Press X To Reload: Recent Episodes
Nick Mohr
Video game to film adaptations are often seen as terrible, and sometimes even unwatchable. We're looking back at these films and giving them a second chance, reviewing them with a focus on finding the good in them.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Video games are referred to as worlds of endless possibility, places where you can be whatever you want to be. Nothing proves that more than the documentary, "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin". Join us while we discuss the story of a young man named Mats, who's suffering from muscular dystrophy but finds a second life playing the character "Ibelin" in World of Warcraft.
CONTENT WARNING: terminal illness, political infighting, the loss of a child, old men waxing nostalgic, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
Just in time for Halloween, we review "Emesis Blue", a full length psychological horror created with Source Filmmaker and utilizing the assets of Team Fortress 2. The fate of the videogame-to-film adaptation is in the hands of the fans now. Will it survive the experience?
Here's a link to the full film on YouTube:
YouTube - EMESIS BLUE
CONTENT WARNING: government experiments, paranoia, madness, missed headshots, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Postal", Uwe Boll's ultimate challenge to good taste. If you think you've seen the bottom of the Boll, you have NO IDEA.
CONTENT WARNING: 9/11, racist stereotypes, mass shootings, kidnapping, exploiting the disabled, baby manslaughter, religious cults, explicit language... look, this whole episode is a trigger for SOMEBODY. Don't blame us if you listen to this one!
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Five Nights at Freddy's", where a man is tricked into working night security at a haunted children's playhouse, and must survive against a collection of evil animatronics. It may be based on the original game, but this film arrived so late it feels like Coke Zero compared to Willy's Wonderland.
CONTENT WARNING: child murder, neglectful parents, greedy relatives, Matthew Lillard overacting, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Heavenly Sword", a Chosen One™ story with worse presentation than the 2007 PS3 game it's based on, and even less engagement with its audience. The title may promise heaven, but we found something else entirely.
CONTENT WARNING: raping/pillaging, deaf sentries, murdered villagers, re-murdered villagers, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Ni No Kuni", a story about a fantasy world linked to our own by the worst thing possible: a "chosen one" anime hero with an IQ equal to his age.
CONTENT WARNING: jealous boyfriends / mass murderers / multi-dimensional terrorists (and that's all just one guy!), mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Gran Turismo", the true story of a Nissan exec who watched The Last Starfighter too many times and thought "Why not this, but with race cars?"
Can video game skills translate to a real race track? Don't cheat and look up the story on Wiki, experience it with us!
CONTENT WARNING: reckless management, car crashes, father and son conflict, anti-"Nick" propaganda, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "The King of Fighters", where a young Japanese boy out for revenge trains to become a white man and travel to another dimension for a chance to become the KING OF FIGHTERS™ because... something to do with a floating, pulsating ball of slithering energy snakes?
Yeah, we're not sure how to process that one, either.
CONTENT WARNING: mind control, secret lesbians, snake orgies, mid-movie whitewashing, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!
This spooky season we watch "Detention", a haunting mystery about two students trapped inside a hellscape that may well be of their own making. Is there anything scarier than going back to school? How about a 1960s Taiwanese school at the height of the White Terror... and also ghosts?
CONTENT WARNING: military oppression, icky student-teacher relationships, teenage jealousy, damnation loops, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
It's our last stop on our Franchise Tour, and we're wrapping things up with something special: our first sequel!
We review "Final Fantasy: Advent Children COMPLETE", a feature length CG cutscene that tries to follow up one of the biggest video games ever.
Are you curious what happened after the events of Final Fantasy VII? Do you want to know more about your favourite character, perhaps Barret or Yuffie or even Cid? Well, so do we, and that's AFTER watching this film...
Prepare yourself for a cinematic Ultimate Weapon, with the longest version of an already too long story.
CONTENT WARNING: dilly dallying, shilly shallying, Marc trying to make sense of FF7, stealing your boy's ghost-girl, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We look at an anthology of anime-tinged tales from the HALO universe, with stories ranging from educational to badass to downright silly. Don't worry, fanboys: they're probably not (all) canon.
