Six Video Game Movies that Should be Spectacular

I know, I know. They’ve been making video game movies for decades now, and still we have yet to find any we can actually call “good.”

Yes, it can be argued that films like Resident Evil or Prince of Persia or even Silent Hill are “good for a video game movie,” but that’s still far away from actual cinematic legitimacy.

I fully believe that there is great potential for video game movies to be just as thrilling and entertaining as summer blockbusters. They just need the right talent behind them in the directing, writing and acting slots. There is such potential in some franchises to crossover into becoming film classics, that I can’t wait until it actually happens. Because it seems like I’m waiting freaking forever.

Here are six franchises I think are ripe for solid movie adaptations. Some are in development, some aren’t, but you can bet your ass that they will be some day, as Hollywood is turning EVERYTHING into a movie these days. If Battleship can get its own film, then surely these games can too. These six, in my eyes, have the best shot of breaking the unfortunate trend.

1. Bioshock

When I heard that Gore Verbinski was on board to direct a Bioshock film, my heart skipped a beat. He was the perfect man to capture the dark mood of Rapture and bring the whole universe to life in a terrifying way.

But he sadly departed the project, and as it stands, the whole thing is currently underwater (pun intended). The story of Andrew Ryan’s once great uber city would be visual fantastic, and could be a killer horror film if put in the right hands.

2. Uncharted

Another film that has recently lost a director, but this time, it’s for the better. David O. Russell had cast his BFF Mark Wahlberg in the role of Nathan Drake, but fans of the game knew that was an incredibly misguided decision.

He changed the hero, changed the canon, and was prepping a new story for the film involving a “family of criminal antique dealers,” when he too departed. We are in desperately need of a new Indiana Jones-type figure in films today, and I will smack you if you say Nicolas Cage in National Treasure is cutting it. Drake is funny, his adventures are harrowing, and the most likable man on planet earth is dying to play him, Nathan Fillion, what’s the problem people?

3. Assassin’s Creed

There actually is NOT an AC movie in the works currently as far as I know, but Ubisoft recently set up their own studio to be able to make their own films in the future. Sounds good in theory, as they can guarantee it will stay close to the source material, but they will need big Hollywood players to make these films good.

The action sequences are already out of control when they appear in cinematic trailers for the game. Imagine seeing them with live actors on the big screen. They would need to rewrite and shorten the plot a bit to be a touch less convoluted so this series can be consumed by the general public, but I think the game has a great framework for a film adaptation.

4. Dead Space

Another game that uses atmosphere masterfully, and could easily be a terrifying horror film if handled by a competent team. The dead ship Ishimura is a great setting for a horror film, and would blow Event Horizon or Pandorum into the stratosphere.

There would need to be a lot more backstory, though some of that is covered by comics and such, and the cast would likely have to include more than one person, but it could work to have a meek engineer traipsing around in the dark uncovering the mystery for himself. There is definitely a lot of potential here, and I know the film rights have indeed been sold.

5. God of War


How this film hasn’t been made already, I have no idea. It seems perfect for someone like Zack Snyder, whose slow motion and familiarity with the ancient Greek for 300 would make him the ideal man for the job. The problem? Last I heard, the rights were in Brett Ratner’s hands. I’d rather have this movie murdered in its cradle than be raised to adulthood by him.

The series may have gone off its rocker in terms of the plot in later games, but the first game has a great story to go along with the bloody mayhem as Kratos seeks revenge on Ares for the death of his family and his enslavement, and it comes with a twist ending to boot. This would be a huge, sprawling epic that would make a TON of money and be highly entertaining. Obviously, an R-rating would be a must.

6. Mass Effect

Where to start? Even in game form, I’m convinced Mass Effect could be this generations Star Wars if it really tried. And if turned into an effective film? I absolutely believe it could be a genre classic. The universe this game takes place in is so rich, and there is so much backstory and character development poured into these titles, that it’s just begging to be given a chance on the big screen.

I fully believe that if this was given the full budget and Hollywood A-list support of a George Lucas or James Cameron feature, that it could stand up with the most classic action sci-fi film franchises out there. Conversely, I feel if that adaptation is butchered, any hope of that would be lost forever. A gamble, but a risk work taking on this phenomenally scripted series that already plays like a film.

 

 

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36 Comments

  1. It seems to me that there is a fundamental problem with game-based movies: a game can give you dozens of hours of gameplay which allows for a much more complex story-line than one might find in a 1.5 – 3 hr movie. This means that movie makers are forced to deviate from the original game story line, and compress it to fit within the time contraints of a movie.

