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If there was a BattleTech Movie, What Era?


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#1 Alekzandr Sukhanov

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:35 PM

So, I keep seeing this damnable trailer for a movie based off of a rather dull game of chance (Battleship) and I wonder, "Why hasn't there been a BattleTech Movie yet?!?"

Regardless of why, if one were to be made, what era do you think it should start with. I'm thinking 3025 is too soon. Maybe 3049, just prior to the invasion and then maybe end it with the start of the invasion for a teaser for the next.

What story do you think could be told well on the silver screen?

#2 CoffiNail

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:36 PM

Clan Invasion. More or less a retelling of Blood of Kerensky. I think that, if done right, could be amazing.

#3 Atlai

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:38 PM

View Postalekzandr sukhanov, on 16 May 2012 - 04:35 PM, said:

So, I keep seeing this damnable trailer for a movie based off of a rather dull game of chance (Battleship) and I wonder, "Why hasn't there been a BattleTech Movie yet?!?"

Regardless of why, if one were to be made, what era do you think it should start with. I'm thinking 3025 is too soon. Maybe 3049, just prior to the invasion and then maybe end it with the start of the invasion for a teaser for the next.

What story do you think could be told well on the silver screen?

I think your right about the 3049 era movie, would make it easier to make sequels and is probably the best place to start for people new to the franchise.

#4 Arbhall Sommers

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:39 PM

Star League Era. Or the beginning of the Succession Wars.

Id be just as happy with a 3025 era movie as long as they didnt throw in another damned love story man Im sick those in movies they dont belong in.

Seriously. THOR, Captain America, Iron Man, all littered with idiotic love story plots. if they make a mech warrior movie they cannot put in a love story. It would take too much away from the screen time they ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE to tell the story of the Battletech Universe.
If there is a love story, write off the whole idea and make it a ***** with battlemechs, that way it wont suck entirely.

#5 Morashtak

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:43 PM

Yep, 3049 for three installments;
  • Ep.1 - "Getting to know us and... (last 10 minutes) what's that tearing up the Periphery?"
  • Ep.2 - "Holy Hand Grenades! We're getting torn a new one. Call out the phone company!"
  • Ep.3 - "Linemen for the County to the rescue. What's the total Box Office?"


#6 CarnageINC

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:43 PM

I think it would probably have to be FedCom Civil war. You have a clear 'good guy' underdog in Victor and a evil sister, Katrina, scheming to kill off her opposition and keep her empire. Sibling rivalry is a sure winner.

#7 Risky

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:46 PM

Around or after 2060's since a lot of stuff seems to happen in that decade and further.

Edited by Risky, 16 May 2012 - 04:46 PM.


#8 CoffiNail

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:46 PM

View PostArbhall Sommers, on 16 May 2012 - 04:39 PM, said:

Star League Era. Or the beginning of the Succession Wars.

Id be just as happy with a 3025 era movie as long as they didnt throw in another damned love story man Im sick those in movies they dont belong in.

Seriously. THOR, Captain America, Iron Man, all littered with idiotic love story plots. if they make a mech warrior movie they cannot put in a love story. It would take too much away from the screen time they ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE to tell the story of the Battletech Universe.
If there is a love story, write off the whole idea and make it a ***** with battlemechs, that way it wont suck entirely.

Most stories have some sort of love interest... Movies more so as they make the action movie appeal to the girlfriend who has no interest, interested. ;)

Phelan and Ranna work as a good love story, mixed with Victor and Omi and Kai and that Dr. Deidra or how ever her name is spelt. Blood of Kerensky works great as a movie. :blink: plus they get to make money off the Clan fanbois like me haha

#9 Fetladral

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:46 PM

I think 3049 would make a great story. And every love story that I have seen in the books is really muted and not central to the story at all and whenever it is in the books its really only 3 pages maybe then back to something more important like a gauss rifle taking an Atlas' head clean off. ;)

#10 Atlai

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:47 PM

View PostCarnageINC, on 16 May 2012 - 04:43 PM, said:

I think it would probably have to be FedCom Civil war. You have a clear 'good guy' underdog in Victor and a evil sister, Katrina, scheming to kill off her opposition and keep her empire. Sibling rivalry is a sure winner.