Want more Master Chief madness? Here's him "returning" a bomb to The Covenant, from the game HALO 2:
Giving the Covenant back their Bomb - Halo 2 Anniversary
CONTENT WARNING: interplanetary war, planned mortality for children, suicide by mech, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
This is it, listener. We might have found the single best video game movie we've ever seen or will see.
Join us for "Dragon Quest: Your Story", a movie that manages to both adapt a popular entry from the RPG franchise while also doing something entirely new and interesting. This movie was so surprising that I won't even fill this synopsis with snarky jokes (well... maybe in the content warning).
CONTENT WARNING: interrupted inspirational speeches, unavoidable side eye, digital girlfriends, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We continue our look at franchise adaptations with "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", a story about heroes fighting to save the planet with the power of love. It clearly has the broad strokes of the franchise in that setup, but does it remain faithful in its execution? Prepare yourself for the first (and ONLY) film by Square Pictures.
Here's a link to the DVD extra spoofing the music video for THRILLER:
Michael Jackson - Thriller - Final Fantasy
CONTENT WARNING: invisible monsters, soul stealing, workplace safety violations, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We've heard the argument that video game films are bad because "games focus on the gameplay, not on the plot". That may be true, but video games do offer the player fascinating worlds to explore. So what if you just adapt the world to a film, and not a specific game? Sounds like another tangent series to me!
We begin our latest journey with "The Witcher - Nightmare of the Wolf", an anime adapting the game (or the Netflix series, OR the books... yeah, we know) about magic-infused monster hunters and their time at the worst summer school ever.
CONTENT WARNING: extreme gore, bio-augmentation, institutionalized child murder, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
It took 30 years, but Nintendo has finally forgiven Hollywood for "Super Mario Bros: The Movie (1993)". The titular plumber is back on the silver screen, but does this Mario have what it takes? Can the character that started the video game movie curse be the one to break it once and for all? Strap on your red or green overalls, everybody, and LET'S A GO!!!
CONTENT WARNING: kidnapping (again), forced marriages (again... man, this seems familiar), impromptu rock ballads, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We close out our international tour with "Fatal Frame", a Japanese horror film where a group of students at a Catholic all-girls school truly are lovers in a dangerous time.
CONTENT WARNING: suicide, curses, homophobia, films that distort the very fabric of time itself, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Corpse Party", a Japanese horror film about love, loss, and why you should never trust your classmates when you're trying to escape a hell dimension.
CONTENT WARNING: unintentionally satanic rituals, evil ghost children, possession, tongues, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
You've heard of the Lost Levels, but what about the lost movie?
We review "Super Mario Bros. - The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!", a Japan only release! This early foray into film cements Mario as the trailblazer of video game film adaptations. But why wasn't it released in North America? Was it not good enough, or were we just not ready for its power? Brace yourself for a tri-force of entertainment (and no, that's not a reference to the wrong franchise)!
Watch the same version we watched here!
Super Mario Bros. Anime Movie Restored (VHS) · English subbed
CONTENT WARNING: kidnapping, forced marriages, taking shrooms, painful mispronunciations, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We get more than we bargained for when we review "Oneechanbara" (AKA "Bikini Samurai Squad"), and it's sequel "Oneechanbara: Vortex).
Can scantily-clad heroines save the world from yet another undead apocalypse? Can samurai-cowgirl Aya stop her sister Saki's stupid schoolgirl schemes, from bloodthirsty rampages to skeletal resurrections? Can sequels be bothered to acknowledge ANYTHING from the previous film? It's time for a Double Dose of zombie-slaying action!
CONTENT WARNING: sibling rivalry, kung-fu zombies, sexy corpses, hungry swords, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We're going international!
For this tangent, we're looking at video-game-to-film adaptations made outside of North America. Does Hollywood just fail to understand the source material? Let's see if adding subtitles brings these films above subpar!
