There are more video games out than ever before and plenty of games have found their way to the big screen. A lot of video games have massive followings with millions, or even tens of millions of dedicated players. Some players are so hard core that they will use services like AskBoosters to improve their rankings in games. With dedicated fans like that, it is only natural for a movie studio to pick up the rights to make a movie out of a video game as there is already a built in following predisposed to watch the film.
A few movies adapted from video games have been pretty good, some mediocre and others downright terrible. To avoid stepping on any toes we make no judgments here. The movies made from video games in our list are ranked based on release date, not on how bad or good we think they are. Here is a list of 13 movies based on video games:
Top Films Based on Video Games
- Street Fighter (1994): Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Damian Chapa and Kylie Minogue. Directed by Steven E. de Souza. The story: A crazy dictator takes a relief team hostage so a military commander is sent in to remove him.
- Mortal Kombat (1995): Starring: Christopher Lambert, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Robin Shou. Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The story: The plot revolves around an intergalactic fighting tournament with the fate of humanity at stake on the outcome. Liu Kang, Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade form an alliance to save the world with the help of Raiden.
- Lara Croft - Tomb Raider (2001) Starring: Angelina Jolie, Iain Glen, Jon Voight and Daniel Craig. Directed by Simon West. The story: Lara Croft is an adventurous tomb raider and relic hunter who is out to stop the secret Illuminati organization from recovering an ancient artifact that will give them the power to take over the world and control time and death.
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001): Starring: Ming-Na Wen, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames and Steve Buscemi.Directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, Motonori Sakakibara and Jack Fletcher. The story: In the future Earth is invaded by the mysterious aliens called Phantoms. Dr Aki Ross must do all she can to stop them and is assisted in her endeavors by her mentor Dr Sid and the Deep Eyes Military squad led by Captain Edwards. This is the first feature-length motion picture to use CGI to create effects, props, environments and human cast members.
- Resident Evil (2002): Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius and James Purefoy. Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Alice and her commando team fight their way through an underground research facility owned by the Umbrella Corporation. Umbrella has released a zombie virus into the facility turning the employees into the zombies that Alice and her team must battle. Resident Evil is probably the most successful video game movie franchise. There are 5 other movies in the franchise: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017)
- Doom (2005): Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike and Deobia Oparei. Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak. The story: A portal to Hell opens on a Mars research colony so a special marine response squad is sent to deal with the problem. The marines fight to keep the monsters from invading Earth.
- Silent Hill (2006): Starring: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden and Deborah Kara Unger. Directed by Christophe Gans. The story: A mother is seeking a cure for her daughter’s illness. Her quest leads her to the town of Silent Hill, an eerie place perpetually covered in a perpetual fog and home to a living, mutating darkness.
- Hitman (2007): Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko and Robert Knepper. Directed by Xavier Gens. The story: Agent 47 is a coldblooded assassin who becomes entangled in a political conspiracy that results in him being pursued by Russian and Interpol agents determined to take him out. However this is the game that Agent 47 was made for.
- Max Payne (2008): Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges and Chris O'Donnell. Directed by John Moore. The story: A cop whose family is killed by assassins partners with a killer who is avenging the death of her sister. They set out to take down the mob and an evil corporation, while wiping out police corruption.
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010): Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. Directed by Mike Newell. The story: Dastan, the adopted son of the King of Persia comes into possession of a magic dagger that gives the bearer the ability to turn back time. After being blamed for the death of his father Dastan escapes the city with a princess. Together they must protect the magic dagger and find the assassin who killed Dastan’s father.
- Need for Speed (2014): Starring: Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Dominic Cooper and Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi. Directed by Scott Waugh. The story: The protagonist is an ex-con and street racer who just wants to save his garage from going under but ends up being framed for murder. He joins a high-stakes race that offers the opportunity to seek revenge.
- Assassin's Creed (2016): Starring: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson. Directed by Justin Kurzel. The story: Callum Lynch’s genetic memories from his Assassin ancestor are unlocked giving him special assassin skills. He uses his skills to fight the society of Templars in memory and in current times.
- Warcraft (2016): Starring: Travis Fimmel, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper and Toby Kebbell. Directed by Duncan Jones. The story: An Orc shaman uses magic to open a portal to the realm of Azeroth, and with the help of the Blackhand unites the Orc clans to create an army called the Horde. Gul’dan and the Horde invade Azeroth where King Llane, Anduin Lothar, and the wizard Medivh lead the humans to defend against the Horde.