    They also have to make it appeal to non-gamers for some reason, which I think is stupid. If you make a hard-core gaming movie, hard-core gamers will go see it (Black Ops made how many millions of dollars in 24 hours? like $300M right?).

    I think you are right with Mass Effect – a GOOD game-based movie would need to be very Star Wars-like, in that it encopasses more than JUST that movie, and has a larger story to tell over the course of a trilogy (or more).

  2. I may get a lot of hatred for this…but I actually think the Star Wars: Force Unleashed games had a great story, with tons to explore. I know Star Wars stories have been done to death (6 movies, tons of cartoons, comics, merchandise, etc), but I think that in itself shows how large the fanbase and potential fanbase really is. The storyline in the FU games are phenomenally better than Episodes 1-3, and I think would adapt to the screen nicely.

  3. @Anon

    No, you’re absolutely correct. I played that game and went “wow, this is 100x better than any of the new movies.” The plot is pretty fantastic, it really is a great bridge for the films, and imagine the Force being literally unleashed in all the awesome action scenes it could feature.

    The same can be said for Shadows the Empire…

  4. Brett Ratner should not be allowed near any type of film equipment. Let’s see, God of War starring Chris Tucker. That will go over well.

    I think it would have been cool if Tim Burton had his Alice in Wonderland movie based on American McGee’s Alice, instead of “Hey, let’s market Johnny Depp to children!” Alice. If only he could have gotten the Alice name away from Disney.

  5. The first Mortal Kombat was actually a pretty good movie (and IMHO to this day still the best game adaptation). Sure every Mortal Kombat movie that followed was complete and utter horsecrap, but the first one was really enjoyable.

  6. I know you have to cut things off somewhere, but to me, one of the best franchises that has a chance of making a movie work is Metal Gear. It’s got war, sci-fi, supernatural, and philosophical elements all in one package. You’d obviously have to stretch it out to a few films to tell the whole story, but it’s not like Hollywood is averse to sequels.

  7. Apparently Ubisoft is already working on the development of three movie franchises including Assassin’s Creed:

    http://www.gamespy.com/articles/116/1168516p1.html

    Also concerning the Star Wars films, I always thought a dark and gritty version of the franchise would be awesome and the Force Unleashed fits that build. Also, just take a look at the cinematics for the upcoming Old Republic MMO; they are amazing and would make amazing movies.

  8. If anyone ever wanted to make a super-artsy film adaptation of Shadow of the Colossus, I would be a very happy man. You know, as long as it doesn’t suck and all.

    Also on my wish-list for video games I wish would become watchable movies: Dead Space, Borderlands, Fallout.

  9. I agree with all your suggestions. I also agree with the Metal Gear Series. I can totaly see a script based off the first Metal Gear Solid or the 3rd. I wouldn’t be confident with the second one because everyone hates Raiden. There is enough story in those games to make a single movie out of them. Here’s how you’d do it:

    Show research base in alaska, mention top secret weapons project, go to Foxhound laying seige, Snake gets the call to infiltrate, sneaks into base, watches DARPA Chief die, learns basics of Metal Gear, fights Ocelot, continues reconn of base, discovers Metal Gear, captured, tortured, escapes, fights Sniper Wolf, continues plan to destroy Metal Gear, Liquid takes control of Metal Gear, Snake disables it, they have their hand to hand final bout, he escapes before the whole base is destoyed, during the credits Snake receives a CODEC message saying they have an issue in NYC for him.
    Trow in some fights with patrols, a bit of dialog to help explain some stuff and you have a true video game movie.

  10. Metal gear, Mass Effect 100%

    No love for Armored Core? Come on, giant robots! But no Michael Bay please.

    And huge +1 for Nathan Fillion as Drake. God I still weep at Firefly’s demise.

    What about the Fable franchise (yes I know it sucked eventually, but it’s world is fairly detailed)?

    Dragon Age Origins was pretty good too. Had some issues but very detailed world.

  11. While initially I thought a Mass Effect movie would be cool, I just can’t see how you cut so much story and cut it down to a couple hours. Even if you made a trilogy – perhaps one movie for each game – you would have to completely ignore probably 90% of what happens in the games.

  12. I think a Fallout film is definitely needed (preferably New Vegas) And I think Zach Braff would make an awesome Guybrush in a Monkey Island film.

  13. the writer of this article is completely missing the point with these games. They were made with the intention of mirroring the plot and sturcture of past films. It would be redundant to make films based on on these games because it the plot were to similar it would be the same story over again without the fun of playing it and if it were different people would complain about not respecting the story
    p.s up yours asshole ratner is decent director and has made some entertaining films in the past

  14. Duckhunt! No but in all honesty I’ve always had a problem with adaptations, no matter if it’s from books to film or games to film. Worst of all, when they make games from movies. But I suppose there is a market for it anyway.
    Dead Space in theory would be awesome, but it’s my humble opinion that it’s hard to get it as gripping as when you yourself is playing. Make Minecraft the Movie.

