Should there be another Doom film?

I've only seen bits and pieces of the adaptation, so I can't just outright say it's a piece of shit ... But I've also read enough reviews to know a stinker when I see one. The most famous scene from the film--the haunted house-style first person sequence--is laughably stupid, but at least the director gave it a go.

Should Doom join the Hollywood trend of rebooting a film after the first attempt failed miserably? The movie was so bad (it seems), that a remake would have to be better, if only marginally. The new game, once it's released, will provide a new aesthetic and backstory, possibly one that a decent writer can translate to the silver screen without going for contrived bullshit (i.e. "they're humans, just really yucky, because genetics").

Personally, I'd love to see this happen. I'm willing to have my hopes and dreams dashed, because I'm not naive. I know that Hollywood has almost no goddamned clue how to make cinema and gaming work in tandem, but I also remain hopeful they could learn, and a "proper" Doom movie could potentially be a milestone for game movies.

Make Aliens with demons and you'll have a good Doom film.

Marnetmar said:

Make Aliens with demons and you'll have a good Doom film.

I'd go so far as to say that the original Alien would be a good source as well. That, and Event Horizon, of course.

Well if they do make another film I want demons from hell and none of that chromosome bullshit.

I don't think so, as there is barely any material to work with. Doom has no characters and next to zero story (intermission screens could have been written by a 10 year old or so), so in a sense it's impossible to make a Doom film because it will be only 5% Doom at best. The rest will be new stuff added to make some kind of a script possible.

Well either they make a film with some story that is not at all like the games because the actual story is too thin for a movie and it pisses all of the fans off and might as well not even be called doom, or they make an action movie with little to no plot, but i suppose the latter could possibly work.

Aliens + Evil Dead + The Gate = Doom

How hard can that be for them?

I think a smart script could be possible if the reality of the world in which Doom exists was elaborated on. The problem is, there would need to be compelling characters central to that world. You've got UAC, a global super conglomerate that seems to have a monopoly on both the private and public markets. You've got a (possibly strained) relationship between the military and technological sectors of off-world research and development. You've got human test subjects for a frightening new teleportation technology that is possibly being kept a secret, which is no problem for UAC. Then you've got a battle-hardened Earth-born marine who finds himself in a downgraded menial position--off world, no less--as punishment for assaulting (or possibly killing) a superior. You've got military officers who don't trust the "new guy," and may possibly end up paying for it.

Obviously, what a Doom film would ultimately require is the suspenseful and action-packed descent into a technological hell, with the influx of insanity flowing out of the tele-gates serving as a dues ex machina, whereby there is no need for full disclosure of causality. The background information as described in the previous paragraph could flesh out the film's story quite a bit, adding new characters, sets, plot points and visions of future technology (always a fun thing in sci-fi). I think it would need to flow a bit like Alien--really slow and brooding with lots of tension between characters--while being bombastic, masculine and kinetic, like Aliens.

Yes, why not?

The problem is that the plot of the game is full of well worn sci-fi cliches (untrustworthy huge corporation, disaster caused by humans meddling with things 'we were never meant to know', cover ups, heros demoted for defying immoral orders). So, unless the movie changes the plot completely it needs to be knowing of this and maybe focus on the Hell aspect as this is not covered quite as extensively in sci-fi as Doom's other themes.

What ever happened about that animated Doom movie in the works mentioned a year or so ago?

I'd like to see them try it again, if anything just because they probably couldn't fuck up anymore than they did last time. I think the main problem when they try to adapt games into movies is they look at it too critically. The audience didn't all major in theater and stuff like that, most of them aren't going to sit there and pick apart whether a certain character was 2 dimensional and didn't grow during the course of the film or whether the script flowed by a certain style or whatever. This is the reason why you'll sometimes see popular movies get bad critical reviews and movies that got good review bomb. The critics are looking at stuff that the general public doesn't give a fuck about. The moviemakers themselves need to take this into account. Obviously you can't completely ignore the technical stuff, but you also have to realize it only means so much to the audience, and don't be a slave to it and ruin the entire concept of the movie just to make it more technically correct.

Avoozl said:

What ever happened about that animated Doom movie in the works mentioned a year or so ago?

Pardon? Can you offer any information on this?

