As it goes though, nobody adheres to this rule, so we've compiled a list, in no particular order, of just why video-to-movie adaptations shouldn't be made. Yep, these films are the proof.
Super Mario Bros (1993)Starring:
Bob Hoskins
John Leguizamo
Dennis Hopper
Directed by:
Rocky Morton
Annabel Jankel
The (not so) Super Mario Brothers are being driven out of the plumbing business by the mafia-like Scapelli Construction Company. Bad times.
Luigi (John Leguizamo) falls for orphaned NYU student, Daisy (Samantha Mathis), who is digging under the Brooklyn Bridge for dinosaur bones.
At the same place, Luigi and (obviously not a Princess) Daisy witness Scapelli and his men sabotaging some pipes. They must mean business.
As Luigi has no tools with him, he's unable to fix the pipes (which ironically is one of the few things the film shares with the game; they never did any plumbing), so the pair rush back to get Mario (Bob Hoskins).
The three then return to the site (with tools) and fix the pipes, but are then attacked, and Daisy kidnapped.
And so you get the picture of (not so) Super Mario Bros. Where it continues to go downhill though, is the directors ability to make the simple premise of the games, into something ridiculously elaborate and confusing.
You see, sixty-five million years ago, a meteorite crashed into the Earth, and in doing so ripped the universe into two parallel dimensions (obviously). All the surviving dinosaurs of the time crossed over into this new realm. Fan favourites Iggy and Spike turn out to be henchmen (and cousins) of the other world's germophobic and obsessive dictator, King Koopa (Dennis Hopper), who is a descendent of the T-Rex.
Morton and Jankel's weird, dark dystopia version of the Super Mario world, is both wrong and disturbing. The games bright and colourful nature is replaced with something that appears dirty, and if Mario's overalls are anything, they're not dirty.
Street Fighter (1994)Starring:
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Raúl Juliá
Byron Mann
Damian Chapa
Kylie Minogue
Ming-Na.
Directed By:
Steven E. de Souza
A multinational military force known as the Allied Nations has managed to enter the fictional South East Asian nation of Shadaloo to combat the armed forces of a drug lord turned General named M. Bison (Raúl Juliá), who has recently captured several dozen AN workers, and via a live two-way TV broadcast, demands a $20 billion ransom in three days, or he will kill the hostages, and so it's up to Colonel William F. Guile (Jean-Claude Van Damme) to save the day.
One of the bigger failings of the movie, was the way it altered the plot of the original game and motives of the Street Fighter characters and how it significantly lightened the tone of the adaptation, inserting several comical interludes. Even die-hard Van Damme fans couldn't muster up any words to forgive this mess.
The whole film makes a mockery of all the characters from a much loved series; Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, even Blanka wasn't left out. Portrayed as Guiles close friend/science experiment, he's nothing more than a poor mans Lou Ferrigno
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| "Lou Ferrigno, what have they done to you" |
But as insults go, casting Kylie Minogue as Cammy was by far the most "yo mama" type of insult. For shame.
Mortal Kombat (1995)Starring:
Robin Shou
Linden Ashby
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Bridgette Wilson
Christopher Lambert
Talisa Soto
Trevor Goddard
Chris Casamassa
François Petit
Directed by:
Paul W.S. Anderson
Resident Evil (series)
Tekken
Doom
Hitman
Silent Hill
Prince of Persia
Tomb Raider (series)
House Of The Dead
Final Fantasy The Spirits Within
Alone In The Dark
Dead or Alive
Max Payne
Exceptions (pretty good):
Final Fantasy Advent Children
Pokèmon
Resident Evil: Degeneration
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