Rampage and 10 other Video Game Movie Adaptations

With the new trailer released for Rampage, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a movie that is based on the 80s video game, we’re taking a look at some of the other video games that have made it to the big screen over the years.

Super Mario Bros. (1993)

The story of two Brooklyn plumbers, Mario and Luigi, came to the big screen in 1993, the movie starring Bob Hoskins as Maria and John Leguizamo as Luigi saw the pair travelling to another dimension to a Princess from evil dictator King Koopa (Dennis Hopper) and stop him from taking over the world. With so many script re-writes during the filming of the Super Mario Bros. It’s surprising that the film even got completed!

Mortal Kombat (1995)

Based on the popular “beat ’em up” the movie adaptation saw Highlander’s Christopher Lambert as Lord Rayden and three martial artists heading to a mysterious island to compete in a tournament that would choose the outcome of the world. The movie spawned sequels and a TV series.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Lara came to life on the big screen thanks to her live-action part being played by Angelina Jolie, the movie was certainly one that had mixed emotions from fans of the game’s franchise as Lara races against time and villains to recover a powerful ancient artefact. The movie also featured Jolie’s father John Voight, Chris Barrie as Hillary and Daniel Craig.

Resident Evil (2002)

I remember playing Resident Evil on my Playstation many years ago and it was a game that scared the heck out of me, so when the news came that a movie was on its way, I was very excited. Directed by Super Mario Bros. W.S. Anderson, the movie brought us Alice played by Milla Jovovich with the start of her journey through almost endless sequels, with the first movie seeing a special military unit fighting a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a laboratory accident.

Bloodrayne (2005)

Another game that I enjoyed and wasn’t sure how it would transcribe to the screen, directed by Uwe Boll, the movie adaptation of the video game saw Bloodrayne in the 18th century, as a vampire escapes from the freak show she once participated in and teams up with a group of vampire slayers to kill the man who raped her mother.

Silent Hill (2006)

Scary video games were always great to play and horror movies are great to have you on the edge of your seat, so combining the two with Silent Hill was something many were waiting for. The movie adaptation was spooky and has some good CGI effects as the main character, Rose (Radha Mitchell), goes in search for her adopted daughter within the confines of a strange, desolate town called Silent Hill.

Hitman (2007)

Timothy Olyphant took on the role of “Agent 47” in this adaptation of the classic video game, the movie saw the gun-for-hire known only as Agent 47 hired by a group known only as ‘The Organization’ is ensnared in a political conspiracy, which finds him pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Russia and Eastern Europe.

Need for Speed (2014)

What! A movie adaptation of a racing game! Yes indeed and the movie saw Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) and Dominic Cooper (Preacher) bringing the game to the screen with a fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins.

Ratchet & Clank (2016)

A video game that probably doesn’t need an introduction, the movie version is a full CGI movie, so damn close to the characters of the video game, the movie sees the galaxy coming under the threat of a nefarious space captain, a mechanic and his newfound robot ally join an elite squad of combatants to save the universe. Ideal viewing for the kids on a rainy day.

Assassin’s Creed (2016)

OK, I love Assassin’s Creed video games, I’m not totally sure on the what the appeal s of the games, but they are just so addictive, so when the movie was announced I was very excited for its release. Although the movie adaptation has had very mixed reviews, I actually enjoyed it, the movie version follows Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) as he is taken to a complex to explore the memories of his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha and gains the skills of a Master Assassin, before taking on the secret Templar society.

Other upcoming movies that are based on games include Sonic The Hedgehog, Minecraft, The Angry Birds 2 and we’ve also heard gossip of that much-loved arcade game, Dragon’s Lair is getting the big screen treatment!

With so many video games out there and more on the way, they still seem to be a stable diet for filmmakers to take and transfer to the big screen, yes there have been many that have been so bad that it’s hard to forget them, but there are some that people really enjoy watching over and over again.

So it looks like the video game, movie adaptations are here to stay, great for some fans of the games and not so good either, depending on how the films are adapted to the screen for the die-hard gaming fans.