They should probably just adapt either the Doom Bible or the Doom 3 novels if they're gonna try again. They tried "something original" and it failed.

Face23785 said:

I'd like to see them try it again, if anything just because they probably couldn't fuck up anymore than they did last time. I think the main problem when they try to adapt games into movies is they look at it too critically ... The critics are looking at stuff that the general public doesn't give a fuck about. The moviemakers themselves need to take this into account...

Looking at it too critically is just one way these adaptations get fucked. I would say that frequently, neither the writer nor the director possess much knowledge about either the game or gaming in general. This just about guarantees the movie will be garbage. Both writer and director owe it to themselves and to the audience to understand the context of what they're creating.

Another problem, which has already been pointed out, is that games aren't exactly literary masterpieces. The narrative in your average game is a parade of cliches and cheesy dialogue, combined with hours of action and combat. So you're left with a plot that's not particularly original (in comparison to cinema), and lots of potential action scenes that would get old quickly if relied on too much to carry the story, even though that's how the game usually works.

The Doom film is unremarkable because "Alien," "Aliens," "Event Horizon," "Predator," "Total Recall," "Hellraiser" and "Evil Dead" already exist. All the film could possibly bring to the table was yet another cramped, claustrophobic slab of action/sci-fi. If that's the case, then the filmmakers should push everything to the limit. They know they're not going to reinvent the genre, so why not just go nuts and make an entertaining, crazy, over-the-top film? I couldn't get through more than a few minutes of Doom without being miserably bored, which is why I've only skimmed through it.

Make it scary, supernatural, disturbing, violent, high-tech, surreal, unreal. With a decent budget and a strong imagination, it can be done, and it can be entertaining.

Why does everyone always trot out the "Oh Doom doesn't have a story," line. So what? It does have a universe, an atmosphere, etc. It's not that the movie would have to be faithful to one guy running around aimlessly in a maze for 90 minutes. You have a world, that gives you the possibilities to tell a story. Yet, when the Doom movie came out, people acted like no story meant it was perfectly fine to invent their own universe, as if the two things are the same. In fact, the changes made in the movie were defended by, "Well there was no story, so of course the movie makers had to change everything," which doesn't make any sense to me.

It's like, let's say I threw out the idea that I wanted a movie about aliens. You could make whatever movie you wanted, but I just wanted aliens. Then you came back with a movie about werewolves, and said, "Well there was no story, so I figured I'd leave out the aliens." I get not being a 100% faithful adaptation of the game. I don't get having a movie that has nothing to do with the game. Is it really that hard to come up with a story about space marines fighting demons? Is it really that difficult to work with, that you'd have to take out the demons entirely just to have a movie?

There's so much to work with, I don't know how they couldn't manage to stay true to the source material. Between UAC, tension between the military and the engineers, secret off-world technologies, the development of devastating new weaponry, a marine with a dark past, and of course, an ensuing invasion by horrific monsters with transformational powers, there's more than enough to work with, to balance smart storytelling and intense action sequences. Is it an original story? Not by 2014 standards, but it's a damn good one! It's doable. But you need a writer who understands the Doom universe AND has a good imagination. The same would apply to the director.

I am the only one that enjoyed the Doom movie then? Taken for what it is, a popcorn flick, it is quite enjoyable.... even the first person sequence :)

Dave

Personally, I've never thought of Doom as a thing in need of an explicit story. I can't imagine a film without a story being worthwhile, except as an unconventional work, so I can't imagine a doom film being worthwhile.

Doesn't mean one can't conjure up yet another 'Doom-flavored' story, but it always seems disingenuous to me when a franchise is used for profiteering purposes unrelated to what makes it special at its core (especially by 3rd parties). I don't like paying to watch fan fiction, in general.

Our movie begins with a squad of four space marines, whom usually address one another by callsign: Green, Red, Blue, and Indigo. It's been at least a day from entering the hell-dimention, with the group moving towards what they believe to be home fortress of the invaders.

The bulk of the movie revolves around the survival of our heroes, as they overcome the hostility and bizarreness of hell as well as its demon inhabitants. They are always being hunted as even the surreal environment seeks to swallow them.

