Uwe Boll bites back

By Ellie Gibson Published 15 February, 2006

Notorious movie director talks tough.

Uwe Boll is fed up. He's fed up with people slating his films on the Internet, mainly. He's also fed up with Hollywood producers who won't take movies based on videogames seriously. And perhaps most worryingly, at least in terms of how the rest of this interview is likely to pan out, he's fed up with the person who's interviewing him.

"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.

The problem, he explains, is that "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."

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.

"If people don't see that, then it's not my problem, but I think those are the people who hate me or who want to bash me. Normal people, people who buy movies or watch TV, they see that absolutely."

Whether you agree with Boll's argument or not, you can't deny that he's taken a lot of flack since his first videogame adaptation, House of the Dead, appeared in cinemas back in 2003. The Alone in the Dark movie did nothing to bolster his reputation with the critics, and his latest effort, BloodRayne, was widely slammed - before the film was even released, Boll says.

"People say BloodRayne has a very bad IMDB rating - yes, but how many votes of zero points were made before the movie was out, by people who hate me but haven't even seen the movie?

"I've met tons of people who think BloodRayne is way better than Underworld 2, but they're not going on the Internet and writing that... I'm a little tired of only getting questions from journalists like, 'Your movies were so badly received, blah blah blah.' I know tons of movies that were way worse than Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead."

And besides, says Boll, what exactly is it that we are expecting from him? After all, he is using videogames as his source material, and they're hardly reknowned for their complex characterisations and sophisticated narratives.

"Let's be realistic, what is House of the Dead? House of the Dead is a brainless shooter, where you shoot zombies into pieces. So what are you expecting from the movie, Schindler's List?

"I think I made a perfect House of the Dead movie, because it really shows how the game is. It's a lot of fun, it's over-the-top action - it's not 28 Days Later, because the reality is that House of the Dead is about how it's a lot of fun to shoot zombies... It's cheesy entertainment with a lot of gore and a lot of violence, and it's super-fast."

Hollywood hangups

'Uwe Boll bites back' Screenshot 1

Christian Slater and Tara Reid talk shop in Alone in the Dark.

Us games journalists, Boll argues, should be pleased that videogame-based movies are getting made at all. "It's tough to convince someone from the studio system to believe in a videogame-based movie. It's way easier to have a great book or to have a comic book [as your source material], because these studio guys, they know Spider-Man, Batman, that kind of stuff."

Boll believes that part of the problem with convincing Hollywood that game movies are a good idea is down to game publishers themselves. He argues that Marvel, for example, are very good at cross-promoting movies based on their properties - whereas videogame companies simply sell off the licence and then forget about it.

According to Boll, he's fallen foul of this on more than one occasion. "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...

"The reality is that a lot of the videogame companies are quite sloppy - they are happy to sell the licence, but then they don't give a sh** about it, and this is not the right approach."

So, Boll argues, it's difficult enough to get a videogame movie made in the first place, and it doesn't help when that movie is slated before it's even been released.

"When I try to get videogames turned into movies, and get videogames accepted as [the equivalent of] best-selling books for the younger generation, I get only sh** from the videogames press - what an asshole I am, what a criminal I am for doing these movies, whatever, instead of being happy that there's a movie getting made of a game. This is what's confusing me."

In fact, it's not just confusing Boll - it's putting him off the whole thing all together. "I won't say that I won't acquire another videogame licence in the future. But I'm not so eager to do it any more, to be honest. After Far Cry, maybe I'll go away from videogame-based movies. And everybody can be really happy about it."

Going Postal

'Uwe Boll bites back' Screenshot 2

It's one thing being vertically challenged, it's another when all your girly mates have bigger guns than you.

But before that, he's still got to make the Postal movie, based on Running With Scissors' controversial PC title. And just to show he's still got a sense of humour, he's going to take the opportunity to have a little fun with his critics.

"I'm in the movie - Uwe Boll will play a minor part. I get killed by my 'Boll haters'," he explains. So will he be getting real, er, Boll haters to play themselves?

"Absolutely! I don't have a problem with that," Boll says. "I think I'd get thousands of extras doing that, coming to the set to track me down and lynch me!"

When asked if he's worried that the Postal movie will attract a flood of negative publicity, just as the games have, Boll replies: "I don't care, to be honest."

"The movie will be so politically incorrect and harsh, it's like a mirror to American society, and I don't think the movie will be well received by everybody. For example, Osama Bin Laden will be one of the lead characters - I think that shows the mood of the movie."

So what will Bin Laden's role be, exactly? Well, Boll explains, the idea is that he's holed up in Tucson, Arizona, running a Taliban camp. "That shows a little bit how politically incorrect Postal will be - it's really an underground, alternative point of view. Let's wait and see; I think we will suprise a lot of people."

Boll confirms that Diff'rent Strokes and Postal star Gary Coleman is already signed up to play himself in the film, but he's yet to find a leading man to take on the role of the Postal Dude. One thing's for sure - he'll be going for a comedic actor, "Like a Matthew Lillard, for example, or Ron Perlman," rather than a serious type.

Taxing questions

'Uwe Boll bites back' Screenshot 3

Reid asks Boll for some directorial advice. Boll wonders if it's too late to get Shannon Elizabeth in.

Talking about Postal seems to have cheered Boll up a bit, so let's throw in a tricky question while the going's good. Is there any truth in those rumours that Boll has been exploiting a tax loophole in German law to fund his films, and to provide a dodgy tax break for investors?

"There is no loophole," Boll says - at least not any more, it seems. He explains the situation used to be that if you invested, say, $100,000 in a movie, you could reduce the income you pay tax on by $100,000. As a result of this, German investors funded around 30 per cent of Hollywood movies, but all that's changed since the law was amended in December.

Things are still looking good for Boll, however. He says he's got full financing for his next three movies, "And all my movies, no matter what reviewers are saying, are getting sold."

Apparently Boll is "number one in the market" as far as paying investors back goes, and that's "Not because I make the best movies on earth, but I make movies for a minimal amount of budget compared to what major companies are spending, and the movies look good, and they go out theatrically, and they make a lot of money on DVD or Pay TV.

"This is the main point - if the movie is really, really bad, why are a hundred territories buying it?"

Boll says it's tough to get his movies on screens in the UK and France, to give a couple of examples, but they do very well in cinemas in Spain, Italy, Russia, Thailand and the Middle East, generally spending a few weeks in the top ten of the box office charts.

"I can live with that situation. The average Hollywood movie last year had $65 million production costs, and $40 million promotions and advertising costs. My movies have $15 million to $20 million production costs, and $10 million P&A."

Reality bites

'Uwe Boll bites back' Screenshot 4

A House of the Dead character considers he options. We suspect they're rather limited.

And he's off again. "So if people are writing on the Internet about how my movies were big failures, it's because these people are amateurs and they have no idea of the reality of film-making and film selling.

"I get bashed as the worldwide enemy number one in film-making by people who are working at Starbucks and who also want to make movies. It's ridiculous - it's completely idiotic because they're hitting on a guy who actually made it happen, but I started my career in the same position as anybody else," Boll argues.

This seems to be a particularly sore point. Boll says it was a long, hard slog to get where he is today - his parents couldn't afford to finance his first ventures into film-making, and he didn't have any contacts in the industry. "I started with $50,000 to make my first movie. I travelled with my f***ing print for my first movie to 150 movie theatres in Germany, theatre by theatre, and was sitting there talking with the audience to get my movie played. So I did it the hard way.

"Now people are getting hired as directors at 20 years old, coming from film school and getting 100 million bucks for their first movie. If people think that this is a good situation, that I'm the worst enemy in film-making and a completely talentless idiot, it's their decision."

The figures speak for themselves, Boll says - for example, more than 1.4 million copies of the House of the Dead DVD have been sold in North America. "Maybe this is bad news for the Boll enemies, but while there are a few thousand people trying to crush me on the Internet, there are millions of people who buy the product."

Blood money

'Uwe Boll bites back' Screenshot 5

The lovely BloodRayne - remember ladies, never attempt to apply lipstick whilst driving.

However, he concedes, as far as BloodRayne goes, which arrived in American cinemas last month, "I cannot say that it was a big success in the movie theatres. I tried it with a new theatrical distribution company, and they were not able to lock in all the theatres - that was the biggest problem we had. We were scheduled to go out on 2000 screens, and then we came out on 930 screens, and only sh**** screens, so it didn't work out.

"Now we are counting on the DVD release - I'm sure that on DVD it will sell very well."

