@belgarathmth hmmm.... Jason Momoa... dmn i want him as the charname... he is impressive....
@KidCarnival your right... Yoshimo role can be anywere from asia.... japanise, chinese, korea and so on... i was thinking more on that Yoshimo is Kozakuran (the land of samurai and ninjas in abeir-toril). if it said that he was a Shou Lung i would probebly write a chinese name... anyway it doesn't matter.. any asia would be fine as long they can make the criteria for the role... same goes for any other roles..... if a latino looks like a near east, Caucasus region or meddle east woman then she would be a good choise for safana (that is if she is a better actor then the other one who searching for th same role).... most of the reason why i chosed other countries actors was because I want to see diversity in roles of the diffrent races that you see in bg games... and I love giving other countries actors and actress a chance to gain fame internationally.. plus most of the time they are much more cheaper to have them for a movie or series.... just say holliwood and they almost do it for free ...
Plus I love diffrient english accent that other countries speak... that would give a nice and deep effect as they use common (english ) in the Bg series
with Bg series I don't want to see another prince of persia mistake where the lead actors didn't even look from near east or have the body language from there... and the lead actress didn't even look like an indian princess....
@The_Shairs_Handbook - I'm a sucker for accents, and "whitewashing" roles is almost always a mistake. The only case where I was really happy with "actor's race doesn't match character's race" was a reverse situation, and now that I think about it, it could - with enough suspension of disbelief in the early stage - work. Said case is the historic character of Oneomaus, one of Spartacus' generals, who was reportedly a Gaul (and hence Caucasian), but played so masterfully by Peter Mensah, no-one cared one bit about the mismatch. Now, if you argue that Dynaheir isn't white... and Minsc *may* have a similar heritage, you could get away with Peter Mensah as Minsc. Sure, for the first 5 minutes of the movie people would ask "wtf" due to his game portrait... but then the opening credits would be over, and it would be awesome. (I generally think Peter Mensah should be in every movie, as he automatically makes it more badass.)
My suggestion for Valygar would not technically be an African-American actor (Lord Jamar would be, but it's not my first choice), Antonio Te Maioha is maori. He looks the part and is great in a stoic, brooding role. With my first Edwin suggestion, it's similar - there are certainly actors who look more like game portrait (which isn't accurate for a Thayan to begin with). But: Nick Tarabay has lebanese roots, he is plain amazing as a cunning smug snake and plotting megalomanic, and he's great with accents.
So yeah, I did consider that all myself. Hence I'm confused why you'd go British for Khalid and Minsc, of all NPCs.
Charname would either be a young and unknown actor, or not be shown at all - the camera being charname's eyes, filmed from a first person perspective, to leave both looks and class up to the viewer's imagination. To be completely experimental, there could be two audio tracks; one a male voice, one a female voice for when charname speaks.
I'd go with Peter Mensah as Minsc. I could totally get past his lack of accent and different race. He is a suitably impressive and imposing figure to fit the bill in my mind. I could really buy him as that bad-@$$ (if slightly insane) ranger just out to protect his 'Witch'. So long as they didn't try to make him more serious and less nutzo.
I was playing BG2 over the weekend and encountered Firecam for the first time this run through. I got to thinking that he could easily be played by a younger Sean Connery. But it would have to be a much younger Connery unfortunately. I could "Almost" see Liam Neeson in the role. Almost...
I'd go with Peter Mensah as Minsc. I could totally get past his lack of accent and different race. He is a suitably impressive and imposing figure to fit the bill in my mind. I could really buy him as that bad-@$$ (if slightly insane) ranger just out to protect his 'Witch'. So long as they didn't try to make him more serious and less nutzo.
Minsc's accent is a fantasy accent anyway, it's not like a real Rashemi could complain. That's nothing to worry about. As far as I know, none of the voice actors is using a real accent either.