  15. My brother and I were JUST talking last night about how awesome an Assassin’s Creed film could be! We obviously agreed that they would need to condense the story, but it would be so beautiful. The games are just so pretty, and the costuming and the stunts would be spectacular if done right. And even though there isn’t much in the way of “story” I’d still like to see a “Halo” flick, because that would just look awesome. 😀 But even though I haven’t played any of these games other then AC, I agree! Just based on the pictures you’ve chosen and the descriptions you gave, I’d see every one of these!

  16. @Asogan
    As for a dragon age movie; Bioware and Felicia Day are making a Dragon Age web series which is probably the most exciting video adaptation of a game so far imo. I have great hopes.

  17. how about Command & Conquer? Kane, Tiberium, Tanya, Yuri are all good ingredients 🙂
    A movie based on Fallout would be awesome as well, starting in a vault and moving into New Vegas.
    Also LOTRO, wait…

  18. Nathan Fillion as Drake!!! Love it!!!
    MGS, Monkey Island, Mass Effect, God of War…. i dont care what they make, as long as it is good, they have tons of material in video games!!!!

  19. I think he’s kind of missing the point. Video games should grow and develop as their own story medium. Apart from various side stories being told in books and comics, I think Mass Effect was designed to be a video game story. Kind of like how Alan Moore said about his comic books. Something along the lines of “My stories are comic books, and they are meant to be read that way, and not seen as films.” Film is one artistic medium, and games are another. While Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted or God of War might lend themselves readily to film, I think adapting games that have mastered the craft of interactive storytelling, such as Mass Effect, Heavy Rain, and BioShock, would be a mistake.

  20. Dawn of War Warhammer, would be awesome as a movie with all those races battling for control of the universe. A good storyline, awesome special effects, good voice actors.. if it ever gets done right, that could be the next Star Wars of this gen.

  21. Yeah. Those franchises could all make amazing films. Hell, they could all make amazing ongoing franchises.
    Lord knows the world is guilty of wasting our most precious resource: Nathan Fillion.
    The problem: All of those franchises, actually just about any videogame IP you could think of are set in worlds that would be incredibly costly to recreate in any half-decent way (special effects, sets, locations, etc.), so they would have to be made within the studio system, and the studios would never spend that type of money unless the film was delivered as a PG-13 ‘splosion-fest.
    So, Ezio would be played by Shia LaBoef, his hidden blades would become hidden knock-out-gas-despensers. Bioshock would become a dumb jump-scare horror movie with all of the social/objectivism commentary/criticism cut out. Mass Effect would become Independence Day: Galactic Boogaloo. And so on.
    Unless art somehow wins the ongoing battle of artistic integrity vs. guaranteed fat stacks, chances are there’ll never be an amazing video game movie. Hell, we’re lucky the occasional worthwhile big budget genre picture slips through the system.

  22. Honestly saying a God of War movie is a good idea is pure stupidity. Its a shitty franchise with an emo-rager for a “God”.

    On top of all that anyone who knows anything at all about Greco-Roman mythology could tell you the whole series pisses on every ounce of story and lore there is.

    And dear god when is this Uncharted garbage going to end, its a crappy remake of Indiana Jones, you might as well make another crystal skull movie.

    Seriously most gamers I know are the most notoriously guilible morons ever. You’ve been spoon fed the same pop-culture trash for 30 years, and now you want more.

    Modern doesn’t equal better, We don’t an Indiana Jones of this generation, We need original ideas to call our own.

    News flash, If you want an Indiana Jones like character, Go watch fucking Indiana Jones.

    Also seriously no mention of Halo, Warcraft, or even Oblivion.

    Mass Effect movie FTW!

  23. Whoever thinks that making a God of War movie would be stupid should be beaten, murdered, and cast in the pits of Hades. God of War is one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time and is deserving of a movie far greater than one that Bret Ratner can produce. Uncharted is one of the highest selling/rated games ever. So, Varren is an obvious X-box lackey and probably has yet to play any PS3 game, so who cares what he thinks.

    Bioshock, Assassins Creed, Mass effect, Dead Space would all be great to if done correctly.

    I want to see Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, Mortal Kombat *thought the mini-series was sick.*, a worth Super Mario Bros game, Metroid, Legend of Zelda, Splinter Cell, and Soul Reaver.

    Also I can’t wait to see how Devil May Cry is going to turn out. Love the series and been waiting for them to attempt this for a long time.

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