So if, as Boll argues and as the DVD sales figures would suggest, the viewing public are a lot keener on his body of work than you might think after a casual glance at the Internet, just why does he receive such a lot of negative criticism?

Boll believes it's because he's too willing to discuss his movies, and too honest in his responses. "I think I'm very open, and I talk with everybody and give interviews to everybody. Over the last few years I've realised that it's not helping me that I'm open, and ready to discuss and to learn. Saying that I learned from my mistakes is maybe the biggest mistake I made."

BloodRayne is due to arrive in UK cinemas later this year, and after that will come Dungeon Siege - but this time he "won't do any experiments" as far as distribution is concerned.

Boll confirms that it will no longer be split into two films, Kill Bill-style, as previously suggested. "That was the plan, but now it's only one theatrical movie, plus a longer DVD and TV version."

Metal Gear sold?

'Uwe Boll bites back' Screenshot 6

BloodRayne and chum. Yes, it is her out of Lost.

So what about the rumours that Boll was keen to direct the Metal Gear Solid movie, but that Hideo Kojima turned him down?

"This is a huge miscommunication in the press," Boll says.

"What happened is, two French writers wrote a Metal Gear Solid script, and they approached me because they wanted me to direct and produce the movie."

Boll asked the writers if they had obtained the licence, and they said no, but added that they had good connections with Konami.

"So they contacted Hideo Kojima and I think his response, because of the press, was like, 'I never talked to Uwe Boll, I've no idea what he's talking about.' This is the situation.

"I like Metal Gear Solid, I like that script, but unless the rights situation is cleared, what can I say?"

And besides, Boll continues, the movie won't make any money if the studio throws money at it while the game publisher ignores it completely. He observes that as a videogame, Doom is just as popular as MGS - but the movie "Didn't make half of the f***ing budget back. People didn't give a sh** about Doom and they won't give a sh** about Metal Gear Solid if it doesn't get the kind of promotion it deserves."

Doom and gloom

'Uwe Boll bites back' Screenshot 7

The stars of Dungeon Siege. Yes, it is her out of Deep Impact, him out of Snatch, him out of Goodfellas and him out of Smokey and the Bandit.

Yes, Boll has seen Doom, and he's rather ambivalent about it - "I liked the movie a little, it wasn't a really bad movie, but it was not really good."

Would he have done it any differently, then? "I don't know if I would definitely make the movie very differently, 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."

As for Halo, an example of a videogame-based movie which has a hefty budget behind it, Boll isn't too optimistic. "I personally think that with the budget they've planned, Halo will be a failure. I think Halo will not make the money back in the end."

We've reached the end of the interview, so there's just time to ask Boll if he has a final message for those infamous Boll haters.

Course he does. "Before they judge, they should see the film, that's the first thing. Second, they should really try to compare it fairly, and not based on my name.

"If people really think I'm completely talentless, and this is to journalists, they should at least rent one of my earlier movies, like Heart of America, which is a really, really good movie.

"And then they should say, 'Okay, this is the history of this director, we should judge him based on this.' They shouldn't say, 'This guy cannot make movies,' because this is unfair. I think it's very arrogant that a lot of journalists are not even willing see that movie before they judge my directing ability."

Best get off down Blockbusters, then...

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (126) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Singularity #1 6 years ago

    BloodRayne, which is ten times better than House of the Dead

    Getting repeatedly punched in the nuts is better than HotD.

  • Freek #2 6 years ago

    What do we expect?? Go talk to George Romero, Sam Raimi, Robert Rodriguez, that's how you do zombie and horror movies.

    Sick getting bad press?? Make a good movie, think you're alone in that? Go talk to Micheal Bay, Paul Anderson or any other director with some big name stinkers on his resumé.

  • TheJuriel #3 6 years ago

    Boll dear, people will stop hating you when you start making good movies out of franchises you have this far only raped.

  • jack_klugman #4 6 years ago

    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...

    Alone in the rain in the dark?

  • rinoaMW #5 6 years ago

    "Uwe Boll is fed up. He's fed up with people slating his films on the Internet, mainly."

    well stop making shit movies then...

    -----------------------------

    "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. "

    ....and refering about yourself in the 3rd person...

    --------------------------

    "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. "

    so by that logic he has to ruin another 32,423 game-to-film conversions before we start to see anything remotely half-decent...

    ------------------------------

    "People say BloodRayne has a very bad IMDB rating - yes, but how many votes of zero points were made before the movie was out, by people who hate me but haven't even seen the movie?"

    .... and yet you still keep on coming.. take a hint buddy.....

    -------------------

    i really can't be bothered with this article of this man anymore.. i hate him with every fibre of my being.....

    Edited by 1 at 15/02/06 @ 12:09

  • kalel #6 6 years ago

    Diddums. If he wasn't a millionaire I might find it a bit eaiser to feel sorry for him.

  • ekko #7 6 years ago

    I don't hate Boll, I've not seen any of his films and he's not taken any gaming franchise I hold dear.

    I do think it's pretty funny how people hate him though, and that he himself gets so work up about them.

  • gaijin #8 6 years ago

    jeez, that was a lot of words in which to say absolutely nothing of consequence.


    (referring to the 'article', not Ekko's admirably concise post)
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/06 @ 12:17

  • asphaltcowboy #9 6 years ago

    I've seen his films and I can categorically say; they're bollocks.

  • GrandTheftApu #10 6 years ago

    I don't pay much attention to a games story while playing it, I certainly don't want to sit through a film about it.

  • AHiFi #11 6 years ago

    Good interview EG. I enjoyed it. I have to say, I have hardly seen any of Boll's work and I try not to judge him. I'll try and give him a chance. =D

  • DaM #12 6 years ago

    We were scheduled to go out on 2000 screens, and then we came out on 930 screens, and only sh**** screens, so it didn't work out.

    I bet those shite screens will be queuing up to show his next opus!

  • jack_klugman #13 6 years ago

    Heart Of America stared Jürgen Prochnow!

  • Genji #14 6 years ago

    His films are bad, but usually in an amusing way. I think he has a passion for making movies. Just no talent.

    I find it hard, incedentally, to hate someone that I don't even know.

  • botherer #15 6 years ago

    I want to know what journalists who *have* seen his films and still hate them are allowed to say.

    Also, I was in the States just before the Doom release, and if it had had any more TV spots, they'd need to have cancelled the programmes. Not exactly under-promoted.

  • reality_cheque #16 6 years ago

    "I've met tons of people who think BloodRayne is way better than Underworld 2"

    That's more of a comment on Underworld 2, surely...

    I hope Matthew Lillard refuses to work with him, I've not seen him in a bad film yet.

  • botherer #17 6 years ago

    Prepare to be disappointed:

    http://www.imdb. com/title/tt0460780/

    Also, you might (not) want to watch Scooby-Doo : )

  • shamblemonkee #18 6 years ago

    he needs to stop reading the internet.

    And surely with the interactive element taken out, a story is exactly what you're supposed to add to a film of a game if ne was originally lacking?

  • Eighthours #19 6 years ago

    I saw an 8 minute long trailer for Bloodrayne, and it looked like one of the most hilariously bad movies of all time. And Ben Kingsley was in it! Boy, has his mask slipped... :)

    Boll gets criticism because his movies have none of the spirit of the original games, and are simply terrible, awful, badly written, shockingly directed pieces of cinema. That's it. It's not rocket science.

  • Fatfish #20 6 years ago

    After reading Uwe's pleas to take his work seriously and judge it on it's merits, I can think of only one relevant phrase to respond with........

    ....you can't polish a turd.

  • rinoaMW #21 6 years ago

    He could do a 'Jay and Silent Bob' on everybody... heh heh heh ;)

  • Eldritch #22 6 years ago

    Uwe, get a tub of Stroke 29 and enjoy your films. Alone.

  • gamingdave #23 6 years ago

    He admits "... videogames as his source material, and they're hardly reknowned for their complex characterisations and sophisticated narratives."

    Then says "It's tough to convince someone from the studio system to believe in a videogame-based movie. It's way easier to have a great book or to have a comic book"

    Has he not realised that's because films NEED interesting characters and plots, something great books and comics have, and games dont.

  • smelly #24 6 years ago

    Well at least the postal movie sound like a laugh.

  • smelly #25 6 years ago

    @Also, you might (not) want to watch Scooby-Doo : )

    He was BLOODY BRILLIANT in scooby doo, what u on about? He got shaggy down to a tee.

