Joust Movie Treatment!

Joust was an arcade game with color raster graphics that came out in 1982.  Williams Electronics came out with Defender in 1980 and Robotron 2084 in 1982.  The game was designed by John Newcomer.  It features a joystick and a flap button with controls for two players.  The players control knights riding birds that look like flying ostriches.  They have lances used to joust with rival knights flying around platforms above a lava lake.  Striking the enemy knights releases an egg that you can pick up for points.  A pterodactyl sweeps in at the end of the level. There was a sequel game, Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest, in 1986. It arrived in Atari home game systems, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and home computers. In 2007, Midway Games sold the movie rights to CP Productions.  Warner Bros. picked up Midway Games’ properties when it went bankrupt. This is a movie treatment based on the game which covers the first part of the story.       

The world of Destria is a land in conflict.  King William defends the northwestern borders of his kingdom.  The Shadow Lords seek to overthrow his kingdom.  Sir Jan Newcomer, a young woman knight, trains in a field.  She has padded armor, a yellow, metal chest plate, and boots. Her squire, Tim, a thin teenager wears a bulky suit to spar with wooden weapons.  She easily defeats him and points out where he showed his next move.  Jan says that Tim will be soon ready for the joust.  A messenger says the tournament field is now open.  Tim runs off to ready her mount.  The roars of the crowds are heard.  Jan removes the padded armor and pulls on her gauntlets and armor.  She looks up and a giant bird looms towards her.  It is her mount, Miller, a Sky Bird with blue wings and a rounded, ostrich-like beak.  

Arcade Classics Joust, photo by the author.

Tim helps Jan with the rest of her armor, she leaps onto Miller, and he brings her plasma lance.  She checks it and the weapon sizzles to its tip.  Jan taps Miller’s neck and heads out to the tournament field.  It is a long field covered in a tent with poles all along the top area.  Her rival is there, Sir John Angel, a male knight on a Sky Bird with a crest and light blue feathers with red wing tips, and a sharp, stork-like beak named Python.  He wears blue armor and taps his plasma lance to his shoulder.  His squire is a young girl named Christina who looks after the Sky Bird hatchery.  The start of the joust is announced by a gong, three chimes, and the two Sky Birds race towards each other.  The two plasma lances blaze, Jan’s lance strikes John’s shield, his lance strikes her pauldron on her shoulder, the energy is absorbed by her armor.  Still, she is almost thrown from her Sky Bird.  Jan resets on her mount and readies for another run.  The Sky Birds charge again, Jan pulls her reigns up, and Miller flaps his wings sending him upwards.  John follows her and their plasma lances clash together before their mounts frantically flap to slow their descent.  They return for another charge.  

Then, there are alarm klaxons, the call to arms!, throughout the castle.  Archers race up the battlement and Tim joins them carrying his bow.  Jan and John bring their mounts together.  They race forward and leap into battle!   Jan is riding her Sky Bird and holds her plasma lance to her side.  They see ahead of them a chaotic mass like a swarm of bees; Red Knights on their Sky Birds.  Jan calls them out as Bounders.  John and Jan fire their plasma lances which scatters the Red Knights.  They bring their mounts into a dive as the sky is filled with the blasts by the Bounders.  Another blast which Jan absorbs with her shield.  The Red Knights ride Sky Birds with curved beaks, green wings, and green tail feathers.  Miller flaps frantically as Sir Jan swings her plasma lance, it sparks to either side at Bounder riders, sending them falling.  Sir John is surrounded by Red Knights, he charges up his plasma lance, and throws it!  The plasma lance shocks a Bounder, Sir John flies past, and pulls his plasma lance away.  His charge has thrown off the Red Knights.   

A few Red Knights break through the defense by Sir John and Sir Jan.  Tim and the archers loose their arrows.  Tim’s arrow hits the backside of a Bounder’s Sky Bird which squawks in a burst of feathers.  Two wounded Sky Birds collide together and then fly off without their riders.  Another two Red Knights are charging at either side of Jan, she drops her mount down, and the Bounders slam into each other.  Sir John swings his plasma lance and unseats a Red Knight.  A Sky Bird egg topples out of his saddle and Sir John catches it.  All of the riders turn to hear a screech.  A dark form fills the skies and the Bounders flee in all directions, it is a Pterodactyl that swoops in.  The Pterodactyl has a monstrous beak, red and blue-tipped feathers.  It grabs hold of a Red Knight and his mount.  Sir John calls for a retreat.  Miller and Python fly back with their riders towards the castle.

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