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Midway VFX lead footage shines the light on planned Stranglehold sequel
Before Midway went under in 2009, the studio had already started to pursue a sequel to Stranglehold, itself a sequel to John Woo's 1992 seminal action flick, Hard Boiled. Stranglehold starred Chow Yun-fat, reprising his role as Inspector "Tequila" Yuen who dove around Hong Kong and shot bad guys in slow motion. That's how they police over there, you guys.It turns out Midway had big plans for a sequel to Stranglehold, what VFX lead Sean Lantis says was being "fully rebranded" to appeal to a wider audience than the first game. Lantis says he was in charge of "all visual effects as well as a good portion of the destruction work." What was to be called Gun Runner never made it to production and was still in the early stages when Midway filed for Chapter 11 in 2009, evidenced by the footage in the video above.
Stranglehold film adaptation won't be ready for years
Things have been rough for the film adaptation of Midway and John Woo's 2007 gaming collaboration, Stranglehold. Fans of the 1992 classic action flick Hard Boiled (for which Stranglehold served as a pseudo-sequel) were disappointed to learn that the adaptation would be produced, but not directed, by John Woo. Also, the possible non-involvement of Hard Boiled star Chow Yun-Fat has sullied the excitement of the film's expectant audience.More bad news for fans recently surfaced in an Empire interview with Woo, who explained that the Stranglehold adaptation "won't be ready until years from now." Don't get us wrong -- we love hearing about creators of game-based movies taking their sweet, sweet time with their work, but we're afraid that any further delays could rule out the possibility of Fat's participation. He ain't exactly getting any younger.
Rumor: John Woo's Stranglehold to get the film treatment
We thought we'd seen just about every permutation of Hollywood and the game industry's lascivious intersections: The movie based on the game; the game based on the movie; the game based on the movie based on the game, the game based on the movie based on the graphic novel; the movie sequel to the video game; and the video game sequel to the movie. But what about the movie based on the game, which was a sequel to the movie for which the aforementioned movie based on the game is also a sequel ... to? It's confusing, but it's also Hollywood breaking new ground!According to The Hollywood Reporter, screenwriters Jeremy Passmore and Andre Fabrizio are writing a celluloid adaptation of Stranglehold, Midway's 2007 shooter and sequel to John Woo's classic action film, Hard Boiled. Stranglehold saw players assume the role of inspector "Tequila" Yuen (played on the big screen by Chow-Yun Fat) and generally wage war on treacherous gangs, unstable trolleys, unexpected flocks of doves and especially watermelons. We're awaiting a comment from Midway, but this potential adaptation seems like a great idea, especially with many critics describing the first sequel to Hard Boiled as being just like a movie.[Via /film]
Today's chowiest video: John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat in Stranglehold
So, you know how developers say things like, "Oh yes, Steven Spielberg was very involved in the development of this game" when what they actually mean is "Yeah, we sent a fax to his office and showed him a picture." We've been wondering if that's how involved John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat were with Midway's Stranglehold.Here's video evidence to quell our fears that John Woo's involvement was simply sending a smiley-face emoticon to the development team when they asked him for feedback. Plus, seeing Chow (Mr. Yun-Fat? Fat? CYF?) recording lines for the game and sitting in meetings warms the slow-motion, dove-filled cockles of our hearts.
Stranglehold cover system is a lot like Space Invaders
The latest post in the development blog for John Woo's Stranglehold explains the action game's cover system with a rather ingenious analogy: Space Invaders.More specifically, Senior designer Patrick Curry is describing medium-sized objects (e.g. couches, concrete columns) that you can use for cover and are destructible. "As your cover shrinks Tequila will automatically crouch down to use whatever cover's left," he said, "but in Stranglehold no cover lasts forever." It was lead designer Neill Glancy who came up with the analogy, which explains how gunfire will slowly whittle down cover that either you or your opponents may be using.We know what you're thinking: will you have the cojones to blast through your own cover, just like in Space Invaders? Real-world application of retro gaming skills embedded after the break.