  • reality_cheque #26 6 years ago

    I had no intention of watching Scooby Doo anyway - the only reason I can think to watch it would be SMG, but there's episodes of Buffy for that :)

  • botherer #27 6 years ago

    Actually, I did hear someone make the argument that Lillard should seriously have been considered for an Oscar for his role in both Scooby-Doo movies, as his performance was quite so good, and against all the odds.

    But the commenter was refering to "in a bad film", so I think my point still stands.

  • a_random_gnome #28 6 years ago

    A famous critic once said he never read books he was reviewing, so as not to hamper his impartiallity towards the books...

  • Tomo #29 6 years ago

    What I don't understand is how he manages to get people such as Ray Liotta and Christian Slater to work for him?! They are superb actors and what the fuck are they doing starring in movies made by him?

    Must have people that read the scripts offered to them.

  • Sko #30 6 years ago

    So he's blamed his actors, the film studios, the cinemas, journalists, word-of-mouth, distribution companies and the source material for his films being considered godawful piles of crap. Now, who has he missed... who... mmmmm...

  • Zero_ #31 6 years ago

    Doom as popular as MGS? I doubt it.

  • Kami #32 6 years ago

    "BloodRayne, which is ten times better than House of the Dead"

    This would be interesting if HOTD wasn't so appallingly bad. Saying Bloodrayne is ten times better than HOTD is like saying that walking barefoot on a bed of nails is ten times better than walking barefoot on white-hot coals... you wouldn't particularly want to do either unless you're either desperate or have a few screws loose...

  • Sko #33 6 years ago

    I also like this comment... "I like Metal Gear Solid, I like that script, but unless the rights situation is cleared, what can I say?"

    Well, you could face facts? Along with saying he'd never spoken to you, Kojima added... "It's impossible that we'd ever do a movie with him." but he's probably never seen your early work so who is he to judge?

  • Fozzie_bear #34 6 years ago

    "Let's be realistic, what is House of the Dead? House of the Dead is a brainless shooter, where you shoot zombies into pieces. So what are you expecting from the movie, Schindler's List?

    You know, that's a very good point.

    "I get bashed as the worldwide enemy number one in film-making by people who are working at Starbucks and who also want to make movies.

    And so's that.

    Bless him. After reading that i've really rather warmed to the chap :)

    Probably because he's not 'raped' a franchise i love and - even if he did - i think i could probably live with it. What with it not really mattering and everything.

    As Genji says he's obviously got a passion for what he does he just isn't perhaps very good at it (never seen any of his films so i've no idea). But he's made a nice pot of money from doing something that he loves. I think i could put up with being hated by people on internet forums around the world in return for that.

    \o/ for Uwe Boll! Long may you continue to earn money, do what you love and annoy the crap out of people who get overly precious about the computer games they play!

  • kangarootoo #35 6 years ago

    I'll throw myself in the fire on this one.

    1. The only film I've seen of his was AitD and I actually quite liked it. I'm not saying it was good, but as a monster romp it was OK with some nice CG. I didn't get bored half way through, and that is my litmus test.

    2. Frankly, he is right about the number of people who slate stuff on the web without ever having actually experienced it. Just look at the reader ratings on this very site. All sorts of daft numbers for games that aren't even out.

    3. General opinion is that his films are total poop and so chances are, most of them are total poop. But to assume that is always entirely his fault is like akin to assuming that all bad video games are the result of incompetance (often, that is in fact the case, but no always).

    So in summary. I kind of feel for him, he has clearly had an exagerrated amount of negative opinion compared to a lot of film makers out there. I realise his films aren't all that, but unless he does one day get the $60m he talks about and a rack of A list actors, we are making a few assumptions when we say he cannot do better.

  • kangarootoo #36 6 years ago

    "do what you love and annoy the crap out of people who get overly precious about the computer games they play!"

    I would do that full time for a fraction of his income. Overly precious people just never stop being funny.

  • Cyhwuhx #37 6 years ago

    .::: Did he honestly think people are slating him because it's fashionable? Dear lord, I'm starting to wonder if he has even seen the damage he created with House of the Dead.

    Tagging on ten seconds of ACTUAL game reference at the end of a movie IS NOT equivalent to creating a movie based on a game. His newer work is awful as well. The entire nightmare scene at the beginning of Alone in the Dark is worse than the corny Kirk-joke in HotD. (Never mind the Matrixian Asian...)


    Yes, I've seen your movies mister Boll, and YES I'm comparing them fairly. The Mortal Kombat movie wasn't a masterpiece by far, but its creators knew DAMN WELL what the audience wanted to see and (here's the crucial part) *RECOGNISE*.

    If you can't understand that mere basic concept of recognition, which is not that surprisingly also exactly what cast both movies of Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros. into the pits of eternal damnation, than thank the stars you are thinking of stopping with game-based movies alltogether!

    As for Bloodrayne: do you even have access to videogame sales-charts!? No-one was going to care in the first place!

  • Triggerhappytel #38 6 years ago

    Boy, has this guy got a continent-sized chip on his shoulder!!

    If it really is just 'a few thousand' people who are so vocal about his bad films when 'millions' still buy or see them, why does he get so worked up?! Why not just lie back and lounge in his riches whilst sticking the proverbial two fingers up at these 'few thousand' people?

    I can't actually comment as I've not watched any of his films (straight to DVD - always the signs of a stinker). But I will say that I have never seen or heard a good write up for any of his work. And it's also true what Sko says, that he is blaming everyone except himself.

    On a final note, what the hell is with that cast for Dungeon Siege?! How wrong are all those people in a swords 'n sorcery flick?!!

  • Darth_Flibble #39 6 years ago

    I wish Boll would STFU about how everyone how hates his films because they have not seen them. It's bollocks, i've seen Alone in the dark and it's worse than HOTD (which says a lot) he can't direct and uses pointless unneeded effects like the bullet time.
    He is so thick skulled, the feedback does not get into his head. Watch the dungeon siege trailer and it looks worse than bloodrayne

  • sam_spade #40 6 years ago

    Yeah, he can moan about people about Starbucks but at least they recognise a shit film when they see one.

    AItD is the most embarassing piece of film I've been witness too. Shoddy script, shoddy acting, shoddy direction and piss poor effect.

    "I realise his films aren't all that, but unless he does one day get the $60m he talks about and a rack of A list actors, we are making a few assumptions when we say he cannot do better."

    Having a ton of money and great actors doesn't help you in any way. There are plenty of directors making decent films with unknown actors for a pittance.

  • kangarootoo #41 6 years ago

    "Having a ton of money and great actors doesn't help you in any way"

    Thats just bollox. Read it back again and see if you really mean it.

    Being able to make a good film on a low budget with an unknown cast is of course possible, but to then take the lateral leap from there to saying a bigger budget and better trained actors will bring no benefits is just madness.

    Why on earth would people spend millions on production and actors if it made no difference? Is Hollywood staffed by imbeciles who don't know their own jobs? If so, there may be an opening for you over there as an advisor to set them all straight.
    Edited by 2 at 15/02/06 @ 14:08

  • Darth_Flibble #42 6 years ago

    Boll is also damaging any chances good conversions of games to film with his talentless hack shite. Everytime you mentioned is based on a computer games you always get "it's going to be shit"

    The Silent hill film look very good from the trailer and uses backdrops and monsters from the game very well

  • space_ace #43 6 years ago

    so what is his nickname here?

  • Kiigan #44 6 years ago

    Jesus, what a fucking whinger.

    I haven't seen any of the guy's movies. So I have no idea how good or bad they are, but as a bit of a film buff and a gamer too I should say that they have never even appeared on my radar. That said, many wonderful movies get ignored, or even panned by critics and mouthy idiots on the internet, all the time. Boll needs to learn to live with that, and he needs to understand that people might be more sympathetic to his complaints of harsh coverage if his movies were better. The problem as I see it, is that people tend not to like his movies - gamers don't like them, and cinemagoers don't like them. Instead of complaining about it, it is time to either up your game or find another way of earning a living.

    A part of his problem, aside from his abilities as a film maker, seems to be that he isn't very fussy about what he works on. And, with guys like Hideo Kojima recently being understandably protective of the Metal Gear brand and killing the Boll movie rumours dead, Boll is getting a bit of a bad name for himself. Whining about it doesn't help.

  • Fozzie_bear #45 6 years ago

    Overly precious people just never stop being funny.

    Can you imagine how much fun it would to make an MGS film and wind up the obsessive fans?

