RF Cinema: The monthly community game movie discussion

[zophar53]

Hello friends!

I've been tossing around the idea for a monthly video game movie club, similar to the RFGen Community Playthrough, for some time now. As it happens, I'm ready to give it a go! I'll have an article on the main site page starting the morning of 9/29 that will go over everything as well, but basically I'd like to pick one video game movie every month, and have anyone who wants to participate give it a watch and discuss it here. I'm open to any kind of video game movies, be they ones based on an actual game, documentaries, or even films that use video games simply as a setting to tell a story unrelated to any actual game.

I'll use my monthly articles on the main site to sum up any discussions that happen here and announce the next month's movie pick, but I'm open to any suggestions on improving the format and recommendations on movies you'd like us to cover. The more community participation we get, the better and more fun it will be for all! If this little experiment proves popular enough, we can look into expanding the forum thread and giving each movie it's own conversation, but for now, we'll keep things condensed here and see how it goes. Feel free to post as much as you like, but please keep spoilers marked/hidden for those who may be watching for the first time. And it should go without saying, but please also be respectful. As it is for all our forum discussions, vulgarity or intolerance of other people's opinions are not welcome. This awesome community has yet to disappoint me in that regard, just putting it out there for the record.

[img width=300 height=450]https://i.imgur.com/X9yovY2.jpg[/img]

To get things started, I've chosen Brainscan. Released in 1994, it stars Edward Furlong and T. Ryder Smith. Furlong buys a new VR horror game that is more intense than he expects. He's pretty stoked about his purchase until The Trickster shows up to urge him on in playing increasingly more brutal (and impossibly real) "levels." This is an appropriate pick for October and Halloween, and will hopefully make a great inaugural community watch. It can be a bit tricky to find a physical copy of this flick in the wild these days, but I picked mine up in a pretty cheap combo disc, which I've linked to below, along with where it can be found digitally. If you find it somewhere else, please feel free to share the info.

I'm looking forward to exploring the wonderful (and sometimes laughably terrible) world of video game films with everyone. I'll have the Brainscan article up for my November post on the main page, but in the meantime, feel free to watch and let the discussion begin!

Brainscan (1994)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/QaRbBSeLkj4
Available from:
Amazon - DVD - $11.88
Amazon Video - SD and HD rental $2.99-3.99 - SD and HD purchase $9.99-12.99
VUDU - SD rental $2.99 - SD purchase $9.99
iTunes - SD and HD rental from $3.99 - SD and HD purchase $9.99-12.99
Microsoft store - SD and HD rental $2.00-3.99 - SD and HD purchase $9.99-12.99
Netflix - DVD only

[singlebanana]

FIRST!  I'm in.  Let's do this community.

[bombatomba]

I've not watched it yet (since I last watched it, like fifteen years ago), but before I do I'd like to say I used to have the fattest nerd-crush on Amy Hargreaves, who plays the protagonist's love interest.

[GrayGhost81]

Just grabbed the four-pack dvd off ebay. Never seen Brainscan but I love bad video game movies.

[zophar53]

Glad to see some early enthusiasm! It's been some time since I watched it too, and yes, while I never knew who the actress was, Amy was pretty attractive.

And GrayGhost, I don't know if I'd call it bad per se, just....not great lol. It has it's charms.

[bombatomba]

I don't know if I'd call it bad per se, just....not great lol. It has it's charms.

I think the movie got a lot of flak back in the day for the look of the Trickster villain, but you have to keep in mind that this was the day of iconic looking bad guys in movies, which was kind of mirrored in video games with the sheer amount of "mascot" characters in platforming titles.  Now, it isn't the greatest movie of its genre, but it is pretty original for its time, being an original "video game movie." 

I will say no more, as this particular movie is not just about the journey, but also the destination! If possible, please watch it in the dark and as close to the screen as you can comfortably get, and don't stop until you see the credits.

[SirPsycho]

I think the movie got a lot of flak back in the day for the look of the Trickster villain

He looks like Steven Tyler and Freddie Kruger's ginger love child.

[GrayGhost81]

My DVD came in today. Psyched to watch this with Mrs Grayghost this weekend!

[GrayGhost81]

Watched the movie last night. We absolutely loved it. I can't believe I've never heard of it. If I had seen this back in 1994, I would have WORSHIPPED it. The soundtrack, characters, clothing, etc gave me such nostalgic feels.

EDIT: I forgot one thing that really stuck out to me. What was up with all the Aerosmith product placement, yet no Aerosmith songs in the soundtrack?

[zophar53]

He looks like Steven Tyler and Freddie Kruger's ginger love child.

Hahaha he does, doesn't he?! I'm never going to look at Trickster the same way ever again.

