What Video Games Should be Movies?

In the land of video games, it seems as if every super hero film or big budget movie gets a video game tie in. For the most part, these games are quickly and cheaply made, trying to cash in on the love people have for the film. Its actually hard to think of a good video game based off a movie, but yet they keep coming out, month after month. The same can be said for movies based off video games. Once and a while you get a film like Mortal Kombat, cheesy and silly but yet fun and equally representative of the game, but most of the time you get House of the Dead, Silent Hill, BloodRayne, or Street Fighter. However more and more games that come out are basically movies you control. There is stellar acting, story lines, and plot twists, in addition more and more Hollywood talent is getting involved in video games. Everyone from Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) to Sam Worthington (Avatar) to Ice Cube (Friday) to Aaron Stanton (Mad Men) have been involved in a game not based off a movie. So the question becomes, with video games becoming more and more movie like, what games should be turned into movies? Here is the list of games I think would be best served becoming movies and the people I think should be involved.

-Gears of War: The GOW trilogy were epic war games about a race of creatures that came from the planet's core to attack humanity, and the force who fought against it. The series came with memorable deaths of beloved characters and emotional moments of loss and sacrifice. If given the LOTR treatment (trilogy all filmed at once) I think GOW could become a great movie franchise. Mickey Rourke or Bruce Willis would make great choices as lead character Marcus Phoenix. A director like Bryan Singer would be terrific at showing the bond between brothers and the keeping the effects realistic.
-Uncharted: The story of Nathan Drake is basically the video game version of Indiana Jones. Drake is a treasure hunter who is the descendant of Sir Francis Drake. The game is full of action and twists and wry humor. The main thing about making Uncharted into a quality film would be the right casting of Nathan Drake, you need a smart ass action hero who can convincingly crack one liners or free fall off cliffs. Mark Wahlberg was recently attached but has since left the project. My personal choices would be Nathan Fillion (Firefly) or Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) for Drake.
-God of War: Another trilogy rooted heavily in its mythology, it tells the story of Kratos who ascends to the throne of God of War, only to find out the Gods are against him. Doing this well would take one of the big guns in the directors chair, Spielberg and Cameron come to mind.
-Shadow of the Colossus: A bit of a sleeper in that its not as well known of a game. It was released for Playstation 2 almost ten years ago. I tells the story of a man who loses the love of his life. He is told he he can bring her back if he hunts and kills the 12 colossus. He does this begrudgingly as the colossus are massive and giant creatures but are are harmless if left unprovoked. Picture hunting and killing massive, gentle dogs who only attack to defend themselves. The movie would need to show the emotional roller coaster of the main character who,while he has noble intentions, is committing terrible acts. David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) would be a great director for a film of this magnitude.
-Dead Space: Dead Space could have been a typical infested space ship game, but instead was a smartly written and horrifyingly unique game. It focuses on strategic dismemberment and shows those humans you trust could be just as dangerous as the necromorphs who hunt you. DJ Caruso is attached to direct, but I personally think Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) would be a better choice, he could do the terror but also could do a solid job showing main protagonist Isaac Clark's descent into madness.
-Bioshock: Possibly the best idea on this list. Bioshock had a beginning and an end so beautiful it makes most films jealous with envy. The game focuses on an underwater community in the 1940's whose former residents have been reduced to rage filled murderers while the city around them crumbles. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has been circling the project for a long time but due to its necessarily high budget, it has stalled. My personal choice for director would once again be Steven Spielberg, but Verbinski is not a bad choice.
-Red Dead Redemption: The game is already basically a movie, a Western about John Marston, a family man who is forced by the government to hunt his old gang of murderers and thieves, despite leaving that life behind. The conflict between the main character's old life and new life would be great on film. Karl Urban (LOTR, Bourne Supremacy) would be a great John Marston. Clint Eastwood would be great as Dutch, the films main villain and a father figure to John, Eastwood would also fit great in the directors chair. From the many characters you encounter in the game, there would be roles that would perfectly fit Zach Galifinakis, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Sam Elliot, and Javier Bardem.

While there are hundreds of other games I would like to discuss here, we will save this for a future post, What Video Games Should be Movies 2: The Reckoning. In that post I will break down Grand Theft Auto, Homefront, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, and many more.

-Maximus