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Adventure! RPG - Quinessential Adventure! Movies


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So with Sky Captain coming out soon, I was thinking about what movies are great examples of pulp and inspirations (no pun intended) for Adventure!. Here's what I've got so far:

Indiana Jones Trilogy

Both of the Mummies

The Shadow

The Phantom

The Transporter

All of the Star Wars movies (Lucas based it on pulp)

Any other ideas?

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Ah crap, I might've not known about the Doc Savage movie (and Doc Savage is the quinessential pulp character and one half of Max Mercer), but I do know about this one and I'm ashamed for forgeting it, especially in the light of how much of a ripoff of Doc Savage it is:

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

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Oh fucking please, give me some goddamn credit before throwing a hissy fit. I understand completely that it was supposed to be a comedy. I knew that from step fucking one. It was a comedy that sucked. There was poor casting choices, mugging for the camera, bad timing, and more overacting than in all three Evil Dead films without any of Campbell's panache.

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Not necessarily pulp, but great Inspiration for Adventure!, would be Big Trouble in Little China. Much excellent Inspiration to be found in that movie, despite it's quite obvious non-pulpiness.

Pulp's antecedents include most action films as well, and Hong Kong Action films carry Pulp's flame as well. There are a lot of very good Asian films which, while not emulating pulp that well, provide a lot of Inspiration for the kind of cool things that Pulp Heroes should be able to do.

Also, Many of the older Bond Films definitely wear their Pulp influences on their sleeve, and I'm adamant that Bond is merely a Daredevil with most of the Heroic Knacks...

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Quote:
Originally posted by Sakurako Hino:
I'd have to second Remo Williams. My favorite action movie of the early 80's.

Put it in the 1920's, and you'd have a heck of a time!
Remo Williams works, especially since it was based in part on the earlier parts of the "Destroyer" Series.

Later on, Remo starts doing some things that are incredible even for pulp.

(definitely a stalwart).

Anyway, I love Remo. And Chiun. Chiun rules.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Ok, I'm looking for two films and I can't remember the name. I thought it was Remo Williams but looking at the description on IMDB I think I'm UBER-wrong.

An Andrew-Dice-Clay-type is a Bouncer and ends up fighting ninjas/warriors from the east who are after a magic Lotus flower. He's "very much" from New York (mega-stereotype) and picks up a Japanese Sidekick.

Is Remo Williams the film with the guy learning to dodge bullets and run over wet concrete?

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Anyone remember Dick Tracy?

Not a great film, but sort of the pulpy theme.

Ghost in the Darkness?

Did anyone see Tales of the Golden Monkeyback in the 80s? (oops, showing my age now)

I know it's not a film, but I thought it was worth expanding this to TV - just to give more options and scope.

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  • 1 month later...
Quote:
Originally posted by Alchemist:
Well, since it hasn't made it in here yet:
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Perhaps a bit more epic than Adventure!, but so pulpy that I fell out of my seat laughing. Twice.
[tangent threadjack]More epic than Adventure! ?

I don´t really understand that sentiment - but perhaps that is because I´ve fought zeppelin armadas over the NY skyline, insectoids in the Hollow Earth and even mad Hindu tiger gods - all as commander of my own SHIELD-goes-pulp organization.

The only game that goes more over-the-top with PC choices is Aberrant, in my experience. YMMV, of course.[/tangent threadjack]
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  • 1 year later...
Quote:
Originally posted by Menagerie:
Is Remo Williams the film with the guy learning to dodge bullets and run over wet concrete?
Yes, yes it is. God I love that movie! I went out and bought the DVD...

"Chun, your incredible!"

"No!.....I am better than that."
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  • 9 months later...

the phantom with billy zane is funny but so poor in cinemaography and acting (and some sets are awful, the singh broterhood base for example or the ancient caves) but it has some scenes i really enjoyed.

The shadow with alec baldwin, its far from perfect but i like it, if only this baldwing guy wasn't showing his face too often... but the (telepathically) invisible base, the colorfull villain and the era look are great IMHO.

High Road to China with tom selleck, in this movie you can see why he was chosen for indiana jones role originally. A very good OST.

Buckaroo Banzai... uff that's a weird film, too campy and homorous for me but i like some ideas (i used red lectroids and doctor Masado Banzai in one of my adventure! campaigns)

Hellboy and Hellboy animated, great for more terror oriented adventure!, specially nazi super villains and lovecraftian monstruosities. Althoug it is set in the present time hs deathtraps and spooky places are great for 1920's an 1930's adventures. In my own games i usually add some terror elements and Hellboy's comics are great for visual inspiration.

Corto Maltese, a french animated movie based in a great BD character, Corto Maltese is an adventurer (part time pirate) in a 1900-1920 setting from South Seas to Caribbean to Siberia... the comics are far better than the movie.

Flash Gordon (1980) again it's set in the present and with a low budget. But it's funny and science fiction is adventure too.

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  • 2 months later...

Transporter does have some pulpy goodness in the car chases but the fights are way NOT pulp.

While not a pulpy movie overall the recent Fly Boys has some extremely good aerial combat between WW1 era biplanes. I would think this a good resource for GMs with pilot players, and those same players of pilots!

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  • 5 months later...

Im surprised nobody mentioned Alan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold. Loved that movie when I was a kid.

Also, sombody mentioned Dick Tracey earlier which was a sort of pulp rendered as a four color comic.

I also would nominate Sin City...much more noir than pulp in flavor, I feel it is a good resource due to the larger than life nature of the characters powers.

And of course as an aside, Addventure as a game system works really well with these related genres. Over at Eon ProfPotts was running an awesome homebrew setting in the same vein as Flash Gordon, on an alternate world where the native races were package deal Mesmerists and Stalwarts and daredevil humans had been appearing at random from some trans-dimensional telluric mists...very cool stuff.

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