Video game movies are almost always terrible. This is an accepted truth of Hollywood, and German director Uwe Boll has done his best to ensure that it stays that way.
Now, Boll is taking part in a YouTube video series where he reads and responds to really nasty tweets and Facebook messages directed at him. Naturally, most people choose to target their maliciousness at Boll’s filmography, which includes such non-gems as BloodRayne, Alone in the Dark, and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. Boll’s movies regularly earn less than 5-percent positive reviews on the criticism-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, but the director is unapologetic and confrontational when it comes to his work. In fact, when one person asked him why he made so many video game movies, Boll responded with a variety of D-words that are not suitable for work.
Boll, in German (we had the native German speakers over at ESL confirm the YouTube translation for us), spelled out exactly how he feels about the people who make games. He told his YouTube audience that developers and publishers are “pathetic little dipshits.”
The director referred to World of Warcraft developer Blizzard, Dungeon Siege studio Gas Powered Games, and Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft as “douchebags” and “dickheads.”
That’s right. The man responsible for Postal thinks he is above gaming.
Boll has directed more than 10 film adaptations of video games, but clearly that’s not because he has any affinity for the medium. In the video, he said that he’s never even played a game and that he doesn’t give a “piss” about them.
If you’re wondering why Boll made so many game-related movies if he dislikes them so vehemently, he explains it’s because they make money.
According to film-industry website Box Office Mojo, Boll’s five highest-grossing movies are all game adaptations. That includes House of the Dead at No. 1 for Boll with $13.8 million worldwide. The director says he uses that money to make other films like the violent revenge flick Assault on Wall Street, the Holocaust docudrama Auschwitz, and the ax-murderer horror film Blackwoods.
Check out more of what Boll has to say in the full video below: