8 Video Game Fan Films That Deserve Mainstream Recognition

Video game adaptations are rubbish. That can be said almost without qualification, as just about every single Hollywood attempt at adapting our favourite interactive tales has resulted in a savaging from critics and legions of fans baying for blood.

The most common issue is that games are adapted without adequate knowledge of the source material, and ape the surface level content of the original work while thoroughly missing the point of the creator's vision. The other issue is that Uwe Boll is seemingly given free rein to adapt what he wants, when he wants, and appears to possess whatever the logical opposite of talent is.

Of course, there are a few delicious sweetcorn kernels amidst the gigantic poo mound of video game adaptations. Netflix's Castlevania series is absolutely stunning in every regard, and Detective Pikachu was 104 minutes of serviceable fun. Even the recent Netflix adaptation of The Witcher isn't universally despised. Now, before you all flock to the comments section to screech at me that it's an adaptation of the books and not the games, it would absolutely not have been adapted if not for the success of The Witcher 3.

However, it's the world of fan films where video game adaptations truly shine. There are countless excellent short films and series based on our favourite franchises, created by independent filmmakers and studios on tiny budgets. These works, born out of passion and respect, deserve recognition far beyond what Hollywood has inflicted upon us. Let's give them some love.

A little more than simply a fan film, Kevin Tancharoen's Mortal Kombat: Rebirth was actually created to serve as a pitch to Warner Bros. for an R rated live-action Mortal Kombat reboot. He didn't intend for it to be publicly viewed, however, and its emergence was the result of him accidentally setting the film's publishing settings to public on YouTube.

Using the interrogation of Hanzo Hasashi by police captain Jackson Briggs as a framing device, the film sets up the origins of series mainstays Reptile and Baraka as serial killers in the perpetually chaotic Deacon City.

After the murder of actor-turned-undercover cop Johnny Cage, everyone's favourite ninja - Scorpion, not Sub-Zero, shut up - is tasked with infiltrating a mysterious tournament hosted by the enigmatic Shang Tsung, who may well be employing Reptile and Baraka.

While leaning a little too heavily on Zack Snyder's obnoxious visual style, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth is exceptionally well choreographed and appropriately gory. With big names such as Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan featuring as Jax and Sonya Blade, the film feels much more grand than its $7,500 budget would suggest.

Mortal Kombat: Rebirth did garner some success for Tancharoen, as he then went on to direct the 2-season web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. He was subsequently attached to a fully-fledged Mortal Kombat reboot film, but dropped out in 2013. However, shooting has been completed on the reboot, set for release in 2021, and it's likely Rebirth's influence that spurred it on.