We all know about Uwe Boll and the crappy video-game movies he's made. We all know what happened with the Super Mario Bros Movie (Dennis Hopper, Bob Hoskins, I pine for you). As a general rule, video game movies suck. But why is this? There are numerous video games with fantastic stories that could very easily be translated into a good (or at least decent) movie. I believe the reason that no good video game movies have been made has to do with how little Hollywood execs really care about or respect video games. The same happened with comic books originally (ever heard of the Captain America movie?), but recently there has been far more success with comic-adaptations, because there are more directors/producers who are fans of comics. I believe this can (and will) happen with video games as well, especially the more they go mainstream. In light of that, here's my list of the Top 10 movies that deserve a good movie, and how I think this could be achieved.

Let me start off by saying that this ain't gonna happen. I wish it would, but it won't. Not until Nintendo rereleases this amazing game, at least. But, were studios more concerned with great stories than name recognition, Earthbound could be a really fun (and really weird) movie. I mean, it has everything: psychic kids, aliens, a guy named Poo, what more do you want? The movie could just be a fairly faithful adaptation of the game's plot, cutting any small details that don't further the main plot. But it would start with the Meteor and end with that fateful fight with Giygas, and all the tear-jerking moments that that implies. Even small details, like never seeing Ness's father , could be adapted straight to the big screen! I mean, with art films like Across The Universe and The Fountain pulling in pretty good money recently, Earthbound would seem almost normal.

Some may argue with me, but I think that with movies like Beowulf and Persepolis, I think the general movie-going public is ready for more adult-oriented animated movies. Star Fox would be one of these movies. Yes, it involves talking animals, but they're just so... badass! And they fly spaceships! Not to mention the fact that the Star Fox team and their associates are some of the few video game characters (especially created before 1998) who actually talk, have distinguished personalities, and even have interesting backstories. Fox's father was a pilot who was betrayed and killed, Falco was part of an intergalactic motorcycle gang, Slippy's annoying. It's the characters and their relationships that makes a good movie, and Star Fox is chuck full of that sort of thing. Plus, after the disappointment of the Star Wars prequels, isn't about time we got another good scifi-action movie?

We all know why Halo could and should make a good movie. It's set in the future, and it's awesome. We also all heard the rumors about Peter Jackson wanting to direct/produce an adaptation. Those two things alone should warrant Halo being on this list. Now, if Peter Jackson does indeed help make a Halo movie (be it producing or directing), I have no doubt that it will at least be entertaining. Of course, it might also be overly long, something I would have a problem with. So, my advice to Mr. Jackson? Cast an unknown, keep it short, and keep it full of action. Master Chief should be played by an unknown for a couple of reasons, the two main ones being that you never see his face, and his character honestly isn't that intriguing. It's just a guy in a suit who fights wars in the future; that's all we need to know, and that's about the extent of what's given in the game. In fact, speaking of keeping things simple, the story should also be kept to a minimum. Let's not get into all the stuff about the Covenant and the SPARTANS and all that stuff any more than is completely necessary for the core story; this is Halo not No Country For Old Men. The story isn't where Halo shines anyway; it's all about the action, and that's where the movie should focus. Not to say that this should be some mindless Vin Diesel film, story just shouldn't be the focus, because that's just not Halo.

And let the hate mail roll in. Yes, I do think Pikmin would make a better movie than Halo, Star Fox, and Earthbound, and no, I'm not high. Let me explain! Pikmin is a game that is all about discovering the wonders of the universe, and about one man (or whatever Olimar is) figuring out how he can use the help of his surroundings to survive on a foreign, hostile world while he repairs his way home. Imagine the drama when Olimar's ship crashes on the Pikmin World, or the joy when he first finds some Pikmin as they eagerly offer to help him repair his ship, or even some of the laughs as they uncover different gigantic everyday items. Basically, think of it as Castaway in space with an army of flower-people. There's much hidden drama and beauty to be found in Pikmin, and I wish Hollywood producers would take note.

Think of it as Super Smash Bros in movie form, but with Disney. Isn't it just an evil corporation's dream come true? But, a Kingdom Hearts movie would be much more than a big marketing ploy. First of all, KH has one of the best stories of most video games from recent years. Secondly, it has enough action in it to outweigh the fact that it would be from the same company that brought us Highschool Musical. Finally, if the large cast of Disney characters wasn't enough to draw in huge Box Office numbers, the pure Kingdom Hearts fanbase itself will. So, come on Disney (and Square-Enix), if you like making money at all, make this movie!

Hmm... large battles? Check. Dragons? Check. Mythical races? Check. Deep, endearing characters? Double check. Fire Emblem is fairly new to the United States, but it's already gained a fairly substantial following in a relatively short amount of time. Plus, ever since Return of the King, studios have been looking for another great fantasy-war movie franchise. Narnia hasn't been as successful as they'd hoped, but Fire Emblem may just be the ticket. For one thing, it's not known as a series directed at children, so it could be more brutal than Narnia. For another thing, through the different conversations and profiles of all the characters (and I mean ALL of the characters) from each of the games, there's no shortage of great characters to choose from. And in Fire Emblem, you actually care about the characters to the point that when they die, it can actually be quite emotionally powerful. Translate this to the big screen, and you may have the one video-game adaptation film that transcends the genre and proves that games can be taken seriously.

