The 25 Best Video Game References in Movies

The fact that video games are referenced in movies shows that people love video games, they just don't know how to make movies out of them.

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25. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

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25. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Reference: Missile Command, Afterburner

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Complex says: In this excellent scene from James Cameron’s best film (eat it, Titanic and Avatar), Edward Furlong and the kid who played Budnick in Salute Your Shorts are at an arcade playing games like Missile Command and Afterburner. Shout out for the OLD Afterburner cabinet that moved around when you played it. They just don’t make arcade machines (or arcades for that matter) like that anymore. 

24. Stay Alive (2006)

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24. Stay Alive (2006)

Reference: virtual reality game

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Complex says: Okay, this movie, starring Malcolm in the Middle, sucks ass. But the idea of playing a horror themed game where if you die in the game, you die in real life is kind of cool and cheeky. It was an interesting premise, but it had a horrible everything else. It kind of reminds us of the movie, Brainscan. You ever see that movie? No, well…

23. Brainscan (1994)

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23. Brainscan (1994)

Reference: Another strange VR game, this one called Brainscan

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Complex says: With a tagline like, “Wanna play? I dare you!” You know you’re in for some crap. But some entertaining crap. Starring Edward Furlong (again?), the plot centers on a game where if you killed someone in the game, you killed them in real life. So it’s kind of like the reverse of Stay Alive. Oh, well. Shout out to movies about video games, all the same. 

22. Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

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22. Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

Reference: Game Gear…minus any games

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Complex says: Jackie Chan would make for a great uncle. He can do kung-fu, save a grocery store from bad guys, and hey, he even keeps a Game Gear in his pocket just so he can give it to his wheelchair bound friend. Too bad the Game Gear doesn’t have any games in it. But in the world of Jackie Chan, that doesn’t even matter. Apparently, the system can still play games without any games even being in it. What CAN’T that man do?

21. Grandma’s Boy (2006)

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21. Grandma’s Boy (2006)

Reference: Dance Dance Revolution

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Complex says: In Grandma’s Boy (the 2006 version, and not the 1922 one, you film historian, you), the whole movie is centered on video games. But we particularly like the DDR challenge scene, where the game comments on how Jeff’s going to bust the game he’s so good at it. We’ve heard that one ourselves a couple of times when we’ve played the game…okay, that was a lie. 

20. Wasabi (2001)

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20. Wasabi (2001)

Reference: Dance Dance Revolution, Buffalo Cops

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Complex says: Wasabi features three of our favorite things in this classic scene—dance clubs, video games, and excited Asian women. Oh, and DDR. Jean Reno stars in the flick and is shown stepping on his own feet and failing hard at the game. Didn’t we say the scene was classic?

19. Soylent Green (1973)

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19. Soylent Green (1973)

Reference: Computer Space

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Complex says: Soylent Green is PEOPLE! And Computer Space is the first commercially sold coin operated game ever. Put those two questionable factoids together and you have some research on your hands, young Padawan. 

18. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

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18. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Reference: Playstation

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Complex says: It’s the end of the world, your best friend has turned into a zombie, and you’re keeping him in your garage because you can’t kill him off. What do you do? Well, play video games with him, of course. In this loving ending, Simon Pegg plays Playstation with his best friend, Nick Frost. Aww, isn’t that nice? And it’s also nice to see that Sony’s survived the apocalypse. We knew they could do it. 

17. Gamer (2009)

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17. Gamer (2009)

Reference: Made up games called, Society and Slayers

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Complex says: We mean, come on, the title alone represents every single one of us. Too bad the movie kind of sucks. But like Stay Alive, the premise is cool. Participants control other humans in death battles online in a game called Slayers. We especially like the R-Rated Sims-like game, Society, in the movie. Because sometimes, we, too, wish our lives revolved around sex and the Blood Hound Gang.

16. Bloodsport (1988)

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16. Bloodsport (1988)

Reference: Karate Champ

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Complex says: Back when JCVD was in the prime of his life and upright arcade machines were all the rage, Karate Champ made an appearance in this true life story. And no, Mr. Van Damme, we’re never too old to play video games. See you at the Kumite. 

15. Ghostbusters II (1989)

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15. Ghostbusters II (1989)

Reference: NES Advantage

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Complex says: Is there something strange in your neighborhood? Well, just get a walkman, positively charged mood slime and an NES Advantage, and you can hop right in the Statue of Liberty and take care of some business. The Scourge of Carpathia won’t know what hit him. 

14. WarGames (1983)

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14. WarGames (1983)

Reference: WOPR

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Complex says: WarGames is kind of like the book, Ender’s Game, but not in space and starring Matthew Broderick. It proves to us what we’ve always known all along—video game skills can take you places. In this movie, it just so happens to take the character to almost igniting World War 3. Well, we didn’t say it would take you GOOD places. 

