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ting-bu-dong
Hi,
what movies are there that have a shadowrun feel to them, either being cyberpunk-like movies or being movies about professional criminals?
The ones I can think of from the top of my head:

Cyberpunk:
Johnny Mnemonic (spelling?)

Professional Criminals:
Ronin
The Transporter (more or less)
The Italian Job (only watched half of it)

tbd
HMHVV Hunter
-The Matrix, of course (anti-government, anti-corp types never looked cooler)
-The Boondock Saints (great for a vigilante character idea)
-Snatch (great for illustrating the double- and triple-crosses of a Mr. Johnson)
rlemansky
Nihao.

I've only seen a few, but I'd think many Tarentino films'd fit the bill. Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, etc.

One of the best, though, would have to be From Dusk Til Dawn-pretty much the ultimate extraction-gone-way-wrong scenario. Of all the bars in Mexico...

R
spotlite
This is probably useless to you all since I can't remember the name of the movie (gawddammit!), but there's a live action manga film where a bunch of eco-terrorists break in to a big corporate skyscraper to graffit an office and expose the nasty toxic chemical practices of the corp. Unfortunately, inside this high security tower is, in the basement, a 15 year old techno wiz who only wants to make drones, so the corp keep him down there and let him cos he comes up with totally wiz stuff. The terrorists get trapped in the building and the tech releases his latest killemallandletgodsortitout drone.

Its a very kewl film, and with a little tweaking can be stolen almost wholesale for a shadowrun. If anyone can remember the name of it I'd appreciate it cos I'd love to try getting hold of it!

Other very cool films are Crying Freeman (just how many force points of quickened tattoos does that guy have exactly?!), Mean Guns (Ice T, Christopher Lambert and many others. Film bombed but its actually really good), Strange Days (which I can't beleive no-one's mentioned yet!), and Lawnmower man 2 (its a crap movie, but the plot is very stealable indeed).
6thDragon
The Score, Heat, and Ghost in the Shell are all classics. IF you like Snatch, you have to check out Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels. This one is becoming a streach but Formula 51 was pretty good too.
Tanka
I disagree with Tarentino films. Not really much to do with a SR feel, more just a pointless amount of bloodshed and violence. (Yes, I'm mainly referring to the overdone blood gushes of Kill Bill. I despise that movie.)
Dogsoup
Soylent Green is like an expose of the various Lifestyles, from Squatter to Luxury, with a nice run-like story to boot.

Cypher began like a cool story of data-couriering and corp warfare, but took a deep plunge in mid-air and stayed on that course.

The Abyss can't be beaten for that underwater habitat feel. I know, it has aliens in it, and no magic or cyber... But Ed Harris is a weatherbitten old prime runner, just look at him!

Hollow Point John Lithgow and Donald Sutherland in modern SR:ing.

Bad Company As above, but with Laurence Fishburne instead.

Avalon Kickass movie by the team behind GitS; Combat decking as sports, in Poland.

Screamers Another "not-really-SR" but put the story in some godforsaken wasteland in Russia or something: Malevolent drones...

Oh, and one more "outsider":
The Langolears What can you say? It's a movie about falling into the metaplanes. First part is even a bit scary, when you don't know what's out there. Since more and more astral rifts open up in the sixties, I think this is a valid "SR-movie".
Jr. Woodchuck
I agree with many of the movie suggestions here. Especially Ghost in the Shell. The new TV series, Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex will be out on DVD 3rd quarter of 2004, it definitely is cyberpunk.

I'm suprised that noone has suggested "The Bourne Identity" yet.
Snow_Fox
Lars covers a lot there but besides the way obvious Bladerunner and first Robocop
there's Strange Days with Ray Fiens as a BTL dealer who records a murder of a political activits that's being blamed on someone else by the evil corp. and Robert Redford's Sneakers, in which he leads a group of reformed criminals who are now security experts who get hired by someone they don't knwo, to steal something they don't know for what.

