Historically, movies based on video games have, for lack of a better term, sucked ass *cough*UweBollisadouchebag*cough*. But, for one scary moment, let’s pretend that there was going to be a Legend of Zelda movie made. Who would you want to direct? Who should play Zelda? Who should play Link? Who would score the soundtrack? (well, probably John Williams for that one, because he scores pretty much everything.) What would be the story? Who would write it? And the big one, should it even be made into a movie? What are your thoughts about this?

Personally, I think that with the right people, a LoZ movie could be made in a way that kept it true to the franchise. Lord of the Rings is a good example of this. But with the way Hollywood seems bound and determined to suck the fun out of video game based movies, and how abysmal the cartoon adaptation was (every time I hear “Well excuu-uuuse me, Princess!” I want to vomit), the odds of a LoZ based movie being any good are slim to none x_x

CG. CG. CG.

!!!

CG!

That's the only way to go.

Oh yes, CG would be best ^o^ But who could they get to do the voices?

I don't know but IF it had to be a live-action film, I'd say Link had to be Toby Hemingway.His picture...

*drool*

Dead topic revival time a go-go!! :yay:
Sure, it's two years dead, but oh well :P

Director and writer wise, and if it were a perfect world, they would have to have as much love and enthusiasm for the series as Peter Jackson did for Lord of the Rings. Which would pretty much be one of us on the forum XD

Script wise, while it would be cool to see one of the games translated to the big screen (also, let's suspend the truth and pretend that we live in a world where video game based movies don't suck), I think it would ultimately be better if an entirely new adventure was created for the movie. That way you wouldn't have to worry about cutting things that are integral to the plot, like they're having to do for a lot of book based movies.

If the movie is CG or traditionally animated, it wouldn't matter so much what the people doing the voices looked like, just so long as the voice actors sound good.
Tim Curry can be Ganondorf and Patrick Stewart can be the King of Hyrule :thumbs:

As for live action actors, I present the following. And yes, I have been obsessing over Firefly/Serenity. How can you tell?

Link - Justin Hartley
While I agree with CM's suggestion of Toby Hemingway and his hotness, I'm suggestion Justin Hartley because his character on Smallville spends half his time running around dressed in green and shooting arrows at people. The other half is spent shirtless.

Link's Father - Aaron Eckhart
Sure, we've never seen him in the games, but that doesn't have to be the same for the movie! I mention him because the first time I saw Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, my first thought was, "This dude could totally be Link's dad!"

Zelda - Anne Hathaway
Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly (who, incidentally, actually was a princess) were the first actresses to come to mind, but being as they're both deceased, Anne Hathaway was the first modern actress I could think of who doesn't go around portraying herself as a slut/whore/bimbo. Someone who's going to be playing Zelda should have some class. And decency. Rachel McAdams could also work.

Ganondorf - Nathan Fillion
Odds are that Ganon will be done in CG, but for his "human" form, you need someone who can play the charming villain. And in his stint on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Caleb the creepy preacher from hell, he certainly was that. Also, he's a tall fellow, and his facial structure reminds me of Ganondorf's (except he had a longer nose in OoT). Ginger his hair and darken his skin and it could work.

Old Impa - Judi Dench
In most of the games, Impa was portrayed as feeble old woman. But with Judi Dench, along with the old part, you get kick-assery instead of feebleness, which is always a win/win! Also, Judi Dench is a Dame, so you know she can act the pants off of anyone.

Young Impa (OPTION ONE) - Lucy Lawless
Who better to play Impa in her prime than Xena herself? We already know she can do the whole Amazon thing :P

Young Impa (OPTION TWO) - Gina Torres
I will be completely honest and say that I would actually prefer for this woman to be Impa. Sure, Impa isn't black, but sometimes details like that are allowed to be fudged! If you've seen Firefly or Serenity, you'll agree with me. Gina has the whole badass woman warrior thing down to an art.

The Great Fairy - Morena Baccarin
The Twilight Princess Great Fairy, because the ones in Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask were scary >.o

Midna - Summer Glau
Full sized Midna, not Imp sized, of course (Imp Midna would be CG anyway) . She could do Imp Midna's voice, thought! And YKYPZTMW you keep putting an "a" after you type "Imp" :P

Malon - Jewel Staite
Her role in Firefly and Serenity was pretty much just a more mechanically and sexually inclined version of Malon XD

Shad - Sean Maher
He can play the nerdy guy hanging out with the warrior-types. Also, I'm trying to fit all the actors from Firefly into this, so sue me!