Definitely would be a good story ;)

#11 HeartoftheJaguar

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:48 PM

The Clan invasion would have to have way too much backstory, like who the Clans are, where'd they come from, why'd they leave the Inner Sphere in the first place. I'd say the Star League era. It'd be kind of like Firefly/Serenity except the Alliance are the the good guys. With giant robots.

#12 Atlai

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:48 PM

View PostFetladral, on 16 May 2012 - 04:46 PM, said:

I think 3049 would make a great story. And every love story that I have seen in the books is really muted and not central to the story at all and whenever it is in the books its really only 3 pages maybe then back to something more important like a gauss rifle taking an Atlas' head clean off. :blink:

Well its good you know what the important things are ;)

#13 Wolf Hreda

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:53 PM

As long as it was handled properly, I could watch the creation of the Kearny-Fuchida drive with rapt attention. However, Amaris the Usurper and the Exodus of the Star League under Kerensky would be excellent. Then, you could do The Sword and the Dagger, when Max Liao tried to replace Hanse Davion with a double would make for an excellent movie. Then up through the ages to the Jihad and FedCom Civil War.

#14 Jakebob

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:54 PM

3rd Succession War... The 5 Houses are somewhat balanced, the Ares conventions are being observed (no nukes, etc..), there are no "good guys / bad guys" in the Inner Sphere.
Battlemechs are the ultimate war machines, but they are also rare hundred-year-old heirlooms passed down through families and are practically irreplaceable. Mechwarriors are the elite of society, like the Knights of medieval Europe. A trickle of new 'mechs is being produced at a few facilities still functioning with Star League era machinery.
Assault mechs are phenomenally rare, the Hatchetman has not been designed yet, the Gauss Rifle is unheard of (lostech), and there is only one type of PPC.

#15 CoffiNail

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 04:59 PM

Actually, Aegis had me think to the Founding of the Clans battlecorps. It is only book 1 so far, but that could be a great one. Starts at the start of the exodus, and goes through the pentagon wars,forming of the Clans... ;)

#16 Xaks

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 05:12 PM

The problem is still the technology. Ours in the real world, and the movie tech.

First, even we civvies know what battleships and fighter planes look like, both still and 'in action'. They exist, are real, and we've seen them. Thus, little or no suspension of disbelief needed. What they can do is another story, but that's another detail.

Mechs don't exist in our world, or even close to them. Yet. But, for them to be used, it would either look like a video game or complete crap CGI. Our brains won't accept it as 'real' and we'd end up with Robot Jox 2: Pneumatic Boogaloo.

Which would be bad. I'd rather not sully the Battletech of our minds and history as that.

#17 Ursus_Spiritus

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 05:13 PM

Omi and Victor

Phelan and Ranna....

Just saying...

Aidan Pride and his link to his Daughter....

Vlad vs Phelan (character development and arch rival)

Kai vs himself (Story of over coming inner demons) and his Dr (forget her name)

Drama and love stories are what sell movies besides special effects and action. Just the drama usually takes MUCH more screen time sadly, though still a necessary evil especially as there are plenty of love stories in the novels.

Besided you would need to attract the females to the theatres ;) (Aside from the ladies we fight in game)

I am sure others that can remember better then I can, can list characters and their nemisis or their lovers.

#18 Rattlehead NZ

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 05:14 PM

I wouldn't start with the clan invasion. That's something that would make a great sequel though. And if you want it to have heart, revenge, tragedy, love, betrayal and a character you can relate to then i would make it on the Gray Death Legion Starting with Decision at Thunder Rift.

