No Doom demo on film DVD

By Tom Bramwell Published 9 February, 2006

UK misses out, gets documentary.

Those of you thinking about buying the Doom film on DVD might have heard that there's going to be a demo of the Xbox version of Doom III on it. Unfortunately, Activision UK just confirmed that that only applies to the US "Unrated Extended Edition DVD" and not the one you'll be able to buy over here. Dang.

That version will include a four-level demo of the Xbox game (two single-player, two multiplayer) as well as Xbox Live co-op and deathmatch modes to give you a decent taster. That DVD's out in the US now.

Those of us over here will have to wait until April 3rd to get our hands on our version - or its cousin the UMD offering - but if you do wait then you might enjoy the "Doom Nation" documentary, which is an extended piece "exploring the worldwide phenomenon of Doom". If it doesn't have null modem deathmatch stuffs in it we're NOT impressed. That's on the US disc too.

Mind you, if you are considering buying the Doom film DVD, we have to ask, why are you considering buying the Doom film DVD? Much as we like Rosamund Pike, and there are few cheaper ways to watch Karl Urban sleepwalk, you'd surely be better off renting it - if only to confirm that you can't really tell it's Mars, the first-person bit appears to be "fov 60" and some of the scientists are named after id Software people.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 6 years ago

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

  • Xerx3s #1 6 years ago

    Why exactly woud one want to play a demo from a game released over ayear ago?

  • tengu #2 6 years ago

    Why would one want to buy this movie?

  • Lazarii #3 6 years ago

    Er... this sticks all the gore back in and fleshes some characters out more. I guess that's a reason.

  • brokenkey #4 6 years ago

    and also that the soldier who was last onto the ship (last out) was nicknamed Duke.

  • justsomeone #5 6 years ago

    dear eurogamer,

    absolutely every single movie based on a videogame has been, and (this is maybe even more important) always will be, utter shite. this is a given, cast in stone, written in blood, absolute, utter, nay - total, fact.

    so please, please, please, (remember those letters in smash hits back in the 80's that went on like this for ages) please, please, with brass knobs on and shiny buttons, can you stop publishing articles about them. just so we can all pretend they don't exist?

    honestly, even giving them just enough copy to deride them and slag them off is still giving them too much credit.

    cheers.

  • Darren #6 6 years ago

    So there's absolutely no chance of the Halo movie being any good then?
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 10:50

  • Darkedge #7 6 years ago

    actually JSO Resident Evil wasn't bad- and I do want to see what doom is like.
    Most video game movies are appaling - the worst possibly being Street fighter or Super Mario Bros...

  • smoison #8 6 years ago

    I agree with justsomeone, movies based on games SUCk. All of them.
    (Halo probably will too)

    And as for Doom, not only did the movie suck, but so did DOOM 3.

    And a demo? They are free online you know....

  • mrsquare #9 6 years ago

    But doesn't it have Dexter "Get your hands out of my soup" Fletcher in it?

  • Universal_Hamster #10 6 years ago

    Bottom line, Doom is a good "shit" movie. Its dire, derivative stuff, even more of an Aliens rip off than the game is. Of course, we all knew it was going to be, didnt we? Did anyone expect anything more? But it does have some amusing moments. Its fun shite.

  • jlaakso #11 6 years ago

    Doom was a good popcorn flick. No, really. I was very much positively surprised.

  • smoison #12 6 years ago

    "Its fun shite." LOL - Universal Hamster


    I understand what u meant though...

  • Aretak #13 6 years ago

    Its fun shite.

    Con Air was fun shite. The Fifth Element was fun shite.

    Doom is just shite.

  • Genji #14 6 years ago

    "Its fun shite."

    Illuminating. For another example, I loved the first Mortal Kombat movie for much the same reason. And because it had Christopher Lambert in it.

    The Doom movie, however, would be something I call "shite shite". Many bad movies aren't even fun. To quote a review of the movie, it's about as fun as watching someone else play Doom.

  • IAmBatman #15 6 years ago

    Is "fov 60" a video game "pay-as-you-go"?

    The comments in this thread are all "a bit fov 60". Including this one.

