Random Bad Video Game Movies That Are Actually Good (15 items)

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  (#1) Resident Evil

  • Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Isaacs, James Purefoy, Eric Mabius, Colin Salmon, Heike Makatsch, Liz May Brice, Stephen Billington, Indra Ové, Joseph May, Fiona Glascott, Jamie Harding, Jeremy Bolt, Giovanna Spuria, Martin Crewes, Pasquale Aleardi, Jaymes Butler, Ryan McCluskey, Barry Best, Oscar Pearce, Robert Tannion, Marc Logan-Black, Anna Bolt, Torsten Jerabek, Michaela Dicker

  When it comes to survival horror video games, the one that most people know and love would have to be Resident Evil. It's easily one of the most successful games in the genre, and there are more than enough of them to keep you busy for a long time. When the game was first adapted into a film, it divided fans in a number of ways, and in some cases, it suffered, but in others, it did remarkably well.

  There have been a total of six Resident Evil films, so the first one must have done something right despite what the critics have to say about it. Fans were divided over the changes made in the first (and all subsequent) films as it related to the source material. Other fans didn't mind the changes and enjoyed the movie for what it was: a zombie survival horror movie with great action and an intriguing story.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 36%
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  (#2) Mortal Kombat

  • Bridgette Wilson, Frank Welker, Talisa Soto, Christopher Lambert, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Robin Shou, Chris Casamassa, Trevor Goddard, Linden Ashby, Sandy Helberg, Keith Cooke, François Petit

  There weren't a lot of film adaptations of fighting games when the first Mortal Kombat movie was released in 1995, and to be fair, there haven't been many afterward either. The movie pulled in parts from the games and wove together a narrative around several central characters in such a way as to be completely cheesy and entertaining at the same time.

  All that said, if you've seen the movie, you know the real appeal, and it's not so much what you see as it is what you hear. The theme music and techno beat that culminated in a loud "MORTAL KOMBAT" amidst the bass drop is one of the greatest aspects of this film... and it's not that horrible a movie either. It's got great fight choreography, a good cast, and it features Christopher Lambert in the most whitewashed role nobody cared to complain about at the time.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 47%
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  (#3) Silent Hill

  • Sean Bean, Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden, Jodelle Ferland, Alice Krige, Kim Coates, Deborah Kara Unger, Tanya Allen, Christopher Britton, Eve Crawford, Nicky Guadagni, Janet Land, Stephen R. Hart, Ron Gabriel, Melissa Panton, Lorry Ayers, Zsuzsanna Cseh, Roberto Campanella, Colleen Williams, Hannah Fleming, Samantha Hayes, Amanda Hiebert, Noelle Boggio, Rhoslynne Bugay, Derek Ritschel, Chantelle Leonardo, Emily Lineham, Holly Makarchuk, Tamara Smeaton, Sylwia Pluta, Kat Olsen, Elizabeth Harpur, Donna Milburn, Michael Cota, Nicole Ann St. Hill, Victoria Boland, Lisa Shaw, Nadia Barosso, Yvonne Ng, Ian White, Victor Sutton, Stephanie Lauder, Tatiana Haas, Onika Ndukwe, Alicia Bundy, Judit Kovacs, Florence MacGregor, Simon Richards, Rachel Crowther, Carrie Clayton, Lynn Woodman, Maxine Dumont

  There are tons of horror games on the market, but not every one of them gets adapted into a feature film. Silent Hill received just such an honor in 2006, just seven years after the first game hit store shelves. The movie was panned, and not even screened for critics, so you already know the studio didn't have high hopes for its performance when it was released in theaters.