So yeah, that's all I can think of right now. Now let's hear your thoughts on the matter, damn it! *shakes fist like an old man with kids on his lawn*

Hate to burst the topic's fire here, but they're supposedely making a movie, yet it's not CG. Ganondorf looks like a petifile in the trailer, and Zelda's corny and not-so-hot. They said that it was just a stupid prank, but I'm not sure if it's really coming out on April first or not.


... I hope it isn't.

If you mean this trailer here, then rest assured that it is indeed a prank. To quote from their page:

But if you had the power to make a LoZ movie, what would you do, who would you cast? Alternately, why did that trailer rub you the wrong way?

I would LOVE to see a LoZ movie come out, but I would have to say the only way I can see it being remotely believable is through computer animation/graphics. We have an excellent example of this - "Final Fantasy: Advent Children." Stunning graphics, while expensive, is perfectly achievable.

I would also want professional voice actors in all the roles - I don't want to see a regular movie celebrity in something like that. There is a large difference between voice actors and film actors - both are trained in special ways an in special schools.

Since OoT was such a record-breaker, I think it would be in the best interests of a lot of fans and people new to the series to be introduced to this one first. This one does a better job of explaining things than the original Legend of Zelda did.

I love final fantasy advent children! Best thing EVER! And cloti, or clifa, kicks arclo butt!

Anyway, lol... I found that trailer more of an insult. The dude doesn't look like Link, Zelda looks like a girl dressed up for Halloween, and Ganondorf makes me gag. Well, I can't always trust the internet, but I'm happy it's just a stupid, insulting prank!

It was a prank, yes, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it insulting...

Anyway, if the movie were CG, who would you want to voice the characters?

(sort of a side note, but I think it would be cool if all the spoken dialogue was in Hylian, and then subtitled to suit where it would be released)

I would like an LOZ movie. Preferably anime or CG. Live action runs the risk of being abysmal like a 3rd rate made for Sci Fi channel medieval fantasy movie trash. If it were live action it would have to be at least on an LOTR budget to be remotely successful IMO. Safest bet is anime or CG released on DVD if you ask me. I like the actor suggestions for a live action though.

As for Link being casted, I've heard people suggest Orlando Bloom. IMO this would be disasterous. I prefer an unknown actor to play Link, such as that Justin Hartley guy. As for Link's in movie character..I'm not sure. I mean what can he say besides grunting and sighing?? :huh: I sure as heck don't want him to be like the Link in the cartoon, nor do I want him to be like the awkwardly shy and gentle natured girly man from the OOT/TP games. There should be a middle ground between the cartoon Link and the video game Links IMO.

You know, it's always struck me as odd, how people always seem to assume that Link is incapable of speech. How could he ask people questions if he didn't talk to them? We just never allowed to hear (or read) what Link says because the game developers didn't want to put words into the player's mouthes. For example, in Ordon, before Ilia and the others are taken, Link is shown talking to Ilia while he's riding Epona.
Voice-wise, Midna has had the most recorded dialog, but all of that was gibberish. Navi only said a couple things, but at least we could understand her (even though "Hey! Listen!" did get annoying fast), and Link says, "Come on!" in Wind Waker.


Back to the movie ideas, if I could have my way, I'd like for the movie to be CG (and like others have been saying, on par with Advent Children's graphics), and I'd like very, very much for it to be released in theaters. The LoZ games have always had fantastic music, and to hear that music coming through a theater sound system would be orgasmic. Koji Kondo would have to score the movie because... well, because.

As for who you could get to voice the characters, I'm not too sure. The only one I can think of off the top of my head would be Grey DeLisle to voice Midna.

I'm with you 100% on the CG like Advent Children. But if the Zelda movie were to be anime, I would like it to be better in animation quality than something mediocre like Inuyasha or Bleach. More like an anime style similar to Basilisk at the very least.

Anyway..I was just kidding with Link not speaking. Its just I would prefer Link's personality in a possible movie to be more of an assertive type but not obnoxious like the 80's cartoon Link. But at the same time more bold in his personality than the overly soft spoken and cartoonishly gentle natured OOT and TP Links who are just a little too unmasculine for me to relate to.

