Jason Statham starred in one of the worst video game movies ever

Director Uwe Boll has a reputation as one of the worst film directors of all time. In the mid-2000s, he oversaw a series of well-publicized but critically panned video game adaptations that immediately fell to the lowest cinema ratings. In 2003, he directed the film “House of the Dead,” which he followed in 2005 with “Alone in the Dark” and “BloodRayne.” He followed those up with In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, BloodRayne 2: Deliverance, and Postal, all in 2007, and concluded his run in 2008 with Far Cry. Fans of the games on which these films were based were angry about Paul’s clumsy handling of the source material, and fans of the cinematic medium were angry about it

Despite his critical reputation, Paul remained prolific, sometimes directing several pictures a year. He directed “First Shift” and “Bandidos” in 2024, and “Run” is scheduled for release in 2025.

I spoke with Paul for an interview, and it’s easy to see why he keeps getting work. He is talkative, intelligent and practical. When confronted with his critical reputation, Boll usually shrugs his shoulders, offers a “whatever” answer, and feels that his accomplishment in making a film is beyond whatever the critics might say. He’s also an ideas man, able to succinctly present film treatments in a way that makes them seem interesting. He loves making movies, and that’s all he needs.

Moreover, Boll’s films all tend to boast illogically impressive casts. He revealed that he usually calls famous actors on weekends for filming and asks them if they are free. If they want a few bucks to sit on the throne and read a few lines, and maybe take up six hours of their Saturday, they’re in the movie. Some naughty actors They petition to organize their return via Boll.

That’s certainly the case for In the Name of the King, which starred Jason Statham and Ron Perlman, but also involved Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, John Rhys-Davies, and Matthew Lillard.

In the Name of the King was based on Dungeon Siege, a medieval fantasy-themed RPG released by Gas Powered Games in 2002. The story follows an evil sorcerer named Gallian (Liotta) who slays evil monsters called Krug on the country of Ahab . A simple man known only as Farmer (Statham) is able to protect his farm but loses his son in the attack and his wife (Claire Forlani) is kidnapped. Farmer and his friends Norik (Perlman) and Bastian (Will Sanderson) are on a mission to rescue the farmer’s wife. Eventually, Farmer – through his prowess on the battlefield – will attract the attention of King Conred (Reynolds) and will be adopted as his son.

The theatrical cut of “In the Name of the King” was 127 minutes long, although Paul’s 156-minute director’s cut was released on Blu-ray. Not that the extra footage would have helped much. “In the Name of the King” was released to poor reviews, and has only a 4% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 51 reviews). Critics felt that the performances were one-sidedly poor, and that the production values ​​were noticeably low. This, despite the film’s budget being around $60 million, was the most expensive film of Paul’s career. Mark Savlov of the Austin Chronicle “The King” is compared unfavorably to the works of Edward D. Wood, Jr. and Laura Kern of the New York Times He noted that everyone on screen looked dazed, as if they were playing dress-up instead of acting in a movie.

The film also lost a pile of money. That $60 million budget only recouped $13 million worldwide. Many video game fans were already familiar with Paul’s work in “House of the Dead” and “Alone in the Dark,” and would have been wise to stay away from them. Paul maintained that he was a genius.

Once the blood was in the water, the reputation of “In the Name of the King” flourished. This became powerful evidence that Uwe Boll was the Ed Wood of his generation, lacking only Wood’s eccentricity, distinctive dialogue, and sexual passion. The Razzies nominated “In the Name of the King” in five categories, including Worst Picture. Paul won Worst Director, although the film “lost” the top prize that year to “The Love Guru.”

Oddly enough, despite being a massive bomb and becoming one of the most overtly hated films in years, there’s still enough clout behind the “Dungeon Siege” IP to warrant some subsequent films. In 2011, Paul rethought the idea for the original film and decided to make it a time travel story, taking a modern man and placing him in the world of Dungeon Siege. The sequel, titled “In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds,” starred Dolph Lundgren as a modern-day soldier who is magically deposited in the Middle Ages. Although one might expect an “Army of Darkness” style farce, the film is neither action-packed nor funny. Its biggest advantage is that it was made for only $4.5 million. That’s modest, even for a direct-to-video release. Lundgren was the only celebrity featured this time around.

Paul then returned in 2014 with “In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission.” This film starred Dominic Purcell from “Prison Break”, and retained the time travel element from the second film. Purcell played an assassin who is sent back in time thanks to a magical amulet. He fights dragons, etc. This costs only $3.5 million. It may be enough to acknowledge its existence.

After that, Paul seems to have given up on video game adaptations and moved on to films of another genre and auxiliary projects. Paul emphasized that his films are good and that they are well known Paid Hollywood directors. Say what you will about Paul, the man sticks to his guns.