@KidCarnival - I think when I said I could get past his lack of accent, i meant that peter would not sound like the voice actor that played Minsc in the game. Regardless of if it is a 'Real' accent, I have been picking actors/actresses that could pull off the role in both look and sound. Basically be able to replicate the characters as close as possible without actually being the same voice actor.
Yeah, I think it would be unrealistic to expect actors to sound exactly like voice actors. That's two different jobs for a reason. For accent-replication alone, Philip Casnoff as Edwin. Man, is it irritating when watching Oz and expecting the Russian mobster to throw fireballs around...
The main problem with a BG movie is figuring out what the story will be about. Obviously you have the whole Sarevok/Bhaalspawn thing. But how do they get to that point? What's in the middle of all that? I mean you can't have a group of random people run around the wilderness and whack goblins in dungeons for two hours.
Umm. In the middle would be the Cloakwood Mines, assuming the movie follows the main plot. That's Candlekeep - Gorion's Death - Friendly Arm Inn - Nashkel Mines - Bandit Camp - Cloakwood - Baldur's Gate. A movie couldn't include every sidequest and likely not stuff like Durlag's or Werewolf Island. It would be more linear.
any sort of movie would have to cover the main plot points rather than every single side quest. It would have to be a 2 hour story, not 40-50 hour dungeon crawl.
Oh, I am not a fan of the idea of a movie either. But I do like the idea of the exercise of identifying actors that might fit the individual characters.
As we have (TOTALLY NOT) seen in the D&D movie and (TOTALLY NOT) read in the BG novels, adaptions very rarely live up to the expectations. That goes for any medium - be it from great comic to medicore TV series (TWD), great movie to medicore game (X-Men - medicore because one at least tried to explain why Nightcrawler just wasn't there/mentioned in Last Stand, Silent Hill), great game to terribad movie (Mortal Kombat - so bad it's good)... This topic is more a "if everything was going exactly the way I wanted about a BG movie" brainstorming.
@dstoltzfus - The first was okay. Okay in this context means "better than I expected". After that, it got quite nonsensical, but I think they made some very good casting choices.
Oh, I am not a fan of the idea of a movie either. But I do like the idea of the exercise of identifying actors that might fit the individual characters.
For me it's pretty much the opposite. I'm always kinda disappointed at how every topic about a TV/film/whatever adaptation becomes an endless discussion about casting.
Not that I'm trying to prevent anyone from having the discussion, of course. Please carry on.
@KidCarnival " case is the historic character of Oneomaus, one of Spartacus' generals, who was reportedly a Gaul (and hence Caucasian), but played so masterfully by Peter Mensah"
- yes he played his role beautifully... your right,... Peter Mensah -- could work... always having an open mind for actors is a good ting... the thing is why i said Minsc= scottish actor was for that rashemen reminds me of a combinations of viking berserskers and highlanders in one...
actually halfelves can be of any actor around the world.. i was just simplify everything by saing elves = british accent actors...
I must confess when you said that Oneomaus was a Caucasian i was thinking that he was a iranian,armenian, georgian,azerbaijanian or any country around Caucasian region... well that was until you said that he was a Gaul then i knew what you meant .... people somethime forget that caucasian is the mountain range that divide europe and Asia (i blame it on the media for not reminding people on that and bad us reality cop shows from 2000 and forward... it is after 2000 that american tv shows and movies start using the word Caucasian carelessly )... so nowdays the word Caucasian can be very confusing...
hmm... anyway actors is one thing but the most important thing is the director.. a good director can make a bad actor good and a bad director can make a good actor bad... Uwe Boll as the director would be a nightmare.... then it doesn't matter who the actor is....
If there ever was a BG movie, it'd most likely involve only Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, and Dynaheir out of all the NPCs. Possibly Edwin instead of Dyn, because he's more popular.
If there ever was a BG movie, it'd most likely involve only Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, and Dynaheir out of all the NPCs. Possibly Edwin instead of Dyn, because he's more popular.
thats why I say making a move would be a failed move...
make it like Game of thrones... i mean make it a Drama series....
