Not to be confused with The Borderlands (2013), which is a terrifying found-footage movie that’s worth a watch. Borderlands (2024) is an upcoming sci-fi action movie based on a video game series of the same name that was originally released in 2009. It was followed by two direct sequels, Borderlands 2 in 2012 and Borderlands 3 in 2019, with another installment titled Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel in 2014.
Why is it only now getting a movie? That would be because this film has been in the works for almost a decade. Starting development in 2015, the CEO of Gearbox (the game’s developers) pitched a Borderlands movie that would exchange hands between producers, writers, and directors for years before finally being accepted by Eli Roth to direct and Craig Mazin to write, although he would eventually leave the project as well. Nevertheless, filming for the hopeful blockbuster would start in 2021 and finish a year later.
Starring some big names like Cate Blanchett, Jaime Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart, and Gina Gershon, the movie revolves around Blanchett's character, a space witch named Lilith, being hired to find a missing girl on the dangerous planet of Pandora and enlisting the help of other mercenaries to get the job done.
If you’re familiar with the source material, this story is a large departure from the original plot of bounty hunters looking for a famous vault home to countless treasures. By pulling characters from different games together to stitch up their plot, the film makers are attempting to craft a unique story in the same setting as the games.
Seemingly relying on stardom, time will tell whether this approach will help give the movie’s story more substance since the original Borderlands game was not lauded as a masterpiece in storytelling. Rather, it made millions of dollars and spawned multiple sequels due to its gameplay, unique design, loot system, and outrageous comedy.
What’s so special about this decade-old game?
When most first-person shooters (FPS) were gritty, dark, and tonally serious, Borderlands made waves for being outlandish with its colorful comic-book graphics and crude writing, which was filled to the brim with jokes and gags heavily influenced by 2000s internet culture.
Borderlands was also unique in that it was an FPS but also a role-playing game in which you picked one of four characters to play as and upgraded their skills and abilities as you progressed.
Playing solo or with friends, you could take missions across the open world of Pandora, fighting bandits, mercenaries, psychos, and the endemic life that all wanted you dead. Your main source of weaponry? GUNS!
Pistols, Shotguns, and Rifles, Oh My!
These games had hundreds upon hundreds of guns with varying types, rarity, and elements that kept the gameplay refreshing and rewarded you for exploration and taking on elite enemies and bosses.
Within the in-game universe, Pandora is a planet ravaged by companies seeking to profit from its resources. These companies manufacture all the weaponry on the planet, and each specializes in something different, making their guns unique.
You can melt enemies with a corrosive Maliwan sub-machine gun before switching to your Jacobson shotgun wild-west style and popping the heads off drug-crazed bandits. Or you can take a long-range approach and silently take out a camp of marauders with your Hyperion sniper rifle before sneaking in to finish off the stragglers.
The variety of guns and abilities granted by different classes allowed you to craft a playstyle special to you, and it incentivized almost infinite replayability.
Loquacious Locals and Chattering Sidearms
Along with the vast collection of weapons, Borderlands charmed (or annoyed) players with a menagerie of characters from Claptrap,
the yapping robot you hate to love, Tiny Tina, the viciously precocious child of the wasteland, and Handsome Jack, the prettiest villain you love to hate. All these characters and many more helped characterize Pandora as a lawless place where big personalities survived with even bigger guns.
Even the equipment spoke on Pandora, with special guns that yapped while you shot them or shields that berated you for taking damage. Some people hated these novelties, and others loved them (me included).
The Legacy of Borderlands
While I was a little too young to play Borderlands when it was released, I was lucky enough to play Borderlands 2 when it did, and it became one of my favorite games of all time.
Its dynamic loot system was cutting-edge at the time and arguably laid the foundation for what we currently call “looter shooters” like Destiny. The game’s humorous writing and slapstick nature would go on to influence gamer culture and memes for years and cultivate a community that is still active to this day.
Can I guarantee it aged well? No. Will this new movie do this game series justice? More than likely not. However, it has brought up fond memories I have of playing these games, and I’m tempted to revisit them. This series is iconic and a ton of fun. No matter how the movie turns out, I’d urge anyone interested in these games to give it a try, especially if you like first-person shooters.
If you’re more comfortable reading about inane sci-fi violence rather than living it, check out the Borderlands comics we have and some similar read-a-likes:
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