    "Yeah, we're going to pack it with crap dialogue. We've really pushed the boat out to make it an overblown, self important piece of tedious, pretentious toss because HEY that's what the fans want!"

    :)

  • ekko #46 6 years ago

    I don't really want my favourite games to become films. It's like reading the novelization of films - you're needlessly regressing in the world of entertainment.

  • kangarootoo #47 6 years ago

    Did half the people here miss the bit in the interview where he explained the MGS thing had NOTHING to do with him? Everyone keeping banging on about it, with additional comments along the lines of how he made a stick for his own back.

    Its starting to sound a bit silly now, like everyone is getting all carried away regardless of fact, which is kind of what Bolle was suggesting right?

  • Feanor #48 6 years ago

    If he ever makes a good movie will the world explode in amazament before most of us get to see it?

  • el_pollo_diablo #49 6 years ago

    You know how at the end of Scarface, where Pacino does too much coke and gets very paranoid about everyone and everything?

    Yeah. I think so too.

  • DFawkes #50 6 years ago

    I've seen Alone in the Dark, and would will anyone who respects the movie or games industries to steer well clear. Sure, people like me might be the problem, getting others to not even watch his movies, but do you really think with his level of arrogance he'd make good movies?

    So I won't say "Stop making shit movies". But based on what I've seen, I wil say I wish the Alone in the Dark movie didn't exist.

  • CyberClaw #51 6 years ago

    I find ignorant the way most internet users hate boll. What dear franchise has boll ruined for you?
    Ignorance is bliss. Boll does strike many true points. He was given the franchise, and the owners of the franchise did not care a bit about the franchise itself.
    Let's look at LOTR, for example. Tolkien's family cared alot for the product, and wanted to make sure it was a good representation of his work.

    Most if not all game franchises Boll converted into a movie, were simply a way for the owner of the copyright to make some money. They didn't really care for the franchise. Games like Blood Rayne, or Alone in the Dark? Yea they have a story, but the story while acceptable in a game (where the objective is to play a game), it's completly disapropriate for a movie.

    Famouse movie adaptations, like Resident Evil, strayed alot from the game path because let's face it, who wants to see a movie where you spend 8 hours in a mantion, killing a slow moving zombie every now and then, finding a cork, and searching for the bottle where the cork fits...

    Then we have good examples. Like Microsoft, who didn't take shit from no one when it came to Halo's movie. They wrote/authorised the script, and they went door to door, saying, you pay this, and yet, I'm still the final word on either the movie is ok or not. Obviously not every franchise as the kind of leverage Halo has. Halo is a big name after all. And that's why MS cares for it.

    Alone in the Dark? Blood Rayne? Dungeon Siege? Does the story even matter in the games? Adapting it to a movie is simply a cash in, so it's normal the movies won't be what you expect.

    But here comes the final and the real question, what would you change in the movies you hate so much? You know, I see Spiderman, and while I understand why they removed the wristlets that shooted the webs, and made them organic, I would not have changed the story, just for the comedic value of the cafeteria scene (I'd make Parker do the cafeteria scene later when he used the spidey outfit under the normal clothes). I wouldn't make the Batman Begins actions so over the top, because this way they stole the intensity of the character actions (he refused to kill a peasent, and destroys a mantion, killing many of his coleagues, including the peasent, for example).

    What exactly would you change in Blood Rayne? What would you change in House of the Dead or Alone in the Dark? Please do tell me, because I've seen a whole lot of bitching saying his movies suck, but I never saw a single reason for WHY his movies suck, and what would make them better...

  • urban #52 6 years ago

    ....underworld 2 was a terrible film too...why is he comparing it to that.

    what a twat.

  • darkmistx #53 6 years ago

    Translation:

    It's not my movies that suck, you all suck because you can't see how great my movies really are.

  • Darth_Flibble #54 6 years ago

    for a start, Alone in the dark and bloodrayne should of used more stuff from the game. Boll just used the basic ideas eg names then changes so it's nothing like the game

    the bloodrayne film should of used the WW2 setting from the game but he makes up some poor story and uses actor completely unsuitable for period pieces. Alone in the dark was the worst, he just used the names and put some shit effects (the bit at the start and the gun firing bit), adds a crap load of german heavy metal, Tara reid as a scientist.

    he should listen to his critics, why is films are bad but he doesn't, he blames everyone else. His films are shit and never learns because he has a chip the size of Europe on his shoulder

  • super_cunt #55 6 years ago

    those 2 sexy chicks look hot!

  • Vibrating Donkey #56 6 years ago

    I once saw House of the Dead and Brotherhood of War in the same bargain bin. I thought this was highly disrespectful towards Uwe Boll's masterpiece. In an attempt to correct the mistake I bought a copy of Brotherhood of War.

    I have seen one of his movies though. Alone in the Dark. It was stupid as hell. And I want to see Bloodrayne, for a laugh, damn that movie looks so extremely campy.

  • Saii #57 6 years ago

    The guy makes rubbish films that depend solely on the brandname of the licence to shift units whilest he actively shits on the orginal source material and even slates it in interviews.
    And he wonders why people don't want to see his films. haha
    He keeps saying that people should watch his films before judging them, but nobody wants to pay him and THAT is why we won't watch the films.
    Maybe I'll one day download one.
    Although I think Sword of Xanten, on channel 4 at christmas was his... it was dire.

  • fox #58 6 years ago

    One thing that bothers me is when he says that the game publishers should back up the game movie! WTF? So how is it that so many movies that don't have anything to do with comics, books or wtvr have such huge success? Is it because their actually good movies? That don't make you wanna leave the room after 15min?

    And the new Silent Hill movie? I don't see konami giving it that much support, ffs, they didn't even present any next gen title!! And look at the hype around the movie!

    I feel sorry for him, but instead of bashing gamers as stupid starbucks workers (i'm a chemist btw), why doesn't he give us credit for being demanding? We all know what low end games, HotD, Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne, DS (the last one) were/became! Why even bother making movies out of them?!

    Ask us first then!!!!

    If he had so much trouble getting where he is now (?), why spoil it all with doing unsuccessful movies over and over again!?

  • kangarootoo #59 6 years ago

    "It's not my movies that suck, you all suck because you can't see how great my movies really are."

    I would say that is a poor translation, because if you read the words he spoke he didn't actually say that all.

  • SomaticSense #60 6 years ago

    "Can you imagine how much fun it would to make an MGS film and wind up the obsessive fans?

    Yeah, we're going to pack it with crap dialogue. We've really pushed the boat out to make it an overblown, self important piece of tedious, pretentious toss because HEY that's what the fans want!"

    So, you mean make a 100% accurate adaptation only with more gameplay?
    -
    -
    -
    Sorry... couldn't resist :)

  • Xerx3s #61 6 years ago

    "Dungeon Siege is "ten times better" than BloodRayne, which is ten times better than House of the Dead"

    10 times shite is still shite. Alot of shite never the less. :|

    "If people don't see that, then it's not my problem, but I think those are the people who hate me or who want to bash me. Normal people, people who buy movies or watch TV, they see that absolutely."

    A) Actually, if noone watches your films, that IS your problem.
    B) Noone in their right mind would buy this.
    c) No selfrespecting Tv company is ever gonna broadcast your shite.

  • Vibrating Donkey #62 6 years ago

    Tomo: "What I don't understand is how he manages to get people such as Ray Liotta and Christian Slater to work for him?!"

    Go see the trailer for Dungeon Siege and you'll understand why Ray Liotta accepted. Him and Matthew Lillard obviously know the movie is shit and are actively trying to ruin the movie by the ways of extremely silly overacting (at least that's what I hope). But I think it backfired, cause their performances are fucking hilarious. Without them the trailer would've looked like sloppy, stupid, boring budget crap. Your normal Uwe Boll flick in other words.

    This movie should be entertaining in ways that were unintentional. But I hope it won't ruin Jason Stathams career. He's cool. :(

    Also, Burt Reynolds sounds and looks like he's about to fall asleep. :D

  • Kami #63 6 years ago

    I watched HotD. And I watched AitD.

    ...

    No amount of money will get me to go watch Bloodrayne...

  • CptFantastic #64 6 years ago

    I worked at SEGA when we ported House of the Dead 3 to the PC, and included the trailer for the movie.

    Goddamn, even the trailer was bad.

    Sorry Uwe, I think "Mills & Boon" PR is calling for you to make movies for them.

