Overseer and the movie Swordfish

Anyone notice that the two actually have similar plots, at least underlying plots? There's no topless Halle Berry in Overseer of course, but there are SOME similarities :).

At the end of Swordfish, Jackman and Travolta's characters debate whether or not Travolta has the right to "play God", as do Murphy and Gideon.

I always felt that both Gideon and Travolta would have been "playing God" whether they "played God" or not. If you have the power to stop terrorists from killing 10,000 people by killing 50 people in a bank, and you don't do it, you still played God. You "decided" that the 10,000 people would die instead of the 50.

In Gideon's case, sure you could argue that no one person has the right to "influence events in the political arena for good", but again, if Gideon has/develops that power and chooses not to use it, how is that any less playing God?

Personally, I hope I never have to make a choice like that, but I have to believe that the world couldn't possibly be TOO much worse with a guy like Gideon, who was clearly at least TRYING to do the right thing, in control than leaving it up to political parties like Law and Order.

Bottom line, I don't think it's as cut-and-dried an issue as Murphy and Chelsea made it sound.

Thoughts?
I totally agree. The act of putting oneself in a position of power over the lives of others is the act of paying god. Whether or not you decide to act upon a decision that involved the potential life or death of another person, you are still in fact making choices that determines that person's outcome. But then again, if god's goal is to give life/birth to living beings then it cannot be god who we are playing... perhaps we are playing the 'reaper' or 'death'?

-Cub. =o)
So wait a minute... I've grabbed people from stepping in front of a car and I've saved a few people from drowning, among a few other things, are you all trying to say that I've been God for brief moments throughout my life???

I've just never looked at it like that... I just figured I was in the right place at the right time...
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"If you have the power to stop terrorists from killing 10,000 people by killing 50 people in a bank, and you don't do it, you still played God. You "decided" that the 10,000 people would die instead of the 50."

I'd like to see the plot line that somehow connects 50 people in a bank, 10,000 other people and terrorists out to commit genocide on the latter. Plus, why come up with a fake scenario when there are tons of real world ones. Such as...

In a war with an opposing nation, do you fight it out, despite the risk of heavy casualties, or do you drop atomic bombs on their cities to force surrender?

As for their methods, Gideon seemed to want to save the world by controlling people (see post script for note), and Travolta's character seemed to want to save the world by killing terrorists.

And I highly doubt Swordfish and Overseer are the only plot lines involving villains out to play God. But I'm sure there are other similarities. Both feature male protagonists and male antagonists. Both feature a soundtrack and end credits. Very similar movies.

P.S.
It's been years since I've played Overseer and I hated it so much the first time that I don't really want to play it again. That said, I don't really remember what Gideon was up to, what the Overlord system was. Controlling people is my best guess from what I remember Overlord for.
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Vracar wrote:I'd like to see the plot line that somehow connects 50 people in a bank, 10,000 other people and terrorists out to commit genocide on the latter. Plus, why come up with a fake scenario when there are tons of real world ones. Such as...

In a war with an opposing nation, do you fight it out, despite the risk of heavy casualties, or do you drop atomic bombs on their cities to force surrender?

As for their methods, Gideon seemed to want to save the world by controlling people (see
Actually, the 50 people in a bank thing was exactly the plot of Swordfish. Travolta was trying to steal hundreds of millions of dollars to fund his anti-terrorism campaign and if the bank robbery went bad he was prepared to kill bank hostages to be able to get his money.

And you're right, it could absolutely be argued that people who choose to send soldiers across the sea as opposed to dropping the bomb on cities are "playing God".

Gideon wanted to control powerful politicians, judges, etc. to try to bring peace to the world.

And I'm very sorry you didn't like Oversser. The entire series are among my favorites EVER.
Say Vracar, which of the Tex games is your favorite?

-Fred
Pirates, vampires, zombies, ninjas, ghouls, aliens, goblins, monsters, robots, sorcerers, undead, werewolves, demons, mutated dinosaur-cyborgs and those pesky phone salesmen! The shotgun is a one-size-fits-all solution!
Of the two Tex games I played, The Pandora Directive was my favorite. It's also my favorite adventure game...of all time!

Honestly, my only real grievances about Overseer were the massive amount of cd swapping, the technology limitations and Clint Howards bad acting. Two-thirds of my gripes will be solved by downloading the game from GOG.

Then there's the trial and error gameplay, but that seems to make it's way into every genre these days (especially games with quick button pressing sequences).
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As for Clint Howard, do what I did. Incorporate his bad acting into his character's nervous persona. Worked for me.

Also, forgetting it's Clint Howard under that silly makeup helps :lol:

-Fred
Pirates, vampires, zombies, ninjas, ghouls, aliens, goblins, monsters, robots, sorcerers, undead, werewolves, demons, mutated dinosaur-cyborgs and those pesky phone salesmen! The shotgun is a one-size-fits-all solution!
I don't mean to be rude, but why are you both so sure that Clint Howard's acting was "bad"? How do you know that that's not exactly how the director wanted him to play that character, or exactly how he interpreted that the character should be played?

Howard is a veteran professional actor who's been in dozens of movies.

I think that if you consider a programmer (who probably thinks a gym is the original captain of the starship enterprise), much less a genius, then a paranoid scared genius who's watching his friends get bumped off and sticks his neck out to help a PI crack the case - I don't think it's a bit unreasonable to think that's exactly how he'd act.
The whole God thing could also be explained by fate?
David
"I don't mean to be rude, but why are you both so sure that Clint Howard's acting was "bad"?"

Because when I saw him on screen, he sucked. That's why. I don't care how much of a "veteran" he is, or how the director "wanted" him to be, it's just when I see him on screen, he usually sucks. Outside of Appolo 13 that is, but Ron Howard makes anybody look good.
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Clint Howard I can take or leave... His part in Overseer isn't going to turn me off about the game though...

I'm not saying one way or another about his acting ability, but I do know that Clint Howard gets a lot of work because of help from Ron Howard...

It's been so long since I've experienced Overseer that I can't even remember Clint's preformance in it...
The Paved Straight Road, Won't Always Get You Farther Than The Winding Dirt Road...


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In this surprisingly available clip, Clint Howard shows up at 2:05.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqqpvzGF ... re=channel
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That clip wasn't too bad... He plays the Sideshow Freak in a lot of things that he does, unless it happens to be something awesome that Ron is working on and managed to get him a part in, like Apollo for example...

Like I said I can take him or leave him... He's no Tom Hanks or Bruce Willis of course {or CJ :) }, but I wouldn't call him out and out bad either...
The Paved Straight Road, Won't Always Get You Farther Than The Winding Dirt Road...


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*Note, Not All Games Have Been Tested & Therefore May Not Be Listed...
Wow is that the DVD version? I've never seen it in that good quality.

I did always wonder about that guy's acting but then wondered whether it was partly the role being played too.
David