From TV there's
The entire first season of Dark Angel is excellent.
Dr Who, in particular the Green Death and Seeds of Doom
Zazen
QUOTE (tanka)
I disagree with Tarentino films. Not really much to do with a SR feel, more just a pointless amount of bloodshed and violence. (Yes, I'm mainly referring to the overdone blood gushes of Kill Bill. I despise that movie.)

Y'know, Kill Bill was obviously a blood n' guts kung fu flick. Everyone with whom I've discussed it knew that before it was released.

So really man, what were you expecting? Banter about Quarter Pounders with Cheese?
Tanka
No, but it wasn't even a good satire of kung fu flicks. It was just him trying to throw his name in the air and see who suddenly goes crazy over it because it has his name all over it.

Ridiculous plot, unbelievable characters, and no depth to any of it. I don't like watching a movie just to see how many people are cut apart. I like to at least get something out of it other than how badly it was produced and how much I now want to shove a filmreel down Tarentino's throat.
Kage2020
Hmmn... Seems that many people are describing a cyberpunk feel and while that is included in Shadowrun it is not the whole schabang. What about Shadowrun films, the ones that explore the sci-fi/fantasy (read: sci-fantasy) overlap?

Kage
moosegod
Well, there were the ones in the other thread...
Ol' Scratch
That would be movies like The Fifth Element, Kage. It includes most of my favorite things about Shadowrun. Hermetic/Elemental magic, Fourth World relics (the elemental stones), metaraces (in the form of aliens; the Diva's a funky elf, the Mangalores are orks, the president could qualify as a troll biggrin.gif), rockers (Ruby Rhod), the metaplot (Leeloo and the robot-aliens at the beginning are sorta like Immortal Elves), life in the slums (Korbin's apartment), megacorporations (Zorg), horrors (the evil), and top secret missions. biggrin.gif

The only thing really missing are dragons.
Kage2020
Darn... missed that one. Do you have a URL handy?

Fifth Element... That one would have never occurred to me, despite the use of the 'five' elements. (Oh dear, 'Wood' and the whole Lilu thing... <rolleyes> )

Kage
Ol' Scratch
One of the first links I found is here: The Fifth Element. It's one of my all time favorite flicks.

Edit: Oh, you were asking moosegod for a link. smile.gif
moosegod
Here you go...

http://invision.dumpshock.com/index.php?sh...c=1853&hl=movie

Don't say I didn't warn you scatter.gif
Zazen
QUOTE (tanka)
No, but it wasn't even a good satire of kung fu flicks. It was just him trying to throw his name in the air and see who suddenly goes crazy over it because it has his name all over it.

Ridiculous plot, unbelievable characters, and no depth to any of it. I don't like watching a movie just to see how many people are cut apart.

That's probably what bugs you about it, then. It wasn't a satire of a kung fu flick. It was a kung fu flick.

You just have to like kung fu flicks to like it. It was not a satire but a celebration of those unbelievable worlds where a single combatant can defeat an army of trained fighters, where people take their samurai swords on airplanes, where the police never seem to investigate or arrest anyone, and where the audience revels in seeing just how many people are cut apart.
Digital Heroin
QUOTE (rlemansky)
Nihao.

I've only seen a few, but I'd think many Tarentino films'd fit the bill. Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, etc.

One of the best, though, would have to be From Dusk Til Dawn-pretty much the ultimate extraction-gone-way-wrong scenario. Of all the bars in Mexico...

R

You realize you just listed all of the many Terantino films in that post... right?

I'd say Kill Bill'd have the best feel for an Adept...
Tanka
No, I am a fan of kung fu movies. This was just pointlessly stupid.
Ol' Scratch
As opposed to most of the Kung Fu movies from the 70's that graced American television? Please.

Sure, there's some really good Kung Fu movies (mostly from recent years) such as Legend of the Drunken Master and Iron Monkey, but even those are pretty silly with weak plots for the most part.

Kill Bill was a popcorn flick, plain and simple. It was never advertised as anything else. If you didn't enjoy it for what it is, chances are it's because you went in with the wrong attitude to begin with. It delivered everything it promised. Lots of action and bloodshed.
Tanka
Actually, I went in neutral, and nearly left early. If it weren't for the fact that we were visiting my sister, I'd've been out of there.
leemur
QUOTE (Digital Heroin)
QUOTE (rlemansky @ Nov 23 2003, 12:28 PM)
Nihao.

I've only seen a few, but I'd think many Tarentino films'd fit the bill.  Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs,  Kill Bill, etc.

One of the best, though, would have to be From Dusk Til Dawn-pretty much the ultimate extraction-gone-way-wrong scenario.  Of all the bars in Mexico...

R

You realize you just listed all of the many Terantino films in that post... right?

No, he left out Jackie Brown.

Kill Bill is the (and I quote) "Fourth film from Quentin Tarintino".
Bearclaw
Have you seen any of Tarantino's other movies? Kill Bill isn't in any way representative of his work. In comparison, it's a big pile of crap. But, for what it was, I enjoyed it. The commercials told you what to expect, and it delivered exactly that.

Kill Bill is the Sixth film Quentin has directed all or part of (Resevior Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, From Dusk Til Dawn an 4 Rooms are the others).

He also gets writing credits for all those, as well as being the writer for Natural Born Killers, which is a great example of a few degenerate shadowrun games I've seen.
rlemansky
Nihao.

From what I gather, Kill Bill's a good look at adepts, and I know way too many SR players who like blood spray. Besides, quality wasn't part of the topic, feel was...

Speaking of which, the Max Headroom series would make for excellent CyberPunk. I can't think of many movies managing a mix of man, machine, and magic.

R
CanvasBack
I like my Shadowrun games to go down like BladeRunner with a little bit of Brazil mixed in. cool.gif
Eindrachen
Well, here's my pick of stuff...

Cyberpunk

"Blade Runner": Very archtypical setting. You've got the P.I. tracking down androids, the Big Evil Corp, and urban sprawl.

"Johnny Mneumonic": Another typical setting, and better than the short story, IMHO. Cyberware (includes nasty side effects of such), BEC, urban sprawl, street life (with gangs).

"The Matrix" trilogy: Not all that typical for the cyberpunk genre, it still captures some elements. Struggle against the 'Machines', virtual vs. mundane reality, and cyberware. VERY good to watch when planning a Renraku Arco / anti-Deus adventure.

"AD Police Files" (anime): Based on the setting of Bublegum Crisis, this is a lot more down-to-earth and grittier.

"Robocop": Screw the sequels; the first is the one-and-only to watch. Has most of the elements of cyberpunk literature.

Near Future

"The Running Man": Urban Brawl, but using criminals. (And, fabulous prizes for the audience!) Also shows use of law enforcement technology, and how the BEC can use technology to distort the truth.

"Total Recall": While aliens are a bit off for Shadowrun, just put the setting on Earth, and make the aliens Immortal Elves or Dragons, and viola! Replace the mutants with metahumans for a good idea how they are treated in the Sixth world by most folks.

"Virtuosity": What happens when a psychopathic A.I. made by a BEC gets a body and goes on the rampage.

"Brazil": It's satirical, but a pretty good view of repressive government. Strange setting and background, with interesting-looking technology.

"Cowboy Bebop" (anime): This is one of my highest recommendations for a Shadowrun group. Basically bounty hunting in the near-future, with the solar system mostly explored/settled, this show has a lot of elements of interest. The main heros/heroines are all from shady backgrounds, and, during the show, perform some activities that are questionably legal at best. Also, rather than getting tangled up in some over-the-top plot, the show remains fairly rooted in the seedy underworld of the future, with the main story revolving around a huge criminal syndicate. (And Japanese-style jazz/blues never sounded better than in this show...)

"Trigun" (anime): Though a bit further in the future, the mix of technology and Old-West-style action/drama is pretty good. Use for an example of how the Southwest of the Sixth World might look and feel like.

Crook Stuff

"The Usual Suspects": How a legendary criminal mastermind sets up other crooks for a job, then screws (and kills) nearly everyone involved. If you've never seen it, you'll love the ending...

"Sneakers": The perfect shadowrun, even with kinks thrown in to complicate things. Involves a BEC, the government, and lots of nifty technological gadgets (most of which exist, no less).

"Heist": How to get screwed on a deal, and still win in the end.

