->''Hollywood doesn't make good video game movies for the same reason General Motors doesn't make motorized unicycles: they're stupid ideas, there's very little money in it and it they aren't very good at making their regular product to begin with. They're not adapting the license to tell the epic story on the cinematic field of wonder--they're doing it because they are literally out of ideas.''
-->-- '''[[http://www.cracked.com/funny-2232-video-game-movies/ Cracked.com]]''

->"Didn't you just greenlight another movie based on a ''video game''?"
-->--'''Cherish, CecilBDemented'''

For whatever reason, video games and movies don't play well together. Every so often, someone [[WingdingEyes with dollar signs]] in their eyes will try to make a movie based on a video game franchise, only to run into this unscalable wall: VideoGameMoviesSuck.

It's kind of hard to say why. Some would say that video games are essentially just movies that have showmanship sacrificed in favor of control, so sacrificing the control leaves you with a bad movie. Others would say that video game plots are just bad, existing just to give the player an [[ExcusePlot excuse]] to go out and fight things.

The reality? Well, it tends to vary -- {{Platformer}}s tend to not have enough plot within the games themselves (maybe [[ExcusePlot a three-paragraph setup in the manual]] and a [[AWinnerIsYou two-minute ending]]), so the writers need to improvise, resulting in either AdaptationDecay or PragmaticAdaptation -- and so far, it's usually the former. FightingGames tend to have a different, but flimsy plot and [[MultipleEndings endings]] depending on the player's character, and the writers have to mishmash these various plot threads into a coherent whole. The only video game genres that pay much attention to plot -- [[RolePlayingGame [=RPGs=]]] and [[AdventureGame [=Adventure games=]]] -- tend to have far ''too much'' plot to squeeze into a two-hour flick without leaving a ton out.

Add to that the facts that too many plot changes risk [[TheyJustDidntCare alienating the carryover demographic]], and that what plot less cerebral games do have tends to be on the level of, well, to quote the ''{{Doom}}'' [[Comicbook/{{Doom}} comic]]:

-->''"DYNAMITE! I'm cooking with gas! I've gotta handful of vertebrae and a headful of mad! Yeah, that's your spinal cord, baby! Dig it! Who's the man! I'm the man! I'm a bad man! How bad? Real bad! I'm a 12.0 on the 10.0 scale of badness!"''

So far, no one's nominating video game movies for Oscars. If you hear new, exciting rumors about an upcoming film (like the rumored John Woo-directed ''{{Metroid}}'' movie), tread carefully, or you may be crushed beneath the DescendingCeiling of bad writing.

Sometimes the [[MovieVideoGamesSuck reverse]] is true, of course, which is TheProblemWithLicensedGames.

For some reason, DatingSim movies seem exempt from this trope, although with anything, there are exceptions.

Note that all these entries are pretty subjective. If you object to one, you should probably mention it on the discussion page.

See also UweBoll, but please don't see any of his movies. For your own sake.