This is probably the fangirl in me talking, but if anyone were to make an anime Zelda movie, I'd like it to be Hayao Miyazaki. The land of Hyrule has been as much a central character as Link and Zelda and Ganondorf have been, and Miyazaki is great at bringing life to landscapes as much as he is to people.

I love Miyazaki, but I find his works to be a little too ''personal'' to hand him over the Legend of Zelda.
LoZ is still a product for the mass.
Also, it would be hard to define Link. While some see his OoT/TP version as girly *stares*, I can't help but to see a bold and hard-headed guy behind that guy who likes to gives the ladies puppy-eyes. And some fan(girls) somehow see him as a guy who complains a lot. And others... let's not even go there.
We can all argue all day about what he's really like. I bet there are disagreements about that inside Nintendo's staff too.
Another thing that would be hard is that Link is never really an adult. Even in OoT he's estimated to be 17 years, and I've heard them say he's 16 in TP. (I wish I still had my sources).
Good, handsome, unknown actors of that age are... rare.
CG all the way. Still, they'll need to be careful not to let Advent Children influence too much, especially on the character designs.
I don't want Link to look like a Nippon Pop singer in disguise. Compared to the usual bishounen, he still has that boyish charm. Not as manly as Snake or Kratos, but enough for me. :)
Animation would have to be Miyazaki quality, but like I've said, I think I'll be handing it over to someone who'll somehow stay distant to his work on Zelda. The idea behind a movie won't be to explore the similarities between Hyrule's dark ages and WW2, but to invite more people to buy the Zelda games.

And I'll keep repeating I'll be hating a live-action Zelda. Few people are good looking enough to be Link or Zelda and few are intimidating enough to be Ganondorf.
Plus, I want to see Kokiris.
Child actors... freak me out.
Except one, but he's an adult now.

I don't know much about anime except the basic classics with big robots always fighting and the pretty boy pilots who pilot them and nothing more. But with a LOZ movie I would probably be happy with the average Inuyasha or Bleach style and I will be OK with it. I like the Advent Children idea but as for live action movie I'm not real sure on actor wise and Links personality. At the moment I feel Links personality should be a middle ground between the over aggressive, bad attitude pissing off Zelda all the time in the cartoon and the unusually quietly sweet and gentle Link from OOT/TP. As for an actor for Link in the movie I'm up for an unknown actor to try out. The last Superman movie wasn't that great but that unknown actor who potrayed Superman was allright at least

I think the best portrayal of Link's personality has been in the various mangas. Unlike the games, they delve a bit more into his personality.

And while I do think CG would be best, it would be cool to see a LoZ movie done up in traditional animation. Though most of you seem to want an anime version, I think a version done up in a Western animation style would work too. I mean, just look at the Little Mermaid, Mulan, Pocahontas or Beauty and the Beast!

A Zelda animation movie done in a westernized and traditional Disney/Don Bluth style is a very interesting idea. Never thought about it that way.

I'll vote Don Bluth! Less traditional and friendly than Disney. Also, I've grown on Don Bluth. <3
They know how to mix innocence and darkness, and the way they show violence also makes me think they'll do a better job on Ganondorf and his army of bad evilness than Disney ever would.
Plus, in what I've seen and remember, their characters are a lot more colorful, and threatening/intimidating when they're evil.
And I have that feeling that if Disney took the job, Link would somehow end up speaking about courage and whatnot. o.0 Dude, Link, shut up!

Opinions based on stereotypes. Of course I know both companies don't always follow the same rules.
And I know they were only examples. ;)

There actually is going to be a fan made Zelda movie coming out called the Hero of Time. I think it actually sounds very interesting and I can't wait to see it! The website is called http://www.theherooftime.com/.

Movie Poster? Bwahaha!

Seen it. Well, the serious trailer. Not really up to my taste.
I know it's fanmade and it looks good for a movie with so little budget.

BUT I'm THAT picky.
It's my loss, but I can live with it.

Note: the new (dance) promotional video: was it filmed on crack? Because I love that one.
Octorok power!


I would like Link to stay kinda younger in a real movie/series.

I'm totally up to CGI... I just don't think, with how "timeless" a character Link is, that any real life actor could do him justice. (Yes I'm picky). It would be cool to see a Zelda movie done like Advent Children though. That and I think a Zelda movie would be in better hands with the Japanese OUT of Hollywood's hands...