Man it's been a long time since I've seen this movie. There's a lot of little details that started coming back to me. Initial thoughts after the first 10 mins:
 - I forgot what a dark opening this movie had. The brutal knee injury, the slow, somber score. Very 90s. The score instantly came back to me, love it.
 - They sure do set up Michael as a creeper stalker, don't they?
 - When I finally set up a smart home, I totally want my Google/Alexa overlord to be Igor!

[singlebanana]

I watched the film on Monday, since I had the day off to celebrate the "founder" of our country who actually missed it by several hundred miles.......... Anyway, I really enjoyed the film, though I do take issue with some of the "motivations" to keep playing.  I don't want to talk about it too much, but the payoff was great.  I know this is considered a "horror" film, but I don't think I was ever scared in the way most films from that genre at least attempt to establish fear.  I'd say that this film probably fits better as a thriller, which is fine, I love these types of films as well.

The film is very thought-provoking and is really screwing with my head as I play Until Dawn. If you've watched/played both, you may know why.  I love the opening, which gives some good insight into Michael's character and I especially appreciate the mimicking of the falsehood that violent video games begets real life violence.  And I agree, Igor is the coolest!

Great recommendation Travis!  Can't wait to meet you and talk about the film more this weekend.

[zophar53]

I know this is considered a "horror" film, but I don't think I was ever scared in the way most films from that genre at least attempt to establish fear.  I'd say that this film probably fits better as a thriller, which is fine, I love these types of films as well.

I'd agree this is more of a thriller than horror. That said, something I never noticed before was that there were more than a few times when the score reminded me of that of Nightmare on Elm Street (the first, aka good, one). Thinking of it now, it seemed to be invoking the same type of surreal, almost dreamlike quality of those scenes.

The film is very thought-provoking and is really screwing with my head as I play Until Dawn. If you've watched/played both, you may know why.  I love the opening, which gives some good insight into Michael's character and I especially appreciate the mimicking of the falsehood that violent video games begets real life violence.

That's an interesting observation. I didn't notice the comparison the first time I played Until Dawn, but it'd been years since I'd seen Brainscan at that time. I'll definitely keep an eye out for that when I reply the game again. Maybe I'll start that tonight.

And yeah, I got a similar vibe with the principal about violence and movies/games. Pretty topical for the time, but they don't really develop that thread much more than that one scene.

Something else I didn't notice the first time I saw it, a lot of the oddities of the story and character interactions that get more curious/noticeable as the movie goes on make a lot more sense when watching it for the second time. Made the ending (rather, the whole movie) more satisfying than I remembered it being all those years ago.

Finally, what little CG there was in the film was pretty bad, but I'm pretty confident in saying Trickster had a really great reveal/opening scene. Also, am I the only one who got a laugh at him turning on Michael's tv and sitting down with a bewildered look on his face at what he was watching?

[GrayGhost81]

Hey friends, I'm sorry to go off topic but I feel it is my duty to share to those who bought the dvd four-pack that although Brainscan, The Craft, and Fright Night are all great movies, Monster High is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I'm actually kind of mad at myself for watching the whole thing (I just find it hard to "give up" on movies usually,  but I really wish I had in this case). Avoid at all costs.

[singlebanana]

Oh yeah, Monster High is terrible. You can't win em all.

On a side note, guess what was playing on laserdisc at the Retro World Expo after party on Saturday night?  That's right, Brainscan!  I got to watch a good bit of it with several RF Gen members, including our monthly movie club host, zophar53.  Pretty cool!

[bombatomba]

See, now I have to watch this movie.  Googling I mostly get that terrible cartoon/toy line that my daughter stopped watching a year ago.  From IMDB:

"When a monster named Armageddon (David Marriott) is sent to destroy earth, he begins at a high school, giving out appropriate punishment to a jock and a nerd. It's up to the good guy (Dean Iandoli) to defeat the monster by any means necessary."\

How is this movie not on Rifftrax?!?  Tonight I should be playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, but instead I will be playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3D and watching Monster High out of the corner of my eye.  Or mainly listening to it.  In fact, that is my secret to watching bad movies.  I can get through them with ease, but I often find it is better to mostly listen to bad movies.

Regarding the movie of the month, I still really enjoyed it, and still find the soundtrack (mostly) enjoyable.  I remember getting to the ending of it back in the day and feeling a massive amount of relief at the ending.  Literally breathed a sigh after it was all done.  I didn't actually do the same this time around, but I really did enjoy Frank Langella's performance as Detective Hayden.  If at all possible, I find him more intimidating now then back then, and that was knowing that the man played Skeletor in the He Man movie (maybe a nomination for next month?).