Review Fix Exclusive: Talks Luke Owen Talks Lights, Camera, GAME OVER!

Review Fix chats with author Luke Owen, who discusses his new book, “Lights, Camera, GAME OVER!” which discusses in-depth the process behind the creation process Video Game-inspired films.

Review Fix: What inspired this book?

Luke Owen: I had the idea back in 2010, as it was the sort of book I would have wanted to read. I then started doing a lot of research into Super Mario Bros. and its production history, and was fascinated by the whole situation! Sadly other things got in the way, but on a holiday with my wife I read Blake J. Harris’ Console Wars which had a section on the Super Mario Bros. movie. It brought back all of that research I’d done and I wanted to read and learn more. That led me to learn about Steven De Souza’s troubles on Street Fighter and Simon West’s issues on Tomb Raider – and I just had to write something!

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself and the industry through this book?

Owen: I learned I could write a book – which I didn’t think I could do! As for the industry, I learned that a lot of bad movies still have good intentions behind them. Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel didn’t set out to make a bad Super Mario Bros. movie, or one that was a blackmark on the game’s franchise, but circumstances beyond their control led to the movie we know and love today. It’s also fascinating to hear from filmmakers about the perception of video games and why the deviate from the source material so often. As game lover I thought I would disagree, but their logic always makes a lot of sense!

Review Fix: What makes it different from other gaming books?

Owen: This is a topic no one has broached to this degree before. No one has sat down with these filmmakers and asked these questions. I hope that the title lives up to the book, it explains how these movies got made.

Review Fix: What was your research process like?

Owen: Tough and long. I did interviews for around 18 months and wrote the book at the same time. Because no one has written about these films in this level of detail, I had to dig deep and trawl through Internet history to find articles, reviews and press releases from the time periods. Finding those Variety articles from 1999 was quite a jubilant moment! Speaking with the filmmakers and reading earlier drafts of movies was also a great thrill.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone buy this book?

Owen: If you’ve played a video game and wondered why the movie version is so different, this book will explain why. You may not agree with the process, but it will give you a deeper understanding about the choices made. It’s also got some great anecdotes and unreleased stories about the productions of live-action movies for Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man and Metroid!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Owen: I’ve got a couple of projects in the pipeline. Nothing I can divuldge here, but I’m really excited about a couple of them.

Review Fix: Where can people go for more information on you?

Owen: You can find out more at www.thisislukeowen.com.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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