----
'''Flat-out bad:'''
* ''WingCommander'': Frankly, it's probably best you not think about this one at all. It [[AdaptationDecay ignored virtually everything]] about the popular video games except the most basic concepts, even changing the Kilrathi from feline humanoids into some sort of strange lizard creatures, with truly bad [[RubberForeheadAliens rubber masks]], and added a ton of weird metaphysical junk never seen in the games to make the hero into some sort of piloting {{Ubermensch}}. Also, '''[[SpaceIsNoisy sonar in space]]'''.
** On the other hand, Maniac was as much an asshat in the movie as in the game. So it was true to one thing. Inevitably, one of the things [[TheScrappy everyone hates]]. Go figure.
**Strangely enough, ''Wing Commander III'', ''IV'' and to a lesser extent, ''Prophesy'' were all notable games in that they depended on actors in full motion video sequences to move the plot along. Many fans argue that the games have more well-known and better quality actors (Mark Hamill, John Rhys-Davies, Malcolm [=McDowell=], Ginger Lynn) than whom got signed up to do the "big budget" movie.
*** Anyone find it odd that the 'Wing Commander' starring Mark Hamill ISN'T a big fat 'Star Wars' ripoff, while the one WITHOUT him is?
*** According to at least one interview, the Kilrathi costumes were actually accurately designed, and truly ''menacing'' in appearance -- but due to the sets' low ceilings, the costumes could not stand at full height.
** Even more bizarrely, the movie was co-written and directed by Chris Roberts, who was the Lead Designer of the games.
** A lot of the suck factor is rumored to be due to good old fashioned studio interference, being forced to cut out several major subplots and the budget being slashed part-way through filming. The result was bad enough to make Chris Roberts cry the first time he saw it.
*** Proving that even if you had the creator of the game making a video game movie it won't be an instant success.
* A lot of anime {{OVA}}s based on fighting games tend to land on the bad end of the scale, partially because the plot to most fighting games is pretty thin to begin with, making it hard to write a decent script. (A major example: ''Tekken: The Motion Picture'', which is actually an OVA)
** There were other good ones like ''[[{{Darkstalkers}} Night Warriors: The Animated Series]]'' (not to be confused with the American ''Darkstalkers'' animated series, which did suck).
* Everything and anything UweBoll has turned his hand to from ''House of the Dead'' (which shares one character name with its source, used clips from the ''games'' and featured no houses at all) onward. A running joke in the industry is that you've made it when Uwe Boll asks to make a movie of your game. HideoKojima [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome refuses to speak to him]]. For any reason at all.
** Uwe Boll is particularly noteworthy -- and reviled -- because many gamers believe that the games he adapted could've made good movies if they'd been handled by the right people, rather than someone, who, despite his denials, seems to be out to make tax breaks for rich Germans rather than watchable films.
*** That, and he has stated that he sets out to make bad game films on purpose as a 'fuck you cunt' to video gamers, who he absolutely reviles. He says hes willing to fight any gamer who criticizes him, that's how much hatred and loathing he holds. Of course, if you're not a pasty thin skinny guy then he'll back down, further confirming him to be an out and out douche.
** One of Boll's more recent projects is ''Postal'', a DeadBabyComedy based on the darkly humorous shoot-em-up from Running With Scissors. From what this editor has heard, the film takes RefugeInAudacity just so it can {{Anvilicious}}ly snipe at the War on Terror and just about everything else that's wrong with 21st century America, as well as the hordes of angry video game nerds who despise Uwe Boll's existence. But since a few people seem to be entertained by the film, and not just in a SoBadItsGood way (it even won "Best of Festival" at the 2008 Hoboken Film Festival), ''Postal'' may be Boll's best film yet... which isn't saying much.
** This troper (and at least [[http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsh-m/houseofthedead.htm one other person]]) find ''House of the Dead'' to be a [[SoBadItsGood comic masterpiece]] rather than [[SoBadItsHorrible merely awful]].
** This troper is of the opinion that Uwe Boll is getting better at filmmaking as time goes by, and this makes his films MUCH less watchable, thanks to smoothing over everything that made his movies [[SoBadItsGood horribly hilarious]] and leaving nothing but boring mediocrity behind.
** In the DungeonSiege movie, the nameless farmer main character was actually named "Farmer", he had a PrecisionGuidedBoomerang, and the movie looked a little too much like LordOfTheRings. But he said it's nothing like LordOfTheRings because, and get this, the ''movie isn't about a ring'' so it's okay. But he gains points for having the movie just as non-interactive as the original game.
** Funnily enough, this trope is starting to work [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames backwards]] for Boll, with the movie (and game) ''1968 Tunnel Rats''.
** [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=571 This SequentialArt page.]]
* ''DoubleDragon'': Moved to a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles for no apparent reason, replaced the BigBad with a CorruptCorporateExecutive, and generally kept nothing of the games' plot except "Brothers who use martial arts and wear red and blue". Alyssa Milano's ass in denim short-shorts makes a sterling effort to save this film, yet still fails.
** There are a few good things in the film, once you get past the jokey tone and ridiculous plot. Robert Patrick chews the scenery with gusto as the villain and gets all the best lines. Martial artist Marc Dacascos does his best in the action scenes. And of course, the aforementioned part of Alyssa Milano's anatomy. The dead weight in the film is definitely Scott Wolf, who can't act, fight, or evoke any emotion in the audience outside of annoyance.
*** No wonder they had Billy Lee (played by Scott Wolf) turned from just about as skilled in fighting as his brother into a wimp who is more into the brains than brawns.
** It's even more ironic when you realize Jean-Claude Van Damme's ''Double Impact'' was [[SpiritualLicensee a better Double Dragon movie than the actual movie.]] Bolo Yeung (yes, the same one from ''Bloodsport'') was in it and more an Abobo than the film version. He even threw oil drums.
* ''MapleStory'' is another example, take away the classes and heroes that made ''MapleStory'' the game it is and replace it with a beginner class brat whom runs around with a rock to train with a lousy wooden sword. A HalfHumanHybrid magician and several furries joining them in an adventure with little relation to the mainline plot? Well we got ourselves one of the crappiest animes known to man. And to think they were going to do a parody version similar to ''[=~8-Bit Theater~=]''.
