With all the innovation in graphics, storytelling, and game engines being utilized in the industry, video games have reached the point where they can have the cinematic quality of movies, andsome are even developed as interactive FMV titles. But what about the other way around? Are there some movies that copy video games?
In truth, yes. There are probably many examples of movies that you watched that had you drawing parallels to some of your favorite video games. The following might even be some of them, as each movie here is full of action set pieces and can easily fit into distinct genres of games.
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Main Cast
Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, and Ron Perlman
2001
Where To Stream
YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, and Amazon Prime (For purchase)
The Games It Matches In Aesthetics
Sniper Elite,Sniper Ghost Warrior,Metal Gear Solidseries,Call of Duty: Vanguard and World at War, and PVP Games
The emotion and violence in war movies typically shouldn’t be meant to mimic a video game, but not if you’re Enemy at the Gates. This entire movie centers around the Nazi occupation of Stalingrad and the conflict between a rival German and Russian sniper in a cat-and-mouse duel the whole way through, played by Ed Harris and Jude Law.
Some of the sniper scenes have gone on to directly inspire video games, specifically the opening of the ‘Vendetta’ mission in Call of Duty: World at War. It’s the perfect film that captureseverything you get in a sniper gameand PVP mode in a film setting.
Chris McKay
Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Jasmine Mathews, and Edwin Hodge
2021
Resistance,Gears of War,Aliens: Fireteam Elite,Helldivers 2, andTimeSplitters
Alien invasion movies are somewhat oversaturated these days, and it’s hard to find one that stands out, but Prime Video’s The Tomorrow War is excellent for its premise and action sequences. Think Resistance or Gears of War, but it hasn’t happened yet, and you’re shipped off to the future to prevent the invasion.
The plot sounds like a classic sci-fi action game, and the post-apocalyptic environmentand creature designs and swarmscertainly complement that video game world feel. The non-stop mowing down of the White Spike aliens alongside squad members makes it the perfect follow-up movie after finishing a similar session of gameplay.
Michael Matthews
Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Dan Ewing, Ariana Greenblatt, and Ellen Hollman
2020
Monster Hunter,Fallout 4,Wild Hearts,Stray, andHorizon Forbidden West
If you’re a fan of big open-world games with tons of various deadly creatures populating the map and posing a threat to your life and a touch of romance in the narrative, Love and Monsters is the movie to watch. It’s about a character who traverses the perilous landscape on a quest to reunite with his girlfriend, encountering massive mutated monsters along the way.
Eventually, the main character, Joel, forms a party and even gets a dog companion named Boy to fight through the monsters that were once normal insects and animals before the asteroid Agatha-616 transformed them all. Some of the designs will even evokethe kemono creatures from Wild Hearts.
Zack Snyder
Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm, and Scott Glenn
2011
Alice: Madness Returns,NieR: Automata,Final Fantasyseries, andA Way Out
Zack Snyder has adapted graphic novels and comics masterfully into movies with Watchmen, 300, and his DCEU films, and Sucker Punch carries that Frank Miller vibe, but its plot, objectives, and video game NPC-style design of protagonists are a balance of American McGee’s Alice, Final Fantasy, and the sci-fi RPG NieR: Automata (costume designs too).
The main character Babydoll isforcefully committed to a mental institutionand plots her escape, which takes her to a pseudo-fantasy world filled with dragons, orcs, WWI soldiers, and giant samurai mech boss battles together with support from her fellow inmates. There, Babydoll also meets the Wise Man, who sends her on a quest to collect five items to ensure success with the escape.
Kurt Wimmer
Milla Jovovich, Cameron Bright, Nick Chinlund, William Fichtner, Sebastien Andrieu, and David E. Collier
2006
BloodRayne,Bayonetta,Mirror’s Edge, andCode Vein
Aesthetically, Ultraviolet feels pretty high in comparisonto similar neo-futuristic sci-fi action-packed filmslike Equilibrium, Aeon Flux, and Lucy. However, the characters and premise feel more made for a video game than a movie, with a female lead who’s actually starred in her fair share of video game adaptations.