  • Universal_Hamster #16 6 years ago

    Something like starship troopers, for example, is fantastic shite, the pinnacle of dumb fun entertainment. Doom is far below it of course, but of the same ilk. It doesnt have a sense of humor about itself that would make it better shite.

  • justsomeone #17 6 years ago

    yes, the halo movie will be utter crap. why? same reason all video game movies are crap - because video games, in the main, don't have what one would normally, in movie terms, call "narrative".

    halo, doom, even HL, are basically just a person or persons with a gun, going from here to there and shooting at stuff. no story. no real, genuine actual story, just some vague load of old cobblers that makes no odds to the game at all, which is why you can (and generally do) skip cutscenes and intro scenes without any detriment to the actual game what-so-ever.

    if someone had a real, geninuely original and gripping story, they wouldn't pitch it as a video game, they'd make a movie of it. obviously. and the pitches they won't make a movie out of, because they're so crass and derivative and brainless (aliens invade, guy with gun kills all of em, end of story), they use as back-story for video games. so, clearly, when you make a movie out of that, it'll stink.

    obviously you can argue that games have good stories, but you'd be wrong. i can't put it any simpler than that.

    cheers.

  • Genji #18 6 years ago

    "obviously you can argue that games have good stories, but you'd be wrong. i can't put it any simpler than that."

    Heh. Someone's been playing some very crappy games.

  • H00k3rW17h4P3n1s #19 6 years ago

    absolutely every single movie based on a videogame has been, and (this is maybe even more important) always will be, utter shite. this is a given, cast in stone, written in blood, absolute, utter, nay - total, fact.

    I disagree. Resident Evil (the first one) and the Anime Street Fighter movie were both pretty good. Also, I'm hoping that the Splinter Cell movie will be cool and the Halo movie's got James Cameron working on it so that could be good too...

  • jonnyreb #20 6 years ago

    Anyone seen this film? Is it as crap as I am expecting it will be???

  • Yazoo #21 6 years ago

    IAmBatman; fov - field of view. It's the width of the area you can see in the first person perspective. I believe the game (Doom III) defaults at about 80 or 90, although some competitive types prefer to up that to about 120~. I was always a default-settings bod myself, which may explain why I quite enjoyed some bits of the movie.

  • PearOfAnguish #22 6 years ago

    Something like starship troopers, for example, is fantastic shite, the pinnacle of dumb fun entertainment.

    (insert inevitable comment about how nobody properly understands Starship Troopers)

    I disagree. Resident Evil (the first one) and the Anime Street Fighter movie were both pretty good.

    Well I disagree with that, RE was watered-down crap and the anime Street Fighter was like every other animated movie/series based on a game - crap.

  • H00k3rW17h4P3n1s #23 6 years ago

    Well I disagree with that, RE was watered-down crap and the anime Street Fighter was like every other animated movie/series based on a game - crap.

    Well... there's no accounting for some people's taste. I enjoyed both those movies. If you don't like this type of film, then dont watch them. Myself and all the other people out there who liked them will continue to support this type of movie.

    As far as the Doom movie goes... well... I can understand why a lot of people think it's crap, cos it is pure cheese accompanied by pretty awful acting. BUT, if you love the ID games (doom, quake, etc.) then you will spot tons of references that bring back loads of good memories from those titles. Personally, I enjoyed it and loved the FPS scene at the end, but I do agree that it's not for everyone.

    Oh, and Starship Troopers is one of the greates movies ever!

  • IAmBatman #24 6 years ago

    I know what "fov" stands for - "fov 60" is not a good thing, so you can use it to describe other not good things.

    Like the Doom movie, apparently. "The Doom movie is a bit fov 60".

  • evilashchris #25 6 years ago

    i like this film, it is indeed good crap, but then again i also like house of the dead for being crap of ed wood proportions. I even have a soft spot for the mario film.. (yes, i bought it on DVD, for the kids.. *cough*).

  • justsomeone #26 6 years ago

    me: "obviously you can argue that games have good stories, but you'd be wrong. i can't put it any simpler than that."

    genji: "Heh. Someone's been playing some very crappy games. "

    i think i've played almost all of them (at least, all the ones that folks generally claim contained a story - hl2, fear, halo among the worst offenders) and found no actual narrative story being told by the games at all. at best, just a grabbag load of thrown-together random nonsense forming nothing even approaching narrative, chucked inbetween the action in badly scripted, instantly forgetable cutscenes.

    but if you can name a game that tells a story - a real story mind, one that's original, has a narrative, and could conceivably form more than just a single act in a movie - then you win a prize.

    cheers.