* The upcoming movies based on Tekken and King of Fighters. One look at those and it's incredibly obvious that no one working on them really knows or cares anything about the source material, and it feels almost as though they're ''trying'' to piss fans off. These haven't even been released yet and can already be accurately summed up as generic, weird, overly dark, low-budget martial arts films with popular names slapped on in the hopes of making more money.
** So, as if the Tekken movie's plot and characters weren't already FUBAR enough as it is, it's been revealed that Hwoarang and Eddy are barely present at all, Dragunov is a taekwondo artist, about half the fights are gory, there's plenty of heavy cursing, Nina and Anna are incestuous bisexual twins who engage in a threesome in one scene, and Christie Monteiro, now white as bread and wearing a more modest {by comparison to her in-game design} outfit, is Jin Kazama's secondary love interest, with Jin's canon schoolmate and fangirl Xiaoyu omitted in favour of [[MarySue original character]] Kara. Yeah.
** And ''King of Fighters'' looks to be shaping up to be [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfo4PYFvZks complete]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auChpeIunFo suck]]. Just wait until you see the picture of Ray "Darth Maul" Park as Rugal...looking '''absolutely nothing''' like the videogame version of Rugal.
*** What they did to Rugal is nothing. Just look at what they did to Iori Yagami, one of the most popular characters in the King of Fighters franchise. He loses his brooding personality, is turned into a good guy, and, as the ultimate insult to the character, is seen wearing hockey attire.
**** Additionally, Terry is now a short-haired 40-year-old CIA agent in a cheap pleather vest, Kyo uses a flaming katana instead of actual pyrokinesis, Mai--who's gone from [[JigglePhysics incredibly busty]] to [[{{Pettanko}} embarrassingly flat]]--never once wears her trademark outfit, instead wearing pleather bodysuits and cheap thrift store blouses that make her look like a $2 hooker, and Vice and Mature--both of whom are also dressed in pleather, Vice looking like a pathetic goth loli wannabe and Mature looking like a Nina Williams clone--apparently have lesbian feelings for each other that they display clearly in one scene. WHY?
* Although this one was thankfully cancelled, it still definitely belongs here. A few years ago, a Soul Calibur movie was in the works, but it had ABSOLUTELY NO CHARACTERS OR SETTINGS OR PLOT POINTS FROM THE GAMES, and the holy spirit sword Soul Calibur was to be portrayed as the evil blade instead of the demonic Soul Edge. Perhaps the production's cancellation in 2007 was the result of someone finally looking at their horrible attempt at a game-to-movie adaptation and realizing, "Wow, this really does suck".
** To be particularly specific, the movie's plot went something like this: The Shaolin monks choose a handful of warriors to go to Europe and destroy the demon sword "Soulcalibur" before the generic villainous prince who currently wields it can use its dark powers to open the gates of Hell and take over the world. Yeah.
* ''StreetFighterTheLegendOfChunLi''. Alright, this one makes the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie look like cinematic gold. The whole thing focuses around Chun-Li, who wanted to be a concert pianist . Gen is almost the same age as her . Ryu and Ken don't appear at all, Ryu only on a poster near the end , and neither do nearly all of the StreetFighter characters , the only ones appearing being Chun-Li, Gen, Charlie, M. Bison (who is now a rich Irish gentleman ), Vega, and Balrog (who is the second-in-command of Shadaloo). Worse, none of them have any of their characterization or plot from the games. It's definitely SoBadItsHorrible.
** Two characters you forgot to mention. You know Charlie's partner, that FBI agent or whatever? That was supposed to be Crimson Viper. Then they screwed up Rose (who happens to be my favorite character) by turning her into Bison's defenseless daughter. And she's not Italian. At least give her her scarf!
** This troper especially feels that Vega got the shaft in this movie. The character is supposed to be in essence, a Spanish Ninja, who mixes bullfighting with more traditional martial arts techniques to create his own unique blend and is generally considered as one of the deadliest fighters in the series. Moreover, he is extremely vain and wears his iconic mask to protect his good looks. In the film, he gets his ass kicked in less than 2 minutes by Chun Li, is portrayed by Mexican actor/rapper Taboo and apparently wears his mask not to protect his good looks... but to stop people from viewing his ugly mug.
*** This is made even more degrading to the character after watching Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, in which an experienced Chun Li is almost killed by Vega and barely manages to hole her own against him (she slips into a coma from blood loss afterwards) in a fight that lasts a considerable amount of time, when The Legend Of Chun Li has the title character as a rookie being able to beat Vega quickly and without a single mark on her.
** The movie is awful, but in it's defense, Michael Clark Duncan did the best he could, and gave an alright performance as Balrog. The smile says it all. And I know I am not the only one who yelled "HOLY CRAP IT'S LIU KANG" when Robin Shou showed up on screen and played a decent Gen. Still, I'll be the first to admit the movie was very poorly cast. Kristin Kreuk, you are no Chun-Li.
** Speaking of plot, why the HELL didn't the writers stick with Chun Li's actual story of being an undercover Interpol agent? Come on, it's not hard. Father dies, girl becomes cop, learns to kick ass from a mentor, and then kick's Bison's ass. It would have been stupid wirefu fun for everyone.
* ''MortalKombat: Annihilation''. The first one was decent (or, at the very least, SoBadItsGood), but this is an EXTREME case of {{Sequelitis}}. Firstly, only Liu Kang and Kitana's actors appear, the rest being recast (Raiden, especially, suffers for this). Everyone was wooden as hell. There was very little plot to speak of, consisting either of an InfoDump or mindless fighting. To the detriment of what little plot there was, they tried to cram in far too many MortalKombat characters like Baraka and Nightwolf, just to please the fans. It looked extraordinarily cheap, special effects-wise. Scorpion and Sub-Zero were inexplicably resurrected. And Johnny Cage, one of this troper's favourite characters, gets killed off in five minutes. Boo.
*Invariably, the announced adaptations of {{The Sims}}, {{Asteroids}}, and {{Spore}} will be at least mediocre, since nobody could wake up in the morning and honestly say to himself "I think I have a good plot in mind for Asteroids!"

