Let's face it, a video game experience doesn't quite equate into a great film experience all its own. The Tomb Raider movies proved that alone, especially the disastrous Cradle of Life (despite Angelina Jolie's vixenous attempts to do otherwise). Other examples include the overproduced Super Mario Bros., the god-awful Wing Commander, and Street Fighter, a Jean Claude Van Damme effort that was so bad it was hilarious. After all, a movie that turns a traditional sumo wrestler into a Hawaiian shirt-wearing TV producer and a legendary Russian fighter into a dunderhead deserves applause for the idiocy alone. But five movies either based directly on a video game or themed around video game elements stand out, at least in my mind, and transcend the below-average efforts. Here they are, in no particular order.

Honorary mentions

Cloak and Dagger- OK, OK, so a kid being chased around by gun-toting spies doesn't exactly seem like the kind of "video game" film you expect, but the kid's hiding secrets after he stumbles upon a video game cartridge loaded with military secrets. It's more fun than you think, thanks to Dabney Coleman showing up as an imaginary spy, trying to spring loose the kid's thinking instincts.

NIghtmares- Another 80's film, this one includes a segment where a video game wizard (Emilio Estevez) with family issues sneaks into the mall late at night to get a high score on a space shooter. Soon the machine collapses, and they fly right out to get him. Improbable? Er, yeah, but it's a fun little segment, and ends up being all for naught as the poor sap ends up in the video game. Whoops! Should have said "spoiler alert".

Top Five

Resident Evil - OK, here we go. I'm sure many of you have developed a hatred for director Paul W.S. Anderson to the point that the mere mention of his name will send you cursing off into the night, kicking cars as you go. But the guy did know his video game films, and this, his second, proved to be a bit of a surprise- for me, anyway. Sure, it's got a high-tech look that doesn't suit the game. Sure, it's kinda confusing that Jill Valentine got replaced by a girl named Annie. And, yeah, in essence, it only uses parts of the game in the actual movie. But it still worked because it stuck to its guts and went all out with them. One scene shows crew members getting sliced and diced in style by lasers. Another introduces a mutated "licker" having his way with some people, also known as lunch. And the ending? Well, I won't give it away, but it doesn't fall on a happy note (and leads to the somewhat lesser sequel Resident Evil: Apocalypse). Give Anderson credit for at least trying to deliver something in the experience and not just a flash in the pan like, say, Alien Vs. Predator.

Mortal Kombat - However, if we are going to talk about a Paul W.S. Anderson film that doesn't want to make people run out of the theatre, screaming bloody murder, then let's talk about what many consider to be the only real feasible video game-based film out there, Mortal Kombat. The movie shows some ideal casting (Robin Shou as Liu Kang and Christopher Lambert, stealing the show as a smirking Rayden), and it moves along pretty well in story, setting up for some massive fights and a showdown that, while a little hokey, still delivers. Kudos go out especially to the Scorpion-Johnny Cage battle, complete with a spear, a shadow kick, and a friendship. Friendship? Again? Anyway, the sequel, Mortal Kombat Annihilation would crumble under the feet of some other director and not even come close to the glory of the original, still untouched and a romp to this very day.

The Last Starfighter - Not really based on a video game, but it uses a slick little idea to implement them into something useful. The story focuses on a teenage boy in the middle of a no-name town who has somehow mastered a colossal outer space video game with barely any scratches or precious lives lost. Soon, he is visited by an intergalactic agent of sorts who insists that the game is merely more than a game, but a casting call for those pilots who would be fit to defend the galaxy against evildoers. The film features lots of fun special effects (for the time) and plenty of funny moments, including a robotic clone who replaces the kid while he's away and has to put up with his girlfriend-to-be's advances. The Last Starfighter is a fun film for the dreamer in us, so keep your Star Wars skills handy. You never know...

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie- Now THIS is how you create an ideal anime based on a video game. Not with Van Damme or Kylie Minogue or some poor, schleppy dialogue that turns a beautiful fighting game into Saturday morning schlock. Street Fighter II is wonderfully animated, and comes complete with true details from the video game to make it shine through. If you can find the import version, by all means, track it down. It takes away the somewhat mixed US soundtracks and adds a great bit of detail to the Chun Li shower scene. No matter which version you get, however, you'll find a thrilling anime experience with the film, jam-packed to the hilt right down to the finale between Bison, Ken, and Ryu. Shoryuken!

Tron - Finally, for the top five, we come to Tron, Disney's magnificent computer-animated tale of a programmer sucked into a digital world and forced to battle his way to the main computer, looking for a way to escape. The film used a mixture of live-action effects and mixed them with redone computer imagery to create a fantastic world unseen before...and considering it was done in the 80's, sans polygons or fancy effects like you see nowadays, it's really a marvel to behold. A two-disc DVD set exists that takes you through the entire process, right down to making the final product look so good. And, hey, the film gave Cindy Morgan something to do after she burned up the screen a couple of years before as the blonde beauty from Caddyshack. She still turns up at game expos to this very day to talk Tron. What a sport.