Video games reach plenty of entertainment mediums, but some are still finding their footing. That seems the case for video game movies.
Sometimes video game series are so enthralling that they make their way to cinemas, but the execution isn’t always exactly crisp.
But for those few video game movies that did manage to captivate and impress audiences, they go down in history as some of the few.
So grab some popcorn, a soda, and maybe even some nachos. Grab your ticket, and take your seat.
Let’s look at some of the best video game movies to ever reach audiences.
- 4. DOOM
The DOOM video games are one of the forerunning pioneers for the massively popular genre of first person shooters. Its film adaption was also a very interesting action movie, but fell short in having nearly as much success as its games did.
Despite bringing in ultra-charismatic Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson among other great film talents, it failed to meet its budget in box office profits after hitting the big screen.
Globally the DOOM film grossed a measly $56 million in comparison to its $60 million budget, creating a massive financial box office failure.
But the DOOM movie makes this list for its spirit, its character, and its exploring the DOOM video game concept and story, giving a whole new public at large a glimpse into the universe.
While not every viewer came out of the film stoked to have seen it, the plenty of eyes the movies put on the classic games is not to be discounted. For this and more, DOOM earns its spot on this list as one of the best video game movies out.
- 3. Warcraft (World of Warcraft)
While this 2016 film telling the story of the World of Warcraft Azeroth and its many conflicts brought the world to the cinema screen, some still consider it a disappointment.
For video game movies, however, it stands out as one of the strongest contenders. That’s because despite some negative criticism, the film performed well both in box offices and to a degree in response from viewers. The film had a budget of $160 million and managed to gross over $433 million globally. While this isn’t the strongest of successes, that still puts it significantly in the green.
Though the movie has some low ratings on fan review sites like Rotten Tomatoes, it also has a fairly decent 7/10 rating from IMDB.
While the film perhaps didn’t do the Blizzard classic the justice it deserves, a successful interpretation of the game on the big screen was a major leap, and to financially succeed in this effort is still monumental in itself.
All things considered, Warcraft easily makes the list.
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- 2. Mortal Kombat Series
Like cheesy? Gorey? Thrilling? Over the top?
Meet Mortal Kombat.
As a whole, the Mortal Kombat video game series has been a massively influential presence in the fighting game genre for a very long time, helping in fueling the arcade boom of early gaming.
Mortal Kombat has maintained an incredibly appealing and dynamic voice across over 20 different game adaptions, and has been a huge video game success for a very long time.
But films are not perhaps the first thing Mortal Kombat fans think of when talking about the series.
All the same, the films match the voice of the games pretty well, despite not being the most critically acclaimed content. For such a unique brand voice, this isn’t entirely unexpected.
The Mortal Kombat film series begins with Mortal Kombat in 1995, a film that earned $122 million in its box office after a very small budget of $18 million. This meant the film was massively profitable, especially for its time.
If the story stopped here, perhaps Mortal Kombat would hold the number one slot on this list. It doesn’t.
The sequel to Mortal Kombat (which came two years after the original) managed to flop impressively hard for viewers ever since. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation had its budget pushed up to $30 million, and only managed to bring home $51.3 million. While this likely constitutes a box office success to a degree, viewers certainly weren’t happy with what they saw.
Today, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation maintains an impressively low rating of 3% on Rotten Tomatoes, and has been credited by Ed Boon as the single worst moment of the entire franchise.
All the same, the original Mortal Kombat film is strong enough that the series still earns its spot on the list.
- 1. Resident Evil Series
Simply put, for many reasons, it’s hard to choose a “best” when it comes to the Resident Evil film series. Instead, let’s take a look at how the series as a whole performed while being based on the video game series Resident Evil, and its underlying universe.
Resident Evil is a compelling world filled with plenty of potential action and suspense. This translated beautifully from TV’s at home to the big screens in theatres.
Despite the film series lasting across six installments so far, each have posted successful numbers. The highest grossing film of the series was its latest edition, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. The movie grossed over $312 million off of a $40 million budget. Despite a waning interest in audiences at large, it seems the series still has the lifeblood to pull off massive successes, and proved so across all six movies with each being financial successes.
The Resident Evil films brought the unique storytelling of the video games and implemented many similarly awe inspiring moments and scenes that kept viewers glued to the edge of their seats or with their hands glued over their eyes in suspense and fear.
That’s a telling sign for a great horror/action/suspense/thriller series, and Resident Evil movies consistently accomplish exactly that, featuring the perfectly cast Milla Jovovich at the helm.