Story is mostly given out by a log written by one of the marines, describing some of what happened in the Phobos/Deminos bases, the places they encounter in hell, as well as the eroding of his comrade marines.

The climax is part action part infiltration as they enter the hell-fortress. Lots of demons to kill, with a giant cyborg demon guarding the outer portion of the fort. Wits rather than firepower is needed to defeat him, perhaps getting demon infighting involved.

Eventually they get to the center to meet the spider mastermind, and defeat it. Its death throws and ensuring explosion kill whatever is left of the demons, and leaves a tear in the dimensions as a portal.

The survivors walk thru the portal to find themselves in a countryside on earth. However, upon walking just over the hill, they see a city in ruins, dark portals opening in the sky and ground below, pouring out vile creatures. Hell on Earth.


Boom, Movie

I had one in mind to just reboot it and forget the first trashy one existed.

Possibly focusing on a group of surviving UAC marines on the mars moons and they've got to fight their way out and possibly through hell. Something in the style of Dredd I suppose.

Phendrena said:

I am the only one that enjoyed the Doom movie then? Taken for what it is, a popcorn flick, it is quite enjoyable.... even the first person sequence :)

Dave

The first person sequences were actually pretty clever.

Maybe it's because I'm a cinemaphile, but I didn't even like the FPS segment. It was absurd and cartoonish. Great idea, poor execution.

GoatLord said:

It was absurd and cartoonish

Kinda sounds like Doom too me.

The Doom movie was terrible. Almost nothing about it resembled Doom at all. Sure, it had a pinky demon. It mentioned the BFG 9000, UAC, and a few other things. That's about it. Should there be another film? Hell yes - if it's actually GOOD. Change the plot to a hell invasion with a lead character, demons, and environment that actually resemble the original game and you'd have winner. Plot can go fuck itself as long as the entertainment factor is high.

I'd like to see a whole slew of new decent media for Doom a la Dead Space. An animated film would be my preferred choice along with some new novels and comics. It's a bit bit pie in the sky now but I'd really like Matthew Costello's third Doom 3 novel released too.

But on topic; yes, I think there should be another Doom film. :)

Yes definitely, big budget movie with good writer, director and actors and not some shitty indy movie.

RUSH said:

Change the plot to a hell invasion with a lead character, demons, and environment that actually resemble the original game and you'd have winner. Plot can go fuck itself as long as the entertainment factor is high.

Welcome, Razzie...

Phendrena said:

I am the only one that enjoyed the Doom movie then? Taken for what it is, a popcorn flick, it is quite enjoyable.... even the first person sequence :)

Dave

I liked it as just a sci-fi movie. If I forget that it's supposed to be Doom, it's not half as bad. I actually still watch it every now and then. As a Doom movie though, abomination is the perfect word. Besides a few references it literally has nothing to do with the game. The worst part is towards the end when Karl Urban says "It's this place, it's hell." This desperate lame attempt to throw a Hell reference in made me cringe. I hate this need by writers/directors to throw their own spin on an already established idea. Nobody came to the theater wanting to see YOUR version of Doom you self-absorbed asshole, we came to just see Doom.

I actually didn't like the first person sequence either, I thought that was one of the weaker parts of the film. As someone else said, good idea, poorly executed.

Doom should be full-blown horror, as in the game. Also lots of fighting action, as in the game. The end could be something like the ending of Predator: masterful drawn-out suspense, hunter/hunted, but with a cyberdemon. Imagine a cybie with night vision.

I like the Hell on Earth idea. Full-blown invasion on planet Earth. Mars/Phobos/Deimos invaded simultaneously perhaps, with Doom guy clearing the demons there first and then getting back to Earth, realizing the full extent of the invasion. Fighting back Half-Life style at first, then retreat when it becomes clear humanity is losing. Then the abduction starts. Doom guy realizes something fishy is going on. He finally finds a portal to hell and infiltrates with a combination of all-out battles and sneaky suspense. A great final battle with a cyberdemon and/or Mastermind ensues. Perhaps one or two extra twists, such as finding out that UAC had a hand in some of it. Or returning to Earth to find a new twist or threat, an open ending perhaps? Mankind is saved, but at what cost? Dun-dun-dun..

No. I just don't see a way Doom could be made into a movie that would actually be good.