  • Eighthours #65 6 years ago

    What exactly would you change in Blood Rayne? What would you change in House of the Dead or Alone in the Dark? Please do tell me, because I've seen a whole lot of bitching saying his movies suck, but I never saw a single reason for WHY his movies suck, and what would make them better...

    What would make them better?

    1. A script that wasn't pant-wettingly shit
    2. A different director

  • SeesThroughAll #66 6 years ago

    Here's a thought. Did he ever actually PLAY any of the games he made movies for?

  • Lagto_Soa #67 6 years ago

    Most if not all game franchises Boll converted into a movie, were simply a way for the owner of the copyright to make some money.

    So how does that vindicate Boll? The fact that the franchise owners didn't really care what he did with their property makes it okay that he's a talentless nob? Their attitude somehow compromised his artistic integrity and prevented him from making a watchable film?

    I've seen House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark. They. Are. Shit. I won't say they're the worst films I've ever seen, because they're not, but they're a damn sight closer to 'worst' than they are to 'best'.

    Maybe if Bollock Boy's work wasn't so consistently bad, and his protests about getting better with each film so embarrassing and baseless (maybe, you know, he should have waited till he was half-decent before setting out on a Hollywood filmmaking career if he wanted to be respected?), he'd have a valid argument. As things stand, though, he should probably just STFU because he's not doing himself any favours, and frankly his shitty output is sabotaging the future of any potentially decent game-to-film projects (no, come on, there could be some).

  • floW #68 6 years ago

    Go on the Boll!

  • Kay #69 6 years ago

    Oh dear - I've just had a look on IMDB and it seems that the Dungeon Siege film is real.

    Why would Ray Liotta sink so low?

    K
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/06 @ 18:42

  • lucky_jim #70 6 years ago

    "It's fashionable to hit on Uwe Boll"

    [/snigger] you wish, Uwe.

  • jamesbee #71 6 years ago

    "instead of being happy that there's a movie getting made of a game. This is what's confusing me."

    Isn't that like asking the passengers of Flight 93 to be happy they had a pilot at all?

  • Liggur #72 6 years ago

    Boll makes them crap on purpose

    this link will explain it all.

    <A HREF=http:// www.cinemablend.com/feature.php?id=209>Click for the Truth</A>

  • Stickman #73 6 years ago

    "After Far Cry, maybe I'll go away from videogame-based movies. And everybody can be really happy about it"

    Uwe Boll in ' I Know What The Public Want' Shocker.

  • darkmistx #74 6 years ago

    Thanks for the link, liggur. Suddenly it all makes sense.

  • J.C #75 6 years ago

    Uwe Boll has to be one of the worst film makers around right now, if not the worst.

  • Drakron #76 6 years ago

    Far Cry is bad to mess because the story is poo.

    Just look at Far Cry intro that makes no sense, now add mutant monkeys and a "MUNTANT MONKEY ARMY!!!" plot with ... oh god, that game plot was so god damn awful.

    Good game?

    Sure at many points (before the mutant monkeys come) but the plot was as bad as Doom ... you really cannot make a good movie out of it without flushing the game plot down the toilet.

  • NegativeZero #77 6 years ago

    So, Postal will have Gary Coleman as the star, and will involve Boll getting mobbed and murdered at some point?

    I don't know about everyone else, but that sounds potentially awesome to me.

  • Markusdragon #78 6 years ago

    ((SPOILEROONIES, and lots of 'em. Be warned))

    "Let's be realistic, what is House of the Dead? House of the Dead is a brainless shooter, where you shoot zombies into pieces. So what are you expecting from the movie"

    So what happened to the characters, the storyline, the fact that the zombies are genetic experiments originally created by Dr. Curien spiralling into insanity in his attempts to cure his sick little son Daniel? Where's the mindlessness when Sophie dies, when the Magician turns against his master, when G is found wounded in the church, when Goldman commits suicide, the conversations between Lisa and G about her relationship with her father, and Daniel's own destruction of the second coming of his father?
    House of the dead may not be that heavy on storyline, but it's there, and the fact that Boll could only see a 'brainless shooter' in it just shows that he was not the person to make a House of the Dead movie.

  • Daikon #79 6 years ago

    Christian Slater eh? Impressive how this former bratpack boy has turned into a b movie slummer.

  • MrGrumpy.au #80 6 years ago

    CptFantastic, also XBox HOTD3 owners were treated with the [sarcasm]fantastic[/sarcasm] 15 minute making of/preview movie (what a waste of life and disc space that was).

    You know a movie is bad when it can be hired for $AU1 (converted 42p) for 7 nights and the person who hired it is so disgusted with the movie they demand a refund.

    Edit:
    Fixed the monetary conversion (again I think).
    Edited by 2 at 16/02/06 @ 02:45

  • fantabulo #81 6 years ago

    "I don't know if I would definitely make the movie very differently, 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."
    That's a bit rich.

    If its so hard to make videogame adaptations and he is so reliable in turning profit, why doesn't he just do a book adaptation or even something original? From the way he treats the games he adapts, you wouldn't think he was a fan. That the publishers don't value their IP isn't much of an excuse for his lack of respect, and is kind of hypocritical considering he's going on about critics following the example of others.

    Anyway, does anyone has the stamina or time to read this far into the thread? I know I don't.
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/06 @ 03:34

  • 3william56 #82 6 years ago

    "How many of you have seen his movies?"

    I can work out that a sh*t sandwich is gonna taste nasty without taking a bite, ta. Particularly if I also have a dozen respected food critics telling me that it tastes nasty too.

    It's "The Producers" in real life. Wonder if Uwe's tried to adapt Springtime for Hitler.

    But you've got to respect the man; no talent, no ethics, and still making a fortune and living a rock star life playing with gallons of other people's money. Jealous.

  • ClansOfIntrigue #83 6 years ago

    "Saying that I learned from my mistakes is maybe the biggest mistake I made."

    Let's hope he learned something from it :)

  • Markusdragon #84 6 years ago

    Wow, slashdotted. Looks like eurogamer's ad revenue might go up a bracket this month :p

  • dk_rare #85 6 years ago

    "The stars of Dungeon Siege. Yes, it is her out of Deep Impact, him out of Snatch, him out of Goodfellas and him out of Smokey and the Bandit"

    You mean Ray Liotta? Star of Goodfellas and lead voice actor in Vice City? HIM!?! WTF?

  • dk_rare #86 6 years ago

    I wonder if Uwe Boll has posted on this comments section himself, pretending to be a Uwe fan, or a Uwe movie fan. He sems like the sort of chap that would do that

  • Psi #87 6 years ago

    "BloodRayne and chum. Yes, it is her out of Lost."

    ^ so who's been watching the second series of lost already :p

    eh downloadgamer ;)

    A joke about the bitches blood alchol level would have been better :p

  • kangarootoo #88 6 years ago

    "But you've got to respect the man; no talent, no ethics"

    Thats exactly the sort of monochrome comment that he finds annoying, and I don't blame him. He probably has more directing ability than almost everyone writing on here. Its easy to criticise, especially as part of a popular movement, but if any of us sat down to make a film you can bet it would probably suck.

  • Lowrin #89 6 years ago

    'There is no loophole," Boll says - at least not any more, it seems.'

    'maybe I'll go away from videogame-based movies.'

    So the loop hole which allows him to make MORE money if his shoddy movies flop closes, and gregarious old Boll decides it's time to stop with the video-game adaptations.

    Video games for Boll were ready made intelectual properties, with a ready made (passionate) fan bases which he could pick at, carrion-like.
    This meant he could very easily turn any videogame-movie into an "insta-flop" . The negativety generated by the very out-spoken fans at the poor handling of something they cared about, coupled with the fact they're just fundamentally piss-poor excersises in film making, meant he could keep the tax-loop-hole-meat-grinder churning out the euros for him.

    At his peak, the man never had less than 3 or 4 video-game based scripts up for consideration (so as to ensure he could always be churning out at least one).
    He has always been highly vocal, often flying in the face of critisism in an aggresive manner (be it from journos OR fans of the intelectual properties he's exploiting).
    And his recent flops have come almost exclusively from the world of video gaming (a demographic which boasts some of the most ravenous and protective fans outside of comic-dom).

    The second the Tax loop hole closes, he apparantly loses interest... Anyone (other than Uwe himself, evidently) need me to draw them a map?

    (As with all conspiracy theories, the above is all hear-say, conjecture and rumour).
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/06 @ 10:51

  • EggyDeth #90 6 years ago

    Tax breaks?