First up is "Yakuza: Like a Dragon", a Tokyo crime film where the one-eyed man truly is king and the scriptwriter offers too many side quests for the audience to keep track of.
CONTENT WARNING: gang wars, masochists, disinterested law enforcement, bad mothering, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONCE AGAIN!
This year, we rekindle the joys of our childhood with the 2-part Cuphead Christmas Special. Settle in by the fire and witness a harrowing act of Christmas decorating with "Holiday Tree-dition", followed by a heartwarming tale of teaching ole' Beelzebub about the spirit of Christmas with "A Very Devil Christmas".
CONTENT WARNING: price gouging, yuletide judgment, cult rituals, dark metamorphosis, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
Lock your closets and check under your beds, the big bad BOLLeman is coming to "entertain" you!
It's time for the final part of our 2022 Halloween celebration, Uwe Boll's very first video game adaptation EVER, "House of the Dead".
Witness the genesis of a merciless creature, fated to consume and destroy everything it touches, to the horror of teens everywhere. Did I just describe the zombie leader attacking the partygoers on the island, or Uwe Boll himself? There's only one way to find out...
CONTENT WARNING: bad negotiating, pre-fornication urination, self-sacrificing sabotage, fever-dream level editing, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
The Halloween frights continue with part 2 of our Uwe Boll Bonanza... "Alone in the Dark"!
Christian Slater stars as an amnesiac orphan who must confront both early 2000s era CG and a militarized Smithsonian in order to learn the truth about himself... or he could just read about it at the orphanage. Seriously, it's all readily available in duo tangs and everything.
Think this movie is bad? Here's a list of films that are apparently even WORSE, according to Rotten Tomatoes:
List of films with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
CONTENT WARNING: symbiotic mutations, premature explosions, the death of yet another BRAVO team, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
This Halloween, we do something truly scary for video game fans... as we watch 3 Uwe Boll films BACK-TO-BACK!
We start our Trilogy of Terror with "Bloodrayne", where our heroine evolves from vampire to DAMNpire by facing down her Discount Dracula daddy issues... and getting a big D from a mullet masquerading as a vampire hunter.
CONTENT WARNING: bloodsucking, best friend butchery, vanishing sub-characters, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
Based on the hit fighting game series, we watch a tale of fortune and glory...
Only one fighter will defeat all opponents and emerge victorious...
One with the strength, determination, and spirit to claim the title...
But which one will it be?
Strap on your parachute and dive in to find out!
CONTENT WARNING: objectification of women, martial arts appropriation, deadly eyewear, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Dead Trigger", a film about the dangers of bringing stupid, horny teens along when you're running errands in the big city.
CONTENT WARNING: irresponsible VR, training mishaps, teleporting zombies, WTF logic loops, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Hitman", a film about a surprisingly well-known "secret" assassin who's never getting his deposit back from the Holiday Inn.
CONTENT WARNING: contract killing, kidnapping, "rescue team" friendly fire, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Ratchet & Clank", an all-ages space adventure that isn't so much based on the hit video game as it IS the video game... on demo mode. Is there such a thing as too faithful an adaptation?
CONTENT WARNING: Deja Vu, betrayal, sheepinating, Deja Vu, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We sit down for Nathan's Drake's big screen debut with Uncharted, an Indiana Jones style adventure with a hero about as mature looking as Young Indiana Jones.
CONTENT WARNING: betrayals, double crosses, defying gravity, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review the Resident Evil reboot from 2021, featuring far less Jovovitch than we'd like but way more of the actual source material than we ever expected. Strap in for a cheese-filled rollercoaster of creepy orphanages, flesh eating monsters, and unbelievably convenient explosive devices!
CONTENT WARNING: genetic mutation, human consumption, terrible management skills, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
Welcome to Season 4! Or, if you believe my confused narration, Season 3!***
This time we review Angry Birds, where a 2 minute mobile game has mutated into a 90 minute cartoon that's maybe for kids (but maybe not). Can this little piggy's house survive the weight of all that extra exposition, or are they right when they say less is more? Strap into your slingshot and find out!