'''Partial Exceptions / SoBadItsGood:'''
* ''{{Doom}}'': On the one hand, the plot didn't make much sense, the "[[HollywoodScience science]]" made even less, and the violence was silly and gratuitous. On the other hand, some would argue that that's exactly what a ''Doom'' movie should be like. The really good music probably saved the film. Thumbs-down for inexplicably changing the monsters from DemonicInvaders to genetic experiments, though. To be fair, this seems to be an irresistible pull for DerivativeWorks; the {{Novelization}} of the games deviated from the [[TheLegionsofHell demonic nature]] of the monsters, as well.
** There's also the excellent subversion of [[spoiler: The hero succumbing to TheVirus and becoming the BigBad.]]
** Actually one of the most frequently issued complaints about the movie (besides the YouFailBiologyForever part) is that there is not ''enough'' senseless violence reminiscent of the original Doom and too much Stock Scares in Dark Tunnels reminiscent of Doom 3 instead.
** It should be mentioned that The Rock, star of the movie, apparently doesn't agree with it being somewhere in the middle; while inducting his father in the {{WWE}} Hall of Fame, he went off on a tangent mocking John Cena's film ''The Marine'', after which he apologized by saying, "Don't feel bad, John. I made ''Doom''!"
*** Hey, at least the credits sequence was awesome! It was all in first person and involved a lot of cool guns and stuff... [[SoYeah yeah]].
* ''{{Pokemon}}''. Being based on the {{Anime}} [[TheAnimeOfTheGame adaptation]] instead of directly deriving material from the games themselves helped the movie series avoid the pitfalls of needing to compress an entire game's worth of plot. Often considered the more watchable half of the anime series by some, despite being used as a vehicle to promote [[EarlyBirdCameo new Pokemon characters to be featured in upcoming game sequels]]. Of course, the targeted audience for this movie would skew much younger compared to all the other movies here, and not to mention they still get released in theaters in Japan.
** For its target demographic (younger kids who play Pokemon), the movies generally go in the "genuinely good" section. For many, they'd fit here.
*** With the exception of the 4Kids dub of the first movie, which was just wrong! Heck, they took what was a reasonably good base plot (Mewtwo is an emotionally-suppressed character that considers himself a separate type of entity to others, but still has sympathy for them but prefers to hide it) and completely BARF'D all over it (Mewtwo's just evil, no motive at all)!
** The movies do have a break now and then when they aren't so bad they're good. Destiny Deoxys and The Rise of Darkrai are quite good in [[ThisTroper some people's]] opinion. The last in the trilogy looks to be quite well, as well.
* The ''ResidentEvil'' movie was considered a success by some people(if even that many). A lot of the credit can go to the fact that it wasn't adapted from the plot of the game; the writers took the premise and wrote another, more movie-friendly story to go with it. And Milla Jovovich. And Sienna Guillory in the sequel. Oh, ''my''.
** This troper thought the best part of the movie was watching "Alice" (Jovovich) go from amnesiac infant to BadAss ActionGirl; he thought she did a pretty good job. (As such, the sequels were letdowns.)
**This troper will agree that the first movie had its merits, the later two movies where just good examples of TheyJustDidntCare. As they turned what was originally suppose to be a horror movie, into a generic Aeon Flux Hollywood action girl movie clone. What makes matters worse is that the DVD behind the scenes bonus in the second movie, admits this. Complete with the actresses smiling while saying it.
*** So the movies are basically just following the trajectory of the games... except instead being fun and exciting, they suck ([[RiffTrax It's just like a video game, except I don't get to play it!]]).
* The ''SilentHill'' film was also a success, visually beautiful and very fitting within the theme of the series, although it actually paid closer heed to the original game and used some members of the games' production teams. Whether or not it was as scary as the games, and whether the inclusion of Pyramid Head was a good thing, is still hotly contested. Note that ''Silent Hill'', like ''ResidentEvil'', is in the SurvivalHorror genre, which is already pretty close in nature to the [[HorrorTropes horror genre]] of films.
** Then again, YourMileageMayVary especially concerning the replacement of Harry with Rose, because the creators didn't think audiences could relate to a single father looking for his daughter. It had to be a ''woman'' because only ''women'' can [[MamaBear care about their children.]]
*** [[{{Paireon}} This troper]] and most of the friends he saw the movie with related a lot more to Sean Bean, since he searched just as desperately for his wife and daughter, yet was [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption doomed to failure from the start]], since he couldn't get inside the "other" Silent Hill where they were trapped.
*** It struck me that Sean Bean's character never asked for his ''daughter'', only his wife. It was like he just didn't care that his daughter was missing, and I think that was what they were going for.
*** Despite this insulting ascertainment by the director and screenplay writer, and the whole people getting ripped apart thing at the end, which was never part of the [[AdaptationDecay real silent hill games]], it is still considered by many to be the best adaptation of a game to date, a serious film to compare with the fun and campy {{Mortal Kombat}}.
*** The movie takes many elements (characters, events, symbols) from the game and completely twists them to the point that they have a completely different meaning/purpose, or none at all. This results in Silent Hill being the most accurate game-to-movie adaption to date and still completely lacking the essence of the original.
** The script was sent to Konami for approval and was sent back with a note "Why there are no men?". Sean Bean's part was added and after that, the script was approved.
* The ''{{Hitman}}'' movie has a plot which will [[FridgeLogic make less sense the more you think about it]], but it will keep you entertained for 90 minutes.
