The 5 Worst Video Game Movie Adaptations Of All Time

The video game franchise “Far Cry” is about surviving in the wilderness fighting off an enemy. It's meant to be gritty and realistic, which definitely didn't translate to the movie version. The video game follows a genetically altered killer named Jack Carver who finds himself on a mysterious island after fixing a boat. After being captured by the island inhabitants, he escapes and spends the video game fighting off an army of enemies called The Project at Eden's Gate.

In a video game movie adaptation, it's best to keep the story about the video game, but this isn't what happened with Far Cry. The video game version of Jack Carver is brought to the movie, but he is quickly killed off and replaced with an entirely new character played by Til Schweiger. Unlike the video game Carver, movie Jack is more of a soldier than a tough guy who spends most of his time trying to save his girlfriend from an evil corporation.

Rather than staying true to the video game's story about a man stranded on a mysterious island, the video game movie adaptation follows a new story about Jack Carver's daughter and her search to find him. While this could have been interesting if it were handled differently, video game fans will likely be disappointed that video game Carver is not at all involved with his daughter in this story.

Genre: Action, Adventure

Rating: R for strong violence, some language, and brief nudity

Duration: 1 hr 41 min

Release Date: January 18, 2008 (USA)

Directed by: Uwe Boll

Cast: Til Schweiger as Jack Carver, Natassia Malthe as L Prez, Uwe Boll as Karl

Worldwide Box Office: $743,000

Reviews: Rotten Tomatoes - 41%, IMDb - 5.3/10

The video game franchise “Alone In The Dark” is about a paranormal detective who fights off zombies and demons. This video game has been popular since the first iteration of it came out in 1992, but that same popularity did not translate to the movie version.

In the video game, Edward Carnby is a paranormal detective on a mission to uncover mysteries related to ghosts and other frightening creatures. He gets help from his friend Charles Fiske who has been murdered, which starts the adventure as Carnby searches for his killer. After receiving mysterious invitations to explore an abandoned mansion with five strangers, Edward Carnby finds himself trapped inside fighting off monsters such as zombies and werewolves.

In the video game movie adaptation, director Uwe Boll strays too far away from what made the video game popular and instead takes a paranormal detective and turns them into an action hero. The video game protagonist Edward Carnby is changed to be named Edward Roivas to give him more of a back story. While video gamers will understand that this character is not video game Edward Carnby, viewers who have never played the video game may find it hard to understand why he is important. Instead of a detective investigating supernatural crimes, the movie Edward Roivas becomes a ghost hunter hunting for his dead relatives.

In the video game, the introduction to “Alone In The Dark” features music that scares players, but the movie Edward Roivas doesn't even encounter any scary creatures until after 20 minutes into the video game adaptation. The video game also has zombie-like monsters instead of werewolves and demons.

Genre: Adventure

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action and some frightening images

Duration: 1 hr 40 min

Release Date: March 26, 2013 (USA)

Directed by: Uwe Boll

Cast: Christian Slater as Ben Richards, Dominic Monaghan as Jack Thompson, Isaiah Washington as The President

Worldwide Box Office: $107,000

Reviews: Rotten Tomatoes - 33%, IMDb - 3.3/10

When the video game “BloodRayne” came out in 2002, it was already a sequel. This created problems when creating the movie adaptation because if viewers have never played the first version of this game, they will not understand what is going on at all.

The movie follows Rayne (Kristanna Loken), half-human and half-vampire, as she hunts down her mother and father's killers. Along the way, Rayne meets two allies in a Gypsy played by Michael Madsen and an Irish Traveler played by Billy Zane. After a clan of vampires poison the countryside with a toxic blood serum that turns humans into vampires, Rayne is aided by FBI Agent Blood (Matthew Davis) and the three take down the vampire clan.

In the video game, Rayne is half-human and half-vampire which is why she hunts down her parents' killers. In this movie adaptation, Rayne's character comes off as more of a supernatural assassin with no connection to the protagonist from the video game because Rayne does not have a human side. In the video game, Rayne fights from the shadows as an assassin and even uses her vampire qualities to her advantage which is why she was so popular with gamers. In this movie adaptation, Rayne almost has too much power as a character making it difficult for viewers to understand what makes her unique compared to other video game characters.

Genre: Fantasy, Action

Rating: R for strong creature violence and gore, some language and sexuality

Duration: 1 hr 40 min

Release Date: September 11, 2006 (USA)

Directed by: Uwe Boll

Cast: Kristanna Loken as Rayne, Michael Madsen as Kagan, Billy Zane as Sebastian

Worldwide Box Office: $1.7 million

Reviews: Rotten Tomatoes - 33%, IMDb - 5.8/10

Gamers were excited when they heard that there was going to be a movie adaptation of the video game “Dead or Alive.” When the film finally came out, gamers quickly realized that this was not like the video game they grew to know.

Instead of focusing on action and graphics, director Corey Yuen focuses on the romantic relationship between Kasumi (Devon Aoki) and Hayate (Derek Yee). Along the way, Ayane (Natassia Malthe) is used to create a love triangle when she develops feelings for both Kasumi and Hayate. In this movie adaptation, Ayane's character seems useless instead of being a potential threat to Kasumi and Hayate's relationship.

In the video game, Ayane is a potential threat to Kasumi and Hayate's relationship because she has always been in love with him. In this movie adaptation, Ayane just comes across as a third wheel instead of a character that gamers wanted to see in the video game.

Genre: Action, Fighting, Romance

Rating: R for sequences of violence and martial arts action, and sexuality

Duration: 1 hr 40 min

Release Date: April 25, 2006 (USA)

Directed by: Corey Yuen

Cast: Devon Aoki as Kasumi, Derek Yee as Hayate, Natassia Malthe as Ayane

Worldwide Box Office: $7.5 million

Reviews: Rotten Tomatoes - 28%, IMDb - 5/10

In this adaptation, Chun-Li's character comes off as more of a doomsday machine rather than the protagonist from the video game. Even with her superhuman abilities, she is still beaten by Bison throughout most of the movie which goes against what gamers understand about her character. In addition, Guile's role in this film was reduced to that of a useless character instead of the man gamers look up to because he is one of the best Street Fighter players.

While Chun-Li is one of the most popular characters in the Street Fighter video game franchise, this does not mean that her character would be successful in a movie adaptation. The film would have been more successful if it was focused on a different character because Chun-Li has too many things going on with her role in the video game franchise.

Genre: Action, Adventure

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence including intense gunfire and fight scenes, some sexual content, sensuality, and language

Duration: 1 hr 52 min

Release Date: February 27, 2009 (USA)

Directed by: Andrzej Bartkowiak

Cast: Kristen Kreuk as Chun-Li Zang, Neal McDonough as M. Bison, Chris Klein as Charlie

Worldwide Box Office: $12 million

Reviews: Rotten Tomatoes - 25%, IMDb - 4/10