It'd be a crap movie meant to draw in as many BG sheep(not many) as possible and leave everyone disappointed in the same way a girl who teases you with sex and then says. "I just don't like you that way."
@The_Shairs_Handbook - The Caucasus certainly didn't extend to Numidia at any point in time. Spartacus did a great job with the casting (though, surf rat Julius Caesar certainly took some getting used to), and ignored historic ethnicity in favor of best fit for the role. Crixus and Castus were also Gauls; neither Manu Bennett nor Blessing Mokgohloa is Caucasian. So a long list of "must be nationality X" seemed weird.
Anyway. A series would allow to handle a lot more characters. I'm not seeing how the "canon party" could justify NOT having Dynaheir, but Minsc and Edwin. Dynaheir belongs in the party. It would add to the story to have a (NPC only) rival group being a thorn in charname's side all the way - Montaron, Xzar, Edwin, Viconia, Kagain, Shar-Teel, for example. The Zhents, after being turned down by charname, would still want to investigate the iron crisis. Charname probably took them along (with Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira) until a fight started or the Harpers called them out or something; leading to a split of the group in Nashkel or Beregost. There, Xzar and Montaron would start recruiting the others. With Edwin and Minsc, there would be a first conflict where the two rivaling groups get in each other's way; and Edwin would have a personal reason for following charname's group. The Zhents already have a reason, so does Shar-Teel (which could be revealed later; she could pose as a regular mercenary first). They wouldn't be a bunch of evil people who just try to sabotage charname for the heck of it.
As we have (TOTALLY NOT) seen in the D&D movie and (TOTALLY NOT) read in the BG novels, adaptions very rarely live up to the expectations. That goes for any medium - be it from great comic to medicore TV series (TWD), great movie to medicore game (X-Men - medicore because one at least tried to explain why Nightcrawler just wasn't there/mentioned in Last Stand, Silent Hill), great game to terribad movie (Mortal Kombat - so bad it's good)... This topic is more a "if everything was going exactly the way I wanted about a BG movie" brainstorming.
I would disagree with you on some points. Personally I think that The Walking Dead is one of the best shows on TV by a significant margin. I never read the comic but believe that the translation from Comic to TV was handled beautifully. Game of Thrones also translates very well from book to TV series. And although the Xmen movies weren't perfect, they are a far sight better then they had any rights to be. I'd still give them high 8-9 out of 10 easily. And Lord of the Rings... Nuff said.
But these are merely my opinion. Also understand that I can appreciate excellent writing, directing production value and acting talent even if the end product strays far afield of the source material (such as making Havoc some 30 years older than Cyclops even though the former is actually the latter's younger brother in the comic).
But, the point of the thread was not to propose the creation of a movie, but merely to share one's impressions of what live action acting talent might be able to fill the roles of the various NPCs in the game. If the intent were to propose a movie (or TV series), I'd be much more focused on the writing and directing LONG before I got to proposing actual acting talent.
Comments
hmmm.... Jason Momoa... dmn i want him as the charname... he is impressive....
@KidCarnival
your right... Yoshimo role can be anywere from asia.... japanise, chinese, korea and so on... i was thinking more on that Yoshimo is Kozakuran (the land of samurai and ninjas in abeir-toril). if it said that he was a Shou Lung i would probebly write a chinese name... anyway it doesn't matter.. any asia would be fine as long they can make the criteria for the role... same goes for any other roles..... if a latino looks like a near east, Caucasus region or meddle east woman then she would be a good choise for safana (that is if she is a better actor then the other one who searching for th same role).... most of the reason why i chosed other countries actors was because I want to see diversity in roles of the diffrent races that you see in bg games... and I love giving other countries actors and actress a chance to gain fame internationally.. plus most of the time they are much more cheaper to have them for a movie or series.... just say holliwood and they almost do it for free
Plus I love diffrient english accent that other countries speak...
