As I've been blogging about the old game box art, I've stumbled upon the ages-old fact, that at times the box artists just sucked inspiration from other sources. Or perhaps that's putting it too kindly, at times they flat out copied poses and characters from movie posters or photos of famous actors. What really reminded me about this, was the box art for Impossible Mission 2, where the main characters looks and pose has been copied from Clint Eastwood's Magnum Force poster. Go ahead, Atombender, make my day.
While there are differences, the game hero has a different jacket and sunglasses for one, but the facial shape and the shading is taken directly from the Magnum Force poster, Another part is the hand, as it has been quite meticulously copied from Eastwood's hand. I still like the game box art, but it is hard to call the differences subtle.
This next one is an alternative cover for the game. Despite there being a couple of alterations, like the headband and the gash on his brow, it is pretty evident where the inspiration to the grim-faced man in the bix came from. The tilt of the head and the lighting is dead on with Seagal from a poster for his first movie Above the Law. Even the expression matches.
Then there's the bearded fighter, who does look a bit like Chuck Norris if you ask me. I couldn't find a poster with him in that pose though, but I still do think it is a good possibility it is Chuck from one of his movies.
This last one takes a bit from several sources. Not only does the cover Contra, or Gryzor as it is known in this release, take a bit from Alien(s), it also heavily borrows something little from the poster for Arnold Schwarzenegger's Predator.
The pose and the clothes of the men in the cover are a pretty good match for Arnold in Predator, but at least their faces have been altered. The alien face in the background is pretty obvious and I do think bony fingers in the front have a resemblance towards the alien facehuggers from Alien as well.
Don't take me wrong, the cover art for Contra does look very nice, it is the work of Bob Wakeling after all, but the sources for inspiration are pretty clear.
Now, I don't want you to take this as a criticism against using reference pictures. This has nothing to do about that, as every artist uses references for getting poses and expressions right. I use references myself as well and admittedly, I might a bit close to the original than I had any intention to. And perhaps that is what happened here as well, or the studios had a very clear idea of what the game box should look like.
Of course, it is possible that Seagal could have allowed his likeness to be used on a game box, but had that happened, I'd think the publisher would have utilized that in selling the game as something like Steven Seagal's IK+. There are plenty of sports games from the '80s, with the name of a famous athlete slapped on them. And as far Eastwood goes, I doubt he knows his likeness was used for a game.
The 1980s was a different time. Social media, the internet or instant communication weren't a thing yet. Companies, even bigger ones, could easily get away with a less than rigorous view on copyright. How the times have changed, eh?
While there are differences, the game hero has a different jacket and sunglasses for one, but the facial shape and the shading is taken directly from the Magnum Force poster, Another part is the hand, as it has been quite meticulously copied from Eastwood's hand. I still like the game box art, but it is hard to call the differences subtle.
This next one is an alternative cover for the game. Despite there being a couple of alterations, like the headband and the gash on his brow, it is pretty evident where the inspiration to the grim-faced man in the bix came from. The tilt of the head and the lighting is dead on with Seagal from a poster for his first movie Above the Law. Even the expression matches.
Then there's the bearded fighter, who does look a bit like Chuck Norris if you ask me. I couldn't find a poster with him in that pose though, but I still do think it is a good possibility it is Chuck from one of his movies.
This last one takes a bit from several sources. Not only does the cover Contra, or Gryzor as it is known in this release, take a bit from Alien(s), it also heavily borrows something little from the poster for Arnold Schwarzenegger's Predator.
The pose and the clothes of the men in the cover are a pretty good match for Arnold in Predator, but at least their faces have been altered. The alien face in the background is pretty obvious and I do think bony fingers in the front have a resemblance towards the alien facehuggers from Alien as well.
Don't take me wrong, the cover art for Contra does look very nice, it is the work of Bob Wakeling after all, but the sources for inspiration are pretty clear.Now, I don't want you to take this as a criticism against using reference pictures. This has nothing to do about that, as every artist uses references for getting poses and expressions right. I use references myself as well and admittedly, I might a bit close to the original than I had any intention to. And perhaps that is what happened here as well, or the studios had a very clear idea of what the game box should look like.
Of course, it is possible that Seagal could have allowed his likeness to be used on a game box, but had that happened, I'd think the publisher would have utilized that in selling the game as something like Steven Seagal's IK+. There are plenty of sports games from the '80s, with the name of a famous athlete slapped on them. And as far Eastwood goes, I doubt he knows his likeness was used for a game.
The 1980s was a different time. Social media, the internet or instant communication weren't a thing yet. Companies, even bigger ones, could easily get away with a less than rigorous view on copyright. How the times have changed, eh?
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