Discussion: what's the best video game movie?

Video games are fun, but sometimes it’s nice to put the controller down for a moment and just watch something. Fortunately, for those times, we have movies based on video games! Unfortunately, most of those movies are crap. What are the best video game movies?

Kuanyi: Mortal Kombat, and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. They were super campy, but they represented the series well—they pushed the boundaries of edginess and gore, and every kid on the block wanted to watch them without their parents’ consent.

The first movie’s theme song has also reached legendary status.

Charlie: Super Mario Brothers. Video game movies are usually terrible, and this one is no exception. It’s an awful adaptation that has practically no connection to the game in question, makes very little sense, and is generally a disaster. However, it is a really fun movie to watch, as long as you bring along the necessary props: good friends, good beer, and a good sense of humor. It may not be trying to be funny, but Super Mario Brothers can be one of the funniest movies you’ll ever see if you watch it with friends while cracking jokes about it. And since there really are very few genuinely good video game movies anyway, why not try to get some enjoyment out of the awful ones?

Xairylle: Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist. I know it’s not a movie and it’s yet to be released, but have you seen its trailers, teasers, and behind-the-scenes videos? Everything looks awesome and I can’t wait for it to be out. It’s also great that the creators are big fans of Street Fighter so I trust they’ll try to get things right down to the very last detail. My fangirl heart can be at ease. Besides, after the horrendous Street Fighter movie adaptation in 1994, it’s about time someone did justice to my favorite fighting game series.

Mary-Anne: The first Silent Hill was crazy. It was actually based on the Silent Hill 2 storyline and it took a few liberties with the script, such as changing the protagonist’s gender, but it was a very good movie adaptation of a game. It was a tight, well-written movie, and it adopted Silent Hill’s freaky-as-fuck atmosphere so well. There won’t be a day in my life where I will forget how the Armless Man stumbled towards the camera, or how Colin the janitor dragged himself across the floor, screaming.

(See: DreadOut video review: I’m terrified of Indonesia now)

Special mention goes out to the non-gaming-movie-that-looked-like-a-game, Acts of Valor. It is actually a flick about American marines doing heroic stuff, but the cinematography is straight out of a Call of Duty or Medal of Honor game. Watch it!