Many of us gamers are dying to see our favorite game as a movie or TV show. While movie producers are getting better at this skill, it wasn’t always this good. We’ve had some terrible failures in the past, especially during the first attempts with terrible CGI or effects.
I’m sure you could add some of your own choices to this list. I’ve heard many people say the Silent Hill movies and Resident Evil shows with the Alice project were terrible. Strangely, I really like them. While you didn’t ask, I decided to share my list of the top ten worst game movie adaptations of all time.
Double Dragon (1994)
I was 14 years old when this movie came out. I think I had played the Double Dragon game at my local arcade, so I was quite excited to see this. Sadly, the story and action were quite bland, and it didn’t sit well on the charts or with critics either. It’s one of my least favorite movies with Mark Dacascos in.
Max Payne (2008)
While Mark Wahlberg is a spectacular actor in my books, he couldn’t save this movie. It had the Matrix bullet-time action that was in the original game, but the story didn’t quite match. Also, they decided to add some supernatural elements that had nothing to do with the game’s plot. They were probably trying to cash in on popular fantasy movies of the time, such as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)
I’ve seen many people state that the first Hitman with Timothy Olifant was one of the worst video game movies, and I disagree. If anything, it would be on my top ten list of favorites. As for the sequel, I tried to watch it a few times with the same enthusiasm, and couldn’t. It just couldn’t live up to the hype.
Super Mario Bros. (1993)
One of the earliest video game movie adaptations wasn’t all that spectacular. There was a lack of color on the screen, but it could have been due to a low budget. Not only was the movie not well received, but it suffered a financial loss due to a lack of interest.
Wing Commander (1999)
There are several ingredients to this poorly-received movie. On the one hand, the actors didn’t perform too well, lending to a bland delivery on screen. Also, the story didn’t quite match the game’s plot, which is something that seems to happen quite often with adaptations. The enemies look terrible, but I guess we can overlook that part. Antagonists shouldn’t look pretty, right?
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
I’m a MASSIVE Mortal Kombat fan. Huge. I played the very first game when it appeared in my local arcade, and then every MK title on every PlayStation console since then. I live and breathe the story in my soul. Sadly, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation sucked out my soul like Shang Tsung having a feast on Lui Kang’s spirit while watching Goro finally defeat any of earth’s champions. It was just terrible and didn’t do the games justice. Also, Christopher Lambert is the best Raidan of all time.
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
I was also a fan of the Street Fighter games, but not as much as MK. I loved the first movie, but I couldn’t make it through Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. The only reason I really tried was due to my celebrity crush on Smallville actress, Kristin Kreuk. As much as I enjoyed seeing her on the screen, the storyline needed some help that she just couldn’t save.
BloodRayne (2005)
Another actress I love from game-movie adaptations is Kristanna Loken. She featured in the Mortal Kombat Conquest TV Show, of which I still own the original DVD set. While there’s one really sexy scene in BloodRayne, that’s about all it’s got going for it. Even though there were sequels, none of them lived up to the game.
House of the Dead (2003)
The House of the Dead arcade machine was a hit at our local game center. Everyone loved having a shot (pun intended) at killing the enemies. As for the movie, the producer did a good job of killing the show with poor acting and script that made us snore for the most part.
Alone in the Dark (2005)
While the first Alone in the Dark game came out before Silent Hill, I actually thought it was the other way around. It’s mostly due to me discovering the latter before the former. Be that as it may, the movie was anything but stellar, with the game developer even wanting nothing to do with it. If only it had as much suspense as the games.
