Best Videogame Movie? (No, seriously, this time!)

[EricJ]

After perusing the Review page's "haw, haw!" review of the '94 "Street Fighter" (to match the one posted for this year's "Chun Li" monstrosity), I'm sorry, it just raised the same hairs on my neck again:
Don't you hate college-aged "dogpile" reviews trying to kiss up to Razzie-award legend, that automatically assume everyone immediately considers a movie a Worst Movie by default, without going into all the drudgery of particular detail about why audiences still would fifteen or twenty years later?
(Generally, when pinned down for specifics, such reviews tend to flail about and guess at specific-criteria reasons: "Well...like...it's got Van Damme in it!--That's silly! )

And while i'll repeat that it's hard to do intentional tongue-in-cheek in an action movie and get it right, okay, that's it, jackets off--Let's break the issue down:
If we must have videogame-adaptation movies, just WHAT EXACTLY constitutes the criteria for a Good One within its own category anyway, as opposed to a Bad One?
Faithfulness to source material and character iconography? Jazz variations off of it?
Translation of the "cinematic" storyline to narrative form?
Appeal to core players? Selling the concept to non-players?

And on whatever criteria--and seeing as we're probably not going to get "God of War" any time soon--just what exactly are the default "Best" videogame movies by gamer-demographic criteria, if not Van Damme, Julia, & co.?
"Doom"? "Silent Hill"? "Mortal Kombat 1"?
(It ain't Bob Hoskins, it ain't Milla Jovavich just because the sequels were on Blu first, and it sure ain't Uwe Boll...)

...Can't we stop guffawing long enough to start talking, and pin some reference judging points down for posterity?

[MCT]

I was talking with my cousin about this the other day....we both agreed the first Mortal Kombat is the best video game movie, even though it isnt that good in the first place, but it at least entertains. Resident Evil and Silent Hill were decent as well. Everything else pretty much sucks arse imo.

I think a big budget Gears Of War trilogy has the potential to break the mold and become the first truly great video-game movies, however.

[Blu-Benny]

i don't care what others say, i liked Hitman.

[GLaDOS]

I actually loved the Pokemon movies; I have 4Ever, Heroes and Destiny Deoxys on DVD, and I loved all of them.

[Kryptonic]

Mortal Kombat, Doom, and the Resident Evil movies are good for what they are. Mortal Kombat: Annhiliation is one of my favorite bad movies as well. The same goes for Van Damme's Street Figher.

"Quick! Change the channel!"

[Sussudio]

if i'm going to judge how well a studio was able to perform a translation of a video game into a movie (not necessarily how good the movie was), i say the first Mortal Kombat. say what you want, but the characters were perfectly cast, the fatalities/fights were awesome and dead on, and the story was very in line with the video game.

[Zen_Amako]

The animated Street Fighter II: Movie is still better than both of the live-action flicks, even if it's getting on a bit.

[Mr.White]

l liked Resident Evil (the first one) and Hitman. Watch, somebody here will say Super Mario Bros.!(even though Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper are incredible actors, they must have only done it for the $!)

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by Mr.White

Watch somebody here will say Super Mario Bros.!

I have a soft sport for it. Bob Hoskins was perfectly cast.

Dennis Hopper turns into a frickin' T-Rex. What more do you want out of a movie?

[C-Knights]

Super Mar..........only joking, it's Hitman or First Resident Evil for me.

[Secretagentnumber6]

The actual problem with video game movies is the liberties they take from the source material. The audience for the movies is essentially set and they have played the games. When you go into a videogame movie you expect a certain story as a gamer, and when you find that the material you were expecting has been not only abandoned but comepletely thrown out you are bound to get a bit sour. As for the best, this is pretty impossible. I am gonna say Silent Hill because it captured the mood of the game so well. Mortal Kombat also did this but on repeat viewing the movie is very weak. Silent Hill in my opinion could also cross the barrier between gamer and horror fan as playing the game was truly not a prereq for seeing the movie. Overall I just hope that filmmakers get their act together and actually firstly write a great script that is similar to the source material and secondly put the movie in good hand with a great director that will actually do some research and try to capture the mood properly. I am very much hoping that the Bioshock movie will get back on track because so far it looks as if the studio is handling that one right for once.

[K Money]

My friends and I still watch the first Mortal Kombat. What I think makes it good is basically a mix of nostalgia from younger days (for me it was the first real "mature" game with blood I played, and is probably the same for most) so it was kind of a forbidden fruit sort of game as the parents never allowed me to buy it.

Take that and put it into a movie that can still be viewed today and it develops a cult-like following. Will I ever say it's a "good" movie in lines of past Oscar winners? No. But it serves it's purpose in entertaining me even to this day.

[Dirk504]

I loved Hitman and Mortal Kombat (the 1st one)

[Elandyll]

In my experience as well as for the critics, Resident Evil (1) and Silent Hill are generally considered the best videogame adaptations

[GLaDOS]

Originally Posted by Mr.White

Watch, somebody here will say Super Mario Bros.!

Please, I actually liked that movie!

[Mr.White]

I think "Black Tiger" would make a great movie, a barbarian with a mace killing everthing in sight! This is and still is an awesome video game, it's from 1987 and has aged well, would like to see Capcom give this classic game an upgrade! I still paly it at least one a week on my PSP (Capcom Collection Remixed)

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by kotsedriver

I actually loved the Pokemon movies; I have 4Ever, Heroes and Destiny Deoxys on DVD, and I loved all of them.

*has the 1st 7 movies*

[GLaDOS]

Originally Posted by MOONPHASE

*has the 1st 7 movies*

[Gaius Marius]

Silent Hill strikes me as the best American video game movie. It captured the feel and story of the game very well, and when the movie deviated, it still felt like the game for the most part. My only gripe is the ending felt a bit off.

[SDon1969]

I copied the Wiki list, not sure how complete it is:

Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! (July 20, 1986)
Super Mario Bros. (May 28, 1993)
Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (July 16, 1994)
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (August 6, 1994)
Double Dragon (November 4, 1994)
Street Fighter (December 23, 1994)
Mortal Kombat (August 18, 1995)
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (November 21, 1997)
Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (July 18, 1998)
Wing Commander (March 12, 1999)
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 - The Power of One (July 17, 1999)
Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown (July 8, 2000)
Shenmue: The Movie (January 20, 2001)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (June 15, 2001)
Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi, Voice of the Forest (July 7, 2001)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (July 21, 2001)
Resident Evil (March 15, 2002)
Pokémon Heroes (July 13, 2002)
Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker (July 19, 2003)
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (July 25, 2003)
House of the Dead (October 10, 2003)
Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys (July 22, 2004)
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (September 10, 2004)
Alone in the Dark (January 28, 2005)
Air (February 5, 2005)
Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (July 16, 2005)
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (September 14, 2005)
Doom (October 21, 2005)
BloodRayne (January 6, 2006)
Forbidden Siren (February 9, 2006)
Silent Hill (April 21, 2006)
Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (July 15, 2006)
Dead or Alive (September 15, 2006)
Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) (December 16, 2006)
Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (July 14, 2007)
Clannad (September 15, 2007)
BloodRayne II: Deliverance (September 18, 2007)
Resident Evil: Extinction (September 21, 2007)
Hitman (November 21, 2007)
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (January 11, 2008)
OneChanbara (April 26, 2008)
Postal (May 23, 2008)
Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior (July 19, 2008)
Far Cry (October 2, 2008)
Max Payne (October 16, 2008)
Resident Evil: Degeneration (December 17, 2008)
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (February 27, 2009)

I would have to go with Silent Hill.