, "movies".

Look, people are often judged by their work. Artists with their art. Sculptors with their sculptures. And directors with their movies. If his movies are shitty, then people will laugh at him and dismiss him. If his movies were good (hell, at least tolerable), then he wouldn't be bashed so heavily on the internet (as if critics, papers, and everything else isn't bashing him). The man is deluded and makes pieces of shit for a living. So fuck him.

[Phhhh]

"Tons of journalists, including you, have nothing else to do than to follow the Internet voices of one or two thousand people. Only half of those people have seen my movies, and only two per cent of those people have seen my movies before House of the Dead."

At least he knows almost no one sees his movies.