  The movie surprised a lot of people, as it made back twice its budget, and even garnered a sequel. Overall, Silent Hill is a pretty decent movie - even if the critics don't agree. It has been praised for its visuals, set design, and overall atmosphere, but got dinged for the inane dialogue. Transferring dialogue that works in games over to the silver screen isn't easy, and that's the main area this movie lacked, but it's still a fun and thrilling psychological horror flick.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 31%
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  (#4) Resident Evil: Extinction

  • Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Ashanti, Iain Glen, Mike Epps, Jason O'Mara, Oded Fehr, Madeline Carroll, Spencer Locke, Christopher Egan, Linden Ashby, Brian Steele, Matthew Marsden, Gary Hudson, Geoff Meed, Rusty Joiner, Ramón Franco, Kirk B. R. Woller, Gary A. Hecker, Peter O'Meara, Joe Hursley, César A. Amigó, Rick Cramer, Valorie Hubbard, John Eric Bentley, James Tumminia, William Abadie, Shane Woodson, Carolina Jimenez, Connor McCoy

  Resident Evil: Extinction is the third film in the Resident Evil film franchise, and the direct sequel to Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which was released three years prior. The film focuses on Alice and a group of survivors from Raccoon City, who are trying to make their way across the Mojave Desert to Alaska amidst the zombie apocalypse.

  The film got some negative critical attention for being "more of the same" with little development made from the previous film in the series. Like the other Resident Evil sequels on this list, you're going to enjoy this film if you love the franchise, and many people do despite how much it deviated from the source material.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 24%
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  (#5) Pokémon The Movie 2000

  • Megumi Hayashibara, Tomokazu Seki, Mayumi Iizuka, Shin-ichiro Miki, Kōichi Yamadera, Ikue Ōtani, Satomi Kōrogi, Mika Kanai, Rica Matsumoto, Inuko Inuyama, Takeshi Kaga, Masatoshi Hamada

  Pokémon The Movie 2000 was the second feature film adaptation of the hit video game series released first in Japan in 1999, and in international markets with an English dub the following year. The movie didn't perform as well as its predecessor, Pokémon The First Movie, but it did manage to rake in a whopping $133.9 million on a $30 million budget.

  The problem with this movie isn't that it's not good - it's a great film. The issue stems from having a limited audience that might consider watching it in the first place. If you're not already a fan of Pokémon, odds are, you're not going to enjoy this film, or even know what's going on, which may be one of the reasons it has such a low rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Conversely, if you watched the cartoon until your eyes bled, you're going to love it.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 19%
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  (#6) Hitman

  • Olga Kurylenko, Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Robert Knepper, Henry Ian Cusick, Ulrich Thomsen, James Faulkner, Velizar Binev, Atanas Srebrev, Sabine Crossen, Eriq Ebouaney, Joe Sheridan, Deyan Donkov, Emil Abossolo-Mbo, Paul Bandey, Paul Barrett, Christian Erickson, Asen Blatechki, Nicky Naude, Patrick Ligardes, Ivan Yurukov, David William James Elliott, Vladimir Kolev, Dobrin Dosev, Michael Offei, Patrick Albenque, Biliana Petrinska, Peter Hudson, Youssef Diawara, Lisa Jacobs, Desislava Bakardzhieva, Boiko Boyanov, Cyril Gueï, Jean-Marc Bellu, Yasmine Meddour, Ilya Nikitenko, Abdou Sagna, Anca Radici, Samantha Timmerman, Nikolay Milev, Borislav Parvanov, Hristo Neykov Neykov, Stefka Yanorova-Trenfafilova, Milko Marinov Milanov, Makssim Kolev Genchev, Nikolay Stoyanov Ilchev, Loïc Molla, Kamen Ivanov, Dessislava Zidarova, Viktoria Dimova, Anatoli Nechev, Vili Dimitrova, Elvis Delannay, Nikolay Valentinov Lukanov, Iosis Shamli, Blagovest Argirov, Svezhen Mladenov

  Hitman is a game about an assassin who kills people. The concept is pretty straightforward, but only on the surface. The titular hitman is a cloned contract killer named Agent 47, whose flawless record of carrying out hits keeps him in high demand among the wealthy and elite people of the world. The games have been around since 2000, and within seven years, a movie hit theaters.