"Pulp Fiction": Good film, if a little strange. Kind of a 'Day In The Life' on the underworld.

"Kill Bill, Vol. 1": Despite what others say, it's a good film. It's basically a revenge story, very bloody, very violent; a pretty good example of what happens when adepts go on the rampage.


That's all I can think of for now. I'll probably put more up later...
Zazen
QUOTE (rlemansky)
Speaking of which, the Max Headroom series would make for excellent CyberPunk. I can't think of many movies managing a mix of man, machine, and magic.

Damn straight, I'd forgotten all about that show! Do you know if any channels still play it? smile.gif
Siege
Max Headroom? Probably not -- the show is some 20 years old.

Although it does put an interesting spin on playing Media-type characters.

-Siege
Zazen
I just found some on Kazaa. I hate watching TV shows on my computer, but I don't have much other choice.

Guess what my computer will be doing for the next two months! indifferent.gif
rlemansky
Re:Max Headroom

I'm reasonably certain that they've been collected to VHS and/or DVD. Save some wear and tear on your computer.

Does anyone else find watching Max Headroom on a monitor...distrurbing?

And thanks for reminding me that it's twenty years old-I remember when it was first being aired-gods, I'm getting old.

R cyber.gif
rlemansky
Zazen, I'm a moron. TechTV (or ZDTV or whatever they're calling themselves this month...) has run/is running Max-late night, I believe.

R

Abstruse
QUOTE (Digital Heroin @ Nov 23 2003, 09:56 PM)
QUOTE (rlemansky @ Nov 23 2003, 12:28 PM)
Nihao.

I've only seen a few, but I'd think many Tarentino films'd fit the bill.  Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs,  Kill Bill, etc.

One of the best, though, would have to be From Dusk Til Dawn-pretty much the ultimate extraction-gone-way-wrong scenario.  Of all the bars in Mexico...

R

You realize you just listed all of the many Terantino films in that post... right?

I'd say Kill Bill'd have the best feel for an Adept...

From Dusk Til Dawn wasn't really a "Tarantino Film" as it was directed by Robert Rodriguez.

As for sci-fi/fantasy films, you're not going to find any outside of anime, esp. cyberpunk/fantasy. Outlaw Star was a space opera/fantasy, and Akira had a few cyberpunk elements with its fantasy. As far as I know, however, Shadowrun is the only work of fiction that really attempts to add fantasy to straight cyberpunk and does it even remotely well.

Another film that hasn't been listed yet here that I can see but has been mentioned several times is OCEAN'S ELEVEN. This is what every Shadowrun team aspires to be: High class criminals with heavy financial backers. Lots of time spent on legwork and unlike a lot of other movies, this film revolves almost entirely around the heist itself. I'm refering to the George Clooney/Brad Pitt remake here as I haven't seen the original Rat Pack film yet unfortunately. There should be a sequel to this film out next year I believe.

The Abstruse One
Dogsoup
BMW has ordered a series of short films, each done by some of the bigger names in directing; These, collected under the name The Hire, circles around a person whom performs various run-like missions involving driving.
Most of these films are very good, features renowned actors and lacks only the protagonist jacking into his vehicles.
nezumi
Oh yeah, those BMW movies r0x0rz. Get a good 5 speaker set, crank 'em up and sit back. Very fun. On a similar note, grab the old GTA2 trailer, if you can find it. It's like 10 minutes with no dialogue, just one guy involved with drugs, the yakuza and a faceless megacorp. That was my favorite movie for like six months (perfect for when you don't want to pay $7 for mindless action and you're sick of wasting time with 'plot').
Spookymonster
As long as we're talking Tarantino, don't forget True Romance. The scenes with Gary Oldman and Christopher Walken give that gritty criminal feel.
Catsnightmare
Best scene in that movie is the one between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken about the historical origin of Scicilians.

Laugh your ass off and at the same time make you go 'Whoa" in awe of the gumption it took to say that.


Anyway, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned either version of The Italian Job yet.
Kurukami
What about...

