With the increasing popularity of video games, their film adaptations were not long in coming, true to the motto: success can be built on. Here are eight video game adaptations that we think are must-sees!
Video game adaptations don’t necessarily have the best reputations. If the cinematic adaptations of novels sometimes have a hard time (doesn’t do justice to the original, character XY is missing, the dialogue was shortened too much, etc.), this is especially true for those of video games. The media are actually closely related, even if one can certainly argue about the degree. On the other hand, at the end of the 20th century, it was not uncommon for a successful film to include a game as merchandise. Prominent examples include “Blade Runner”, “Aladdin”, “Dune”, “Star Wars” or the “Harry Potter” games from Lego. However, the whole area of gaming became so big in the 90s at the latest and some titles so well known that it was probably only a matter of time before films based on video games would be made.
There are now quite a few of them, well staffed and equipped with a growing budget. In this article you will find eight such video game adaptations that are available to stream from the usual streaming providers and that we think should be seen! You may already know some of them or have heard – possibly negatively – about them. That shouldn’t stop you as a movie and/or video game lover from checking them out anyway.
Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
Game: Dungeons & Dragons
IMDB: 3.6
We’ll kick off the list with an oldie, both video game and film adaptation: Dungeons & Dragons. The game from 1974 is the classic role-playing game par excellence and a pioneer of one of the most popular genres. Courtney Solomon’s film was released in 2000. In the magical kingdom of Izmer, a bloody class war is raging, the magician elite oppressing the unmagical population. The young empress Savina (Thora Birch) therefore wants to push through far-reaching reforms, but she encounters strong opposition from the archmage Profion (Jeremy Irons). He is planning an intrigue to snatch her scepter from the young ruler and with it the power over the golden dragons and the empire. Against this background, a group consisting of a magic student, two thieves and a dwarf set out in the most beautiful role-playing style to recover the second scepter with power over the evil red dragons so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
The fantasy film received bad reviews at the time, and not without reason. “Dungeons & Dragons” isn’t a showpiece either from an aesthetic or narrative point of view. Nevertheless, fans of the old video games should still have a lot of fun with this somewhat trashy film adaptation. There was also a sequel in 2005. And: Another video game adaptation is planned for 2022, with Chris Pine and Hugh Grant, among others.
Resident Evil (2002)
Game: resident Evil
IMDB: 6.7
One of the best-known video game adaptations is certainly “Resident Evil” or the series consisting of six films. In our opinion, the most worth seeing part is the first one, published in 2002. The protagonist Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up in a gloomy villa with no memory. Little by little she has to find out how she got there and why she lost her memory. And all against the backdrop that a powerful company has secretly developed a zombie virus, which was stolen and partially released by an unknown.
The gaming template is the epitome of survival horror. In the film adaptation, the makers succeeded above all in capturing the dark mood of the game and getting the best out of the plot-poor template for the medium. If you liked the first part, the sequels are warmly recommended.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Game: Prince of Persia
IMDB: 6.6
Another well-known video game adaptation is Prince of Persia from 2010. Jake Gyllenhaal cuts a good figure as Dastan in the title role. This is a street child and is surprisingly adopted by the Persian king because of his courage and from then on raised with his sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbel). Years later, with Dastan now an adult, the king’s army attacks the holy city of Alamut. The princes capture Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) and Dastan comes across a dagger with magical powers, which the princess was trying to protect. As the story progresses, the young man has to question everything and realize that he cannot trust those around him.
The box office results fell short of expectations, which is why the planned sequel was not implemented. The video game adaptation is definitely worth seeing. Cast and scenery as well as the action scenes are great fun.
Uncharted (2022)
Game: ao Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016)
IMDB: 6.3
The film, starring Tom Holland in the lead role of Nathan Drake, sort of tells the backstory of the well-known game series. In part, however, content from the 4th part, “A Thief’s End” is taken over. We see a younger Nathan eke out a living as a bartender and casual thief. But when the mysterious Sully (Mark Wahlberg) promises him a treasure hunt together and information about his missing brother Sam, Nathan leaves everything behind.