    I still don't understand. If I have £100 and spend it on making a movie, and I then don't have to spend 50% tax on that money, It means I'm £100 poorer. If I just keep the money and pay the tax, I'm only £50 poorer.

    How does this encourage people to invest in Boll's movies?

  • MrGrumpy.au #91 6 years ago

    @kangarootoo, for some reason he wants to make movie after movie based on video games(VG) and obviously charge for them (whether it be at the box office, rental, VHS/DVD purchase), the paying public have every right to be critical and he should take note of the criticism and try a different approach.

    It's his choice to make VG related movies rather than try something different so he's always going to be playing to a tough crowd, developers get criticised all the time why shouldn't he?

    He seriously needs to do a non VG related movie and prove that he is a good director and was just under the old "bad VG movie curse".

  • maisondetre #92 6 years ago

    I hate his attitude that gamers should "just be happy videogame movies are being made at all." Jerk. Accorcding to his philosophy, if someone filmed a cow taking a crap for two hours we should watch it as long as it has the title "Metal Gear" attached to it.

    He complains how House of the Dead was so hard to make, but the Resident Evil movies were great, at least in zombie movie terms.

    And he complains how people who have never seen his movies complain, I've seen nearly all of his movies except Bloodrayne, (mainly by accident) and they are all crap.

    He says it's just amateurs that don't understand how hard it is to make movies, but profressional critics and filmmakers have panned him too.

    It's not so much that his movies are bad, I mean, Ed Wood's movies were horrendous, it's the piss-poor attitude Uwe Boll has about it that makes me angry. Kind of like how Michael Bay blamed Scarlett Johansen and Ewan MacGregor for The Island. It's Scarlett Johansen and Ewan MacGregor! If you can't get a good movie out of those two, you ate lead paint as a child!

    And I am through.
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/06 @ 10:42

  • Lowrin #93 6 years ago

    EggyDeth-

    Under the old German system, investors only had to pay tax on any returns the movie made. Meaning if you were to invest £500.000 in a Uwe boll production, you would only have to pay tax once your return on that £500.000 exceeded your initial investment.
    So let's say for arguments sake, you were investing in a god-awful, half-arsed movie that only stood to go straight to video/DVD. The minute you got back your initial investment (which in theory, just about any movie being distributed, even if straight to video/DVD, could do) you would get your £500.000 back with no obligation to pay any taxes what-so-ever. Any proffits made beyond that would be taxable, but at that stage (having saved 15-25% on your initial investment through the tax dodge) it's all bonus money.

    This is very much at the root of the "Uwe Boll conspiracy theory". I'm not sure ticking off the worlds gaming fans is seen to have had any beneficial effect for him other than the old "no publicity is bad publicity" cliche, but I think the theory goes he chose games as a basis for his "doesnt matter if it flops" series of films because they came with a ready made fan base which, theoreticaly, should be large enough to recoup the initial (none-taxable) investement and to an equal extent, they came with established, recognisable brands.

    (As with all conspiracy theories, the above is all hear-say, conjecture and rumour).
    Edited by 3 at 16/02/06 @ 10:51

  • Lagto_Soa #94 6 years ago

    It's not so much that his movies are bad, I mean, Ed Wood's movies were horrendous, it's the piss-poor attitude Uwe Boll has about it that makes me angry.

    That's what gets me too. Like I said, I've seen worse films than his, but he can't complain about being an easy target when he's out there blaming everyone and everything for his own failures, saying that most people haven't even seen the films so they shouldn't complain - maybe he should shut his piehole for a minute and pay attention to the comments of those who have seen his films and are therefore presumably qualified to have an opinion.

  • Redeye #95 6 years ago

    Having seen both AITD and HOTD, two astonishingly awful mockeries of the words 'celluloid entertainment', I can safely say that I would not shed one damn tear if Mr. Boll were to never make another film in his life.

    Apart from the fact that videogames always have had - and will continue to have - the sort of premise and storylines that would have even the greatest screenwriters shaking their heads in total confusion, Boll's understanding of what people want to see when they shell out for a cinema ticket is so incredibly wide of the mark, it beggars belief. And for him to rant about the response to his 'work' in such a manner is not only petty and childish, it would appear that raw nerves have been scraped by a great many truths.

    It's not that Boll has 'raped' any beloved franchises or other such nonsense, but his attitude and his movies only reinforce stereotypes about people who love videogames - that we're all mindless cretins who will happily watch any old tripe with the relevant brand attached to it.

  • Pleidian #96 6 years ago

    If the good Doctor is tired of getting panned from all sides on his abilities as a filmmaker, I strongly suggest he starts looking for another job. I mean, honestly Uwe, who in their right mind starts a movie with several minutes of backgound information in scrolling text (Alone In The Dark)? How boring is that? Not to mention that it is storytelling far below that other franchise, which for years and years started with the line: "Captain's Log..." Exposition on a far higher level than you have achieved so far.

    Now I happen to have seen both House of the Dead and Alone In The Dark, mainly because of their dreadful reputation, and I dare say that reputiation is deserved. My god, man...not only are they complete travesties of style, substance, pace and acting, but they represent a systematic rape of established franchises (especially Alone in The Dark, which were really good games).

    So please, in the name of all that is good and enjoyable in the Universe: Leave Far Cry Alone!!!
    And rightsowners: Stop selling movies rights to this man...he makes Ed Wood look like James Cameron, ok?
    Edited by 2 at 16/02/06 @ 12:13

  • kangarootoo #97 6 years ago

    "who in their right mind starts a movie with several minutes of backgound information in scrolling text"

    lol, Starwars springs to mind :)

  • Pleidian #98 6 years ago

    Well, that's probably because you haven't seen Alone in The Dark...it goes on for-eeeeeever and ever...explaining, explaining, explaining...about 5 minutes worth of continuous text PLUS narration...for those who can't read I presume ;)
    Edited by 3 at 16/02/06 @ 16:02

  • Talha #99 6 years ago

    Despite everything, I...I>.. like this guy. He is open and honest, if a little overoptimistic about his work.

    /runs and hides

  • Burnview #100 6 years ago

    WARNING: VERY LONG POST! Please read, it's very informative...


    Oh god I hope he dies. The only movie I'm looking forward to is Postal. I believe that no one could ever mess up that movie (Uwe could find a way though).
    The problem about video game movies are that those who play the game already know the ending (movie runied). Or the hardcore fanatics of the game/movie will nitpick the movie to death (movie ruined). I believe what Uwe tried to do was make his own rendition of the movie based from the game, but by never even playing the game he know's nothing of the history and backstories... He thinks that by just reading the back cover or reading the walkthrough's of the game, he know's everything! He should just stay out of video game movies...
    Ok I admit it: I saw HoTD, the only reason I saw it was:
    A- It had zombies.
    B-Z- it had zombies.
    I thought there was no way you could totally ruin a zombie movie untill I saw HoTD.
    And yes, I will see HoTD 2: Dead Aim only cause it has zombies (notice I'm a zombie fan?)!
    Now on to some useless ramblings from the interview from Uwe Boll- with my comments in the notes section:

    -"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."
    -Note- All his movies suck the same!

    -"Whether you agree with Boll's argument or not, you can't deny that he's taken a lot of flack since his first videogame adaptation, House of the Dead, appeared in cinemas back in 2003. The Alone in the Dark movie did nothing to bolster his reputation with the critics, and his latest effort, BloodRayne, was widely slammed - before the film was even released, Boll says."
    -Note- You learn from a snake that bit you to be a little more cautious around it or totally avoid snakes all together. Now replace the "Snake" with Uwe Boll. He bites you by making you waste your money and life seeing his movies.

    -"I've met tons of people who think BloodRayne is way better than Underworld 2, but they're not going on the Internet and writing that... I'm a little tired of only getting questions from journalists like, 'Your movies were so badly received, blah blah blah.' I know tons of movies that were way worse than Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead."
    -Note- I believe you meet "ten" not "Tons" people that agree with you and the reason was... Wait you're liying.
    And yes there were million movies bettter then those 2 but at least their stories weren't butchered to death from their original stories!