  • Yazoo #27 6 years ago

    I doubt "fov 60" could be coined as such, it was used in context in this article to describe how you didnt get much peripheral vision during the fps segment.
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 13:37

  • AHiFi #28 6 years ago

    /Whispers

    *I liked it*

  • H00k3rW17h4P3n1s #29 6 years ago

    but if you can name a game that tells a story - a real story mind, one that's original, has a narrative, and could conceivably form more than just a single act in a movie - then you win a prize.

    OK.
    Shenmue
    Zelda
    Max Payne
    Soul Reaver
    Deus Ex
    To name but a few...

    So where's my prize?
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 14:13

  • Pastici #30 6 years ago

    Films that "apparently" have a good plot are more fan driven games. Its the fans that say theres a story, not the devs. People hype the game/film themselvs then moan it's crap. I haven't seen doom but genrally, over all reviews ive herd/read the best one was in a some mens mag, thta was like an average review but I never trust those mags.

  • H00k3rW17h4P3n1s #31 6 years ago

    Films that "apparently" have a good plot are more fan driven games

    Eh?

  • Pastici #32 6 years ago

    As in the fans say theres more of a story then there is. Bad wording I know, wasn't sure how to put it. Never once have i head devs say that halo has a real story, ll i hear are about the "30secs of fun" never a story, thats the fans job.

  • H00k3rW17h4P3n1s #33 6 years ago

    @Pastici: Yeh, you are right. The Halo devs never came out saying that their game had a great story.. infact, Halo 2 had one of the most rubbish stories ever (what was with the giant psychic plant???). But still, the overall experience of the first Halo was good. The story was adequate (if somewhat generic) but the gameplay was great. One of the best FPS games on a console. EDIT: Oh yeh, and Halo 2 is awesome on Xbox Live

    @justsomeone: where's my prize?
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 14:50

  • justsomeone #34 6 years ago

    Shenmue, Zelda - lord of the rings, thomas covenant, same old tired derivative thrown together, stuff. not story, just a seemingly endless series of happenings. think beginning, middle and end. if you're going to try and rewrite the iliad, better have a vast amount of talent, or better yet don't bother to try.

    Max Payne - yeah good story, but i mean that in the sense that it was good when i saw it in countless movies, told in a fair few books and endlessly repeated in various forms as a storyline in any tv cop show you care to mention.

    Soul Reaver - ragbag, cobbled together nonsense, with elements pulled seemingly at random from every low-rent vampire movie, hellraiseresque pulp fiction, greek and roman mythology and bad kung-fu movie plots. good game, load of old nonsense and irrelevant story.

    Deus Ex - i played through 4 times and was never once troubled by plot or story. let's try tho - secret agent? check. double-cross? check. go underground to seek hidden truth? check. lots of guns and killing stuff? check. job done. good game. story?

    nice try tho.

  • PearOfAnguish #35 6 years ago

    Well... there's no accounting for some people's taste.

    You got that right!

    Max Payne - yeah good story, but i mean that in the sense that it was good when i saw it in countless movies, told in a fair few books and endlessly repeated in various forms as a storyline in any tv cop show you care to mention.

    Soul Reaver - ragbag, cobbled together nonsense, with elements pulled seemingly at random from every low-rent vampire movie, hellraiseresque pulp fiction, greek and roman mythology and bad kung-fu movie plots. good game, load of old nonsense and irrelevant story.

    Your complaints just seem to be that they're derivative, which is irrelevant. It's still a story. Name some of your favourite films and I'm sure we can point out elements of those that were borrowed from other sources.

  • H00k3rW17h4P3n1s #36 6 years ago

    The stories may be derived from previous stories (although I much prefer the word "inspired";) but that is how things work. It's simply evolution applied to culture and this affects all things, not just games. If you were to name any story which you found to be amazing I am willing to bet that I could call it "derived" and quote a few earlier stories which followed similar lines. And anyway, everything has to be derived from something. Go look up "memes" on Google.

