What's better: the resulting movie or George A. Romero's original screenplay?

[Bran]

Something I thought I'd add.... Romero's draft is not formatted to industry standards (since Romero is an independent filmmaker obvious) but if one were to change it to such (from font 10 to font 12) the size of the script jumps to roughly 113 pages. There'd be some other formatting issues, but I'd wager about 110-113 pages is more accurate of a pages count. It gives a better pacing to the script, and shows that his film would have been closer to 2 hours in length, rather than the 90-100 minutes from the original formatting. It doesn't feel as brisk then.

 

[bSTAR_182]

As much as I love to hate the actual movies we have, I felt like Romero's script was an ok fanfiction attempt... heh

Its like you want to like it because the man is known for his zombie flicks, but Idk I just wasn't really feeling it either. I did really like the fact that he cared enough to actually feature the real characters from the games though. The characters are kind of what set the Resident Evil series apart from other zombie movies/games/shows. So with that alone I do wish that they would have gone with Romero.

 

[Jude@Fjackets]

thee screenplay without a doubt

 

[Jude@Fjackets]

Romero's... even though his films have been sh!t lately.

People seem to forget that the Romero script released was only his first draft. It probably would have gotten alot better if he gotten a chance to flush it out further and do more drafts.

hahahahah looks amazing!

 

[idsaturn]

It's not bad but there are also many things I don't like. For exemple he made Barry an African-American, Chris wasn't part of S.T.A.R.S etc., these are too important changes from the game.

 

[KevinStriker]

It's not bad but there are also many things I don't like. For exemple he made Barry an African-American, Chris wasn't part of S.T.A.R.S etc., these are too important changes from the game.

They still could have rewritten the script rather than throw it all away and fire Romero. It was a first draft, after all.

 

[brendankeogh]

I remembering read the first draft of George a Romero script and I remembered how accurate it is to the original game, it feature a lot of moments from the game and the creatures. It was only a first draft a lot of improvement could have been made in the second and third draft.

 

[KevinStriker]

If I recall, the biggest changes made in the script were:

• Jill and Chris's relationship was romantic, rather than platonic
• Jill and Chris were living together in Jill's apartment
• Chris was not a member of S.T.A.R.S. but a Native American fisher
• Barry Burton was black (meaning Kenneth might have looked like Barry)
• Ada Wong made an appearance as a scientist

That's just off the top of my head. But if they changed those in a second draft, George A. Romero's Resident Evil would be a downright faithful adaptation.

 

[brendankeogh]

If I recall, the biggest changes made in the script were:

• Jill and Chris's relationship was romantic, rather than platonic
• Jill and Chris were living together in Jill's apartment
• Chris was not a member of S.T.A.R.S. but a Native American fisher
• Barry Burton was black (meaning Kenneth Baker might have looked like Barry)
• Ada Wong made an appearance as a scientist

That's just off the top of my head. But if they changed those in a second draft, George A. Romero's Resident Evil would be a downright faithful adaptation.

Dude you nailed it, it could have been fantastic.

 

[brendankeogh]

Here is a video that looks at George A Romero vision for the Resident Evil movie.

 

[Mako Crab]

Is this the Romero script where Wesker was pulled out of an insane asylum to lead the mission, Barry was a short order cook, Chris was a farmboy, & he had zombies wearing sunglasses just to be tongue-in-cheek?
(This is all based on a synopsis of his script that I read years ago in an issue of GamePro).
If so, then I'm content with the resulting movie.

I'd still love it if they adapted the story of the first game one day, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Bran]

Is this the Romero script where Wesker was pulled out of an insane asylum to lead the mission, Barry was a short order cook, Chris was a farmboy, & he had zombies wearing sunglasses just to be tongue-in-cheek?
(This is all based on a synopsis of his script that I read years ago in an issue of GamePro).
If so, then I'm content with the resulting movie.

I'd still love it if they adapted the story of the first game one day, but I'm not holding my breath.

No, that is the draft by Alan B. McElroy (Spawn).

There are roughly 5 or so various scripts for the first movie, with at least one draft per.

McElroy draft

Unconfirmed draft: There was a report about a draft circling where Umbrella cured all diseases, but then created the T-Virus and held the world hostage for the cure. This may have been bull****, or it may have been part of the McElroy script.

Romero draft: possibly more than one draft. Unconfirmed, but I think Romero himself may have mentioned more than one draft as he attempted to meet the studio's ever-changing criteria. One movie site years ago had a review of a supposed 2nd draft, where Chris was now a member of S.T.A.R.S.

