Top 5 Most Underrated Video Game Movies
3) Silent Hill (2006)
Silent Hill is one video game movie that remains true to the video game series at least in terms of visual imagery (check out this visual comparison from YouTube). A lot of the story details have been changed in the movie but it isn't so different that it feels out of touch. For example, in the games Silent Hill is a resort town while in the movie it is an abandoned mining town and the main character in the movie is a female instead of a male.
The cast includes award winning actresses Radha Mitchell and Laurie Holden as well as Sean Bean (who may or may not die) but this movie is underrated because of how utterly awesome it looks. Silent Hill looks legitimately spooky during the day shrouded in constant fog and perpetually falling ash. Nighttime is when things get really scary and even viewers who don't typically get spooked from horror movies are going to be awed by some of the visual effects. The demonic creatures are all really well done and the monsters are easily the strongest part of the movie.
Director Christophe Gans tried to make the movie look and feel as similar to the games as possible and Silent Hill fans will definitely appreciate his efforts when watching this film. You really have to already be a fan of the games to enjoy this movie though because a lot of things are left unexplained. The story can get very confusing and is a mash up of the different Silent Hill games. It's hard to follow if you haven't played them and can hone in on key elements.
Silent Hill is one of those horror movies that probably won't scare you while you're watching it but it will stick with you for a couple hours afterwards with a feeling of uneasiness.
I feel like this post could have been titled "If You Have Really Low Expectations, These Video Game Movies Are Okay." And, that's frustrating. Low standards are one of the biggest negative influences in the video game industry. For example, the author all but directly states here that you can't expect a video game to have a high quality story.
Why not? Where is it written that video game writers undergo mandatory lobotomies? One of the main reasons there's yet to be a truly great video game movie is because video games are not respected as a medium. 42 years after Pong and the Magnavox Odyssey were released, people are still debating whether or not the medium counts as "art." To put that in perspective, less than 40 years after the very first image was captured on a video camera, Sergei Eisenstein had released The Battleship Potemkin. 12 years later came Snow White.
If we don't start expecting better quality from our video games, we should get used to a lot more lists like this.
Tomb Raider came out when I was sixteen. I'd already been such a fan of the video games, and I really liked it. It was nice to have a female role model to look up to. I enjoyed it and will still defend it to people who didn't like it today as a positive movie for young women.
Max Payne is one of the worst videogame adaptations ever made imho.
Mortal Kombat is one of the worst movies ever made period imho.
..Doom? not even a mention? come onnnn
Silent Hill was great. True to the atmosphere of dread the game instilled and true to game monsters. Plus the ending was actually satisfying. How they made such a horrible sequel is beyond me.
None of these movies are underrated. They got what they deserve.
I liked the Mortal Kombat movies. Yes I said I liked them both. Yes they weren't perfect but i never expected perfect from a Mortal Kombat movie. For one thing they didn't follow the games exactly. But I can deal with that. My only complaint was the 2nd game was entirely skipped over opting for the storyline based off 3. But I liked that storyline in the games anyways so I can deal with it. Even though they had their faults they were still enjoyable and I am glad to own them on dvd.
tekken was pretty good
I would put Mortal Kombat ahead of Tomb Raider as I was always a MK fan and never really played the TR games.
I would have left Max Payne off the list, I wanted to like it but I thought it was terrible.
Tomb raider got 8 on ign
Silent Hill is a terrible movie. With all the changes done to the story it's not even Silent Hill anymore. Was a big fan of the series and I was appalled with all the changes made.
The Cult being changed over to religious people trying to kill the witch, rather then being a cult to harness Cheryl's powers. Pyramid Head being in the movie didn't make any sense, he's a manifestation of another character that's not in the movie. That whole nurse scene, where the mom is dodging knives. Why did they switch it over to the mom? Is it unrealistic for a dad to care about this daughter? The town being abandoned? It is not an abandoned town, it is full of people! The abandoned version exists in a pocket dimension! That little girl couldn't act!
Its like they didn't even try!
what about the Resident Evil movies? if its because you haven't seen them, then i highly recommend them. the special effects are high end, the plots are good if not very complicated, and the acting is pretty great, especially if you are comparing it to other video game movies out there.
Silent Hill 2 wasn't bad at all IMHO.
I love Mortal Kombat! I heard good things about the Tekken movie... But I'll wait to see it. Those were $500 sunglasses a...
Anon 1, understated means people didn't like them.
How are these movies underrated, everyone knows them and has seen them.
I really liked Prince of Persia. It's one of the few movie I bought in Blu-Ray.