13. Doom (2005)

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13. Doom (2005)

Reference: Doom itself

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Complex says: Like all video games turned into movies, Doom is absolutely abysmal. From The Rock’s turn as a bad guy to the dialogue, everything just plain sucks about the film. Except for one thing—the switch to actual first-person mode, which is just like the game itself. Look, we’re not saying we would have wanted the WHOLE movie to be like this, but this small little section qualifies as one of the best self-references to its own source material ever. We approve. 

12. Grosse Point Blank (1997)

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12. Grosse Point Blank (1997)

Reference: Doom 2

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Complex says: Speaking of Doom, one of our favorite arcade games ever was Doom 2, which…wait a minute, Doom 2 was never an arcade game. What the hell? One of the biggest and best gaffes ever is this shoot-out scene in Grosse Point Blank where some guy listening to Motorhead is playing Doom II at his job…on an arcade machine. Wow. Classic. Just classic. Cool scene, nonetheless.

11. Nightmares (1983)

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11. Nightmares (1983)

Reference: the made up game, The Bishop of Battle

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Complex says: Nightmares is one of those shitty movies you’ve seen late at night and were amazed by the scene where Emilio Estevez was wearing a cut off shirt and rocking the biggest Walkman you’ve ever seen in your life. What really blew your mind, though was when he was playing a dated looking arcade game called The Bishop of Battle. The game has 13 levels. Try to play it…if you dare. 

10. The Last Starfighter (1984)

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10. The Last Starfighter (1984)

Reference: Starfighter

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Complex says: We’re not going to toot our own horns here, but we’re pretty good when it comes to gaming. But if an alien ever came down from a distant planet because we have a kill streak going on in MW3, we’re pretty sure we wouldn’t take that ride. Especially if they came in a car that looked like it came from the late 70s, early 80s. 

9. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

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9. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Reference: Nintendo Power Glove

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Complex says: By the sixth Nightmare on Elm Street, we think a lot of people will admit that the series had seen its glory days pass as a horror franchise. So why not turn it into a comedy? Well, it certainly WAS funny to see Freddy Krueger playing with a Power Glove, as that in itself is a form of torture. Now we’re playing with power! 

8. Boyz n the Hood (1991)

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8. Boyz n the Hood (1991)

Reference: Duck Hunt

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Complex says: Okay, when was the American NES Zapper ever black? Well, we don’t know, but it made for one hell of a reveal when we saw these gangsters enjoying a little game of Duck Hunt rather than shooting a real motherf*cker. Points taken off though since we didn’t hear him shooting at the dog off-screen. 

7. Crank 2: High Voltage (2009)

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7.  Crank 2: High Voltage (2009)

Reference: Video game intro

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Complex says: Crank is seriously a video game movie that was never a video game. It’s wild, highly stimulating, and it feels like Jason Stathum should have a life bar at the top of the screen. It’s that much of a video game. So, it was only fitting to have this throwback intro in the second movie. And we’re totally digging the flashing pumping heart-beat. Nice touch. 

6. The Wrestler (2008)

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6. The Wrestler (2008)

Reference: Fictional game featuring Randy the Ram in it

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Complex says: Old NES wrestling games are awesome. So seeing a tribute/shout out to them in The Wrestler added a bit of authenticity to Randy the Ram’s character as formerly being a bigshot. We especially like Mickey Rourke’s reaction to the kid schooling him on Call of Duty 4. That’d probably be our reaction, too. Like, shut up, kid. 

5. Swingers (1996)

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5. Swingers (1996)

Reference: NHL 94

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Complex says: As you can see, this is pretty high on our list. But it is for a reason. No other film, we can think of, totally encapsulates guys just sitting around and playing video games. In this scene, they’re complaining about how blood was taken out of this edition. We had similar complaints!

4. City Hunter (1993)

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4. City Hunter (1993)

Reference: Street Fighter

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Complex says: Better than the actual Street Fighter movie with JCVD and Raul Julia? You betcha. Did that movie have Jackie Chan in drag as Chun-Li? We didn’t think so. 

3. Tron (1982)

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3. Tron (1982)

Reference: The whole movie

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Complex says: How could you have any truer video game movie than a film that takes place almost entirely INSIDE a video game? We weren’t too fond of the sequel, but this original is still aces, dated “graphics” and all.

2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

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2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

Reference: Too many references to name

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Complex says: Scott Pilgrim is like a hardcore gamer’s wet dream. From the name of the band in the movie (Sex Bob-Omb), to the opening, Link to the Past music, to just about everything about it, Scott Pilgrim IS video games. We especially like the scene of Scott getting a life in the form of a one-up. Ah, video game references. They’re nothing like ‘em. 

1. The Wizard (1989)

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1. The Wizard (1989)

Reference: Super Mario Bros. 3, Nintendo Power Glove

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Complex says: Honestly, what other movie could be number one? The Wizard is like an hour and a half long commercial for Nintendo, with the greatest part being the Super Mario Bros. 3 reveal toward the end. How ELSE would we have known how to get that special whistle? The Wizard had the answer. We love the movie. It’s so…bad. 

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