Games on Film

Harry and Rory don their thinking caps (or should that be thinking top hats?) as they try to solve the myriad mysteries of the Professor Layton movie. Is the film simply an extended animated cutscene or is there more to it than meets the eye? Featuring a pitch for the Brain Training motion picture, a look at 'British Bistro Bear', and a suggestion that the games would have been more appealing had...

Harry and Rory mark the release of Far Cry: New Dawn with a look at the Uwe Boll adaptation of the first game in the first-person-shooter franchise. Important topics include whether running a lumber mill is more profitable than creating genetically modified super-soldiers, how anyone could get through life not knowing how hand grenades work, and who would win in a fight between one 10-armed man an...

Harry and Rory don their 3D specs for a trip into the third dimension for the third instalment in the Spy Kids franchise. After a brief recap of the first two movies in the series from film-maker Robert Rodriguez, there are questions in need of answers, including what's with all the Sylvester Stallones, what is it with Ricardo Montalban in a super-powered mech suit chasing a butterfly across the M...

To mark the release of the Resident Evil 2 remake, Harry and Rory take a trip to Raccoon City, where the Nemesis lives and the zombies ain't pretty, for the second Resident Evil movie. Alice teams up with characters from the video games Jill and Carlos to take on the Umbrella corporation, but will the extra fan service make for a sequel that surpasses the original? This podcast contains SPOILERS f...

Harry and Rory kick off the year 2019 with a klassic of the video game movie kanon - Paul (Pre-W. S.) Anderson's Mortal Kombat. They consider the game's origins and the controversy it courted, devise a potential spin-off featuring great artists of history, and debate if Killer Instinct had the better tie-in album. The first big screen outing for the infamously bloody fighting game franchise has lo...

For their first Christmas episode, Harry and Rory are joined by comedian Will Preston to talk all things Springfield. They discuss their initial encounters with The Simpsons, as well as video game adaptations of the TV series, before looking at times in the show that video games have been featured, with particular focus on the 1995 Christmas episode "Marge Be Not Proud". Would you like to listen t...

Harry and Rory take a trip to the Internet, just like every episode, but this time it's for a new cinema release, the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph. As Ralph and Vanellope venture into the world wide web to save the Sugar Rush arcade machine from being switched off forever, will they discover the true meaning of friendship or just the true meaning of corporate cross-promotion? These themes are discusse...

In the first Games on Film episode to tackle a TV show, Harry and Rory discuss seasons one and two of the animated version of Konami's long-running series for Netflix (or should that be NeckLicks, because it's about vampires and blood-sucking and that?). Does the chance to tell this tale of Dracula's vengeance against mankind over multiple episodes allow for a deeper, richer adaptation or is it ju...

Harry and Rory return to the Pokémon world, joined by their brother (and comic and cartoon maker) Hamish Steele, for the second big screen outing of Ash, Pikachu and friends, as they try to thwart a collector from capturing legendary Pokémon - like that's a bad thing. They share their praise for Team Rocket and their hatred of Tracey, but what about everything else the rest of the film and its pre...

Part two of the Games on Film Halloween survival horror double bill, and it's time for Harry and Rory to finally discuss the first instalment of the biggest video game franchise of them all, Resident Evil! The Capcom series holds a special place in the hearts of our hosts, but will Paul W. S. Anderson's adaptation scratch their zombie itch? This podcast contains SPOILERS for Resident Evil (2002)....

It's October - the spookiest of months - so Harry and Rory are having a survival horror double-bill! First up, it's Alone in the Dark, and the return of Uwe Boll, as Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff do battle with monsters that lurk in the shadows. Is it really one of the worst films ever made? This podcast contains SPOILERS for Alone in the Dark (2005). Follow us on Twitter: twitter....

Harry and Rory get strapped in the Animus and find themselves living the lives of their ancestors past, or at the very least someone who has already seen the Assassin's Creed movie. It's another historical, runny-jumpy-stabby, big-screen adaptation of a Ubisoft franchise, but is it worth making that all-important leap of faith and actually watching? This podcast contains SPOILERS for Assassin's Cr...

Harry and Rory turn back time to mark fifteen years since the release of peerless platform game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time by discussing the Disney movie adaptation. Are the swashbuckling adventures of Jake and Gemma sufficiently enthralling to make the film worth rewinding and rewatching as soon as the credits roll? This podcast contains SPOILERS for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (...