#19 Tengo Kawana

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 05:26 PM

I'm going to get a bad rep for this, but I honestly think Dark Age is a perfect starting point. Here's why:

You have a new generation of Spheroids who are living in the aftermath of ages of war, but in a time of relative peace. They have a general knowledge of the warfare and 'mechs but, like the audience, most people have not seen warefare on the scale Battletech thrives on. Then the HPGs go down. Now you have several directions to take it. The best thing is that the house politics become immediately apparent in everyone's ploy for power. However, you don't need a history book to know who is whom and why you care about them. You care about the characters because of the action on the screen. There are plenty of places to allude to the history and more complex issues that make the universe so loved, but you have a fresh setting to keep things approachable for newcomers. You also have access to a full catalog of 'mechs, so the uninitiated can reasonably keep seeing things that they find familiar (Mad Cats, Atlas', Vultures, Awesomes, the front of the book kind of stuff). Also, there is no reason to worry about the Project Phoenix legal troubles (which I wish they would just retcon out already).

The Clan invasion, in my opinion, loses its relevance when one is not intimately familiar with the background. It becomes another invasion movie where the bad guys follow some pretty strange rules. It would be pretty difficult to have an audience unfamiliar with Battletech understand the true significance of the children of Kerensky returning to take back Terra and reform the Star League. Though, I will admit, it passes as a good popcorn thriller. My problem is that it is the event that brings the houses together, rather than plays them against one another (I will say that that is my problem with setting a film in the Jihad as well). The politics and intrigue are so important, with Battlemechs being the physical manifestation of all that enmity between the various factions. Having them realize that they need to work together early in a film or series would trivialize the deep seeded hatred between House Kurita or House Liao and House Davion, House Marik and House Steiner and so forth.

Though I will admit that I think it would make a pretty cool popcorn action movie, the Clan Invasion would not make for a good representation of the foundation of Battletech. I think it is the most likely era a studio would choose however, as it is the easy to over-simplify.

The FedCom Civil War would be my second choice, as Victor Steiner-Davion returning from Operation Bulldog is almost like Richard the Lionheart returning from the Crusades. You have an offscreen conflict with the Clans that is over, but Victor comes into complete disarray in his realm, which leads to some great drama that I don't think has yet been properly represented in novels or sourcebooks. It's a really tough time and would be the ideal time to focus on the big people, the House Lords and their lackies. There's a lot of drama there and I think it could play out almost like a Game of Thrones style political thriller with big 'mechs. That would be cool, but I think very hard to capture in a short period and, if you focused on the big characters, the resolution is pretty blatant from the beginning: Victor is going to drive across the Sphere, sending the Steiner loyalists back from whence they came. Pretty cool, but I still think Dark Age would be better.

You have the ability to take nobodies, seeing as the universe is only half-fleshed out at that time, and make them at least semi-major players in their own context. It's a world where the story is just starting. There's a lot more room for mystery that would affect even Battletech fans. Also, when it all boils down, the universe is about the Mechwarriors. The movie would certainly be called Mechwarrior. Let's focus on an individual, or small group of endearing, interesting pilots. What better time to do this than when everyone is first re-learning what war means in the Inner Sphere. Also the gravity and majesty of 'mechs really comes off when they have been more rare for sixty years. I don't know why, but I am just a sucker for stories where the conflict is steeped in ancient or half-forgotten tradition. I want that "oh yeah, I want that," kind of feeling of power when someone inevitably powers up a 'mech for combat for the first time in their lives.

Last side note, the Battletech nerd side of me would, of course, always be happy seeing anything set in the 4th Succession War. I just can't see it being marketed effectively. I have, however, always wanted to see the words, "I give you the Capellan Confederation," spoken on screen. Goosebumps!

#20 Ursus_Spiritus

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Posted 16 May 2012 - 05:28 PM

COMSTAR!!!!






























I AM KIDDING! ;)

View PostTengo Kawana, on 16 May 2012 - 05:26 PM, said:

I'm going to get a bad rep for this, but I honestly think Dark Age is a perfect starting point. Here's why:.....................................

<Edit for efficiency>




/facepalm

Edited by 8100d 5p4tt3r, 16 May 2012 - 05:28 PM.






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