  The movie starred Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47, and it was loosely based on the lore created in the games. It wasn't a great movie, by any standard, but it was certainly fun to watch. It's close enough to the games to intrigue the more ardent fans and seeing as it's a completely bald Timothy Olyphant expressing very little emotion, it's worth the 92-minute runtime at least once.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 15%
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  (#7) Tomb Raider

  • Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Nick Frost, Kristin Scott Thomas

  To date, there have been three Tomb Raider movies based on the games. The first and second starred Angelina Jolie in the role of Lara Croft, and the most recent one released in 2018 starred Alicia Vikander in the same role. The reboot attempted to remain true to the source material, but in a far more grounded way than the movies starring Jolie.

  There was no massive wonderbra working overtime in this movie, and that helped to address some of the criticism leveled at the first two films. Overall, the movie did fairly well at the box office, which resulted in a sequel being given the go-ahead. For what it is, this isn't a bad movie, but it's not one the fans took to, as it attempted to establish itself as somewhat separate from the other films.

  Granted, that's what a reboot is all about, but video game fans can be very picky about what they like and what they don't. If you're looking to watch a movie with a strong female lead, a decent story, and some great action; this is the movie to watch... if you haven't already seen Alien, that is. 

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 51%
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  (#8) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

  • Gemma Arterton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Toby Kebbell, Ronald Pickup, Richard Coyle, Darwin Shaw, João Costa Menezes, Gísli Örn Gardarsson, Reece Ritchie, Dave Pope, Selva Rasalingam, Thomas DuPont, Steve Toussaint, Trampas Thompson, Claudio Pacifico, Dimitri Andreas, David Orpheus, Domonkos Pardanyi, Massimilano Ubaldi, Daisy Doidge-Hill, Vladimir 'Furdo' Furdik, Stephen A. Pope, Christopher Greet, Joseph Beddelem, Sean Francis George, Rachid Abbad, Emmanuel Akintunde, Simon De Selva, Rohan Siva, Shohreh Shojaeifard, Ali Nourbakhsh, Guy C.A., Parham Bahadoran, Amin Mohammad Fouladi, Christine Estima, Zartosht Safari, Elliot James Neale, Charlie Banks, Jesse Mathews, Mehrdad Azmin, Masoud Abbasi, William Foster, Ehsan Parvizian, Farzana Dua Elahe, Felix Quadros, Aziz El Kibachi, Babak Babakinejad

  The first Prince of Persia game was released for the Apple II back in 1989, and it was incredibly popular, garnering millions of fans. The game featured rotoscoping to accurately depict the fluid movements of the titular character, making it an impressive visual game in the early days of computer gaming. A sequel followed four years later, but it wasn't until 2003 that the game leapt into a more modern representation with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

  The game was adapted into a film of the same name and was a decent representation of the game, which itself has been called one of the greatest video games of all time. The film made several departures from the source material, which didn't please some fans at the time. Despite this, it was a major hit, having managed to earn an impressive $336 million at the box office. It was the highest-grossing video game movie ever made until it was supplanted by Warcraft in 2016.

  This is one of those movies that you might really enjoy having never played the game. If you're a huge fan of the video game it's based on, you might not enjoy it as much. Some of the criticism levied at it dealt with the whitewashing of the cast, but if you can get beyond the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal is a Persian Prince, you can enjoy the movie.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 37%
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  (#9) Warcraft

  • Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Clancy Brown, Travis Fimmel, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Robert Kazinsky, Daniel Wu, Burkely Duffield

  World of Warcraft is easily one of the most successful video games ever made, and years after it was first released, it continues to go strong with a huge fanbase continuing to pump money into the MMORPG. Of course, there are other games that feature the Warcraft title, and all of that lore was put into a feature film concept, which began in 2006.

  The movie languished in various stages of development hell for a decade, but when it was finally released, it bombed horribly. The movie earned negative reviews from across the globe, but it still managed to earn a respective $439 million at the global box office. Unfortunately, that was nowhere near enough to call this film anything but a financial disappointment.

  Despite all of that, the movie is visually stunning and fun to watch. The story is a bit derivative, but if you're a fan of the games, there's a good chance you would like this film adaptation. At the end of the day, it's one of those movies that is what it is. It's flat and simple, but entertaining, nonetheless.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 28%
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  (#10) Rampage

  • Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Joe Manganiello, Jake Lacy, Marley Shelton, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

  Rampage is one of those video games people probably never thought anyone would turn into a movie. Of course, the mind then wanders to the movie Battleship, and it's clear Hollywood will adapt anything. The original Rampage was released as an arcade cabinet in 1986, and several sequels and reboots have been made surrounding the central theme of city-wide destruction at the hands of three monsters.

