Admittedly, video game adaptations don’t have it that easy with viewers. After all, there are fans of the original who have their own expectations. And if a piece of material is intended for a different medium, then you can of course ask yourself the question of why? Movie fans and gamers alike suffer with these five adaptations.
Super Mario Bros.
It makes sense to choose the world-popular platformer adventure Super Mario Bros. as the first video game adaptation in 1993. However, the filmmakers can’t cope with the game’s simple plot and tell an insane story. This is how Mushroom City becomes a dystopian city in which all inhabitants are descended from dinosaurs. Princess Peach becomes Princess Daisy for unknown reasons. The young woman owns a meteorite stone that the tyrant Koopa/Bowser (Dennis Hooper) needs to connect the human world with the parallel world. The brothers and plumbers Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo) should of course protect them. A major negative is how the film changes beloved characters. The gumbas are particularly tragic. The evil mushrooms become human-sized lizards with mini heads.
Double Dragon
Los Angeles in 2007 from the vision of “Double Dragon” looks completely insane. After a huge earthquake, nothing is left of Hollywood Boulevard: fences, water and collapsed streets everywhere. A police state by day and a hotbed of Mohican gangs and full-blown mutants by night. Amidst this chaotic state of affairs, the story of teenage brothers Billy (Scott Wolf) and Jimmy (Mark Dacascos) is told. You have an ancient Chinese amulet with magical powers, but it has been split in half. Bleached-blonde supervillain Shuko (Robert Patrick) has the counterpart and wants to unleash the amulet’s power, so he’s after the boys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh9ioolJrd0
“Double Dragon” is an over-the-top spectacle: costumes in discount store aesthetics, slapstick fist fights and foreign shame dialogues. The film also has exciting things to offer, such as the use of the cool invention of the “Dragon Wagon”. The Lee brothers’ tuned car only needs scrap to run. Despite this, the film was a total box office disaster, only grossing 2.3 million, with the film itself costing 7.8 million. Ouch.
Wing Commander
Outer space – endless expanses and endless opportunities to fail. That could be the motto of the movie starring ’90s stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard. The film adaptation of the fan-favorite space flight simulation game, starring Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) as the main character, makes a big mistake. The story: In the year 2654 humans are at war with the alien people Kilrathi. In an attack, the Kilrathi can capture a navigation device with which they get the coordinates to earth. Fearing an invasion, the people want to send the spaceship “Tiger Claw” on a rescue mission.
Although the film promises its viewers plenty of action, the emotional but hardly believable dialogues between Maverick (Freddie Prince Jr.) and the crew stick in their minds. But that’s not all, because the film crew doesn’t seem to have dealt with the conditions in space. That’s what the crew should whisper when their enemy is approaching by spaceship. Since when is there sound in space? Equally disappointing is the portrayal of the Kilrathi. They are the main antagonist, but only appear visible to viewers towards the end of the film. They don’t have any of the characteristics of the lion aliens from the game, looking more like hairless housecats.
far cry
Far Cry is a film directed by German director Uwe Boll. He is responsible for a number of bad video game adaptations, such as House of the Dead, Swords of the King, and BloodRayne. “Far Cry” also fits in here. The film from 2008 revolves around the permanently drunk ex-soldier Jack Carver (played by Till Schweiger), who is supposed to take a journalist with his boat to an island closed off by the military. When he lands there, he meets the mysterious Dr. Warrior (Udo Kier) who breeds mutated super soldiers in a station.
As in the game, the film version focuses on continuous action. Lots of shooting and some cool stunts. That doesn’t surprise or disappoint, after all, nobody expects a sophisticated film as a basis for a first-person shooter. But the spasmodic jokes that aren’t funny hurt. The title hero is also a rather unpleasant character whose fate quickly becomes indifferent. On top of that, the cliché box was dug deep into, because of course the German Dr. Warrior preferably Wagner, what else.
DO A – Dead or Alive
The infamous martial arts tournament called DOA brings together fighters from all over the world. No wonder, after all, it’s about 10 million prize money. Japanese ninja princess Kasumi (Devon Aoki) also wants to participate. On site she meets three extraordinary opponents. Over time, the women realize that they work best together to get behind the shady machinations of the organizers.
A film about martial arts fights with female protagonists, that doesn’t sound bad in theory. The 2006 action film is based on the game series of the same name, which is best known for its scantily clad female fighters. And the film tries to underline this fact. “Dead or Alive” consists of 99 percent close-ups of the female body. These scenes are mostly used when the story doesn’t make sense. Unfortunately, this happens very often, which is why the female warriors remain superficial in the character representation and are reduced to their appearance.
Right from the start, “Dead or Alive” leads into an unbelievable world that breaks through the rules of logic several times. So there are no laws of gravity when the four fighters fly up the walls. There is also a completely harmless villain who wants to absorb the skills of fighters with technical gimmicks. I beg your pardon?