The God of War franchise is known for its gleefully bloody approach to violence, its epic story, its hack-and-slash gameplay, and its quick time event boss fights. It’s about a big muscle dude beating up a bunch of generic enemies and gigantic bosses. Filmmakers have been trying to get a proper God of War movie out from what feels like forever, but have had little success.
Here are some movies you might enjoy if you like the God of War games.
300
300 is a movie about big muscle dudes fighting other big muscle dudes for reasons you probably won’t care about. It’s led by one big muscle dude who has a beard and fun one-liners. It’s bloody and violent and while it may not have any gods, it should please fans of the God of War franchise for pretty much all the other reasons.
Clash/Wrath of the Titans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VRqk7yESnw
The … of the Titans movies may not have the same level of violence or gore that God of War fans may crave, but they do have the same sort of giant monsters, have the gods, and the same sort of period aesthetics. Whether you’re watching the original Clash or the newer franchise, you’re bound to get your thrills.
Conan the Barbarian/Destroyer
While we’re talking about big muscle men, it’d be hard to leave out the big muscle man, especially of his era. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the lead of the two original Conan movies, and he’s about as a big a muscle man as there is. The movies are set in ancient times and have Conan fight off bad things and people. They’re cartoonish and silly, but they’re fun fantasy adventure movies.
The remake isn’t terrible but it’s also not great or memorable.
Gladiator
Gladiator is probably the most critically acclaimed movie on this list, so if that matters to you, well, there you go. It did win the Oscar for Best Picture, after all. It stars a bearded muscle man who has to become a gladiator in order to earn his freedom in ancient times. It’s more “realistic,” sure, but it’s plenty violent. The setting will remind you of God of War and the movie is really good, too.
Gods of Egypt
We go from what could be the best movie on this list to what’s probably the worst. Or, at least, the silliest. Gods of Egypt sees a mortal man team up with an Egyptian god to save the world from an evil god using lots of special effects and over-the-top acting. It’s ridiculous, but it’s kind of fun in a so-bad-it’s-good kind of way.
Hercules
Our current big muscle dude is Dwayne Johnson, the former wrestler turned A-list action hero who in 2014 decided to make a Hercules movie that barely resembled anything you recognize about the titular character. It’s based on a graphic novel and sees Hercules as the leader of a mercenary group. Hercules is the demigod son of Zeus, so he’s pretty much a PG-13 Kratos.
Immortals
Immortals at one point was called War of the Gods, which is pretty close to God of War. It’s a pretty movie loosely based on a few Greek myths, has some gods and mythical creatures hanging around, and might not be the most action-packed entry on this list, but it’ll remind you of the God of war games nonetheless.
Jack the Giant Slayer
Jack the Giant Slayer is a movie about a man going into the land of giants in order to save a woman. Admittedly, only the scenes that have giants in them feel remotely like God of War, but there are enough of those. Giants are basically like gods, anyway, and having to take them out is like boss fights.
Jason and the Argonauts
Jason has to lead a group of adventurers through perilous danger in order to complete a quest for the safety of Greece at the behest of Zeus. Or something. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Jason and the Argonauts, but that sounds right. It combines live-action and stop-motion in order to let its heroes battle monsters in the time before CGI could do it, and it’s a fascinating watch – even if not all of that stop-motion holds up today.
Troy
Troy sees a mythical Greek hero, whose mother was an immortal, fight in a big war. Admittedly, it’s an ensemble piece that also deals with politics at the time and follows both sides of a very large war, but if you just focus on Achilles, he’s basically just a prettier Kratos. The film even has a “one weak point” thing, admittedly giving it to him instead of a boss. Still, I love Troy and more people need to watch and love it.