    -"Let's be realistic, what is House of the Dead? House of the Dead is a brainless shooter, where you shoot zombies into pieces. So what are you expecting from the movie, Schindler's List?
    "I think I made a perfect House of the Dead movie, because it really shows how the game is. It's a lot of fun, it's over-the-top action - it's not 28 Days Later, because the reality is that House of the Dead is about how it's a lot of fun to shoot zombies... It's cheesy entertainment with a lot of gore and a lot of violence, and it's super-fast."
    -Note- YOU DID NOT MAKE A PERFECT HOUSE OF THE DEAD MOVIE! THE FIRST TIME I DID LSD, I FUCKING LIVED "HOUSE OF THE DEAD"! THE MOVIE SHOULD'VE BEEN BASED ON MY FIRST ACID-TRIP! Besides, anyone aw fuck it- EVERYONE know's that the movie holds nothing to 28 Day's Later!
    -Side Note- I personally believe that the "Zombies" in 28 Day's Later were not zombies at all: The "Rage" just made people express their most violent emotions.
    The people on the "Rage" died if they did not eat (eating anything not only human flesh)...
    The people on the "Rage" get tired after running for quite some time...

    -"This is the main point - if the movie is really, really bad, why are a hundred territories buying it?"
    -Note- I think he ment terrorists... They hate America and therfore love his movies!

    -And besides, Boll continues, the movie won't make any money if the studio throws money at it while the game publisher ignores it completely. He observes that as a videogame, Doom is just as popular as MGS - but the movie "Didn't make half of the f***ing budget back. People didn't give a sh** about Doom and they won't give a sh** about Metal Gear Solid if it doesn't get the kind of promotion it deserves."
    -Note- Agreed, Doom wasn't that good, but a lot of movies tank in box office sales even if they get lots of hype. Examples: GILI, The Pink Panther, DOOM,Fantastic 4 and Punisher (Compared to sales agaings Spiderman).
    Now some movies that made good money without much media hype: Napolean Dynamite, Murderball, Sidesways...
    Ok, now about the whole popularity thing: I admit it, Doom is a lot more popular then MGS, but the MGS series is a lot better and the fans are the true fanatics. It's got a better story. Another reason why MGS will make a better movie: They won't fuck up something so great as the MGS Series, And 3 mother fucking words:
    !METAL GEAR SOLID!
    Even with no hype, that movie will make copious amounts of sales!

    -As for Halo, an example of a videogame-based movie which has a hefty budget behind it, Boll isn't too optimistic. "I personally think that with the budget they've planned, Halo will be a failure. I think Halo will not make the money back in the end."
    -Note- Same thing with MGS- too much value and fanbase to live up to

    So my point of this very long comment:
    You can make movies, get it widely advertised and have it tank in sales, and vice versa
    Ok, Doom was expected to make a lot more then predicted before screens were leaked from the net.
    Wanna make a good movie? Make the Producers and Directors research HEAVILY into what they're getting into. If there is a book based on the game, throw some of that in (Doom: the book- The Space Marines' name is Flynn Taggart. That would have made the hadcore fans go crazy with joy). Also throw in some of the lingo put into the game by players. I'd love to see a space marine (in Halo: The Movie), stand above a covenant corpse, talk shit and repeatedly crouch up and down above it and have his buddies be like, "What the hell are you doing?" and he responds like "Oh, sorry... nervous habit!"
    I'd go crazy if little jokes from the game were implamented into the movie (by the way, you gotta know what that guy was doing!)!
    Oh and about that Prediction about MGS tanking in the Box Office.....
    No Way! MGS FUCKING RULES OVER DOOM!

  • TheSnotGoblin #101 6 years ago

    It's true what they say though; "No publicity is bad publicity". His movies are making their money back, and by all accounts sell pretty well on DVD. Not because they're good, but because of peoples' morbid curiosity and sense of Schadenfreude. I haven't seen any of them, but I've been sorely tempted just to see how bad they really are.

    So he really shouldn't be bitching about the 'Uwe Boll haters'. 'cause without them he wouldn't have a career at all.

  • dk_rare #102 6 years ago

    Gotta admit though, Uwe Boll is a pretty cool name for a director.

  • Lagto_Soa #103 6 years ago

    Would you want your surname to be Boll? Just imagine the stick you'd have taken all the way through school. You'd be a broken husk of a man by this point.

  • kangarootoo #104 6 years ago

    Better than "Bumtrumpet" or something like that though surely?

  • Pastici #105 6 years ago

    I love TheSnotGoblin, he used my favorite word ^^.

  • Soba #106 6 years ago

    Ok, I hear lots of arguments as to "why" people hate Uwe Boll. Sure, he loves and has a passion for making movies... but he can't

    I love and have a passion for working on cars... but I can't... so I don't.

    Take the hints, Uwe, find something else. Try "wicker" or "knitting." Those two activities don't require that you make up a story line or develope some characters. You'll probably make more money off of your chairs and sweaters than you've ever made making your craptacular movies!

    And, for the love of God, BloodRayne is 10 times better than HotD... yeah... chewing on razor blades is 10 times better than getting f-ked in the ass by a red-hot, metal dildo covered in spikes!

    Get out of the movie industry you WANK!

    -Soba
    SobaKai.com

  • Mina_101 #107 6 years ago

    It isn't just enough to make video games movies, you have to do them right. He butchered Bloodrayne, that is totally my game, and he ruined it. A movie done on such a character as she shouldn't be used with real people in my opinion, and the girl they chose to be her is nothing like Rayne. She was pretty before, but Rayne isn't some red neck American, it's like they didn't even care to follow the story correctly. How can you complain like a big baby that people don't like your movies when you can't follow them right? Hello...if you have a brain, please use it! And for anyone who wants to say that all haters are just that, haters who never see his movies, you obviously missed the point...People mentioned this and it seems to just have slipped past some of you that he doesn't follow the acual game in a way that is entertaining, refreshing, and although may be a bit spoiling in the end, is similar to the feeling of the way the game is, not some horrible story line with actors that don't match the characters.

    Oh and to Burnview, I really agree with what you said, yes I did take the time to read it all through, and what Boll does is he listens to the voice in his head that tells him it's okay to make video game movies, but it's what the fans of the games think that counts.
    Edited by 2 at 19/02/06 @ 06:30

  • breakreep #108 6 years ago

    "And besides, says Boll, what exactly is it that we are expecting from him? After all, he is using videogames as his source material, and they're hardly reknowned for their complex characterisations and sophisticated narratives.

    "Let's be realistic, what is House of the Dead? House of the Dead is a brainless shooter, where you shoot zombies into pieces. So what are you expecting from the movie, Schindler's List?""

    So what's his rationale for Alone in the Dark being such a shitty "brainless shooter" movie? The games have story and intelligence woven in. The movie doesn't.

  • breakreep #109 6 years ago

    Note he says he didn't think Doom was a very good movie, then says he would've done it the same.

  • breakreep #110 6 years ago

    "After Far Cry, maybe I'll go away from videogame-based movies. And everybody can be really happy about it."

    "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.""

    And of course since Far Cry is a brainless shooter, and Uwe Boll's studied the angles from the movie that studied his angles, Far Cry will be just as crappy as Alone in the Dark.

  • breakreep #111 6 years ago

    "And he's off again. "So if people are writing on the Internet about how my movies were big failures, it's because these people are amateurs and they have no idea of the reality of film-making and film selling.

    "I get bashed as the worldwide enemy number one in film-making by people who are working at Starbucks and who also want to make movies. It's ridiculous - it's completely idiotic because they're hitting on a guy who actually made it happen, but I started my career in the same position as anybody else," Boll argues."

    So by that logic, we haven't made any games either, and don't know the reality of the game-making and game-selling, therefore we can't say that Pariah and Gun were terrible games because those guys actually got out there and made it happen. :/

  • breakreep #112 6 years ago

    "He probably has more directing ability than almost everyone writing on here. Its easy to criticise, especially as part of a popular movement, but if any of us sat down to make a film you can bet it would probably suck."
    --kangarootoo

    True dat, but we don't have half a dozen god-awful practice movies under our belt.

  • breakreep #113 6 years ago

    @Burnview:

    Yes.

  • bugger #114 6 years ago

    Errrmmm... wasn't the plot of FarCry supposed to be tongue-in-cheek? That's why it was funny, but Uwe Boll won't realise that will he? He doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humour.

  • mjhoward #115 6 years ago

    He says his movies are getting better each time, but then says if people don't like these movies, they should seek out his earlier films.

    The man makes no sense.

  • brimtown #116 6 years ago

    I've seen HOTD. Do I honestly have to watch ALL of his movies to know they are crap?

    Want to know the difference between Ed Wood & Uwe? Ed Wood actually cared about the films he made. I've read interviews with Uwe where he trashes his actors, his fans, the studios, everyone other than himself. He fancies himself as some sort of great director who is continually misunderstood.

  • floppylobster #117 6 years ago

    "And I was standing there alone in the rain with my movie..."