**This troper agrees, although it seem like they entered "Action movie in Russia" into a scriptwriting machine and shot the result.
**That, and it at least ''tries'' to maintain 47's characterization as TheChessmaster, rather than make him a generic action thug.
***This troper begs to disagree. The games give you ratings on how well you do your assassinations, with the best ranking given to those who execute their objectives exceptionally well (as in no one spots you, no innocents get harmed, minimal to no use of your weapons, kills look like accidents) while the film shows assassinations to be very bullet-and-sword-laden affairs.
**Actually, [[NotSoBadassLongcoat this troper]] read the near-final script and the movie would be even better if not for ExecutiveMeddling. The differences between script and movie being: 47 being hunted by Spetsnaz instead of other "agents", the whole affair being a XanatosGambit played by the KGB agent, a couple of action scenes more and no [[StockFootage recycled footage]] from completely different TV series. And yes, 47 is even more of a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] in the script.
** Keep in mind that Hitman is, despite the assassin theme, up-to-your-choice-game, where you can either [[KillEmAll brutally butcher every single character that comes between you and the target]] or perform the hit silently and professionally without harming anyone not related to you object. There isn't right or wrong way to do the movie, because it will resemble the game anyway. They had to balance between the action-movie-KillEmAll fans, who wanted to see the bullets fly and the Silent Killer-Ghost-Mystery Man-fans who wanted to see the sneaking, so they were forced to modify 47 a bit more appealing to every audience. But ofcourse you cant pleace everyone.
*** Although you have a point, the games seem to have ''Silent Assassin'' as 47's default rating. Not to say there isn't some good shooting there, but movie!47's shoddy workmanship would get him killed by Mark Parchezzi III.
* Ahem...''Film/TheWizard''. It's not even based on any video game (though it has ''very'' blatantly obvious ProductPlacement), but somehow manages to be watchable through almost ninety straight minutes of [[{{Narm}} cheese]].
* ''MaxPayne'': The story and characters are totally stock and bares only a passing resemblance to the source material (the biggest complaint is the decision to excise the overly gritty, intentionally SoBadItsGood PurpleProse narration from all but the beginning), but it doesn't completely fail (it was financially successful). The film is a standard revenge shoot em up, and Max isn't exactly that likable of a lead to begin with (although he had a ''lot'' more personality in the games), but several sequences are visual stand outs. YourMileageMayVary of course.
** Basically, ignore the story and skip the first half-hour of the movie. Once the sky sets itself on fire the movie gets [[strike:a lot more]] watchable.
* ''[=~Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within~=]''. Represents a great leap forward in technical terms, but it ends up living smack-dab in the middle of the UncannyValley as a result. [[AdaptationDecay No real relation to the games at all]], except for a guy named Cid (And even then, they spelled it "Sid"), the names of the planets, and monsters that [[EverythingFades disappear into the aether when you kill them]] (plus, very loosely, the metaphysics of ''FinalFantasyVII''). All of this is topped off with a ClicheStorm plot joined InMediasRes and a GainaxEnding. Probably single-handedly responsible for ending Square's existence as an independent company, as they lost so much money from it that they were forced to merge with Enix. Still, it's very much a case of YourMileageMayVary; RogerEbert [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20010711/REVIEWS/107110301/1023 gave it three and a half stars]], and he was far from alone in appreciating the film, but [[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_fantasy_the_spirits_within/ many others weren't so kind]].
** The Spirits Within is perhaps best watched as a standalone movie in its own right without comparing it to any of the Final Fantasy games.
** Also, none of the ''games'' have much to do with each other either, so in this respect the movie fits perfectly into the series.
* ''NightTrap'': ''[[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlkkt_night-trap-the-movie_parties The Movie]]'' showcased this trope in an unexpected way, taking a cult-classic [[FullMotionVideo "interactive movie"]] and removing the interactivity, leaving all the delicious SoBadItsGood {{camp}} intact.
* The ''PrinceOfPersia'' movie is shaping up to be at least decent if not genuinely good. First, Jordan Mechner (the game's author) is responsible for the main plot and the rest of screenwriters focused more on pacing and embellishments. Second, it's produced by Universal, which means it'll fare better that any schlock Fox was throwing at us through the last two years. Third point, which may be debatable, is the fact that movie apparently goes the SilentHill way, taking a lot of things from the game, but putting them in a different context, which means that YourMileageMayVary. Anyway, [[http://persia.moviechronicles.com/ have a scoopful]].