  In 2018, Dwayne Johnson showed up in an adaptation of the game, which did, in fact, offer up three gigantic monsters. Of course, there was some artistic license taken with how those city-destroying monsters came into the picture, but to be fair, there wasn't much of a 'story' to work with from the games. This movie is fun, and it's especially enjoyable if you're a fan of Johnson, which you absolutely should be. 

  Critics tore it apart for the pacing of its story but recognized the visual effects, which were brilliant. It may not have been a critical success, but it was a commercial blockbuster, having made more than $428 million on a budget of between $120 and $140 million.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 52%
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  (#11) Resident Evil: Retribution

  • Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Michelle Rodriguez, Wentworth Miller, Iain Glen, Sienna Guillory, James Purefoy, Boris Kodjoe, Kevin Durand, Sandrine Holt, Li Bingbing, Oded Fehr, Spencer Locke, Eric Mabius, Colin Salmon, Kim Coates, Mika Nakashima, Thomas Kretschmann, Shawn Roberts, Heike Makatsch, Liz May Brice, Johann Urb, Razaaq Adoti, Indra Ové, Joseph May, Megan Charpentier, Aryana Engineer, Martin Crewes, Pasquale Aleardi, Ray Olubowale, Sally Cahill, Norman Yeung, Parys Sylver, Amanda Dyar, Anna Bolt, Chris Sullins, Takato Yamashita, Ave Merson-O'Brian, Kevin Shand, Toshio Oki, Robin Kasyanov, Ofilio Portillo

  Resident Evil: Retribution is the fifth installment of the Resident Evil film franchise, and sits as a direct sequel to Resident Evil: Afterlife, which was released two years prior. The film focuses on Alice after she's captured by the Umbrella Corporation, which forces her to escape and kill many, many people and monsters.

  The movie was lambasted for everything from the characters to the plot and the acting, but one thing everyone seemed to agree that the movie did well was its use of 3D imaging. Ultimately, if you like the Resident Evil film franchise, you won't find much wrong with this movie, and it's something of a must-watch if you want to see the whole franchise of six films.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 29%
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  (#12) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

  • Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, James Woods, Donald Sutherland, Ming-Na Wen, Jean Simmons, Ving Rhames, Keith David, Dwight Schultz, John DiMaggio, Peri Gilpin, Lanei Chapman, Catherine Cavadini, Jack Fletcher, Annie Wu, John Demita, Matt Adler, David Michie, Alex Fernandez, David Arnott, Vicki Davis, Steve Alterman, Andrea Baker, Julia Fletcher, Matt McKenzie, Greg Finley, Richard Penn, Barbara Harris, David McCharen, Judi M. Durand, David Randolph, Tracy Metro, David Rasner

  Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy franchise, and holds the distinction of being the first photorealistic computer-animated feature film ever made. It was also the most expensive video game movie ever made until that record was taken from it by The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time nine years later.

  The movie isn't specifically based on a game in the franchise but relies instead on elements from those games to tell a unique story. It's visually stunning, even decades after it was first released, and the story is captivating. Unfortunately, it made less money than its backers would have liked, and due to the financial losses the company suffered, it has been blamed for the demise of Square Pictures, a film-production studio attached to Square Enix.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 45%
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  (#13) Street Fighter

