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Classic Movies About Popular Games
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- Category: Blogs
- Published: Wednesday, 19 April 2023 20:47
Since its inception, cinema has looked to other forms of entertainment for both inspiration and collaboration. Take, for instance, the early films of Hollywood’s Golden Age, which often used famous works of literature as the basis for their plots, creating on-screen adaptations of Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson and even Byron.
Fast forward through time and you find musicians such as Prince, The Who, and the Sex Pistols using movies as vehicles for their music. As one of the main forms of modern entertainment, cinema is inextricably linked with other popular media types, from music to television, sports to gaming.
It is this last genre that we want to examine more closely. The gaming industry has now overtaken all other sectors to become the biggest and most successful form of entertainment in this decade so far. There are currently over three billion active gamers in the world and the industry as a whole is expected to bring in a revenue of almost $400 billion by the time the new year rolls around.
Of course, human beings have been playing games since time immemorial, so it makes sense that many classic movies feature some of our favorite gaming titles, from traditional contests like chess to beloved video games like Super Mario. Read on to discover the classic movies about gaming which we’d recommend to any enthusiast of either media type.
Casablanca
Starting off with one of the best-known, but most often misquoted films of all time, we have Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. Heralded as being one of the most romantic stories to ever grace the silver screen, this movie is worth watching again and again due to its beautiful cinematography, gripping storyline and unrivaled acting.
The game of roulette plays a pivotal role in the film’s plot and the inherent drama of this classic casino staple adds a lot to the atmosphere of such a tense and powerful movie. Invented during the 18th century, roulette has been a casino mainstay for centuries. It has proven so popular, in fact, that there are several different variants available which are regularly played around the world, including European, American and Sands variations on the game. The mystery and narrative that have built up around the ‘little wheel’ are used to deepen the character of Bogart’s Rick and drive the action of the film forward.
Clue
Originally named Cluedo (a name which still goes by in the UK), the beloved murderous board game has been around since the 1940s. However, it took until 1985 for a film to be made based on the game’s mechanics. Starring Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd, and featuring classic character names like Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum, the plot centers around the murder of a dinner party host and his guests’ attempts to identify the killer among them.
It’s a hilarious movie that stands the test of time and is perhaps the finest example of a board game being transformed into a successful Hollywood film. However, this year’s release of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves may well snatch that title if its many positive reviews are anything to go by.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft remains one of the most famous and adored video game characters of all time, even 27 years after her first appearance on screen. So much so, in fact, that there have been not one, but three separate movie releases centered around her. The first appeared in 2001 and starred Angelina Jolie; it was arguably the actress’s first true breakthrough into mainstream blockbuster cinema, and it did well, becoming the highest-grossing film of its opening weekend.
A sequel followed which, although it didn’t do quite as well as the first installment, was still a financial box-office success. A reboot followed 10 years later starring Alicia Vikander, but we would wholeheartedly recommend the original for a healthy dose of camp yet satisfying action-adventure fun.