The recent critical acclaim for HBO’s The Last of Us and the box office success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie have sparked a wave of optimism. Could this be a turning point for video game adaptations?
For decades, such adaptations have struggled to capture the essence of beloved games and translate them effectively to the cinematic medium. Despite Hollywood’s persistent efforts to turn popular video game characters into cinematic heroes, the vast majority of these adaptations have fallen flat.
While some triumphed, most of them were unsuccessful. We share 10 of the worst video game adaptations to date.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010)
This 2010 adaptation of The Prince of Persia, a video game series set in the Middle East, tops the list of worst video game adaptations. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as parkour-enthused Prince Dastan, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film approximately follows 2003’s Ubisoft-developed action adventure of the same name. Much of the film came as a mess with its flawed characters and messy storylines.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is available to watch on Disney+
Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Not to talk about a video game adaptation movie, this one is regarded as a bad movie in general. The late Bob Hoskins played Mario opposite John Leguizamo as Luigi in the infamous 1993 movie version of Super Mario Bros. The Mario franchise is gaming’s most iconic, but the attempts to adapt the games to the big screen went wrong. Some did praise this film for its visual effect, but overall, it proved to be a silly attempt for adult moviegoers and way too mature for young ones.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
Just like most of the video game adaptations, this movie also reminds us of the empty and failed attempt. Apart from some action sequences, there was hardly anything to watch. Its story, dialogue, action, and other performances are all underwhelming at best.
Stream Lara Croft: Tomb Raider on Prime Video.
Street Fighter (1994)
Raúl Juliá’s acting as M. Bison was praised in this movie. But it could not stay faithful to its source and, despite box office success, could not grab the good words from critics.
Street Fighter is on Prime Video.
Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)
Hitman: Agent 47 is the second attempt at a Hitman movie. The first, 2007’s Hitman, was not a success. The second attempt was even worse as it was labeled a pointless try. It has a very weak storyline and also underdeveloped characters. Rupert Friend stars as the titular character in this movie.
Hitman: Agent 47 is available to watch on Disney+
Postal (2007)
Uwe Boll directed this controversial movie, which was very low on the plot and counted among the horrible attempts at making a movie. It received poor ratings from its unfunny plot and relentless violence.
Doom (2005)
Doom is one of the most iconic games ever made. However, the film failed to offer the same vibe as its source. Despite the excellent cast, it miserably failed to bring faithfulness to the source material.
Dwayne Johnson plays the villain in a film that sharply deviates from the video game source material. It was criticized for its mediocre action and senseless plot.
Doom is on Prime Video.
Max Payne (2008)
Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis could not save this film from being tagged as a failed video game adaptation. Just like others, it also could not hold onto the source material. Critics savaged its non-sensical plot and the inclusion of unnecessary supernatural aspects that were not there in the original.
Max Payne (2008) is on Prime Video.
BloodRayne (2005)
Yet another poor adaptation from Uwe Boll. BloodRayne is a hit vampire action game from 2002. However, the film adaptation utterly failed as it only managed to gross $3.7 million. It was criticized for its poor writing and immature direction. The actions are also not held in high regard.
House of the Dead (2003)
Based on the sort-of-OK first-person shooter by SEGA, House of the Dead centers on a group of survivors trying to escape a zombie-infested island. But it is one of the worst video game adaptations ever.
Who is the director here? can you guess? Yes, again, it’s Uwe Boll. It’s just a poor plot with worse acting.