'''Full exceptions / genuinely good movies:'''
* Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie is a very enjoyable OVA with surprisingly good animation and has an art style, characters and plot that perfectly capture the feel of the older Sonic the Hedgehog games, Sonic is actually LIKABLE for a change (as is everyone else) and the action scenes (ESPECIALLY the climatic final battle with Metal Sonic) are nothing short of awesome. Also, the soundtrack was [[EarWorm incredible]]. However, YourMileageMayVary with the English dub. While it may not have too much in common with the games outside of a superficial level, the film makes up for this in many, many ways, and shines far above the other three mediocre American Sonic cartoons and the painfully dull Sonic X.
* The ''StreetFighter II: The Animated Movie'' was very accurate, putting all the characters in the right place, and with the right personalities. The animation is excellent, and ki attacks have never looked better. The character designs were excellent, and Bison's design was improved, giving him a huge muscular look that Capcom has used ever since. The storyline of the movie was brought over to Alpha simply replacing Ken with Ryu during the brainwashing scene, and replacing Guile with Charlie. The iconic grass scene is a stage in Alpha 2, and several other things were taken from the movie are shown in Alpha, such as Ken having long hair when he was younger and gave his bandana to Ryu. Did I forget to mention a [[{{Fanservice}} nude Chun-Li scene]] and that [[ActionGirl she kicks Vega's ass in a REALLY well-done fighting scene]]?
** The tie-in prequel/OVA for ''IV'', ''"StreetFighter IV: The Ties That Bind"'', is also in this category. This is mostly because it serves to set the stage for the plot of ''IV'', and was written entirely by Capcom staff. Also, the voice acting.
* Then there was ''Wing Commander Academy'', an animated series which was quite loyal to the games, including the ship designs and voice actors for Blair, Maniac and Tolwyn.
* The two ''FatalFury'' anime specials, ''Legend of the Hungry Wolf'' and ''The New Battle'', were [[{{Pragmatic Adaptation}} pragmatic adaptations]] of their corresponding games, focusing around the game's main characters Terry, Andy, Joe, and Mai, with most of the other characters being adapted into supporting roles or cameos. They took some creative liberties, such as the addition of Terry's [[TheGwenStacy doomed love interest]] Lily [=McGuire=] and Wolfgang Krauser's younger appearance, but nothing that completely deviated from the source material. The movie itself, appropriately titled ''Motion Picture'', has an original storyline that's pretty decent and can be enjoyed independently without much knowledge of the games.
* While not necessarily perfect, the animated movie adaptation of ''AnimalCrossing'' ([[NoExportForYou released only in Japan]]) does a far better job maintaining the spirit of the material than one would think possible and is a pretty decent watch to boot, if a little simple in its plot.
* ''Film/MortalKombat''- Only, repeat ''only'' the [[{{Sequelitis}} first one.]] It has its own problems, though: Sonya is a FauxActionGirl, Sub-Zero and Scorpion are mindless slaves of Shang Tsung and Kitana is a DistressedDamsel. On the other hand, well-crafted fight choreography, a script with legitimate wit at times, some nice set design, [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome a kick-ass soundtrack]], an excellent Shang Tsung portrayal, and it even makes us give a crap about the characters and what's going on. The plot, while not exactly {{Shakespeare}}, was serviceable and didn't get in the way of the action. Some feel Raiden's role as TheObiWan makes more sense for a PhysicalGod than the not-quite-first-string fighter he was in the games. Sub-Zero and Scorpion are cool, mostly because they don't talk much, and Kitana is still pretty far from being pointless in the film with moves that can at least make Lui Kang blink.
** Considering the videogame was "Enter the Dragon with superpowers" they had more to rip off than most.
** The soundtrack was pretty awesome too.
** Gene Siskel actually gave Mortal Kombat a (marginal) thumbs up. Roger Ebert nearly followed suit ("right in the middle"), but he said he didn't get a full experience due to his theater's crappy lighting, and thus, most of the movie was overly dark-looking and washed-out because of it.
** However, the sequel, the AnimatedAdaptation (just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y-zLJpUMtk&eurl=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VideoGameMoviesSuck watch this montage]] and try to prove us wrong), and the RecycledTheSeries all fall squarely under the trope. The first ''Mortal Kombat'' movie may have been good, but at the cost of a universe-balancing sequel that belongs so far in the "Flat-Out Bad" category above that it's not even funny.