  • Kylie Minogue, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ming-Na Wen, Raúl Juliá, Simon Callow, Roshan Seth, Benny Urquidez, Joe Bugner, Byron Mann, Damian Chapa, Wes Studi, Andrew Bryniarski, Robert Mammone, Miguel A. Núñez, Jr., Darcy LaPier, Edward R. Pressman, Grand L. Bush, Sander Vanocur, Brian Moll, Peter "Navy" Tuiasosopo, Adrian Cronauer, Jay Tavare, Gregg Rainwater, Ong Soo Han, Kenya Sawada, Ross Marsden, Jeri Barchilon, Seng Kawee, Kenzo Tsujimoto, James Costas, David De Souza, Gordon Waddell, Gerry Day, Françoise Le Cosset, Ray Swenson, Andrew Cottgrove, Kamilyn Kaneko, Efthymios Kallos, Saleh Saqqaf, David Green, Alex Ivacheff, Rosanna Wong, Norman Steiner, Scott Rosen, Renzo Colla, Ric Curnow, Maria Dickson, Maow Krungvong, Christine Walton

  There was a time, back in the days of neighborhood arcades, where one fighting game reigned supreme. That game was Street Fighter and its various sequels and adaptations. Tournaments were held, quarters were passed through slots, and video game legends were made. The game was spectacular and full of detail and lore - the movie... not so much.

  The 1994 Street Fighter adaptation starred Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia in what should have been a much better movie. It was commercially successful, having made an impressive $99.4 million at the global box office, but the critics weren't as happy as fans of the games were.

  The movie was as campy and over-the-top as the game, and while that worked for fans of Street Fighter video games, it didn't appeal to a wider audience. It's one of those movies you love if you watched in the '90s, but people who never saw it before would probably hate it today.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 11%
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  (#14) Max Payne

  • Mila Kunis, Mark Wahlberg, Olga Kurylenko, Ludacris, Nelly Furtado, Chris O'Donnell, Beau Bridges, Donal Logue, Brea Grant, Kate Burton, Amaury Nolasco, Jamie Hector, James McCaffrey, Tig Fong, Conrad Pla, Philip Williams, Max McCabe-Lokos, Ted Atherton, Rothaford Gray, Joel Gordon, Stephen R. Hart, James Preston Rogers, Gouchy Boy, Warren Belle, Sima Fisher, Kristin Mellian, Aaron Pushkar, Rico Simonini, Brandon Carrera, Pj Lazic, Danielle Cole, Marianthi Evans, Kerr Hewitt, Andrew Friedman, Carlos Gonzalez-Vio, Genadijs Dolganovs, Sergei Nikolich, Janice Nguyen, Siobhan Murphy, Candice Hotchkiss, Heidi Tan, Barrington Bignall, Kristina Falcomer, Joshua Barilko, Christina Notto, Martin Hindy, Herbert Johnson, Dale Yim, Jay Hunter, Larry Wheatley, Christina Jocic, Noelle Gray, Spike Adamson, Katie Odegaard

  Back when the first Max Payne game was released, it introduced a concept that is well-known these days, but incredibly innovative for a video game when it first came out. The concept was "bullet time," which gave players the ability to hit a button and slow down time for all but the player, and only for a quick moment. This made it possible to aim easier and avoid getting shot.

  In 2008, a live-action movie was released, which was loosely based on the first game. The biggest problem the movie faced at this point was that it came out almost a decade after The Matrix, which relied heavily on bullet time. Regardless, the film is visually quite impressive, and the story wasn't horrible either. It starred Mark Wahlberg in the title role, and was a commercial success. Fans of the genre continue to like this film despite what the critics say, and it's entertaining for what it is.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 16%
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  (#15) The Angry Birds Movie

  • Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Sean Penn, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Bill Hader, Peter Dinklage

  If there's one game nobody ever thought they would make a movie out of, it's Angry Birds. After all, it's just swiping your finger to topple some constructs and defeat immobile pigs, and there's not much of a story in that. As it happens, there isn't just a story there, there's enough to produce two feature films based on the title, and the first one was actually pretty good.

  The film takes the general concept and throws wacky and fun character into the mix. It was also visually impressive, and while there are plenty of animated films out there these days, few are good enough to stand above the rest - especially when they aren't coming out of Pixar. While this movie is one the kids are certain to enjoy, it's a fun movie to watch as an adult as well.

  Interestingly, Angry Birds received a score of 43% on Rotten Tomatoes, but its sequel, The Angry Birds Movie 2, sits with a "fresh" rating of %74, making it far more critically successful than its predecessor.

  Rotten Tomatoes Score: 43%

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