    'Standing alone in the rain.'

    That is exactly the sort of clichéd first-day-at-film-school imagery that Uwe seems to think people respond to. Hey Uwe, why don't you also tell us how you stood there and raised your fists to the heavens and screamed "Noooooooooooooo!".
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/06 @ 11:26

  • Banshee #118 6 years ago

    I signed up specifically to comment on this.

    I've seen AitD. I've seen HotD. I've seen BloodRayne. Uwe Boll is right, these are movies based on games that have not much in the way of "Complex Stories". But he doesn't make games. He makes movies. A movie needs a story, it needs character development, and it needs belivable interaction. His movies do not contain these.

    His movies contain little in the way of coherent plot. Unbelivable characters. Sketchy plot development at best. He makes bad *movies*. And if the source material is at fault (it's not), he needs to stop using that source material.

    I don't like any of the games that the movies above are based on. But I sure as hell can tell a bad movie when I see one. I was drunk and got to see AitD for free, and I still want my two hours back. It contained a sex scene between a character we knew nothing about, and a character he introduced ten minutes ago. A scene of deep horror and suspense between two unnamed soldiers who got introduced five minutes previous. I'm *still* not sure why the hell the main villian was doing everything he was doing.

    Crap, I need a beer.

    Oh, and Mr. Boll (because he seems paranoid enough to actually read this) do us a favor. Stop making movies. And get simple math through your head. It's easy to make high returns when you have a low budget cost. If I win 300 bucks off of 25 cents, or 300 bucks off of 5 dollars, that doesn't suddenly mean a quarter is worth more than 5 bucks.
    Edited by 2 at 10/04/06 @ 09:05

  • Moczo #119 6 years ago

    I've cracked the code!

    House of the Dead= 0

    Therefore, if Alone in the Dark is ten times better, that makes it
    10 * 0 = 0!

    And if Bloodrayne is ten times better than THAT, then... you get the picture.

    Honestly, Uwe, it's not you we hate. ... okay, yeah, we DO hate you, but only because you make crappy movies. We don't think your movies are bad BECAUSE we hate you. We hate you because your movies are bad.

    And GOD, do I ever hate you.

  • Criftus #120 6 years ago

    I honestly don't understand why companies are still giving Uwe Boll permission to use their licences. The one thing in the entire interview that Boll may be correct about is the lack of interest companies obviously have for supporting the licences they dole out to him and others. They're still giving him permission to make movies based on games, and it's obviously not because of his brilliant use of the subject matter, so DVD sales and greedy executives must unfortunately be the only reasoning behind it. Hail to the almighty dollar. =(

    I think his take on Postal is an excellent example of the caliber of his talents. Let's have Osama Bin Laden as a character! Ooh, edgy! People will love it! Maybe you'll throw in a lot of 360 degree pans as well, and maybe include footage from the game? People will definitely take it seriously then! =\ ... and Postal as a "mirror to American society"? Does nobody else understand how insanely offensive that is?

    If Uwe Boll ever happens to come across this message, I'd like to politely explain something to him:
    The public doesn't hate you because you're so honest and open. They hate you because you've taken - or will take - some incredible source material and churned out a ridiculously bad movie (a low budget and high returns does *not* make a good movie!). We as gamers should not just "[be] happy that there's a movie getting made of a game". If something is terrible we should not be ecstatic simply because it exists. There is huge potential in any number of videogames for movie adaptations, and the fact that companies and directors such as yourself seem to be willing to butcher beloved characters and events with such reckless abandon speaks volumes about the contempt the corporate world currently has towards videogame material. There are classics in the videogame world - like MGS, Final Fantasy, Metroid or Castlevania for example - just as there are classics in the literary world or in any other art form. I weep for the day when you're granted licence to tarnish the name of a universally cherished brand and ruin yet another potentially excellent movie. I am thankful, however, that thus far Alone in the Dark has been the only significant atrocity. House of the Dead, BloodRayne, Dungeon Siege and Postal aren't exactly the greatest of creations the gaming world has ever seen. You show the licenses you've acquired as much disdain as the very people you have so much disgust for. Please stick with ideas like Hearts of America (an admittedly decent movie) and leave games alone.

    Woo. That was long. Sorry! =D I'd just love to slap the people around who keep giving him these opportunities. =\

  • sp0rk #121 6 years ago

    why did you have to make a house of the dead movie?
    now that game will never make me smilie again...
    your a bastard.

  • sp0rk #122 6 years ago

    why did you have to make a house of the dead movie?
    now i will never smilie while killing zombies to and fro in this game...
    you bastard... how do you sleep at night you monster!

  • Snowfall #123 6 years ago

    I saw HotD at the two dollar theater, watched AitD at a friends house, and that's about it. Bloodrayne didn't have much pull for me, 'cause the commercial made the movie look like an underfunded superstation premiere.

    I have an idea of a game movie Uwe can direct and not piss anyone off. Daikatana. We've already gotten over how horrible it was, and a movie would be equally horrible.

    And now Dungeon Siege will be coming out. I have no hopes for the movie, because the game (while one of my favorites) has such a shallow and cliche plot. And looking at Uwe's track record on movie games, and my own experience with them, there will be characters no one cares about and a story line that no one cares to follow.

    Stop while you're ahead (monetarily), and retire. Please. Step aside and let someone come forward with the capability to direct a game movie.

    Oh yeah, I want my $2 back.
    Edited by 1 at 10/04/06 @ 09:37

  • EllieG #124 6 years ago

    I watched House of the Dead some years ago and thought it was fine - I liked the game and the movie reflected some elements from the game and I'm a zombie chic and understand that zombie movies are generally low quality as part of the genre - so it was fine.

    I was enthusiastic about Alone in the Dark - played the game and looked forward to the movie. Read some reviews so thought I was prepared for how bad people were saying it was SO decided to rent it out with Stealth and make it a bad movie double feature.

    It was REALLY BAD. I kind of felt ill afterwards - like when you don't want to eat something but eat it anyway and it's bad, or like you're on a gameshow and have lots of money and then lose it all because you made stupid decisions.

    SO HERE IT IS - People watch Boll movies because they're greedy and want the experience, but the experience is bad and makes you feel wrong in the head.

    If Boll wants to make money, why not just ask people to pay him money NOT to make a movie - then he could retire... and that could be his contribution to world peace :)
    Edited by 1 at 13/04/06 @ 06:00

  • bungalooBunny #125 6 years ago

    Ed Wood hasn't died, he simply went onto the witness protection program under the alias of Uwe.

  • gogul1 #126 5 years ago

    Ok Uwe Boll, fair enough it's hard to make movies today.
    But let me tell you this and you'd better listen up because I'm going to say this only once. House of the dead had the b-movie factor going for it but you messed up alot with all the cheapo bullet time you overly used. It made you look like you had run out of effect ideas at the first hurdle. Secondly the zombie exploding heads looked more like paper mache rather than real heads. I'm not speaking about their relevance to the video games they represent either, I'm talking about how the final product just looks like something you sneezed out in a rush.
    This is my first time reading anything on the net about you too so I had made my mind up way before I read anything negative.
    Bloodrayne was just blood, guts and tits without any real understanding of violence or what's so cool about the horror genre. The sets were gorgeous, as were the costumes but the acting mixed with the way the story was laid out really made it a huge turkey of extortionate proportions. There were too many characters without any insight into any of them including the main roles and the only reason I sat through the whole thing was just in case loken got her tits out again.
    Alone in the dark....There were some good ideas behind this movie. Except you did crime number 1 of a noir style story...daylight. Stick with the moody lighting for noir style films, it works. This movie also introduced me to a decent band called Mnemic. Thanks for that. But by the time the film ended I felt like I wasn't sure of what had happened at all. One of the main plot points were that the main character had been electrocuted as a young boy. But during the sequence at the start where he is a young boy hiding within the electricity cupboard we never see this. Surely as it is an integral part of the story it should of been made clear at the beginning?! I could go on like this but I've now written an essay instead of a comment.
    Don't blame other people for the faults in your movies. It's not the distribution houses, the theatres, the movie world. It's you, I just look forward to your next film because it shows me how things SHOULDN'T be done. Why not just produce and let someone else direct? How can it hurt? You make the cash, we get the films. Everybody wins.
    P.S. If the guys from starbucks are able to see the inherent faults in your movies how the f*ck are the critics going to be able to say anything better?

  • chrisola #127 4 years ago

    http://ww w.petitiononline.com/bollsave/p...