Gamers frequently bemoan the fact that we still haven't gotten a movie adaptation of a video game that has been well-received by critics. Comic book nerds can point with pride towards The Dark Knight Trilogy. Animation nerds have all of Pixar. And what do gaming nerds have? The Mario Bros. movie featuring Bob Hoskins and what appears to be a race of lizard people living in a post-apocalyptic New York? Those Mortal Kombat movies with all the cringe-worthy dialogues?
Even Warcraft, in spite of being a certified blockbuster at the box-office, was slammed for being light on plot, compelling dialogues or believable performances. But the video-game adaptation juggernaut lurches on, spewing out films based on popular games at regular intervals, hoping to one day bring forth that one adaptation that snags an Oscar nomination as well as the moolah.
Until that day comes (and may it come soon!), we have the past several decades worth of video game movies to enjoy. The films may not be considered cinematic masterpieces, but there is plenty of material for fans to pore over and uncover upon repeat viewings. A lot of people believe that it is not even possible for a two-hour film to properly adapt a game with 10+ hours of playtime. After all, how can you truly enjoy a GTA-inspired movie if the lead character doesn't regularly take breaks from the main storyline to run over passersby with his car?
Here are 30 times that video-game movies carried details so minute that even die-hard fans missed them.
30 The Assassin's Creed Movie Makes Fun Of The Game
The Assassin's Creed games are often praised for their realistic approach to gameplay. All the gadgets, fighting moves and escape strategies seem grounded in the real world. The one feature that famously goes against this realism, and which has been the subject of countless memes, is when a life-taker jumps several stories onto a cart filled with hay and walks away unharmed.
The movie pokes fun at this trope. In one scene, we see one of the enemies pursuing Aguilar across rooftops fall off the roof... right into a cart filled with straw. He does not get up again.
29 The Pokémon That Battles Kong
Kong: Skull Island is not a video game movie, but it features plenty of references to video games. For instance, remember the skull crawlers that were the big bads of the movie that Kong had to fight against? The creatures had what appear to be skulls outside their heads, with the rest of their bodies being distinctly reptilian.
If all that sounds familiar, the creature design is very similar to Cubone, one of the very first Pokémon introduced in the games. This was definitely not a coincidence since the film's director has spoken about using Cubone's appearance as a basis for the look of the Skullcrawlers.
28 Setting Up The Tomb Raider Sequels
The 2018 Tomb Raider movie left the door wide open for sequels. The clearest sign that the movie gave us was that the entire narrative was basically a set up for Lara discovering the existence of the Trinity.
She uncovers the truth about the organization near the end of the movie.
While the name Trinity may not mean anything to casual moviegoers, fans of the games will remember it as a secret, powerful organization that dedicates itself to recovering lost religious relics for use in its mission to unify the world under a single god.
27 Fire Up The Lasers
Resident Evil is one of the most successful franchises out there. It not only has many gaming titles to its credit but also several successful movies as well. Back in 2002, the first movie featured a cool scene involving soldiers trying to get through a roomful of lasers. The scene was so popular the laser traps were later adapted to the video games.
The laser traps made a final appearance in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Who knows when we will see them in movies again, with the future of the Resident Evil film franchise so uncertain.
26 Bring On Animus 2.0
The story of Assassin's Creed depends on the use of a device known as The Animus. It appears to be an ordinary chair, but is, in reality, a cutting-edge piece of tech that allows a person to interact with genetic memories of their ancestor's hundreds of years in the past.
As powerful a device as the Animus is, it still has some limitations. In the games, Animus 2.0 was an upgrade on the original that allowed for better interaction with past memories and more immersive adventures. We see Animus 2.0 in the background in one of the movie scenes.
25 The Battle Toads Ride Again!
Ready Player One features a massive fight between various factions. We see many characters with strange designs. Some of the strangest are what appear to be a bunch of reptiles running on their hind legs and leading an army of fighters.
Those reptiles are toads.
In fact, they are Battle Toads, from the video games of the same name. Before you dismiss them as Ninja Turtles rip-offs, know that the Battle Toads video game was developed before the turtles, and was most likely a direct inspiration for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games that we love.
24 The Mystic Mountain In Kong
You might remember a shot in Skull Island of a distant mountain with jagged peaks surrounded by bright light. That mountain is a homage to Journey, a video game that has been described as transcendent, and a non-denominational religious experience for gamers.
What makes Journey so strangely compelling is your task is to join with other players to get to the top of the mountain peak. Only you can't use voice chat and have to rely on gestures and musical notes. So that mountain is a pretty zen reference for a monster movie.
23 Shout Out To The Shining
In Angry Birds, there comes a point where the birds storm the pig castle. Inside the castle, Red opens a door behind which is the mock-up of a corridor clearly inspired by the design of the Hotel from Stanley Kubrick's most famous film: The Shining. There are even two pigs dressed in blue and chanting 'Red Rum,' as a nod to one of the most famous horror scenes from the shining featuring little twin girls.
We're not sure how many of the movie's target audience of tween and teens got the reference to the 1980 film.
22 The Street Fighters In Ready Player One
Ready Player One wasn't a straight adaptation of a single video game, but rather an amalgamation of the most popular gaming and movie moments of the past few decades. One game that makes multiple appearances is Street Fighter.
We see Ryu and Chun Li taking part in the battles in the background of the main action. Ryu even delivers a dragon punch to Big Daddy in the end fight scene. Blanka is seen strolling with a few escorts. Sagat makes an appearance during a fight. And let's not forget Wade's inspired, climactic Hadouken! attack.