CONTENT WARNING: carnivorous pigs, unsanitary drinking conditions, exploding fetuses, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick
***In my defense, these all started to blur together sometime after Legend of Chun-Li...
We close out our recent batch of video game related films with an 80's classic: The Running Man. Let's consult the video game check list...
An ex-soldier for our protagonist, framed for crimes he didn't commit?
A deadly contest that risks the player's life in exchange for prizes if they win?
A group of killer bosses with gimmicky powers to hunt our hero?
A trio of weaker characters with bad pathfinding scripts that need to be escorted through the area?
If you can't see how this is a video game come to life, we don't know how to help you. It's time for Arnold to GIT GUD!
CONTENT WARNING: mass murder, aggressive contact signing, murder for sport, government propaganda, attempted rape by a Christmas tree, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
Are video games the catalyst for World War III? We review "War Games", where a young Ferris Bueller showcases the most believable hacking skills in any Hollywood movie to outwit the most unbelievable portrayal of NORAD in any Hollywood movie. Real winners don't share gum!
CONTENT WARNING: Global Thermonuclear War, dumb teenagers, dumber government agents, unorthodox corncob buttering, unplanned stunt crashing, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
A stranger rolls into town, and he's come to Willy's Wonderland to clean house...
Nicolas Cage stars as "The Janitor", mercilessly and methodically hunting down Willy and his friends in a night of survival horror. It's a Final Girl picture like you've never seen before!
CONTENT WARNING: possessed animatronics, satanic rituals, dumb horny teens, sensual pinball, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
50 episodes and we're still here? We've come back so many times, it defies the Konami code!
To celebrate, we're going back to the well (or tomb?) of Lara Croft, and watching the 2001 original with Angelina Jolie. Are star power and shower scenes more important than fight choreography or a coherent narrative? Paramount Pictures definitely thought so!
CONTENT WARNING: killer robots, The Illuminati, big guns (pistols), BIG GUNS (boobs), sex face, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
First he was stuck inside Pikachu. Now he's stuck inside Grand Theft Auto. Is the secret to a good time just getting Ryan Reynolds inside of you? Join us for "Free Guy", a digital hero's journey that proves robots are way better at being good people than actual people are.
CONTENT WARNING: intellectual property theft, existential crisis, robosexuality, a very special sock, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We're back with another bonus round of video game related films!
Join us as we travel to the apocalyptic future of 1997 to review "Turbo Kid", where water is scarce and BMX bikes are plentiful. Will our off-brand Mega Man save the future and repair his girlfriend's broken hearts?
CONTENT WARNING: torture, execution, killer robots, extreme arm wrestling, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr, with special guest Chris Niejadlik.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick
For more information on the upcoming Turbo Kid video game:
Turbo Kid - Official Trailer
For a short prequel to the film, starring the lovable Apple:
Le Matos feat. PAWWS "No Tomorrow - A Turbo Kid Tale"
MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONE AND ALL!
We all must have been good little boys and girls, because we have a special treat this year. We asked for it, we searched for it, we prayed for it, and now it's here under the tree. It's a feature length film about video games that’s ALSO a Christmas film. Truly, a video game movie miracle!
We review "8 Bit Christmas", where Neil Patrick Harris uses a touching, 80s tinted story about the true meaning of Christmas to dodge buying his teen daughter a smart phone.
CONTENT WARNING: schoolyard bullies, unsanitary mouth wear, sibling rivalry, old men sharing their nostalgia, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr, with special guest Chris Niejadlik.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
Look, up in the sky!
It's a bird...
It's a plane...
It's a Kryptonian party pooper with a fire in his eyes that'll ruin your whole democracy!
We review the animated film Injustice, where DC asks the question, "What would Superman do for a follow up, after the domestic abuse of his pregnant wife?" Yes, you read that right.