that would give a nice and deep effect as they use common (english ) in the Bg series
with Bg series I don't want to see another prince of persia mistake where the lead actors didn't even look from near east or have the body language from there... and the lead actress didn't even look like an indian princess....
http://9gag.com/gag/6626590
My suggestion for Valygar would not technically be an African-American actor (Lord Jamar would be, but it's not my first choice), Antonio Te Maioha is maori. He looks the part and is great in a stoic, brooding role. With my first Edwin suggestion, it's similar - there are certainly actors who look more like game portrait (which isn't accurate for a Thayan to begin with). But: Nick Tarabay has lebanese roots, he is plain amazing as a cunning smug snake and plotting megalomanic, and he's great with accents.
So yeah, I did consider that all myself. Hence I'm confused why you'd go British for Khalid and Minsc, of all NPCs.
Charname would either be a young and unknown actor, or not be shown at all - the camera being charname's eyes, filmed from a first person perspective, to leave both looks and class up to the viewer's imagination. To be completely experimental, there could be two audio tracks; one a male voice, one a female voice for when charname speaks.
I was playing BG2 over the weekend and encountered Firecam for the first time this run through. I got to thinking that he could easily be played by a younger Sean Connery. But it would have to be a much younger Connery unfortunately. I could "Almost" see Liam Neeson in the role. Almost...
I'd also second the idea of Bashir as Khalid.
Not that I'm trying to prevent anyone from having the discussion, of course. Please carry on.
" case is the historic character of Oneomaus, one of Spartacus' generals, who was reportedly a Gaul (and hence Caucasian), but played so masterfully by Peter Mensah"
- yes he played his role beautifully... your right,...
Peter Mensah -- could work... always having an open mind for actors is a good ting...
the thing is why i said Minsc= scottish actor was for that rashemen reminds me of a combinations of viking berserskers and highlanders in one...
actually halfelves can be of any actor around the world.. i was just simplify everything by saing elves = british accent actors...
I must confess when you said that Oneomaus was a Caucasian i was thinking that he was a iranian,armenian, georgian,azerbaijanian or any country around Caucasian region... well that was until you said that he was a Gaul then i knew what you meant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus (this is what i was thinking lol)
hmm... anyway actors is one thing but the most important thing is the director.. a good director can make a bad actor good and a bad director can make a good actor bad... Uwe Boll as the director would be a nightmare.... then it doesn't matter who the actor is....
Al Jolson was the last remnants of the Underdark to walk among us.
make it like Game of thrones... i mean make it a Drama series....
Anyway. A series would allow to handle a lot more characters. I'm not seeing how the "canon party" could justify NOT having Dynaheir, but Minsc and Edwin. Dynaheir belongs in the party. It would add to the story to have a (NPC only) rival group being a thorn in charname's side all the way - Montaron, Xzar, Edwin, Viconia, Kagain, Shar-Teel, for example. The Zhents, after being turned down by charname, would still want to investigate the iron crisis. Charname probably took them along (with Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira) until a fight started or the Harpers called them out or something; leading to a split of the group in Nashkel or Beregost. There, Xzar and Montaron would start recruiting the others. With Edwin and Minsc, there would be a first conflict where the two rivaling groups get in each other's way; and Edwin would have a personal reason for following charname's group. The Zhents already have a reason, so does Shar-Teel (which could be revealed later; she could pose as a regular mercenary first). They wouldn't be a bunch of evil people who just try to sabotage charname for the heck of it.
It's very good series... aloot of the cast are scandinavian..... thinking how bg series would look like....
But these are merely my opinion. Also understand that I can appreciate excellent writing, directing production value and acting talent even if the end product strays far afield of the source material (such as making Havoc some 30 years older than Cyclops even though the former is actually the latter's younger brother in the comic).
But, the point of the thread was not to propose the creation of a movie, but merely to share one's impressions of what live action acting talent might be able to fill the roles of the various NPCs in the game. If the intent were to propose a movie (or TV series), I'd be much more focused on the writing and directing LONG before I got to proposing actual acting talent.
But carry on.