The 10 Best Video Game-Inspired Films & TV Shows
The art of getting a video game adaptation right is a path riddled with landmines, but there are plenty of gems in the genre, too.
Whilst the games that inspire the movies and television shows are fantastic, somehow, something almost always gets lost in translation during the adaptation process. A lot of the time this is tied to the story; despite each game source having its own narrative, when adapted for the big (or small) screen that pre-existing plot is often jettisoned for no clear reason.
A classic example of this is the 2025 film Until Dawn. The game is a spin on the cabin in the woods film subgenre, featuring slasher killers and wendigos. The movie adaptation, however, is a time loop story involving poisoned water and masked murderers. Simply put, it just doesn't add up.
On occasion there is a video game movie or TV adaptation that works, though, and contrary to popular belief, more great ones exist than you might think. If you’re thinking of dipping a toe into the video game-inspired pool, here’s a handy guide of some of the better examples, and where you can watch them.
Werewolves Within is one of the lesser-known game properties to inspire a movie. The game itself was released in 2016 and is a murder mystery VR title. The aim of Werewolves Within is to figure out which of the mediaeval characters interacting with the player is the werewolf that has been terrorising and eating townsfolk.
For the movie, director Josh Ruben gave the story a time period update, bringing it into the modern day, but kept the whodunnit aspect as a group of snow-stranded residents must work out who is a deadly werewolf before ending up as puppy chow themselves. Those familiar with Ruben’s Heart Eyes know that the filmmaker is a fan of comedy, and Werewolves Within is a nifty little horror-comedy that will have you laughing and wincing on solid rotation.
Although the reception to Mortal Kombat was not what it should have been, the reception did not deter Paul W.S. Anderson from adapting another iconic video game. For his second attempt he took horror game Resident Evil, upped the sci-fi quota, and spun it through a nu-metal jukebox. The result was a movie that is far more inspired-by than a direct adaptation of its source material.
Despite this distance from the game, audiences flocked to see the movie and it ultimately spawned five direct sequels. Although it is unlike the game — save for some character name drops — Resident Evil is a lot of fiendish fun and contains some excellent death sequences. The opening lift scene rivals Speed for nightmare fuel potential, and watching one character get cubed by lasers is gleefully grim.
Developed by film directors Corin Hardy, Xavier Gens, and Gareth Evans, Gangs of London is one of the best things to happen to British television in years. What many don’t realise, though, is that Gangs of London was inspired by the PlayStation game The Getaway.
Full of high-octane action and a healthy amount of violence and gore, Gangs of London follows undercover cop Elliott as he navigates the criminal underbelly of the UK capital. Season one focuses on the power vacuum created after the death of kingpin Finn Wallace, as rival gangs are unsure about his successor, Sean.
Plumbing brothers Mario and Luigi are the heroes of Nintendo, having appeared in over 200 video games since Mario’s debut in Donkey Kong in 1981. It seems odd, then, that there haven’t been that many movies based on the siblings. That is unless you have watched the 1993 movie Super Mario Bros. The film was a bomb and is partly responsible for the terrible reputation that video game movies have. Finally, thirty years later, came the animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and it instantly wiped everyone’s memory of its live-action predecessor.
The story has struggling plumbers Mario and Luigi transported to the Mushroom Kingdom, where they immediately set about helping Princess Peach rid the realm of the awful Bowser. The animation itself is beautiful, with the story making sense for those both familiar and unfamiliar. As with so many of the best adaptations, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is full of nods to many of the existing games; watching with a Mario savant is recommended to ensure you don’t miss out on any of these. With this outing being so well received, it's no wonder we got a sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, in 2026, which sees beloved dinosaur Yoshi welcomed into the clan.
Lara Croft and her Tomb Raider games are one of the reasons that the PS1 became such a coveted console. The series of puzzle-driven action-adventure games were devilishly hard and archeologist Lara Croft has gone on to become an icon of video games.