    Infact, name a story which you do like. This way I can tear it apart in a very similar fashion. Or do you have any arguments to put forward other than "It's been done before..."
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 15:24

  • H00k3rW17h4P3n1s #37 6 years ago

    @PearOfAnguish: Just read your comment after I posted mine. Couldn't agree with you more.

  • Furbs #38 6 years ago

    justsomeone - take it you're not a Joseph Campbell fan then? :)

  • justsomeone #39 6 years ago

    "The stories may be derived from previous stories (although I much prefer the word "inspired";) but that is how things work. It's simply evolution applied to culture and this affects all things, not just games. If you were to name any story which you found to be amazing I am willing to bet that I could call it "derived" and quote a few earlier stories which followed similar lines. And anyway, everything has to be derived from something. Go look up "memes" on Google. "

    you're absolutely right, of course. i should have clarified that, where story is present in some form, and it is derivative (as most things are) then the retelling of the story should be done *well*. but these were all examples of, at best, derivative stuff, derived from mostly awful stories in the first place (the vampire, kung-fu, cod mystic stuff in particular), and then badly retold, put together, and executed.

    so, to sum up, if you're going to be derivative (and yes, we've established that, on some level, that's going to be inevitable) you should choose something good as your basis. and then, you should tell your story *well*.

    also, don't mistake "story" for "stuff that happens in a video game". random stuff that happens, connected together, isn't a story, it's just a bunch of things that happen. they may be connected, they may even be happening to the same person, but that doesn't make them a story.

    great geniuses have taken randomness and, indeed, made great works of artistic merit from them, abandoning form and even structure along the way. but they were geniuses, not game designers.

    and you can take a very common structure, apply it rigidly to a fairly formulaic story, and still produce a wonderful film or book by fleshing out character, adding nuance and humour, and thereby making it your own by sheer force of talent. but in a videogame, by necessity, you have to leave almost all of the progression, the fleshing out, the nuance, down to the player playing a game. so it's just not going to happen.

    "Infact, name a story which you do like. This way I can tear it apart in a very similar fashion. Or do you have any arguments to put forward other than "It's been done before..." "

    catch-22 by joseph heller is my all time favourite book of all time. and yes, you could easily argue it has no story at all. and yet, without clear narrative structure, without linear time, and without even a clear basis in reality, it manages to tell a gripping, utterly true story. but then, heller was a genius...

    personally i wish games would get back out of their arses, into which they began crawling during the late 90's it seems to me, and face up to the fact that they are, by definition, meant to be merely pure, unadulterated entertainment.

    put a movie screen or book in front of me, and i'll switch my brain on and see where i go, put a stick and some buttons under my fingers, and just let me kill stuff and have a great time without all the faffing around. christ.

    cheers.

  • Furbs #40 6 years ago

    One more for you then - Vampire: Bloodlines.

  • PearOfAnguish #41 6 years ago

    You're comparing two mediums that have to use very different methods to tell a story. If a movie told a story like a game, then yes, it would likely make no sense at all, Which is probably one of the reasons why videogame adaptations are crap. Games are interactive, you can't just sit back and let it wash over you, it demands attention and every game involves some element of choice. A movie is strictly linear. But that doesn't mean a game can't have great characters and story. Psychonauts, for example, is incredibly funny, has great characters and has an interesting story. But if you took only the actual story elements of that game, say, the cutscenes, and made a film of them, it'd be dull as dishwater. It just doesn't work the same way. The gaps in between are filled by the player.
    It's the same for anything. People moan about films not being like the books they're based on, but there is a reason for that, usually. Mediums don't directly translate across without losing something in the process. You're either too cynical to appreciate what is on offer in some games or you're expecting too much of them.
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 16:04

  • smoison #42 6 years ago

    Ya, good points thoughtout; But in all fairness, movies and books are mediums that are MADE to TELL a story.

    Games on the other hand let you PLAY and interact in an enviorment. Games were never meant to tell a story like a book or Movie.


    Different arts.

    P.S Although MGS tries to blure the line....
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 16:41

  • Xerx3s #43 6 years ago

    Mortal combat was more or less oke....for a b-film...