Harry and Rory take a break from Games on Film to talk about Games Based on Films, specifically the tie-in video game for Sam Raimi's superhero sequel Spider-Man 2. Along the way, discussion points include Tony Hawk joining Smash Bros, a new slogan for New York City, and super-villain Dr Oetker. And remember, with great podcasts comes great responsibility! This podcast contains SPOILERS for Spider...

Harry and Rory invite you to a remote island for the ultimate martial arts contest to determine the world's greatest warrior - with no suspicious nanobot or evil sunglasses technology whatsoever. It's DOA: Dead or Alive! There's so much to discuss regarding this wonderfully bonkers adaptation of the fighting game franchise that this podcast is longer than the film itself! This podcast contains SPO...

Harry and Rory buckle up, rev the engine, and then mirror signal manoeuvre through the movie version of EA's racing game franchise, Need for Speed! In the process, they suggest a new name for booster seats, consider if the film is part of Legendary's kaiju cinematic universe, and imagine Aaron Paul driving Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This podcast contains SPOILERS for Need for Speed (2014). Follow us...

Harry and Rory find themselves transported to the game grid and must do battle with the Master Control Podcast if they are to survive this episode covering the groundbreaking Disney sci-fi epic, Tron. Up for discussion are unusual greeting card categories, anti-laser cinema of the 1980s, and a potential sequel set in a world of savoury snacks. But does the film still deliver in this day and age or...

Harry and Rory make a trip to Litwak's Arcade, pop a quarter in an old Fix-It Felix Jr. machine, and discover the world of Wreck-It Ralph. The perks and perils of film Q&As, British 'celebrities' replacing voice actors in American animated movies, and a horrific alternate ending to Toy Story 3 are all discussed. But does the film score high enough to rank alongside the Disney classics? This podcas...

Lightguns, Camera, Action! It's time for Harry and Rory to take aim at the first video game movie from the notorious Uwe Boll - the much-maligned and very loose adaption of SEGA's arcade hit, The House of the Dead. Springboard zombies, conquistador zombies, swimming zombies (or swimbies), this film has it all. But is it really the "cinematic equivalent of waterboarding" or does it capture the feel...

Harry and Rory set their sights on the biggest thing to come out of Finland since Lordi won the Eurovision Song Contest - it's Angry Birds. More specifically, the first feature length ad-app-tation of "everyone's favourite" mobile game. There's time to examine the movie's themes (anti-immigration or allegory for the Native American experience?), assess the state of children's animation today, and...

Harry and Rory journey into the deep reaches of space - and the even deeper reaches of the DVD bargain bin - for the most anticipated science-fiction film of 1999 (at least for the members of the Freddie Prinze Jr. fan club): Wing Commander. We compare the cast of the movie adaptation with the stars of its FMV-featuring source material, while talking beanie hats, mini disc technology, and alien sp...

Harry and Rory are joined by cartoon and comic maker (plus fellow brother!) Hamish Steele, as the podcast takes its first steps into the mega franchise that is Pokémon with the big-screen debut of Ash, Pikachu, and co: The First Movie aka Mewtwo Strikes Back. They tackle all the film's big topics - cloning, slavery, eugenics, the meaning of life - but there's also plenty of time to appreciate Team...

Harry and Rory take an express elevator to "Hell" for the big-screen adaptation of id software's Doom franchise, starring Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike and The Rock. Together they ponder how surely any outpost on Mars could be described as remote, marvel at how much Dwayne Johnson has grown (in size as well as popularity) in the decade or so since, and ask whether Dexter Fletcher's character is the mo...

Harry and Rory unleash episode three, as The Rock goes up against large animals at large in the big screen adaptation of the 1986 skyscraper-smashing arcade game, Rampage. They chart the recent Rocknaissance before launching into their discussion of the film itself, while finding the time to touch on such important topics as Pee-wee Herman at Wrestlemania, Jeffrey Dean Morgan's powers of teleporta...

It's episode TWO - it's Ready Player ONE! Harry and Rory don their VR headsets and venture into the OASIS, comparing and contrasting the original Ernest Cline book with the Steven Spielberg movie. Join them as they wade through the myriad references and computer generated nostalgia in an attempt to unlock the story's deeper meaning - will they solve the clues, find the keys and achieve podcast glo...