CONTENT WARNING: hallucinations, revenge, tyranny, mass slaughter, forgotten speedsters, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick
We review Far Cry, where a B&B boat captain is lured to a remote island by a beautiful reporter pursuing a tragic story, but he's only interested in getting off the island... or just plain getting off.
CONTENT WARNING: genetic experimentation, choking, shared body heat, inappropriate wetting of a napkin, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick
Happy Halloween, and danger: SPOILERS WITHIN!
We review Werewolves Within, where a nice guy tries to start fresh in a small town, but his dream girl only wants him for his body. Also, there might be a werewolf eating people, but who's to say?
CONTENT WARNING: murder, deception, lycanthropy, firearms, phallic fuel facsimiles, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick
We review Dead Space: Downfall, where a crack security team protecting the mining spaceship ISHIMURA heroically feed themselves to a swarm of space demons, one by one, so that their defenseless crew can die anyway. Great work, team!
CONTENT WARNING: religious persecution (just like Wing Commander!), insanity, dismemberment, reanimation of the dead, questionable sedation techniques, mild language... mutiny?
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick
We review Wing Commander, a distant future where military orders are more like suggestions and no one fears death because they never existed in the first place. Also, CATS... IN... SPAAAACE!
CONTENT WARNING: galactic war, insubordination, religious persecution, the mental breakdown of one of our podcasters, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Bayonetta: Bloody Fate", an anime boss-rush where witches are saviours, angels are demons, and journalists are perverts with an amazing sense of smell. Confused yet? So are we, but strap in anyway for non-stop-climax action!
CONTENT WARNING: dark magic, heresy, child abandonment, sexually suggestive lip licking, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Dante's Inferno, where no one seems to deserve all Nine Circles more than our titular "hero". Seriously, to Hell with this guy...
CONTENT WARNING: despicable protagonists, mass murder, religious war crimes, damning your beloved's immortal soul so you can do some heathen raping, strong language (seriously, we didn't bleep anything out this time).
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Monster Hunter, where Milla Jovovich proves she's the ultimate heroine by slaying massive creatures from another world while simultaneously carrying an entire film production on her shoulders.
CONTENT WARNING: giant monsters, forcible confinement, really big spiders, devouring of expendable side characters, unfinished narratives, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review the newest Mortal Kombat, a gorgeous and moving short film about the origin of Scorpion and Sub Zero's blood feud. If only this was a full film... oh, wait, there's more? AMAZING! But who's this new guy? And where did Scorpion go? Uh-oh...
CONTENT WARNING: blood, bait and switch, additional blood and gore, useless protagonists, bloody fights to the death, dangerous Australians, so much blood everywhere, plot holes, enough blood to wash away all of the plot holes, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr, with special guest Chris Niejadlik.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
ROUND 3, FIGHT!
We review Mortal Kombat, where our heroes get stuck finishing their brother's chores, fight an 8 foot tall puppet to avenge a pair of sunglasses, and prove just tough enough to get subdued by some light hair pulling. Prepare yourself!
If you want to see more about the legitimately impressive puppetry that brought Prince Goro to life, here's a link:
MORTAL KOMBAT (1995) | The Making of Goro Featurette
CONTENT WARNING: insensitive text messages, fights to the death (it's right there in the title), life force appropriation, testicular trauma, damsels in distress, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr, with special guest Chris Niejadlik.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
We review "Bloodsport", the JCVD kickfest that spawned the MK series like illegitimate video game offspring. US Army Captain Frank Dux enters the Kumite, a secret full-contact fighting tournament, to honour the legacy of his Shidoshi. Without this film, the fighting game genre wouldn't be the same, so it's time to pay tribute. Sumos, split punches, and spin kicks galore. Hop aboard, Kumite express leaves in 5 minutes!
CONTENT WARNING: tournament fighting, murder, "breaking the f#&$ing world record!", blindness, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr, with special guest Chris Niejadlik.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "The Wizard", the 90 minute NES commercial with two separate competitions to cheer over: who will win Videogame Armageddon, and who has the saddest backstory? Starring Fred Savage and guest starring Super Mario Bros 3 for the NES.