Before the video game adaptation, which was released in 2022, there were already several failed attempts at realization. Filming was then made more difficult by the corona pandemic. Nevertheless, the film was able to record very good box office results and also quite good reviews. Especially Tom Holland as Nathan Drake received a lot of praise. That gives hope for a second part!
Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
Game: Pokemon
IMDB: 6.6
One of the newest additions to this list is Pokémon Detective Pikachu. There have already been various animation adaptations based on the successful games from Nintendo. The surprisingly good real film followed in 2019. In the title and main role, of course, the most famous Pokémon in the world: Pikachu. The pocket monster works as a police officer in Ryme City, a city where Pokémon and humans live side by side. Pikachu also has a human partner, Harry Goodman (Ryan Reynolds), but he’s been presumed dead and then missing since an incident at a research lab involving the powerful Pokémon Mewtwo. With the help of his son Tim (Justice Smith), who can understand him for some reason, he goes in search of his partner.
The atmosphere of the game world is surprisingly well integrated in the film, as are the special characteristics of the individual Pokémon, such as the Enton of the budding journalist Lucy (Kathryn Newton). A definite recommendation for all fans of the franchise.
Also interesting: 10 must-see sci-fi and fantasy series
Tomb Raider (2018)
Game: Tomb Raider (2013)
After Angelina Jolie, Alicia Vikander took on the role of action heroine Lara Croft in the 2018 Tomb Raider film. Compared to the previous films, this video game adaptation stands out clearly. Lara works as a bicycle courier in London and initially refuses to accept the inheritance of her father (Dominic West), who has been missing for years. She reluctantly gives in and inherits, among other things, a mysterious key. He leads them to a hidden room in which he also kept the documents about his research on Queen Himiko, who is said to have had mysterious powers. Lara decides to follow in her father’s footsteps and sets out for the Queen’s tomb in Japan.
The film relies less on the charms of its leading actress and pithy sayings, but rather on action and a gloomy atmosphere. It was meticulously based on the style of the video game.
Warcraft: The Beginning (2016)
Game: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Draenor, the orcs’ homeworld, is dying. For this reason, the dark wizard Gul’dan opens a gate to Azeroth, the world of humans, where the “Horde” is now invading. Lothar (Travis Fimmel) tries to stop the chaos together with a motley crew of companions. Also included are renegade sorcerer Khadgar (Ben Schnetzler) and half-orkin Garona (Paula Patton).
In the filming of one of the most famous video games of all time, unfortunately, a lot went wrong in advance. Shifts, marketing glitches and so on. The film fell through pretty badly with the critics, but the audience reacted much more positively – and rightly so. The video game adaptation is incredibly elaborate and detailed. From the thin plot of the template, a thoroughly exciting plot has emerged and Travis Fimmel just fits his role incredibly well. Nothing is known about a sequel, but it was originally planned. The financial success gives hope in this regard.
Doom the Movie (2005)
Game: doom
The game Doom is one of the most iconic first-person shooters of all time. Lots of banging, little action – the film adaptation with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Karl Urban and Rosamund Pike also took this to heart. A special command is stranded in a research station on Mars. There squad is tasked with eliminating alien monsters that killed the researchers.
If you don’t like shooters, you won’t like the movie either. However, if you are a fan of the template, there is plenty of action, screaming and shocking moments with ugly monsters. There’s even a wonderful first-person scene at the end.
Hitman – Everyone Dies Alone (2007)
Game: hit man
The so-called Agents are a deadly lab-grown combat unit. Their members are identified by a barcode on the back of their head. Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) is one of them. When he starts asking questions after a series of events, he quickly ends up at the center of a conspiracy.
The same applies here: The film is primarily aimed at fans of action games. By the way, the next Hitman film “Agent 47” is also well worth seeing. There, Rupert Friend plays the title role, who helps young Hannah (Katia van Dees), who has inexplicable powers of her own.