But for the dub translation... I'd TOTALLY love to hear Sean Connery do Ganondorf's voice! 8D

But I would also love to see an anime adaptation of one of the mangas (probably Ocarina of Time), because...well, that would be just plain awesome.

NO Zelda movie should EVER be made. There are so many reasons I believe this... but to simplify things, I'll just say that a Zelda movie would destroy what makes the games so great. Everyone sees and interprets the games differently, so no movie will be able to recreate more than one person's vision of Zelda.

Did that make sense? It's late, and I'm food-deprived.

Live action should be made with a decent budget that is better than Sci Fi channel medieval fantasy trash. I'm cool with CGI or anime. But the anime should be higher quality than Inuyasha or Bleach IMO. More like Basilisk and an anime Zelda movie would be perfect. As for the characterization of Link? Well IMO there should be a middle ground between the in game Link who is an over polite and obedient follower personality and the more traditional male hero who does what he wants when he wants and doesn't need fairies or royalty controlling his every decision all the time. Yes a middle ground between these extremes would be ideal for Link's character/personality.

The manga was cool, but compared to others out there it's pretty forgettable if you haven't played (and enjoyed) the game.

:yay: V
http://coelasquid.deviantart.com/art/Brawl...-thing-85283760

MalonsLover:
I agree with you on the Sci-Fi channel thing (I want to hit'em), but not on Link.
I don't see the in-game Link the same way you do.
Especially the follower commentary.
He's too trusty for his own good, but no one's in front of him to guide his way.
Can't follow anyone when there's nobody to follow.
He's a loner that's too selfless for his own good.
Fairies, well... that was really intended for the player, and Link got in the way. Royalty controlling his decisions... Last time I checked, Zelda -asked- him for his help, and the reason we couldn't refuse is because, well, it would end the game. We still had the option to say no.
There was no control, just a common goal and a single way to accomplish it. One knew how, the other didn't. One had to hide for the sake of her people, the other had nothing to lose.


Too many heroes are selfish nowadays IMO.
Hollywood will either follow the recipe of a LoTR and make Link WAY too ''innocent Hobbit in constant fear'' or the recipe of ''insert whinny(sp?) teenager here that'll only save the world because of either 1- revenge 2-he eventually sees the light through a hot girl''.
Tired of teen angst and revenge *shoves revenge down the trash can* is one of the most overused plot excuses out there. If LoZ needs anything added, it has to be something out of the ordinary, not something that'll make any non-player say ''it's a soup of stereotypes: chosen one saves the girl and avenges his father''.
No!

Link's really innocent but he's not in constant fear either. A lot of times he has a confident stare that makes some players think he's actually fearless (they tend to forget other moments which can prove them otherwise, though).
Anyways, all in all, he has a spine. He can and will stand up, looking tall and proud. It's just he thinks anything human (or human looking) can be trusted.

He fights for the others, innocent in the way that he believes everyone he sees until proven otherwise (also, I believe he LIKES jumping into traps :blink: ). He doesn't just beat the bad guy and go home to smell the roses. He walks on in order to help others and see the world.

If they do anything, it'll surely be about OoT. Or a completely new story that'll be a mix between the original LoZ, ALttP and OoT.

Agreeing with Crystal. I do fear that their vesion of Link could be taken as an official statement, thus disappointing a large fanbase.
In this very forum we can't even agree on what Link is using the same in-game events. :lol:

Last note, remembering the April's Fool trailer of IGN:
Zelda should not, EVER shine like that.
She looked shiny in TP but she wasn't a Goddess. Grr, roar.

I generally agree with you. Its just I don't see Link as a more traditional male hero leader type like Beowulf, Achilles, Leonidas ect ect. In game Link is the polar opposite personality wise from these guys, hence OOT & TP Link both seem to have a personality more associated with a follower and not a bold and assertively well spoken leader type. So I am not talking about Link being a follower in a LITERAL sense as you suggested, but more with something commonly associated with his personality type.

Bottom line I don't want IN GAME OOT/TP Link in a movie and would actually prefer a more bold and assertive type personality, and as a guy it would be more easier for me to identify with. When it comes to the Zelink, I really don't want the fangirly friendly quietly sweet and obedient in game Link. Mainly because on the big screen he would probably come off as a comical wind up doll/pet ornament for Zelda that commercial audiences would probably laugh at and only the Link fangirls will be the only ones going AAAWWWW Link is SOOOOO SWEET. :zelink:

Aah! I see what you mean. Ditto, ditto.