21 The Quest Board
During the promotions for Warcraft, director Duncan Jones tweeted a picture from the movie. The picture was of a Stormwind Quest Board. The image isn't clear enough to make out the writing, but eagle-eyed fans of the game should be able to pick out some hints as to what the advertised quests are.
There's a brightly colored ad for the Darkmoon Faire. A 'Beware of Kobolds' warning sign. A flyer for the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza. There is even a wanted poster for Hogger! These little details prove that the Warcraft movie was a genuine labor of love.
20 Liu Kang's Endurance Match
Going back to the original Mortal Kombat movie, we come to the final scene of the film, where Liu Kang needs to face off against the main villain, Shang Tsung. But before he can get to Tsung, Kang must face a group of ninja henchmen whom he dispatches much more easily than earlier opponents.
Finally, Kang ascends the steps to face Tsung.
This is a classic arc lifted from the games. In most MK games, before you can fight the main Big Bad, you have to survive a round against multiple opponents with slightly reduced strength.
19 The Original Name For Mario
Super Mario Bros. is a film that confuses as much as it delights. It seems too bizarre an adaptation of the video games to be considered canon, yet the movie was made with such attention to detail that you can find references and shout-outs to the entire Mario franchise in the dialogues and background if you look hard enough.
For instance, while driving around Brooklyn, Mario and Luigi pass by a store called Mr. Video 3. Dedicated fans know that Shigeru Miyamoto originally considered calling Mario Mr. Video before deciding to go with a more regular name.
18 Khadgar Levels Up
Warcraft took great pains to stay true to its gaming roots. This involved not only adapting the history and cultural backdrop of the game, but also some of the moves the players can perform. The most famous of these is 'Leveling up' a player after he reaches a certain experience threshold.
In the movie, Khadgar defeats Medivh's demon and resists the Fel near the climax. At that moment, light surrounds Khadgar and you can hear a distinct Ding! in the background. The makers have confirmed that's the sound of Khadgar leveling up within the movie!
17 Mortal Kombat's Most Notorious Trick
In the original MK movie, we get a face-off between Johnny Cage and Scorpion. Cage leads the fight from the start. But then Scorpion sweeps his leg, throwing Cage to the ground before unleashing a flurry of low kicks that almost finish the fight right there.
For fans of the original game, this technique of sweeping the feet and dishing out multiple low kicks to defeat your opponent is all too familiar. The technique was a kind of cheat that players could use in early games, enabled by a glitch in the game's fighting system.
16 The Future Orc King
In Warcraft, we get a story arc where Durotan and his wife try their best to keep their son from harm. The child finally manages to escape unscathed, albeit through tragic means and is named Go'el.
The humans, however, call him Thrall.
To longtime fans of the game, that name is loaded with significance. The man who discovers the boy near the end of the movie, Aedelas Blackmoore, begins to ruthlessly train the child to be the epitome of an orc and human soldier. Thrall then goes on to become the greatest Orc leader of all time.
15 Cameos In Both The Game And The Movie
The original Rampage game features three ordinary humans who mutate into the giant monsters that terrorize a city. But what most viewers did not realize was that the three mutating humans were not random citizens. The man who transforms into the Gorilla is Brian Colin, who was the lead designer on the original Rampage game.
Similarly, Colin's wife is shown to mutate into the lizard. Finally, Jeff Nauman was the head programmer on the game. He gets to turn into the Wolf. After the game, Colin now also has a cameo in the movie where he is seen running away from George.
14 Mortal Kombat Kept Reusing Fighters
The early Mortal Kombat games were famous for reusing sprites. Ninja fighters like Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Noob Saibot were all the same design in different colors.
The movie's makers felt there was an important lesson to be learned here.
You can see the same handful of oily, buff guys wearing red masks pop up in different scenes to represent Shao Khan's vast army. Since you never see their faces, it's easy to assume the movie had access to an endless supply of bodybuilder ninjas who excelled in striking fighting poses and not much else.
13 Lara Croft And Indiana Jones?
It goes without saying that Lara Croft owes a lot of her existence to Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford's iconic character took archeologists out of dusty museums and boring classroom lectures and put them right in the middle of the action. And that is the path that Lara has since followed.
The 2018 Tomb Raider movie is definitely inspired by Indiana Jones even more than usual. It eschews guns for more ancient weaponry for the main character like knives and arrows, and the main villain in both Tomb Raider and The Last Crusade had the surname Vogel.
12 The Rampage Logo
The original Rampage game had one of the most iconic posters from the gaming era of its time. It featured the giant lizard and wolf wreaking havoc over the city. A giant hand belonging to George the Gorilla can be seen holding a woman in a red dress, while military officers parachute over buildings to reach the monsters.
The movie had various shout-outs to the game poster.
Dwayne Johnson's character parachutes out of a plane onto the top of a building. And the female villain of the movie is manhandled by George while wearing a red dress.
11 The Oath
Assassin's Creed is a 2017 movie based on the game of the same name. The movie did not adapt any existing edition of the game, but crafted a new story around the ancient league of life-takers who lived by the code: 'Nothing is true and everything is permitted.' You hear the words of the code being repeated by a couple of characters in the movie.
What most fans did not realize was that they were also hearing the code at other times. Various characters in the movie repeat the phrase, 'Nothing is true and everything is permitted,' but in the Arabic language. The lead character Callum's father himself says the line at one point.