CONTENT WARNING: runaways, orphans, children drowning, PTSD, bounty hunters, alleged child molestation, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr, with special guest Chris Niejadlik.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "GAMER", showcasing a future where online gaming now uses mind controlling nanites to swap out digital avatars for real life people, and where our badass hero is arguably only alive because a rich white kid owns him and tells him what to do.
CONTENT WARNING: murder, rape, mind control, alcohol poisoning, unfortunate gamer tags, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "Ready Player One", a dystopian future where everyone can finally afford their own VR suit but spend their lives slaving away for that Dream Life Celebration. Based on the book about our 80s nostalgia, and directed by the creator of that same 80s nostalgia.
CONTENT WARNING: murder, terrorism, slavery, consumerism, the feels, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Hardcore Henry, the action extravaganza that asks us to literally see the world through the eyes of our protagonist as he murders every obstacle between him and the next cutscene... er, plot point.
BONUS CONTENT - here's a link to the original short that served as proof of concept for the film:
Biting Elbows - 'Bad Motherf***er' Official Music Video (explicit lyrics)
CONTENT WARNING: amnesia, human experimentation, extremely stylish violence, unhealthy marriages, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr, with special gest Chris Niejadlik.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We're back with 5 more films about video games, but not about a specific game. It's tangent time!
First up is "Scott Pilgrim VS the World", the action-fantasy-comedy-romance where Michael Cera must prove himself to his new girlfriend by fighting her seven evil exes in over-the-top martial arts combat. He's got the killer moves of your typical video game character, but the wimpy frame of your typical video game player. Will it be enough to win her, and us, over? FIGHT!
CONTENT WARNING: infidelity, narcissism, veganism, Canadianism, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr, with special gest Chris Niejadlik.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
"And lo, on the third decade, the User returned and He bestowed upon us the gift of eternal lightcycles, and the air was filled with sounds of Daft Punk, like bass dropping angels, and it was heavy, man." - TRON Legacy 12:17
Join us on an Easter Special celebrating the resurrection of a long dead video game film property, filled with more religious metaphors then the NES classic "Bible Adventures". Witness Jeff Bridges act against the only man talented enough to upstage him: another Jeff Bridges! It's time to dust off that Lightcycle in your pocket and return to the Grid in TRON Legacy!
CONTENT WARNING: absentee fathers, gladiatorial combat, genocide, insurrection, Christ allegories, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We're back for the second half of our 2-part "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" review!
It's time to turn on that elevator music, get your Goombas grooving, and bring this non-stop nonsense to a close. Featuring special guest Adam Prosser of the WHAT MAD UNIVERSE?!? podcast.
CONTENT WARNING: hostile grandmas, genetic manipulation, authoritarian rule, sexual advances from a plumber, unwanted sexual advances from a man-lizard, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, Nick Mohr, and Adam Prosser.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
For more from Adam Prosser, visit the WHAT MAD UNIVERSE?!? podcast:
WHAT MAD UNIVERSE?!? podcast
BA DAH DUM DE DUM DUMB!
It's finally here! The film that started the video game adaptation "curse". We review "The Super Mario Bros. Movie", where CyberPunk shows up about 84 years too early and infects the entire mushroom kingdom with dystopian edginess.
Is this movie Game Over for finding anything good in video game adaptations? Is a better film waiting in another castle? Featuring special guest Adam Prosser of the WHAT MAD UNIVERSE?!? podcast.
For more info on the wild history of this movie, check out Gaming Historian's fantastic documentary:
The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Gaming Historian (YouTube)
CONTENT WARNING: extinction level events, parallel universes, awkward romances, day-job drinking, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, Nick Mohr, and Adam Prosser.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
For more from Adam Prosser, visit the WHAT MAD UNIVERSE?!? podcast:
WHAT MAD UNIVERSE?!? podcast
We review Ace Attorney, where a defense attorney tries to make a name for himself in a court that favours the prosecution, and the only thing more dramatic than the verdicts are the haircuts.
