Naughty Dog's action/adventure video game series, Uncharted, has taken the world by storm and given treasure hunting fans a new hero in the form of Nathan Drake. The series has always been highly cinematic in nature and talk of a movie adaptation has been stirring for a number of years with progressive developments.
No matter how concrete the plans seem, it always feels a little uncertain when a video game fan will get to see their favorite franchise make it to the big screen. While you wait, here are 10 action/adventure movies that deliver the same kind of thrills as the Uncharted games.
10 Sahara (2005)
Adapted from Clive Cussler's novel of the same name, Matthew McConaughey steps into the boots of the long-running literary hero Dirk Pitt as he hunts for lost American Civil War gold in the titular African desert and comes across a far bigger political conspiracy.
Sahara is mostly remembered for being a financial failure. Or, rather, not remembered at all because of it. But Uncharted fans will see a number of similarities to some of the most memorable parts of the games in this sweeping and explosive adventure story.
9 The Rundown a.k.a. Welcome to the Jungle (2003)
One of the most underrated movies of both the adventure genre and the career of lead actor Dwayne Johnson, The Rundown, a.k.a. Welcome to the Jungle, is a buddy action treasure hunt movie set in the Brazilian rainforest.
Impressive, stylized, action makes the movie really stand out along with a mountain of extra treats like Christopher Walken's villainous mining baron, Sean William Scott's kooky sidekick, and even an Arnold Schwarzenegger cameo.
8 The Mummy (1999)
Horror and blockbuster action were never married quite as well as they were in Stephen Sommers' beloved update of the classic horror title. Brendan Fraser, similarly, never found a character that connected with audiences as well as his turn as the dashing rogue Rick O'Connell but he's never really needed to.
Whether it be laughs, thrills or chills, The Mummy is bursting with memorable moments and a sweeping sense of adventure that was unquestionably one of the biggest influences on the Uncharted series.
7 Tomb Raider (2018)
The third live-action movie adapted from the infamous game series of the same name, after the first two Angelina Jolie movies from the previous decade, Tomb Raider gets back to basics and harnesses a lot more of that sweet platforming joy found in jumping, swinging, climbing and traversing all manner of obstacles in pursuit of an ancient and deadly buried treasure.
While Jolie's movies are also perfectly recommendable to Uncharted fans, it's really quite rare to see video game adaptations that carry over as many of the game-like qualities from the source material as the 2018 Tomb Raider does.
6 Romancing the Stone (1984)
Robert Zemeckis's joyful romantic-comedy jungle adventure starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito no doubt had a huge impact on the back and forths between Nathan Drake, Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan in the Uncharted series.
The movie's surprise success produced a very hurried sequel the following year, The Jewel of the Nile, which is nowhere near as much fun but did give the world Billy Ocean's widely-enjoyed theme song "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going".
5 Congo (1995)
A mysterious final broadcast from a team of explorers brings together an eclectic group of adventurers (including a talking gorilla) bound for the deepest part of the Congo jungle in this critically-mauled misfire adapted from the work of Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton.
Sporting a surprisingly terrific cast, Congo is an experience that is too bonkers to not enjoy. You simply haven't lived until you've seen Laura Linney take on ancient monster gorillas with a diamond-powered laser in the middle of an exploding volcano. It's a right of passage.
4 National Treasure (2004)
A far more successful example of what Sahara was probably aiming for, National Treasure is a much more family-friendly adventure than anything on this list, or in the Uncharted franchise for that matter, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.
The steady stream of passionate history factoids delivered by Nicolas Cage's treasure hunter and his associates will surely remind an Uncharted fan of Nathan Drake's boyish love for all things legendary and mysterious.
3 The Mummy (2017)
Though by far one of the least-loved of the mainline Mummy movies from Universal, the 2017 failed franchise starter has a number of striking similarities to the Uncharted series from props and sets to character design and costumes.
The Mummy is one of those movies that's mostly remembered for what it didn't accomplish rather than for what it did but, regardless of its widely-publicized shortcomings, you'll struggle to find a more charming cad than Tom Cruise and its ridiculous budget does buy plenty of action spectacle.
2 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
It's important to remember that, while the Uncharted games clearly draw inspiration from a number of live-action sources, they aren't live-action themselves, and ignoring the realm of movie animation would be to cut yourself off from a goldmine of fun.
One of DreamWorks animation's most underrated movies, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas features a star-studded voice cast (including Brad Pitt as his Sinbad himself) and a number gorgeously slick and memorably colorful action sequences.
1 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Really, this represents all of the Indiana Jones movies. Despite differing opinions, they're all great and more influential to the adventure/treasure hunting genre than essentially anything else in existence. But the original is the granddaddy of them all and an unparalleled icon.
Incredible stunts, pitch-perfect performances, and Douglas Slocombe's stunning cinematography make Raiders of the Lost Ark a timeless classic.
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April 30, 2020 at 05:30AM
