Five movies based on video games to consider watching (even if they sucked)

In general – sad as it may be – movies based on video games don’t live up to their original counterparts. But why do we watch these movies anyway, even if we know they’d never live up to the game? Only one answer came to mind: because we love the game.

Thus the idea for this QuickList came about: what are the movies that we’d watch simply for love of the game? Read the five movies you might consider watching (even if they sucked) in the full article.

In general – sad as it may be – most movies based on video games don’t live up to their counterparts. But why do we watch these movies anyway, even if we know they’d never live up to the game? Only one answer comes to mind: because we love the game.

Thus the idea for this QuickList came about: what are the movies that we’d watch simply for love of the game? Which action and shooter games that got our adrenaline rushing, strategy games that got our brain cells tingling, or RPGs that plucked our heartstrings to a point that we’d waste our money on a movie based on it… even if it sucked?

The criteria for the list is simple: it shouldn’t have a corresponding movie (or have one in the works). Another is that the sucess of the hypothetical movies would be largely dependent on the success of the game, whether it be from sales or the establishment of a loyal fanbase.

That said, here are the five movies based on video games you might consider watching, simply for love of the game.

---

Bioshock – This would make a great thriller / suspense film. There are some writers and directors that could give this film justice, maybe even make it as successful and critically acclaimed as the game itself – but that would take a dream team of producers, not to mention a capable leading man.

Visual effects aside, probably the most difficult thing to translate into film would be the tense and dramatic world and environment of Rapture. However, with such a great storyline, Hollywood can’t go wrong with Bioshock. It’ll sell; but just how successful it will be would be up to the producing team.

Heavenly Sword – Girl. Sword. Lots of blood. While these themes are very reminiscent of Kill Bill, Heavenly Sword operates on a much more grand scale. A movie of Heavenly Sword would probably be best along the visual styles of 300 – remember those Legend of the Sword short films?

While translating this video game into a movie would be easy (considering the game is already cinematic) there’s still a chance the movie could be mucked up if they don’t get a decent actress to play Nariko. (And Andy Serkis could remain playing the king.)

Bully – Rockstar’s game, which shared its fair share of controversy, recently won best scriptwriting for a video game in the BAFTA awards and that in itself is enough to know that a movie based on it would sell and would be well received.

However, rewards aside, Bully is one of those games that would probably be translated smoothly into a movie. It will make a good coming of age film, and unlike most video game movies, wouldn’t even need a big budget to produce; just a talented cast of young actors.

The theme of Bully deviates from the normal criteria for a video game movie because it isn’t action or eye-candy intensive. In effect, the success of the video game may not help promote the movie but it would still be an interesting adaptation.

Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa – The pick for the new generation of science fiction movies. The world of Tabula Rasa blends fantasy and science fiction elements smoothly within its intergalactically epic storyline.

Tabula Rasa‘s Sarah Morrison is an interesting figure for a movie and besides, there’s not a lot of strong female characters in sci-fi epics (barring Ellen Ripley from Alien). Hers is a story of a girl who lost her family to the Bane. She later moved on to become a commanding officer in the rebel human forces.

Suikoden 2 – The epic choice. While Suikoden has all the elements a good epic film would have – war, blood, love, betrayal – it’s possibly the most difficult of the games to translate into a movie. For one thing, translating any of the games calls for a huge cast: 108 actors. And that’s just the good guys.

Suikoden 2‘s story is what would draw us to a film adaptation of the game. It appeals to a younger audience and yet has an old school sense of honor and family, following a young man who unwillingly raises an army to fight a corrupt nation.

---

These five video game candidates may not be able to translate well on the silver screen, but they were brilliant enough on our platforms to consider watching. Which games would you want to see up on the big screen?