Summary
- Many movies based on video games used to be considered trash, but that perception has changed in recent times with better adaptations.
- Some older video game movies, like DOA: Dead or Alive and Postal, are truly amateurish and painful to watch, though they may provide some satisfaction for viewers who enjoy so-bad-it's-good content.
- Uwe Boll is notorious for creating offensive and mediocre video game adaptations, such as BloodRayne and In The Name Of The King, which have not done justice to the source material.
There was a time when most people instantly wrote off any movie adaptation of a video game to be nothing more than complete trash. This sentiment was understandable — the vast majority of movies based on video games felt like lazy cash-ins, mainly existing just to pander to fans with no proper storytelling or direction to speak of. Thankfully, this notion has changed in modern times, with many movies, anime, and TV shows doing justice to the games they're adapting.
Fans of video games are glad to see this shift. The days of being tortured by Uwe Boll movies are officially over, and ardent viewers can enjoy a wealth of quality video game material nowadays. That being said, there's still something fascinating about seeing just how badly older video game moves flopped, with these titles being totally amateurish in every way, shape, and form. In some sense, watching these movies now can prove to be quite satisfying, if viewers have the stomach to handle some of the cringiest pieces of cinema ever made.
DOA: Dead Or Alive
Tomatometer: 33%
|
Budget |
$30 million |
|---|---|
|
Box Office |
$7.7 million |
Dead or Alive is a fairly popular fighting game that focuses a bit too much on fanservice for most people's liking. Still, the games themselves can provide a fair bit of enjoyment if players don't mind the egregious objectification and aren't all that keen on learning an in-depth fighting game with complex combos and mechanics. The very idea of a film set in this universe sounds like exploitation from the get-go.
So, it's easy to see why DOA: Dead or Alive wound up being such a massive mess in every way. The movie is genuinely painful to get through, even if it does scratch that so-bad-it's-good itch for some. However, for the vast majority of people, watching this catastrophe of a movie isn't recommended in the slightest, especially if they don't have a lot of time to spare.
Postal
Tomatometer: 9%
|
Budget |
$15 million |
|---|---|
|
Box Office |
$146,741 |
Postal 2 is a game where rampant violence is the norm. In fact, the sheer depravity of the player's actions is so messed up that this game attracted major controversy as a result. In a way, this bad press is what led to the title being a cult classic, with many players loving the insane depravity of the violence and how the most mundane of tasks become so engaging in this game.
However, to even play around with the idea of turning this mindless series into a movie is one of the most bone-headed decisions that anyone could make. So, it's easy to see why Uwe Boll's attempt to make a Postal movie was so laughable. The man is notorious in the video game community for besmirching the name of many popular IPs, and it's a testament to his aggressive mediocrity that this film is easily the most offensive piece of content released with the Postal name attached to it.
BloodRayne
Tomatometer: 4%
|
Budget |
$25 million |
|---|---|
|
Box Office |
$3.7 million |
Bloodrayne is one of the more underrated IPs out there that fans should definitely check out if they like old-school action games. Rayne is a dhampir (half-vampire half-human) who gets embroiled in many high-stakes events over and over again, which usually involve either dismembering Nazis or killing criminals without a care in the world. If there's any IP that could've benefited from a good movie to bolster its reputation, it's this one.
It's a shame that Uwe Boll got his grubby paws all over this franchise before anyone could've done justice to the femme fatale protagonist. The movie is an absolute travesty that is a pain to sit through. The fact that Bloodrayne has completely died out as an IP barring a mediocre side-scroller and a poor remaster adds further insult to injury for many fans of the series.
In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Tomatometer: 4%
|
Budget |
$60 million |
|---|---|
|
Box Office |
$13.1 million |
Some of the franchises that Uwe Boll adapted into movies are truly bizarre. Most story-heavy video games certainly fit the bill in this regard, so it's rather odd to see that an IP like Dungeon Siege was chosen to be adapted for a feature-length film. It's a move that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Suffice it to say, In the Name of the King is one of the worst pieces of cinema ever created. The movie looks and feels cheap, with the actors barely even bothering to put in an effort to make the movie feel even remotely believable. Even the likes of Jason Statham, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, and Ron Perlman couldn't save this mess.
Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li
Tomatometer: 3%
|
Budget |
$50 million |
|---|---|
|
Box Office |
$12.8 million |
Fighting games actually have the potential to be halfway decent IPs for a movie adaptation. The first Mortal Kombat movie may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but it's considered by many to be a cult classic for its charm and a great main theme song. So, a Street Fighter movie focused on Chun-Li could've definitely found a ton of success.
Unfortunately, incompetent direction and a brain-melting plot turned Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li into a nightmarish watch. Even in the realm of bad video game adaptations, this movie is a special kind of awful that will make anyone's brain melt because of how laughably unwatchable it is.