Films We Forgot Were Based On Video Games
If you’ve ever wondered where screenwriters and film directors get their inspiration from, have a flick through the stories of your video games and connect the dots.
Now there are some really obvious ones (like the pick below) but many movies are inspired by video games that are not so obvious.
You will be amazed how many hit cinema films (and flops of course) were inspired by video games, especially from the retro era – many of which are not very well known.How many of these do you recognise?
The Oregon Trail: Fantastic Four
The action film, Fantastic Four which hit the cinemas in 2015 was inspired by the 1974 retro video arcade game The Oregon Trail which was originally designed to educate school children about the realities of pioneering life in the 1800’s. The game involves escorting a trail of people across the harsh lands of Oregon whilst attempting to protect members of the party from dying.
Bionic: Inglorious Basterds
Quinton Tarantino is best known for basing his violent films around manga comic strips, but his 2009 films Inglorious Basterds was secretly based on the arcade game, Bionic Commando which features a soldier infiltrating enemy lines on a mission to assassinate Hitler.
Chiller: Hostel Part II
The gratuitous violence in the 2007 film, Hostel II was based on the retro Nintendo video game, Chiller released in 1986. The game involves a series of characters held captive in a dungeon and the player has to figure out how to use the torture devices to kill the victims in the quickest time possible. Needless to say the game was a flop because arcade game owners refused to purchase it.
Night Trap: Funny Games
Another unusually weird video arcade game to inspire a film was Sega’s, Night Trap. Released in 1992, the game involved the player controlling security cameras to look for damsels in distress then deciding how to rescue them.
Rampage: Pacific Rim
You could argue that Rampage was inspired by the films Godzilla and King Kong, but in turn it went on to inspire the 2013 film, Pacific Rim which features the lead characters operating large metal robots and crushing sea creatures with their fists. Players do exactly the same in the 1986 Nintendo 64 arcade game Rampage.
Elevator Action: Die Hard
The retro film Die Hard released in 1988 was inspired by the retro video game Elevator Action that was released three years earlier. Both the film and the game involve one man, one building and 30 floors of enemies to gun down.
Contra: Predator
Given the popularity of Konami’s addictive shoot ‘em up, Contra, a video-arcade inspired film would not be far behind. And so it was – Predator, starring the all-out action hero Arnie Schwarzenegger. Both the film and the video game involved a machine-gun toting character blasting away aliens.
Do you know any retro video games that inspired Hollywood? Let us know by leaving your comments below.
About the author
Zeeshan Mallick
Co-Founder of SuperRetroGamer.com
