So, Hollywood have released a remake of the 90's film Total Recall. Yet another re-imaging for something that didn't need it. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised - nearly every film made nowadays is either a reboot, sequel or based off some existing franchise. Originality it seems, is a dirty word.
Despite this, there are a few franchises that have gone by untouched. Maybe no-one has been able to secure the rights to make the film, but I'd love to see movies made of the following, assuming they're good (But quality is another thing that seems to take aback seat in modern film). These ideas I suggest are all some type of sci-fi war film, so sorry if you couldn't give a toss about the genre.
1. BattleTech/Mechwarrior
I love the Mechwarrior computer games and a movie about excessively armed 'mechs (let's ignore Michael Bay's Transformers for now) would be awesome. However the only plot I can think of involves an Inner Sphere planet being invaded by some Clan forces. The Inner Sphere armies are overwhelmed by the superiority of Clan 'mechs at first, but are eventually able to regroup, maybe steal some Clan tech to improve their own 'mechs and kick the Clanners off their planet. This is pretty much the storyline of the animated series Battletech. As much as I liked it, I'd rather something a bit more original. Clan vs Clan doesn't work as well as they are more evenly matched and you don't get the 'underdog' status like with the Inner Sphere.
2. Warhammer 40k
Lots of lore to base this on and the intro to Relic's Dawn of War game (the first one) is one of the coolest intros I have seen in a game. However there will be limits as to what would be featured. The Space Marines are cool and powerful, but they tend to have a heavy 'kill all aliens' mentality, which makes them look more left-wing than the Nazi's. Instead, the film could focus on a regiment of Imperial Guard, as they are the closest representation to real life armies. While still part of the Imperium, I think they're less facist than the Marines. However the Marines would still get an awesome arse-kicking cameo somewhere in the film.
As for the enemy, well there are plenty to choose from but very little if we want to be unique. The Orks are a bit too comical to be taken seriously in a film like this, the Necrons make it look too much like the Terminator fillms, Tyranids too much like any 'bug alien' film made, the Tau don't feel evil enough to be portrayed as the antagonist, Chaos Marines... hmm, maybe... but they're more of an enemy to the Space Marines. This leaves the Eldar (unless I've missed anyone else out). The Eldar are a human like race, which doesn't make them too alien and they are also a dying race. This means the invasion on the Imperial planet or whatever it is the Eldar do that pisses off the Imperium is undertaken as a means of survival. This way, we can inject a morally grey area to the plot - the Imperials may be defending an attack, but the Eldar are just doing what they can to continue surviving. Who is the real villian here?
3. Command and Conquer
Not much to say. I love the C&C games and given the amount of FMV the games feature, it may as well be a movie. Again, lots of lore to base this off and an ongoing war over a valuable resource (Tiberium) I guess has some kind of resonance to real life. Of course, I'm focussing on the Tiberium series, not the Red Alert series as I'm sick of games/movies still portraying Russians as evil. The Cold War is over, people! I'm not sure whether the movie could be based on the first C&C game (which is set in modern times) or go for a futuristic, dystopian fight for survival like with the Tiberian Sun/Tiberian Wars games. Either way would work. Oh, it'll just be NOD vs GDI. None of this alien Scrin nonsense. Also, get Frank Klepacki to do the music.
If any of these are turned into films, remember - they got the idea from here. Even when in reality they didn't.