'''Contested:'''
* The ''TombRaider'' movies. AngelinaJolie vehicles. The first one was OK, the second one can be considered [[SoBadItsHorrible flat-out bad]] or [[SoBadItsGood bad yet enjoyable]]. YourMileageMayVary indeed.
**Jolie wore [[ThirdPersonSeductress big chest padding]] in the series... yes, you heard that right, ''AngelinaJolie's breasts weren't big enough for this movie''. Thanks for making video games look mature, guys.
* The ''DeadOrAlive'' movie has widely divergent opinions. The game is a cheesy fighter, focused around a not-quite believable conspiracy theory to build the ultimate fighter that's really just [[ExcusePlot an excuse]] to show off [[FanService cool moves and hot women]]. The movie, on the same hand, is a cheesy fight-flick, focused around a not-quite believable conspiracy theory to build the ultimate fighter that's really just an excuse to show off hot women and cool moves. The fight scenes were well done and managed to encorporate some of the cooler moves without being obvious about it and some of Kevin Nash's scenes with Jaime Pressly were hilarious.
* It's fair to say that ''ResidentEvil: Degeneration'' belongs here. Bonus points for having more in common with the source material than just the title and some zombies (not having Milla Jovovich swoop in and hijack the plot certainly helps), but coming from someone who likes the film: the script definitely needed a little polishing up in the English dub, since things that sound really deep and cool in Japanese [[{{Narm}} don't always translate very well]] into other languages.
** Actually, the film, from what this troper heard, was actually dubbed in English with American actors before it was translated to Japanese. [[SoYeah So...yeah....]]
** By that, the movie is perfectly fine then. Considering it's ''Resident Evil'', where the dialogue normally ranges from fine to {{narm}}tastic, I'd say this one has it good.
* ''FinalFantasyVII: Advent Children'' is either loved or hated, depending on who you ask. It, too, wasn't a straight adaptation, actually being a sequel to the game.
** This troper knows many people who loved it but could easily understand why others would hate it. The level of homage to the fans easily justifies that.
** However, this might vary depending on whether the person you ask has seen the English version or the Japanese subbed version. This troper discovered the difference when he couldn't even have a conversation about the movie with someone who had seen the other version. This is not guaranteed, however, as many have watched both versions and loved (or, in this troper's case, despised) both equally.
*** I would think most people would either watch just the Japanese, or watch both.
****The amount of people that despise subtitles for any any number of reasons ("Why watch it in Japanese when I can watch it with in a language I speak" being a biggie) is surprising. Even moreso when you count casual fans.
** Opinion may also vary depending whether one considers it as a full-scale movie or as "non-interactive software" (a term Nomura encouraged).
**The movie spawned a "Updated" Version (Titled Advent Children: Complete) with a half hour's worth or extra footage. It was popular enough.
* ''Film/StreetFighter''. Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle. A film that couldn't decide if it was a comedy or an action movie. Bison has a [[AGodAmI god complex]], but then goes around making Bison dollars (though it is pretty well agreed that Raul Julia's manic HamAndCheese is pure win). Ken and Ryu are money-grubbing con-artists. Dee Jay and Zangief are bad guys (although the latter does a HeelFaceTurn). Balrog is a good guy, E. Honda is Hawaiian, and they are part of Chun Li's news team. T. Hawk and Cammy work for the A.N (the last was excusable). Guile is an American commander with a [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent Belgian accent]]. His friend Charlie gets transformed into Blanka thanks to M. Bison forcing Dhalsim (who looks entirely different) to work for him (although, to be fair, this was [[{{Fanon}} accepted as fact by fans]] until the ''StreetFighter Alpha'' series said otherwise), and there are almost no [[KiAttacks flashy moves]], just a Hadoken at point blank range and Bison's various Psycho powers. Whether or not it manages to be SoBadItsGood or not depends on the individual viewer.
** You forget that Guile made a Flash Kick right on Bison's face.
** Hong Kong also filmed a Street Fighter movie, although it was more of an AffectionateParody. I remember a scene where in one fight against Chun Li, the best way to defeat her? Solve her Athelete's foot problem.
** Although it mostly retained the cast of characters from the game, Akuma was left out and Fei Long was replaced with a JonasQuinn named Sawada.
* It's hard to say whether 2000's ''[[SiN SiN: The Movie]]'', based off the 1998 FPS video game of the same name, is good or bad. It's a reimagining of the original game's storyline, with police captain John Blade pursuing a dangerous biochemist/scientist named Elexis Sinclaire, who wants to destroy mankind with bioengineered mutated monsters. It has many of the same characters as the video game, has a sizable amount of violence (in copious detail), and actually works quite well for the first half. However, the film has J.C., the hacker/prominent supporting character from the video game, killed off in the first five minutes, and replaced by his sister, who has all the same skills as him. The last half of the movie is one long fight sequence as Blade and J.C.'s sister (who is also nicknamed J.C.) running up through the levels of the [=SinTEK=] building killing anything that moves. There isn't really an ending, and the film is only an hour long. Not only that, but the English and Japanese voice tracks for the film have different dialog, making their plots slightly different.
** Given the fact that none of the major monsters in the movie ever have an occasion where they simply fail to move, fight, or do anything while being blasted to death, one could quite well argue that the movie surpassed the original game for once.
* The ''[[{{Gradius}} Salamander]]'' {{OVA}} is not bad on its own, though it's very light on the action side.
*''The SuperMarioBros Movie'' might be the [[TheyJustDidntCare single most boneheaded film adaptation]] of ''anything''. It isn't just like the writers could never have played the game; it's more like they did play it but were [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs experimenting with mind-altering substances at the time]]. Where to begin? Instead of the cheery Mushroom Kingdom, the film takes place in a dreary rain-soaked {{Cyberpunk}}-type environment. Instead of a dragon-turtle thing who has captured the Princess, Bowser is a [[PettingZooPeople humanoid tyrannosaurus]] mob boss from an alternate dimension. Goombas are pinhead thugs stuffed into suits, Mario is ''married'', Yoshi is a foot-high velociraptor, Toad is an [[ViewerGenderConfusion unquestionably male]] anti-establishment rock star, and Princess Daisy is an ActionGirl. (Who, by the way, is also a pan-dimensional dinosaur-person. Who was smuggled to our world for safety and hatched out of an [[WhaleEgg egg]]. In a ''Nunnery''.) Unsurprisingly, Bob Hoskins (who played Mario) hadn't even ''heard of the game'' prior to signing up for the role. Really. It's grade A SnarkBait and even Nintendo [[DorkAge mocks]] this one.
** And Luigi gets the Princess.
** On the other hand, this [[http://www.destructoid.com/why-the-super-mario-movie-is-an-underappreciated-masterpiece-29694.phtml review]] gives several reasons to why the Super Mario movie is a genuine underappreciated masterpiece. Be warned that the article contains spoilers.
*** If there is a God, that article is His Word.
** According to [[http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8096&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=0 this interview]], ShigeruMiyamoto believes the movie failed because it was ''too much'' like the games, which makes one wonder what Miyamoto would consider to ''not'' be like the games. (Of course, he could have been confused and was instead talking about the [[http://www.mariowiki.com/The_Great_Mission_to_Save_Princess_Peach obscure Japanese Anime]]. The latter is actually a ''little'' bit closer to what fans had imagined when they first heard about a "Super Mario Disney Movie".)
** [[FigmentJedi This troper]] has always found it interesting that the creature designer of this movie would later go on to mangle {{Godzilla}} in the American remake.
** The {{Cyberpunk}} setting can be explained; the directors of the movie, Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, had previously created MaxHeadroom.
** Nintendo Power, in their overview of the series, mentioned the movie. They then said, "Yes, it happened. Let us speak no more of it."
** The SuperMarioBros Movie was a decent FishOutOfWater adventure story featuring heroes TrappedInAnotherWorld. It just wasn't a particularly good Super Mario Bros movie.
***A "''decent''" movie? [[YourMileageMayVary Your Mileage DEFINITELY Varies here]].
** Some people will try to justify the InNameOnly-ness by saying "the games had little plot to begin with", but this falls completely into FridgeLogic if you think about it for, oh, ten seconds - ''why'' did they adapt a game if it had little plot, and ''why'' did they ''[[TheyJustDidntCare completely mangle]]'' what plot it had?