CONTENT WARNING: murder, ghosts, corruption, sentient mascot costumes, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, where our hero's journey from vagabond to vigilante puts her at odds with a scenery-devouring rogue cop and a bafflingly Irish slum lord. Also, Liu Kang!
CONTENT WARNING: forcible confinement, murder, vigilantism, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, the tale of Ken and Ryu's early training in the Art of Hadou. Pro Tip of the Day: it's probably best to learn to block BEFORE you learn to fire deadly balls of energy from your hands.
For anyone interested in the short film that led to this full length feature, here's a link:
Street Fighter: Legacy (YouTube)
CONTENT WARNING: student rivalry, murder, ancient techniques of death and destruction, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We attempt to review Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, but Marc can't speak the language and Wayne can't find the right moves.
CONTENT WARNING: confusion, madness, lament, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Sonic the Hedgehog, where the only thing faster or stronger than our blue, furry hero is the bond of friendship he makes with the Donut Lord of Green Valley.
CONTENT WARNING: loneliness, killer robots, mad scientist shenanigans, forcible confinement, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Resident Evil, where a team of special ops mercenaries are somehow less informed or capable than a woman with literally no memories before her shower that morning. Also, zombies.
CONTENT WARNING: amnesia, zombies, artificial intelligence gone awry, poor tech support, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Need For Speed, where the best way to maintain secrecy for your illegal cross country street race is to broadcast it over public internet so it can be streamed inside a police station.
CONTENT WARNING: reckless driving, vehicular manslaughter, police brutality, public nudity, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Silent Hill, where the key to good parenting is knowing exactly when to kidnap your own child and bring them to a dimensional hellscape for therapy.
CONTENT WARNING: kidnapping, ritual sacrifice, instant skin removal, molestation, mass murder, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Dungeon Siege, the Uwe Boll odyssey where a true farmer is one who talks softly and carries a big boomerang... and literally calls himself Farmer. Now that's dedication!
CONTENT WARNING: pillaging, child murder, poison, regicide, booknados, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
Welcome back for Season 2!
We review Rampage, where no amount of CG beasts can begin to compete with the sheer animal magnetism of Dwayne Johnson.
CONTENT WARNING: genetic experimentation, corporate mismanagement, mass urban destruction, devouring of delicious humans, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
Say, what's that bulge in your stocking?
Why, it's a CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!
And what's better than a video game getting adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon? That same cartoon unleashing a Christmas Special, of course! Get ready for 3 TV specials, 2 Super Marios, and a Sonic in a shopping spree!
CONTENT WARNING: poverty, grand theft sled, child labour, body shaving, man eating dinosaurs, mild language.
Video Links:
Super Mario Bros Super Show - Christmas Special 1989
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Sonic's Christmas Blast
Super Mario World - The Night Before Cave Christmas
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review "The Angry Video Game Nerd - The Movie", where the titular Nerd faces down his most requested game since his YouTube series began: E.T.
Can the Nerd 's formula of looney-tunes style slapstick and rage-filled poop jokes sustain a full length feature film? Grab a Rolling Rock and find out!*
*Only if you're of legal drinking age, of course. And drink responsibly, I'm not taking the heat for your fiascos.
CONTENT WARNING: bad dreams, government conspiracies, hostage negotiation, evil cosmic entities, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Pixels, where door-to-door IT repairman Adam Sandler teams up with US President Kevin James to battle an intergalactic race of aliens threatening to destroy the Earth over a misunderstanding about video game footage viewed as a declaration of war and... you know what? It's best not to think about it too hard, so that the movie can happen.
CONTENT WARNING: alien invasion, alcohol promotion, incompetent US presidents, kidnapping, interspecies intercourse, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review TRON, arguably the first video game film ever made, where game developer Jeff Bridges inadvertently enters a strange new world to get his royalties back and becomes the digital messiah.