SGD '07: Joystiq hands-on with John Woo's Stranglehold
Click for the full version of the box art. Waiting for John Woo's Stranglehold to hit store shelves is a bit like watching one of his movies; there's a lot of slow-motion, and plenty of bullets and destruction during the wait. We got our hands on the latest build at Sony's recent Gamers Day, and fired thousands of rounds in an effort to see how we were at controlling Chow Yun Fat.Now, if you haven't seen a John Woo film, you need to rush out and rent one right now. Since Hard Boiled, which is the prequel to this game, comes on the Blu-ray disc, we'd recommend The Killer. Both of 'em star Chow Yun Fat, tons of guns, and a lot of over-the-top action. Hong Kong action cinema at it's finest.%Gallery-3187%
PS3's Stranglehold coming with Woo's Hard Boiled in HD
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation_3/PS3s_Stranglehold_coming_with_Woos_Hard_Boiled_in_HD'; Good news for PS3 owners, and a synergistic slap in the face to Xbox 360 lovers: the PlayStation 3 Collectors Edition of John Woo's Stranglehold will have the HD Blu-ray version of his classic film (and Chow Yun-Fat's classic firing-two-guns-whilst-jumping-through-the-air starring role) included on the game disc.Midway had to work out a special deal with the Weinstein's Dragon Dynasty imprint, which owns the rights to John Woo's Chinese-language films. They'll be releasing a new special edition of Hard Boiled sometime later this year under that banner, so this may be the only way you can see the movie in HD for some time.Mind you, the fancy version of Stranglehold will cost you $10 on top of your standard "next-gen" fee, resulting in a steep $70 price tag. No word on special features, or if the disc will play in regular Blu-ray players ... but we'll take our game with a shot of Inspector Tequila. Thank you very much.%Gallery-3187%
Best Special Edition ever? Stranglehold SE exclusive to the PS3
Wow. After years of videogame special editions including nothing more than a making-of DVD or a lame in-game item, Midway Games has decided to up the ante considerably. Included with the exclusive PS3 special edition of Stranglehold is a full-length high-def remastering of John Woo's greatest movie (and Stranglehold prequel), Hard Boiled.A stunning example of 90's Hong Kong cinema, Hard Boiled pretty much put John Woo on the map. Starring Chow Yun Fat as the hardened Hong Kong cop Tequila, the violent action movie has some of the most memorable shoot-outs in the genre. The finale, a 30 minute gun fight in a crowded hospital remains one of the most intense scenes in an action movie to this very day. A classic in every sense of the word, the movie has had a bumpy release history in the US. The DVD has been out of print for many years, and the Criterion Edition will command prices upwards of 100 dollars on eBay. But now, thanks to Midway, for just 10 extra dollars ($70US total), you can get the special edition of Stranglehold with the first ever HD remastering of Hard Boiled. Suddenly, my interest in this game just went from moderate to INSANE. [via blu-ray.com]
John Woo has a Stranglehold on amateur filmmakers
Fans of slow-motion, doves, and people diving through the air whilst firing two guns will be excited to know that Midway is offering you a chance to make your own John Woo-esque Stranglehold short film, in exchange for a shot at fortune and glory.The contest opens up on April 30th and runs until June 25th, and the winning film will be hand-chosen by John Woo himself. The winner will get $25,000, have their film shown on Spike TV, a John Woo signed Hard Boiled movie poster, and have bragging rights in future geek trivia contests.Check out the details here so you can start storyboarding your short. Bonus points if you happen to know Chow Yun Fat and can get him to star in your flick.
Chow Yun-Fat, John Woo push Stranglehold back
Ring Out! Loser, Strangehold. Punishment: delay from 2006 release until first quarter 2007! That's another launch title for the PS3 getting knocked back a step, but at least it wasn't an exclusive. There hasn't been any comment by Midway other than the arbitrary release date change. Should we be concerned about another title being pushed farther from the PS3's launch? Especially one that garnered a lot of praise at E3? Maybe. It's not an exclusive launch title, but it was still slated primarily for the PS3. The number of launch titles are dwindling... a few more and yes, it will be a concern. What's the point of a system without any great games? Sounds familiar... Oops! Backwards compatibility. Sure, the games won't be next-gen, but they're no less awesome. At least there will be something to play other than Blu-ray movies when it first comes out, worst case scenario.What's Strangehold, you ask? Ever see the John Woo movie series, "Hard Boiled"? It's like that. Sort of a follow-up to the movies with John Woo starring in the game and Chow Yun-Fat also starring as a fellow aptly named "Inspector Tequila". Hopefully there will be a bar brawl with such promising names.
