Let’s face it: Video game movies tend to be on the “pretty mediocre” side of the scale when it comes to major motion pictures. Any time a film centers on a gaming license, the producers are usually not intimate with the material to understand what the fans might want to see, and the end result is less than satisfactory.
And our hopes are smashed.
But at least UNTIL our hopes are smashed, we bare witness to trailers for said films. And as we all know, trailers can be hype. So, we present to you some of our favorite video game movie trailers for films good and (mostly) bad. Enjoy watching!
Super Mario Bros.
The film that started it all. Dennis Hopper as King Koopa and Bob Hoskins as Mario round out a stellar cast that includes and animatronic dinosaur and a lot of sewer travel. The pitiful development of the film is well documented, and has caused Nintendo to shy away from its properties in theaters ever since.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtMZKYnLg5c
Double Dragon
Scott Wolf! Alyssa Milano! Terminator 2‘s Robert Patrick! And possibly the worst special effects to ever make it to theaters! Ugh!
Street Fighter
Jean-Claude Van Damme ruined Raul Julia’s legacy.
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li
In THIS version, the producers tried to make Chun Li’s Hundred Kicks realistic!
Mortal Kombat
At least this fighting game turned action film knew the source material wasn’t serious and decided to have a little fun. It was actually kind of enjoyable back in its day. Not good, but watchable on a Saturday afternoon.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Oh, okay, this is pure trash.
Wing Commander
Oh man, I forgot they tried to make a film based on Wing Commander. With casting that stars Freddie Prinze Jr AND Matthew Lillard, this can only be wonderful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAxG4u_rqug
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
The first Tomb Raider film was actually pretty good. Angelina Jolie was the perfect casting at the time, and brought her distinct flair to the character. And 15 years later, it still holds up.
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
While not as good as the first film, this sequel was still enjoyable, and made a ton at the box office.
Resident Evil
The RE films have had their ups and downs, but the first one is still terrific. Someone has graciously put all the trailers in one file for us to watch.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Though it was a decent film, it never actually felt like a Final Fantasy film. It managed to push CGI films to their limits, beyond what Pixar was doing at the time. It’s kind of amazing to think that any average PS4 game has cutscenes that are now better than this.
House of the Dead
And now we enter our Uwe Boll portion of gaming cinema. Boll was known for creating some fantastically horrible film adaptations of games, and it started here, with House of the Dead.
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Lord of the Rings fever was sweeping the world, so why not try to capitalize on it using a subpar Microsoft video game franchise?
And then again with two more!
Far Cry
Oh god, Far Cry?
Postal
And Postal? This may be the worst?
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
There was a lot of hope that this could launch a franchise as big as Pirates of the Caribbean, but it seems like time ran out.
Hitman
There have been attempts to make TWO Hitman films. Neither have been on target. 9I’ve been waiting to use that joke).
Hitman: Agent 47
Need for Speed
Electronic Arts made a big deal about Aaron Paul taking the wheel in the official adaptation of their racing franchise. And though it wasn’t great, it also wasn’t horrible.
Silent Hill
SEAN BEAN!
Silent Hill Revelation
And more Sean Bean! And now Kit Harrington of Jon Snow fame! It’s like a Game of Thrones reunion.
The Angry Birds Movie
Aimed at kids, this flick wasn’t bad. In fact, it probably bordered mediocrity for adults, but it also made enough money at theaters that a sequel could be in the works.
Ratchet & Clank
The film is essentially a retelling of the first game in the series, but did absolutely poorly in theaters.
Warcraft
The Warcraft film did far better overseas than it did domestically. It was met with middle of the road (at best) reviews.
Doom
The Rock has had a string of hits lately, but he needed to go through a few bad films before he got there. Guess what? This was one of them. There’s an FPS view that was a selling point for the film. A g-damn FPS view straight from the game.
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