References to Adventure Games in Movies/TV

[TerranRich]

I had what I thought was a reference in "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People". At one point I thought Simon Pegg's character mentioned Laura Bow, but in fact he said "Clara Bow". Then it dawned on me... have there been any references to adventure games in movies or television?

[evenwolf]

With the obvious exception of Pirates of the Caribbean.... no?

I would bank on there being references in independent films that will never see the light of day.   Surely *some* character in film history has been compared to Leisure Suit Larry.

[GarageGothic]

I think the genre, even in its heyday, is too obscure to make for a successful pop-culture reference. The only thing that comes to mind is the adventure game the kid in 'Big' plays before turning into Tom Hanks, but I'm pretty sure that was mocked up for the film - they totally got the nonsensical puzzles right, though ("Use thermal pod with wizard", wtf?)

Edit: Of course there's also the 'Maniac Mansion' TV sitcom that had absolutely nothing to do with the game beyond the character names.

[TerranRich]

I totally forgot about the game in "Big". I always wondered whether that was a real game or not. Most likely made up for the movie. Just like how "Fake-intosh" OS's appear in movie computers.

[evenwolf]

YEAH!  THE WIZARD COMES AND FREEZES THE DUDE.  I always wanted to play that!    Good call!    


(was it a text parser?)

[evenwolf]

Gentlemen and gentlemanly ladies - I bring to you "The Cavern of the Evil Wizard"!!!!


http://www.bomtoons.com/biggame.html


It WAS a fake game but someone made this homage.

[GarageGothic]

Woohoo. That's totally awesome, evenwolf. Thank you! (am feeling slightly weirded out that I knew the solution though, my ability to remember details of 1980s films is uncanny - and I'm *so* getting bunk beds, a soda machine and a trampoline when I grow up!)

[Igor Hardy]

Never liked that movie (or Tom Hanks for that matter). But after hearing this it's rehabilitated in my eyes.

[Anian]

Never liked that movie (or Tom Hanks for that matter). But after hearing this it's rehabilitated in my eyes.

What? Who the f*** doesn't love Tom Hanks? Why? He's like the most unannoying actor ever.   (and just to be clear, I don't like all of his movies, but generally he seems like a decent guy)

EDIT: well after googling a bit it seems among "the haters" are some people who take DaVinci Code a bit too seriously and Mormons in Califorina (the prop 8 thing)...and some Facebook members, but they kind of have trouble with spell checking.


onT: nah, can't really remeber an adventure game being mentioned anywhere.

[GarageGothic]

To be fair, I did feel a bit of Tom Hanks overexposure during the 90's, especially with all the romantic comedy stuff. After Forrest Gump I'd had enough of him for a long while. Not that I dislike the film, but shut the fuck up about that box of chocolates already. So I never even got around to seeing Cast Away or Apollo 13.

Felt the same way about Johnny Depp during the 2000's, there just was no way of avoiding those moody eyes and wacky accents. He's a great actor, and I adore him in Ed Wood, but please stop plastering his pretty boy face in every single movie just to sell tickets. From Hell, really? A gruff, middle-aged police inspector in Victorian England? Hey, what about we cast Johnny Depp and make the character an opium addicted psychic with a romantic gypsy look? WTF!

I think I'll better stop now before I get started on Russel Crowe...

[Stupot]

If anyone get's stuck on that Big game, the song at the end is basically the walkthrough.

[Igor Hardy]

To be fair, I did feel a bit of Tom Hanks overexposure during the 90's, especially with all the romantic comedy stuff. After Forrest Gump I'd had enough of him for a long while. Not that I dislike the film, but shut the fuck up about that box of chocolates already. So I never even got around to seeing Cast Away or Apollo 13.

That's what happened to me I guess, but the turn off effect is permanent. Now that I think about it, I actually used to like watching him during the early 90s. Enjoyed Forrest Gump back then too. Always disliked Big though. And interestingly enough I still respect Hanks as a good actor (if that sort of evaluation makes any sense in case of a Hollywood star). However, at this point his roles from Gump, Big, Sleepless in Seatle and a couple more roles combine in my mind into something that makes me sick and I avoid watching films that he stars in.

And that's about all I can say in this Hanks off-top. Also, a great majority of Western pop culture, especially the recent one isn't particularly meaningful in my life, so when I casually say I don't like this popular actor or that popular movie, or consider all Harry Potter books to be pretty much on the same level, I find it rather weird people find such opinions provocative and start discussing them.

[Anian]

Well I wasn't starting a discussion I was just surpirsed, that's all. Maybe it came off sounding like was provoked, but it was purley surprise.

[thecatamites]

- Larry Bird is seen playing Police Quest II when he's introduced in "Space Jam", however the movie depicts him completing a puzzle which was not actually in the game, leading to speculation that there was a leaked alternate or beta verson (the 'Space Jam Variant').

- An episode of the "Dinosaurs" sitcom shows Baby playing a prehistoric adventure game made of bones.

- In "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", Will Smith derides the sexual performance of an old white man by comparing him to Guybrush Threepwood.

- Direct-to-video horror film "Arcade" involves a haunted computer arcade where actions in the games occur in the real world (e.g. causing Pac-Man to eat a ghost makes a real life Pac-Man eat a small child). One sequence involves the fictitious adventure game DoomQuest; the command "Use Card With Man" leads to a bystander being fatally stabbed with flying cards.

- In "Robocop III", Robocop's visor interface is actually a modified SCUMM engine.

[Stupot]

I know this is well off topic, but just wanted to chip in... sorry Terran.

To be fair, I did feel a bit of Tom Hanks overexposure during the 90's, especially with all the romantic comedy stuff.

His post-Gump career has been much better than all that 90s rubbish...  basically everything from Saving Priavte Ryan to The Terminal was his prime era methinks... that includes The Green Mile, Cast Away and Catch Me If You Can... all really good films in my book.

I think the reason people got irritated by him was because he wasn't giving anyone else a chance at the Oscars.

@thecatamite - nice one, did you look those up somewhere or do you just have awesome memory?

[GarageGothic]

Screw you, thecatamites, now I have to watch Space Jam and Robocop III after a decade of avoiding them like the plague

Very impressive finds, I must say! Surprised that the Fresh Prince would even know about Monkey Island, though. Just seems so... uncool - maybe he walked in on Carlton playing it. That Arcade movie sounds awesome, have to track that down somehow.

@Stupot, yeah I did watch most of his more recent stuff. The Terminal and Road to Perdition were probably the highlights (in terms of him as an actor, most of his performances are quite bland even if the movies themselves are good).

[thecatamites]

It was a joke! You don't have to sit through Space Jam

[IndieBoy]

There is always that scene in Red Dwarf with Kryten's hand crawling up Lister's leg, although adventure games were just mentioned in general and not a specific game reference.

[DeviantGent]

Well, Zork is a significant plot device throughout Chuck, particularly the pilot and flashbacks - the series McGuffin is encoded in a fan-version that the main character worked on in his college years.

[evenwolf]

the catamites:   hahaha, you had me fooled as well. those were awesome


Regarding Chuck:  I tried to watch that awful show once.  Don't make me sad by telling me it relates to adventure games.