Shadow of the Colossus cameo in new Sandler, Cheadle flick

19 Comments by James Ransom-Wiley Jan 31st 2007 6:45PM
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 2, Action, Adventure

GameBump spotted this Shadow of the Colossus appearance in a trailer for the upcoming Adam Sandler drama Reign Over Me, which also stars Don Cheadle. So does Fumito Ueda's wonderful PlayStation 2 epic play a significant role in the plot? Probably not. Still, that a major Hollywood production would opt to use a game that is not easily recognizable to a mainstream audience is significant enough.

Unfortunately, the cameo, as framed by the trailer, is pinned to the old stereotype that when guys get to playing video games they neglect more important obligations (okay, sometimes we do), but the usage of Shadow of the Colossus also ties into an overarching maturation of the games industry; one that is forcing mainstream perception to shifts its view and embrace the critical impact games have on many adult lives. Nice work, Mr. Binder.

[Thanks, Aaron]

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Tags: Adam Sandler, AdamSandler, Don Cheadle, DonCheadle, Film, Fumito Ueda, FumitoUeda, Movie, PS2, Reign Over Me, ReignOverMe, Shadow of the Colossus, ShadowOfTheColossus

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Jonah Falcon: Jan 31st 2007; 6:56PM

Unfortunately, various reports are this is Sandler's worst film ever.

dvdguy: Jan 31st 2007; 7:03PM

William Sadler?

RogueJedi86: Jan 31st 2007; 7:05PM

At least the writers(or Sandler) knew how to play the game. Stabbing the wings are indeed 2/3 of the way you kill that colossus. Looks like someone did their research.

azfar: Jan 31st 2007; 7:13PM

wow... surprising! i luuuurve SotC, but when you hear video games and movies in one sentence, you think big boobs, big guns, and big explosions, but i never expected big monsters. but, i'm not expecting much from the movie itself, i'm not exactly a huge adam sandler fan.

J RoD: Jan 31st 2007; 7:24PM

I loved that game. I was a big fan of Ico when that came out too, and S.O.T.C. was even better. It's rare for me to play a game straight through until I finish it. I hope Sony brings another game from this series to the PS3.

Josh: Jan 31st 2007; 7:36PM

I heard there's some kids playing SOTC in 'The Pursuit of Happyness' also

Plaid: Jan 31st 2007; 7:43PM

I saw a preview screening of this film seven or so months ago. SOTC does play a sizeable role. Sandler's character plays the game a lot as a way of escaping reality.

SymetriX: Jan 31st 2007; 8:14PM

Wow that game really does look good--I saw the first picture and thought it was a live-action recreation of the game or something.

interbauersilentleges: Jan 31st 2007; 8:19PM

nice to see hollywood isnt cheadling up SotC

Aaron: Jan 31st 2007; 8:25PM

"I heard there's some kids playing SOTC in 'The Pursuit of Happyness' also"

That movie takes place in the 1970s. So..... no.

MJ: Jan 31st 2007; 8:52PM

Well it should have been clear that Sandler was going for serious after Click, the first half being typical and the second being more emotional. I think maybe he wants to become a serious acter now.
And that game is one of my favourites ever.

Pyronite: Jan 31st 2007; 9:04PM

He's already made a few well-received serious films before this.

Josh: Jan 31st 2007; 10:02PM

"That movie takes place in the 1970s. So..... no."

Yup, I misread the wiki article. The guy saw the trailer for this movie while watching Pursuit of Happyness"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Shadow_of_the_Colossus#Shown_in_a_movie

Wraith: Jan 31st 2007; 10:59PM

Adam Sandler as Bob Dylan...

For a serious role, he seems to be using his "little kid" voice.

Nice to see an arty game in a major motion picture, rather than the usual sports games, shooters and Mario.

"Well it should have been clear that Sandler was going for serious after Click, the first half being typical and the second being more emotional. I think maybe he wants to become a serious acter now."

"He's already made a few well-received serious films before this."

Most notably Punch Drunk Love.

Figboy: Jan 31st 2007; 11:40PM

I don't think it has anything to do with Hollywood accepting games, as it has to do with the fact that Sony owns Columbia Pictures (they also do the Spider-Man movies), and Adam Sandler seems to be a big gamer.

When asked what video game his character would likely play, Sandler probably offered up Shadow of the Colossus, and it's not like Sony would pass up a chance to pimp one of their own titles, so they agreed.

If Sandler is indeed a fan of SOTC, my respect for him has risen greatly.

chris: Jan 31st 2007; 11:47PM

Intriguing, but it might just be no more than a coincidence they chose SotC instead of - say - World of Warcraft. Or Everquest. Or Pokemon (Adam Sandler playing Pokemon for escapism, lol)

I made a huge-ass argument in the Bioshock trash talking article about Shadow of the Colossus and don't feel like repeating myself. ;/ Essentially, it's the right path the game industry should move toward. Gameplay with additional meaning.

Ruan: Feb 1st 2007; 12:04AM

I think we should just be happy with some mature game references. Anyone remember the two-player FFVIII?

Saneless: Feb 1st 2007; 10:59AM

"Unfortunately, various reports are this is Sandler's worst film ever."

No way.. that's just not possible.

And I saw the game in the trailer for this when I first saw Pursuit of Happyness.. I was like, wow, I know that game :)

DonsSword: Feb 2nd 2007; 12:09PM

It's possible the game plays directly into the plot, or at least its choice is meant to. The movie focuses on the life of a man who lost his wife and kids Sept 11th, and his subsequent denial of his life prior to Sept 11th, as he avoids facing his loss. As I saw the preview, and wrestled with watching Sandler attempt another dramatic role -- I was struck by how appropriate a choice SotC was, relative to the movie's subject matter or dead loved ones.

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