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There have been good video game movies, but the number is vanishingly small. Many are "so bad it's good" such as anything Uwe Boll makes, but there are a couple

There have been good video game movies, but the number is vanishingly small. Many are "so bad it's good" such as anything Uwe Boll makes, but there are a couple that seem to be created by directors who genuinely love the source material and take it in interesting directions (e.g. the first Silent Hill film, the first Resident Evil film, arguably Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within). Also, Mortal Kombat (1995) is a good film.

avar 9y ago
> Many are "so bad it's good" such as > anything Uwe Boll makes[...] I tried finding this again, but I think it was when Postal came out that I downloaded a version of it with a director's commentary, and it was Uwe Boll railing against his detractors non-stop, claiming he was a true artist and idiot critics just didn't understand him. It made it even more hilarious.
- jakebasile 9y ago
  Uwe Boll is just an enjoyable character. He challenges many of his critics to boxing matches, and the dying breath of his character in Postal was "I hate video games".
jandrese 9y ago
I suggest not going back and watching Mortal Kombat again if you want to retain your memories of it being a good film. Maybe it's best just to listen to the soundtrack instead.
- gknoy 9y ago
  I re-watched it a few months back; it was still enjoyable overall. I agree that it didn't match up to nostalgia, but it wasn't as bad as one might fear. The overt sexism (and threats) towards Sonya are pretty upsetting. I'd forgotten about that, and as a teenager I wrote it off as "well I guess he's just a Bad Guy". As an adult (and parent) now, I really feel like that kind of messaging is pretty toxic and unnecessary. (Heck, just the revenge motive of he-killed-her-partner would have been enough.) There's a lot of writing that on some levels are Bad -- low-dimensional characters, etc -- but in the context of a movie character, wasn't all that bad. The characters were in many ways as much a caricature as their video game characters were. Johnny Cage is such a caricature of what one would imagine as the intersection of a spoiled (80s or 90s?) Movie Star with a martial artist -- in many ways, he seemed a direct spoof of Van Damme or other actors. And yet, I liked that they gave his character some redeeming qualities (IIRC). As an action film, I still enjoyed the fight choreography for most of the fights, even if you have to have some huge suspension of disbelief about things like who would want to be one of Shang Tsung's disposable minions. :) I mean, what's the benefits and compensation package for that look like?
  - jandrese 9y ago
    Isn't Johnny Cage just relabeled Bruce Lee?
    - berbec 9y ago
      That's Lu Kang
      - jandrese 9y ago
        You're right. It has been so long since I've seen a Mortal Kombat game that I forgot which character was which.
    - berbec 9y ago
      Cage is JCVD
- jakebasile 9y ago
  I watched it Sunday night, and I enjoyed it almost as much as when I saw it as a 9 year old. It's not a great film, but it has a generally coherent plot and narrative structure, good with choreography, and one of the best action movie soundtracks ever made. To this day the fight with Reptile is one of my favorite action sequences in any film I've seen.
ebbv 9y ago
Kinda cheating to call the Spirits Within a video game movie. It was titled Final Fantasy but was a wholly unique story and new characters and everything.
- ygaf 9y ago
  Not sure why this is downvoted. If you don't have a videogame source material it's not going to have whatever problems a videogame movie has.
- jakebasile 9y ago
  I did say "arguably". I know it's not a direct translation but to be fair many video game movies don't directly translate the source game either. For another example, see Final Fantasy: Advent Children which is a sequel to Final Fantasy 7. It's pretty enjoyable.
  - CM30 9y ago
    Most video game movies probably shouldn't directly translate the source game, since what works in a game and what works in a movie are so different. And to be fair, most films based on other media don't directly translate their source material either. Oh sure, novel based films do, but most comic book movies seem to have plots written specifically for the movie, with elements from various comic issues mixed in. And most based on TV series usually have new stories too.
sh33mp 9y ago
Mortal Kombat is very, very fun. I'm not sure I'd call it a good film, but I enjoyed it a lot. Another good example is the Phoenix Wright movie (in Japan). Both are excellent love letters to their fans.
nasredin 9y ago
Uwe Boll's "Tunnel Rats" is surprisingly decent BTW.
- baby 9y ago
  I laughed watching Far Cry, there it is
1337biz 9y ago
I just came here to read the Uwe Boll comments. In person he is really entertaining - once went to a screening where he did a q&a. Definitly worth it. He really likes talking about his 'admiration' for Michael Bay...