You knew this was coming. If the "Alien" overtones throughout the Metroid series weren't enough, or the fact that Samus' nemesis is named after acclaimed "Alien" director Ridley Scott didn't automatically make you think of Metroid as a good candidate for a movie, then the fact that John Woo at one point had bought the rights should. More so than Master Chief, Samus Aran actually has a fairly defined personality, especially for a character who barely speaks (though has once or twice). However, like with the Master, Samus should be played by an unknown. No Angelina Jolie. No Scarlett Johansen. Maybe Evangeline Lily... nah. No, Samus should be an unknown, an up-and-comer, but that doesn't mean the rest of the cast should be unknown, or non-existent. Yes, most of the Metroid games involve Samus traveling alone, but if the most recent Metroid Prime 3: Corruption proved anything, it's that Samus does have colleagues. Now, whereas that game unfortunately didn't flesh out those characters much, that's where the movie could succeed. It could put Samus on an adventure along with Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda as they attempt to rid the galaxy of the Metroids. But, it's important that at the end Samus is left alone to deal with Mother Brain, and possibly (as in Super Metroid) be saved by the sacrifice of the baby Metroid.

So it didn't work in '93. But that was before most of the characters had really been fleshed out. I mean, Bowser didn't even say anything meaningful until Super Mario RPG in 1996. Luigi didn't develop his fear of ghosts until 2001. Even Princess Peach didn't know what her name really was until Super Mario 64! Besides, the first film used... Daisy? So, here's what I propose: a full-length, CGI adventure in the style of the openings for the recent Mario Sports games. There could be celebrities doing the voices for basically everyone but the plumbers; they MUST be voiced by Charles Martinett. It would use everything we've learned about the characters, involve an evil plan plotted by Bowser and helped in execution by Wario and Waluigi, and Mario and Luigi's efforts to stop it. Plus, it wouldn't take itself too seriously, nor explain anything about the Mushroom Kingdom. The audience would just be asked to accept that this isn't the real world, and thusly physics don't work like the real world. And no dinosaurs but Yoshi!

Metal Gear Solid is one of those games that is just begging to be turned into a movie. It has action, it has romance, it has clones! CLONES! Everyone loves clones! It also has one of the most interesting (and absurd) narratives in video game history, and with the release of MGS4, we now know how it all ends, which will help greatly in planning the movie (or movies). Just shoot it like Bourne and cast a good lead (Hugh Jackman?) and there you go. Oh, and did I mention that the game's creator wants to do it? Uh yeah!

This one should've been obvious. I don't think there's a gamer on Earth who wouldn't like to see this one become a reality. However, there's a huge problem about making a good Zelda movie, and that is that Link doesn't talk, nor does he have a definitive origin (there are multiple Links after all). So what do you do in such a circumstance? Some people would just create a brand new story to wrap the movie around, but that just wouldn't be true to the source material. At the same time, there are so many Zelda games (and Links) that only using one story wouldn't work either. So I propose that they combine a bunch of different game plots into each movie. And, I propose that there be at least two movies (maybe three). Here's my whole idea for the series (it's long, so bear with me): The first movie would combine the plots of Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, and A Link To The Past into one. A teenage farmer (Link) gets dragged out of his normal life when he gets side-tracked while delivering a load of milk to the city. He decides to sneak into the castle, where he meets Princess Zelda, and gets dragged into a much larger conflict involving a mysterious man from the desert named Ganondorf. She says she had a vision of him coming to see her, and together they plan the man's downfall. However things go awry, and their actions actually lead to his rise to power, and his kidnapping of Zelda. With the help of seven sages, Link finds the Master Sword in the forest and uses it to defeat Ganondorf once and for all. There would be no time-traveling, because it would just complicate things. The second film would combine the plots of Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening. After defeating Ganon, Link decides to go on a personal quest, sailing the seven seas. Along the way he is shipwrecked on the coast of a small island named Termina. The world is strange in that it is very similar to Hyrule, yet different. The people look like various Hylians Link knew, there's a large castle in the center of it, there's even a girl who looks suspiciously like Zelda (Marion). There's just one problem: the moon is about to crash into the island and destroy them all in three days. Soon after realizing that, Link meets a strange man who tells him it's his destiny to save Termina, and that when he does, he can go home. He also tells him to "wake the windfish". The rest of the plot would go similarly to Majora's Mask; he would learn to manipulate time and repeat the three days, he would solve people's problems only to see them happen again when he winds the clock back. Eventually, he would make it to the moon where he would fight not Majora's Mask, but Shadow Link as both fan-service, and as a replacement for the shadow fight with the windfish. The ending would basically be the same as in Link's Awakening with him finding out it was all a dream (explaining the Hyrule similarities). And that's why Zelda would make a good movie franchise.

So there we go. I know my last one was overly long, but I just really think a Zelda movie should go a certain way to be good. By the way, I'd like to let you guys know that the loophole in German tax law that allows Uwe Boll to make movies has been fixed, so we shouldn't have to worry about him anymore. As for the other Hollywood execs, I can only hope that they see this list and take some of my advice. I mean, cause they OBVIOUSLY go to GameFAQs...

List by JamesMcloud91