'''Parodies:'''
* Mocked endlessly with fake trailers for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWL6j0SvqV0 PacMan]] and [[http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1770138 Minesweeper]].
-->''But what if we get an eight?''
-->''Then '''God help us all'''.''

-->''Careful! There are mines under there!''
-->''Come on, it's never the first one.''
-->''[[BigNo Noooooo!]]''
** Actually, the minesweeper one seems like a pretty solid setup for a decent movie if handled right. Comedy meets psychological horror (the creepy yellow dude).
*** Rather good, though depressing. WHY are they there? Why must they die like animals? What about radar? Oh, and that yellow guy was creepy enough in-game, but as Pizza the Hutt's sidekick. ohmygod...
* Another Pac Man movie trailer in the first part [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/305831 here]]
* There's also a Tetris movie trailer.
* Parodied in a [[http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/a/a9/1118030354863.jpg fan-made poster]] for a ''SonicTheHedgehog'' movie, starring Keanu Reeves with only a blue jacket as his "costume".
** You can't not love Danny [=DeVito=] as Robotnik, though.
*Parodied in Jeremy "Norm" Scott's HsuAndChan comics:
-->'''Hsu''': It will be a cold day in Hell before we compromise our principles.
-->'''Hollywood Director''': It works like this-- You get a fat check, we take complete creative control of the project, trample all over your established characters and storyline, then hand the whole thing off to an NYU film drop out with two shampoo commercials to his credit, who will most likely turn the film into a cross between a high school drama production and a Duran Duran video.
-->'''Chan''': DEAL!
-->'''Hsu''': Can we cash these today?
-->*the brothers are seen leaving the office with a large sum of money in their hands*
-->'''Chan''': We have unique principles brother.
* In the popular comic strip Get Fuzzy, Bucky writes up a script for "Pong: The Movie".
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=321VHP92d8A&feature=channel_page Doubt: The Video Game]]. Some ideas just don't work out well.
* Then of course, [[http://www.bbspot.com/News/2008/08/zork-movie-with-morgan-freeman.html the parody you wish were real.]]
* Surprising that this epic April Fool's Day trailer hasn't been mentioned yet: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBCzkz3gHb8 Another wish-to-be-real parody]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiBER4iVwCw And yet another awesome trailer for a movie which will never be made.]]
* Not really a parody, but what about those Halo ODST commercials? I've never even played Halo, and ''I'd'' watch that if they turned it into a movie.
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