In 2001, five years after the character's gaming debut in 1996, came her first on-screen outing with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Casting for the iconic adventurer was fierce, but the role eventually went to Angelina Jolie, who really was an excellent choice. The story is far removed from any of the games, playing more like an Indiana Jones movie with a girl power spin, but who doesn’t want to watch that? The character is set to make a return in the near future, this time on the small screen with Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner stepping into Lara’s shorts.
Upon its cinematic release A Minecraft Movie took a tonne of money and proved exactly why the game is such a phenomenon. On paper, adapting the open world crafting game into a narrative film seems impossible, and yet A Minecraft Movie managed it.
The plot finds a group of real-world characters accidentally transported to the Minecraft realm where they meet iconic game character, Steve. With his help, the group must find safe passage back to our world, while uncovering aspects of themselves they didn’t know existed. As a non-Minecraft viewer, A Minecraft Movie is silly family fodder, but for those with any knowledge of the game, the film is a treasure trove of Easter eggs and references.
The latest Silent Hill movie, Return to Silent Hill, might be an abject disaster overrun with terrible hair pieces, but the first Silent Hill film is fantastic. Somehow directed by the same person, with Silent Hill, director Christopher Gans got the look and feel of the game as close to perfect as anyone could. Through practical effects, he brought forth the monsters of the PS1 game, and they are far more terrifying in real-life than those PS1 graphics could ever convey. In terms of story, the film stuck somewhat close to the game, but gender swapped game character Harry Mason, in favour of new character, Rose. It was Rose, instead, who then races around the titular town looking for her missing daughter, encountering a host of horrible creatures along the way.
With Silent Hill, Gans captures the aesthetic of the game, but also its bleak sense of hopelessness. The film embraces the dark-hearted nature of the game and its final act includes an extremely ghastly death that burns into your retinas.
Arriving on the PS2 in 2002, Lombax Ratchet and his robot side-kick, Clank, have been a mainstay of Sony consoles ever since, with over 15 games in existence. In 2016 the duo got a movie outing in Ratchet & Clank, which in turn was made into another video game. Although the film unpicked some of the lore of the duo’s origins, overall the tone of the movie nails that of the game.
A third person shooter-platformer, the Ratchet & Clank games are stuffed with quirky weaponry and dry humour, which the film perfectly replicated. For those uninitiated, Ratchet & Clank is a family-friendly animated sci-fi action comedy that will keep everyone entertained. It also features a stacked vocal cast, keeping the original voice actors for the eponymous pair and Captain Qwark, while also bringing in Hollywood giants like Paul Giamatti and Sylvester Stallone.
Whereas many other video game adaptations can only loosely be traced back to their source material, television series The Last of Us has, so far, kept incredibly close to the story in the original game. It seems that after years of moaning, video game enthusiasts were finally listened to, and the incredible success of the show’s first season proved that the faithful approach worked. The second season was less popular, but only because the show once again stuck close to the source material, resulting in a global audience of gamers devastated once more after the demise of a very popular character.
Set years after a deadly fungus mutated to take control of human hosts, The Last of Us places the jaded Joel in charge of sullen teen Ellie, a girl who might just contain the cure for the outbreak. Packed full of action as the pair battle both Clickers and depraved pockets of humanity, The Last of Us is also heavy on deep and meaningful conversations, meaning tissues are essential when viewing.
Many people will try to say that Paul W.S. Anderson’s Mortal Kombat movie is terrible, and it is important to know that they are incorrect. Its sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, is genuinely bad, and although the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot is also strong, it pales in comparison to the 1995 original.
The game itself is a straightforward beat ‘em up; very light on story. Rather than try to add too much depth, Anderson kept the plot simple as it followed the fighters of Earth realm — Lui Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage — battle their way through the titular fighting tournament, against representatives of Outworld. Featuring some awesome fight sequences, excellent quips, a fun performance from Christopher Lambert as Thunder God Raiden, and a killer soundtrack that will have you screaming "MORTAL KOMBAT" at the top of your lungs, Mortal Kombat is a harmless, energetic, and early entry into the video game annals.