Iconic movie actress Milla Jovovich now plays Violet,a powered vampiric heroineknown as a hemophage like a Rayne and Bayonetta hybrid in a world with Mirror’s Edge lighting and atmosphere. She’s experienced with a fancy sword, guns, and a motorcycle. Plus, the unusual CGI actually works in the movie’s favor in simulating a video game look.
Lana And Lily Wachowski (The Wachowskis)
Keanu Reeves, Carie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Gloria Foster, and Joe Pantoliano
1999
Max Payneseries,Control, Fighting Games, andPrey(2016)
No one else can do complex and original sci-fi film narratives besides two directors – Christopher Nolan and The Wachowskis. Even though Sense 8, Cloud Atlas, and Jupiter Ascending are all incredible in their own right, The Matrix will always be both sisters' magnum opus and one of the most innovative sci-fi films ever created.
There are many video game elements contained in The Matrix (itself camouflaging as a world of virtual NPCs).There’s a choice-based mechanicwhere Neo has to decide between the red pill or blue pill, fighting game-style tutorials in the kung fu simulation with Neo and Morpheus, bullet-time and destructible environments, and bosses like the Agents.
Paul W.S. Anderson
Jason Statham, Natalie Martinez, Ian McShane, Tyrese Gibson, Joan Allen, Jason Clarke, and Frederick Koehler
2008
Death Rally,Twisted Metal, A Way Out, andBurnout Revenge
Vehicular combat gamestranslate well into movie format. While Death Race might seem like another video game adaptation from the director behind the Monster Hunter and Resident Evil movies, it’s actually a reimagining of a 1975 film where Twisted Metal meets The Running Man.
In this dystopian society,prisoners get a chance at freedomwhen participating in a televised show in which they, well, race to their deaths in armored and armed cars. Elevating the gameplay aspect here is how the cars must drive over pressure plates that activate their shields and offensive or defensive weapons at various points during the race.
Ilya Naishuller
Andrei Dementiev, Sharlto Copley, Hayley Bennett, Tim Roth, Danila Kozlovskiy, and Svetlana Ustinova
2015
FPS Games,Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty series, and theWolfensteinseries
There’s no other action movie spectacle quite like Hardcore Henry for one reason alone; it’s entirely done in the first-person. Director Ilya Naishuller, who even caught the attention of legendary game designer Hideo Kojima with this debut, essentially puts you in a cinematic FPS adventure without any need to pick up a controller.
The story is chaotic, and the action is pure adrenaline, with the main protagonist’s point of view always seen through it all. It’s also the perfect companion to Cyberpunk 2077 since the main character is cybernetically enhanced and is joined by multiple different versions of the same character named Jimmy, who keeps reappearing to help Henry, very much like V and Johnny Silverhand.
Chad Stahelski
Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Bill Skarsgard, Laurence Fishburne, Clancy Brown, Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, and Hiroyuki Sanada
2023
Starz
The Hong Kong Massacre, Stranglehold,God of War2018, and theYakuza/Like a Dragonseries
Keanu Reeves just can’t help being in movies that resemble video games, and the fourth John Wick movie is the most intense and video game-leaning yet in the series. There’s even a shootout scene with camera angles and weapons directlyinfluenced by a video game called The Hong Kong Massacre(referenced in the image).
What truly makes this feel like a video game is the timed pressure, neverending waves of enemies, and High Table boss fights posing as obstacles that John Wick must run the gauntlet through to reach his destination for an important duel, as though 2018’s God of War crosses over with the Raid movies. It’s incredible and immersive third-person shooter action.
James Cameron
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, Edie Falco, Jack Champion, Jermaine Clement, and Brendan Cowell
2022
Horizonseries,Ark: Survival Evolved, and other survival games
James Cameronachieved exactly what video games are aboutin the long-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water. The world-building, plot structure with side quest-like beats, dialogue, environment art, survival aspects, and creature design are all reminiscent of watching a video game play out on film.
The expansion of Pandora to include the ocean tribe known as the Metkayina clan, new characters, new RDA enemy types and submersible machines, underwater mounts, and a species of warrior whales called tulkun seems like everything checks all the boxes you’d expect for a video game sequel to deliver. And in addition, The Way of Water’s story and visual effects are arrestingly captivating.