Romeo Must Die. Two crime families working against each other, with one of the magnates trying to get out and "go legit". Physical adepts with killing hands (and even X-ray shots of those strikes' damage!). Car and motorcycle chases, lots of gunplay, and that gritty crime element to top it off.

Panic Room. Shadowrunners breaking into a house, and having a falling-out in mid-caper. Solid details on surveillance systems and criminal backgrounds (i.e., day jobs other than crime).

Cradle 2 the Grave. A well-oiled shadowrunner team in action on a major heist. Complications arising from that heist, getting double-crossed and ambushed by interested parties, and all manner of intrigue. Physads vs. guns, lots of vehicle pursuits, and why never to beard an arms dealer in his own headquarters without a hell of a lot of firepower.
Fortune
QUOTE (Catsnightmare)
Anyway, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned either version of The Italian Job yet.

Only in the very first post in this thread. wink.gif
rlemansky
Greetings.

How about the Resident Evil flick-runners breakin into a corp zero zone. Guns, zomies, intrigue, getting hosed by your employers...Sounds standard to me.

R
Dogsoup
Hahaha! I've managed to acquire some odd Max Headroom episodes (is it just me, or did the series get more tongue-in-cheek in season 2?) and Im watching one called "Rakers" right now. Wtf do I see then, out of the blue? The main character going to a restaurant, pulling out a long thin aluminium-looking tube, about the size of a pen, and putting in a reader as a form of payment!! biggrin.gif
If a series that inspired FASA doesn't qualify for "SR-feel", I don't know what would. grinbig.gif
Thanks a bunch for that tip folks!
BumsofTacoma
QUOTE (Zazen)
QUOTE (tanka @ Nov 23 2003, 08:01 AM)
I disagree with Tarentino films.  Not really much to do with a SR feel, more just a pointless amount of bloodshed and violence.  (Yes, I'm mainly referring to the overdone blood gushes of Kill Bill.  I despise that movie.)

Y'know, Kill Bill was obviously a blood n' guts kung fu flick. Everyone with whom I've discussed it knew that before it was released.

So really man, what were you expecting? Banter about Quarter Pounders with Cheese?

HAHAHAHAHAH right on my sentiments exactly.

But i understand how some people wouldn't like it.

I on the other hand loved it. Its been a while since i have seen a movie like that. but it was well done in a comical sense.
Arelius
"Leon" or "The Professional" starring Jean Reno and Natalie Portman directed by Luc Besson is an excellent example of a runner film. Illiterate Italian hitman forms a relationship with a seductive and abused 12 year old girl who wants to be like him. Sad sad sad movie.
Kagetenshi
Beautiful, beautiful movie.

~J
Prospero
I was just going to say, "The Professional". Ah well, beat to the punch. But the best movie for me to get in the running mood is Ronin. I'm surprised no one's mentioned it yet. That film is shadowrun. Intrigue, action, cool guns, secret agendas, terrorists, international complications, really cool chase scenes... What more could you ask for?

Another good one is Face/Off. Also a great flick. I love John Woo. 'Nuff said.
Dogsoup
QUOTE (Prospero)
But the best movie for me to get in the running mood is Ronin. I'm surprised no one's mentioned it yet.

...you're kidding right?
Fresno Bob
Ronin has been mentioned. Several times. In fact, it was referenced in the original post...

One thing I think might be interesting, is music with a shadowrun feel. I'm not talking like music that would be cool to have a game to, but like, cyberpunk music. Like Billy Idol. He's very cyberpunk. In fact, I'm listening to a song by him called Neuromancer, and one of his tours was the Cyberpunk tour. You know, music like that.
Prospero
QUOTE (Voorhees)
Ronin has been mentioned. Several times. In fact, it was referenced in the original post...

Oh yeah. Heh. Hmmm... Well, you know, I bought this dodgy headware from a street-doc a few weeks ago and now... I'd go to a hospital to get it checked out, but I don't have a SIN anymore, having sold it to some barrens gang so they could run some scam with it.

Plus, I've been doing linguistic research all day and drinking lots of Mountain Dew which has definatly fried what's left of my gray matter...


Fresno Bob
Ah, well, Mountain Dew'll do that.
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