avar 9y ago

> Many are "so bad it's good" such as > anything Uwe Boll makes[...] I tried finding this again, but I think it was when Postal came out that I downloaded a version of it with a director's commentary, and it was Uwe Boll railing against his detractors non-stop, claiming he was a true artist and idiot critics just didn't understand him. It made it even more hilarious.

jakebasile 9y ago
Uwe Boll is just an enjoyable character. He challenges many of his critics to boxing matches, and the dying breath of his character in Postal was "I hate video games".

jandrese 9y ago

I suggest not going back and watching Mortal Kombat again if you want to retain your memories of it being a good film. Maybe it's best just to listen to the soundtrack instead.

gknoy 9y ago
I re-watched it a few months back; it was still enjoyable overall. I agree that it didn't match up to nostalgia, but it wasn't as bad as one might fear. The overt sexism (and threats) towards Sonya are pretty upsetting. I'd forgotten about that, and as a teenager I wrote it off as "well I guess he's just a Bad Guy". As an adult (and parent) now, I really feel like that kind of messaging is pretty toxic and unnecessary. (Heck, just the revenge motive of he-killed-her-partner would have been enough.) There's a lot of writing that on some levels are Bad -- low-dimensional characters, etc -- but in the context of a movie character, wasn't all that bad. The characters were in many ways as much a caricature as their video game characters were. Johnny Cage is such a caricature of what one would imagine as the intersection of a spoiled (80s or 90s?) Movie Star with a martial artist -- in many ways, he seemed a direct spoof of Van Damme or other actors. And yet, I liked that they gave his character some redeeming qualities (IIRC). As an action film, I still enjoyed the fight choreography for most of the fights, even if you have to have some huge suspension of disbelief about things like who would want to be one of Shang Tsung's disposable minions. :) I mean, what's the benefits and compensation package for that look like?
- jandrese 9y ago
  Isn't Johnny Cage just relabeled Bruce Lee?
  - berbec 9y ago
    That's Lu Kang
    - jandrese 9y ago
      You're right. It has been so long since I've seen a Mortal Kombat game that I forgot which character was which.
  - berbec 9y ago
    Cage is JCVD
jakebasile 9y ago
I watched it Sunday night, and I enjoyed it almost as much as when I saw it as a 9 year old. It's not a great film, but it has a generally coherent plot and narrative structure, good with choreography, and one of the best action movie soundtracks ever made. To this day the fight with Reptile is one of my favorite action sequences in any film I've seen.

ebbv 9y ago

Kinda cheating to call the Spirits Within a video game movie. It was titled Final Fantasy but was a wholly unique story and new characters and everything.

ygaf 9y ago
Not sure why this is downvoted. If you don't have a videogame source material it's not going to have whatever problems a videogame movie has.
jakebasile 9y ago
I did say "arguably". I know it's not a direct translation but to be fair many video game movies don't directly translate the source game either. For another example, see Final Fantasy: Advent Children which is a sequel to Final Fantasy 7. It's pretty enjoyable.
- CM30 9y ago
  Most video game movies probably shouldn't directly translate the source game, since what works in a game and what works in a movie are so different. And to be fair, most films based on other media don't directly translate their source material either. Oh sure, novel based films do, but most comic book movies seem to have plots written specifically for the movie, with elements from various comic issues mixed in. And most based on TV series usually have new stories too.

sh33mp 9y ago

Mortal Kombat is very, very fun. I'm not sure I'd call it a good film, but I enjoyed it a lot. Another good example is the Phoenix Wright movie (in Japan). Both are excellent love letters to their fans.

nasredin 9y ago

Uwe Boll's "Tunnel Rats" is surprisingly decent BTW.

baby 9y ago
I laughed watching Far Cry, there it is

1337biz 9y ago

I just came here to read the Uwe Boll comments. In person he is really entertaining - once went to a screening where he did a q&a. Definitly worth it. He really likes talking about his 'admiration' for Michael Bay...