Unknown draft: Only things known about it are that only zombies and the Tyrant are featured, and only Chris and Jill survive, with the various red shirts being picked off one by one in the mansion. In this draft, dead bodies are everywhere, and they uncover that the corpses are used to create the T-Virus.

Anderson draft: the one online, and the missing Shooting Script. Anderson's first draft has a number of differences and is superior to the final film. (He tends to cut material from scripts to water them down into "popcorn flicks".

 

[slack]

No, that is the draft by Alan B. McElroy (Spawn).

....
Anderson draft: the one online, and the missing Shooting Script. Anderson's first draft has a number of differences and is superior to the final film. (He tends to cut material from scripts to water them down into "popcorn flicks".

What kind of differences?

Why he would willingly choose to water down the movie and cut good material seems kinda demeaning not only to himself and his profession but also to the movie-goers and the fans of the series. That's an awful move regardless if it was his or the studio's decision.

 

[Agent Spike]

Yup, definitely Romero's script. It has the Resident Evil vibe which the movie we got didn't.

lol I still remember when I saw Alice and saying to my friend: " Oh look, Jill!" then when other characters called her Alice, we knew the movie was going to be bad.

 

[Bran]

What kind of differences?

Why he would willingly choose to water down the movie and cut good material seems kinda demeaning not only to himself and his profession but also to the movie-goers and the fans of the series. That's an awful move regardless if it was his or the studio's decision.

He has a habit of that. Mortal Kombat, Soldier, and Event Horizon all had more material that were cut for budgetary reasons. I presume it was the same for Resident Evil.

Biggest changes I can think of from memory, were Rain and DJ have switched roles, with DJ being the soldier that survives to the climax and becoming a zombie, and Rain being torn apart in the first action sequence. There is an extended scene where Alice goes through the mansion gardens following a shadow and coming upon a man on a bench only to realize its a statue (this is where Alice would meet Matt). The second zombie encounter in the underground, the team is riding a golf cart thing. The climatic battle with the Licker takes place on a platform elevator (like in Resident Evil 2). In fact, it seems like he just used the labs from RE2 as a basis for the movie. There is probably more as well.

 

[Bran]

Oh, I also forgot a few things.

The White Queen (from Extinction) is in the script.

As above, Alice goes through the mansion's garden area, which gives this tense scene not too different (in my mind) to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

The biggest cut, and one I lament, is that at the beginning, the Umbrella team believes that Matt caused the biohazard, and it has several times that Alice and the team treat him as an actual prisoner. As the story continues, Alice's connection to Spence slowly wanes and she becomes attached to Matt (like the movie), until the big twist where Spence was the one that caused the accident. It added some depth to the story. Not much, but some.

And I can't remember, but I think originally the giant containers in the storage room (where the Licker comes from) originally were more transparent, allowing us glimpses at various video game monsters.

 

[Bran]

Is this the Romero script where Wesker was pulled out of an insane asylum to lead the mission, Barry was a short order cook, Chris was a farmboy, & he had zombies wearing sunglasses just to be tongue-in-cheek?
(This is all based on a synopsis of his script that I read years ago in an issue of GamePro).
If so, then I'm content with the resulting movie.

I'd still love it if they adapted the story of the first game one day, but I'm not holding my breath.

Another thing that has gone on for years across the internet, is the suggestion that Romero was making the zombies wear sunglasses and other crazy ideas. To my knowledge, there is only one scene where a zombie is wearing "eye glasses" (the prescription count), which is used to add details to an otherwise plain scientist zombie. As Chris fights it off, the glasses scrape back the skin on the cheek, revealing muscle. It was used for good effect. I have no idea where the "sunglasses" rumor came from, but I know it's been on the net for at least 16 years....

 

[Venomous Oddball]

I feel like the Romero script had potential, but it was kind of... weird.
I think if they'd just kept the movies in their own story without bringing in things from the games they would've been better since Alice ended up taking over the roles of characters from the games. When they put in the game characters, they were basically robbed of their roles and their personalities changed, in some cases personalities are just not there at all. Anderson's movies could've maybe even fit into the canon if they didn't bring in plot points from the games. I think they should have continued with that route and then create spin-offs or something to follow the game's plots more.

 

[KevinStriker]

I feel like the Romero script had potential, but it was kind of... weird.

It was a first draft, I can't stress that enough to people.
Capcom could have asked Romero to change things to be a little more faithful to the game, but instead they fired him because they didn't like his screenplay treatment.

 

[Venomous Oddball]

It was a first draft, I can't stress that enough to people.
Capcom could have asked Romero to change things to be a little more faithful to the game, but instead they fired him because they didn't like his screenplay treatment.

I'm aware of that. I just find so much of the script weird, even for a first draft.