CONTENT WARNING: industrial espionage, malicious AI, de-resolution, religious themes, ultimate frisbee, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review The Last Starfighter, a story of a small-trailerpark boy with big dreams who twirls his way towards victory. Are good movies about video game military recruitment a desperate battle against incredible odds? Strap in and find out!
CONTENT WARNING: galactic war, subterfuge, face melting, dirty magazines, bounty hunters, armed octogenarians, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
For our first expansion pack, we take a look at five films without a specific game to adapt, but are 100% influenced by video games as a medium. First up...
We review Wreck-It Ralph, where Donkey Kong leaves his game to go trophy hunting and it's up to Mario to bring him back, while falling in love with Master Chief along the way. But don't worry, everyone is just off brand enough to avoid a lawsuit.
CONTENT WARNING: classism, existential malaise, alien invasions, child abuse, death racing, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
BOO!
For our first ever holiday special, we look at 3 fan-made short films based on spooky game franchises. Can the fans make films about Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Left 4 Dead a treat to watch, or do we get tricked into low rent knock offs with no scares to be found? Time to split up and check that strange noise coming from the basement!
CONTENT WARNING: suicide, conspiracies, car crashes, existential madness, unchecked modding, unchecked spelling, mild language.
Film Links:
Dave (Resident Evil) - Shawn Lebert
Rot (Silent Hill) - Corridor Crew
Impulse 76 (Left4Dead) - Airsoft GI
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
For you, the day that we reviewed Street Fighter and learned how important brand recognition is when taking over the world was the greatest day of your life. But for us? It was Tuesday.
CONTENT WARNING: cocaine, cancer, world domination, imprisonment, genetic experimentation, brainwashing, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Detective Pikachu, a buddy comedy that proves Deadpool can totally work with a PG rating so long as he's small and furry and able to shoot lightning out of his butt.
CONTENT WARNING: drugs, cockfighting, caffeine addiction, genetic experimentation, massage via coercion, mind control, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Max Payne, the anti-hero's journey of Mark Wahlberg as he tries to find the men that murdered both his family and his ability to make more than one facial expression.
CONTENT WARNING: infanticide, drugs, murder, torture, conspiracy, hypothermia, childish insults, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Tekken, the dystopian future where corporations rule the world through televised gladiatorial combat and the reluctant rebel Jin Kazama proves that cyborg killing machines and urban missile strikes aren't nearly as deadly as the power of flashbacks.
CONTENT WARNING: totalitarian regimes, concubines, infidelity, mortal combat (with a c), implied sexual assault, murder, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Assassin's Creed, where Michael Fassbender proves how hungry he is for the Apple of Eden by chewing so much scenery that there's none left for Jeremy Irons.
CONTENT WARNING: murder, imprisonment, genetic experimentation, religious cults, hostage negotiation, so much stabbing, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Doom, the first person shooter with way too many players on the map at once. Is this adaptation a showcase of Wild Awesome Destruction, or just a Bad Film Grind?
CONTENT WARNING: biological manipulation/demonic possession, dismemberment, decapitation, disobeying the chain of command, mass murder, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Prince of Persia, where a time reversing dagger is almost normal in a world offering corrupt ostrich races and snake launching assassins.
CONTENT WARNING: regicide, suicide, assault with a deadly overcoat, snakes, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Warcraft, based on the real time strategy series from the 1990s where Orcs and Humans battle to the death over who has the best lore.
CONTENT WARNING: slavery, mass sacrifice, demonic possession, regicide, castration, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
We review Double Dragon, where Zero from John Wick multiplies his strength by 20% of the Party of Five, to subtract the T-1000 and his frosted tips from New Angeles.
CONTENT WARNING: gang violence, child soldiers, sibling abuse, strangulation, acid rain, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
In our first episode, we review the Tomb Raider reboot released in 2018.
CONTENT WARNING: murder, slavery, biohazards, booby traps, mild language.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.
A brief introduction of our podcast.
Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr.
Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.