Summary
Video game movie adaptations don’t have the best reputation. This can be attributed to several factors, from poor writing to bad acting to lackluster budgets. However, no matter how high the quality of the film, there is an inherent difference between playing a game and watching a movie.
The effect of this principle is that faithful adaptations don’t always transfer well to the big screen. Sometimes, even movies that strive to follow what came before, fail to have the same impact when the agency of being able to play through them is lost.
These films are being rated based on their accuracy to the source material, not their overall quality.
2005
Directed By
Uwe Boll
Many modern survival horror series can trace their roots back to 1992’sAlone in the Dark. The movie adaptation of the same name is remembered a lot less fondly.
Directed by Uwe Boll, Alone In the Dark is a disaster in many different ways, as is evidenced by its pitiful Rotten Tomatoes score of just one percent. However, aside from all of its other major shortcomings, the movie also fails as an adaptation. Abandoning scares for bizarrely over-the-top action, Alone in the Dark shares next to nothing in common with the series that helped start survival horror.
2020
Paul W. S. Anderson
TheCapcomseriesMonster Hunteris a fantastic set of action games about taking down massive creatures in the wild. Many of the titles have narratives, but they are overshadowed by the exciting hunts that players can embark on alone, orwith their friends. This makes it all the more bizarre that a film adaption of the games was created in the first place.
Starting in the real world, the film stars Milla Jovovich as a military commando who enters a monster-filled other world along with the rest of her squad. These creatures follow her back to Earth, where they proceed to wreak havoc and destruction. Aside from the visual designs of the monsters and weapons, which are admittedly impressive, the movie adaption follows nothing of what made the games so iconic.
Andrzej Bartkowiak
The nameDoomis synonymous with the shooter genre, and with good reason. Ever since its first entry back in 1993, the series has offered gamers violent, demon-slaughtering goodness. But in terms of story, the series has largely kept things light in favor of focusing on the action. Despite what little details are given, 2005’s Doom movie contradicts it.
Starring prominent actors like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Karl Urban, the film decides to give the invaders of the interstellar base a different origin story. Rather than have them be demons from Hell, the monsters of 2005’s Doom are zombified mutants. The film does have its fair share of references to Doom lore with some of the character’s names. However, it largely breaks away from the established story. Save for one action sequence filmed in first person as an homage to the series' perspective.
2008
One of the most controversial video game series of all time, the Postal games are known most for their crude humor and wanton violence. The games follow the aptly named Postal Dude whose activities range from mass murdering, literally battling his inner demons, and completing his weekly chores in a town on the brink of insanity.
The Postal film, starring Zack Ward in the leading role, bases itself on the antics of the second game. Largely going in its own direction in terms of story, the movie does embody many of the general themes that helped Postal acquire its notorious reputation. Things get especially accurate at the end of the film, with the protagonist going on a rampage. But, leading up to that, the film is a collection of crass humor and offensive jokes.
Jeff Fowler
Sega’sSonicseries has covered a lot of ground in its decades-long run. This is fitting considering how speedy the mainline hedgehog is. But none of his many adventures ever panned out quite like the movie did. Sonic has established a lore over the years involving ancient civilizations, magical items, and visitors from other worlds.
However, the movie opted not to follow any of these plotlines in favor of creating its own version of events. Sonic’s happy-go-lucky attitude, and Jim Carrey’s wonderfully manic portrayal of Dr. Robotnik, makes the movie fit in with the themes of the series. As an adaptation, it borrows only scraps from the source material.
2002
Few gaming series have managed to keep themselves relevant for as long asResident Evilhas. With its debut title back in 1996, Resident Evil has frightened and entertained players for decades now. Though the canon for the series is expansive, many of the games revolve around the Umbrella Corporation, and their tendency to dabble in dangerous experiments that turn victims into zombies or mutated weapons.
Despite having aniconic line-up of protagonists, the film versions of Resident Evil instead decided to create their own lead character, Alice. The films exist as a strange anomaly, occasionally opting to stay close to the source material with the introduction of characters like Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera, along with an extremely accurate depiction of the deadly Nemesis B.O.W. For the most part, the films pursue their own stories, while throwing in the odd detail from the games.
2022
Ruben Fleischer
BetweenUnchartedandThe Last of Us,Naughty Doghas proven itself extremely capable when crafting narrative gaming experiences. The former of the two series, Uncharted, follows Nathan Drake on his various quests for treasure, which take him across the globe. Each game is filled with bombastic, cinematic set pieces that already feel as though they were made for the big screen.
A point that the director Ruben Fleischer seemed to agree with as the 2022 film starring Tom Holland, recaptured the adventurous spirit maintained by the games. Even still, many details from the game were altered, including Nathan’s age, as well a few of his important relationships, partiucarly that of his friend Sully.
John Moore
Rockstar’sMax Payneseries is a departure from the open-world epics likeGrand Theft AutoandRed Dead Redemptionthat the studio is well known for. These linear action games follow the former cop, Max Payne, as he fights his way through a seedy underworld riddled with crime.
Thematically, the movie carries over a lot of the game’s gritty atmosphere, and Mark Wahlberg gives a solid portrayal of the vengeful Max Payne. Some details are altered from the game’s story, which makes Max Payne cover odd territory between faithful adaptation, and going its own way.
2006
Christophe Gans
Konami’sSilent Hillseries has produced some of the scariest gaming experiences of all time. Mostly taking place in a town with the same name, Silent Hill explores concepts of punishment and grief through frightening visuals and stellar writing. In 2006, a film version was created to see if the same themes could be brought to the big screen.
Silent Hill (2006) brings the atmospheric horror of the games to life, with a tale of suffering and woe that embodies the ideas of the series well. During this dark journey, some familiar faces pop up, like thenotorious Pyramid Head.
2023
Emma Tammi
The pop culture phenomenon,Five Nights At Freddy’stook the internet by storm with its jump scares and deep lore. Starting as a video game, the series has since dabbled in other media, like books and graphic novels. It wasn’t until 2023 that the series hit the silver screen.
Five Nights At Freddy’s had its work cut out for it in trying to adapt years' worth of purposefully vague details into a digestible plot. The animatronics look as though they were pulled right from the game, and while some new characters and plot threads were introduced, the movie succesfully brought many of the game’s ideas to life.
