12 Movies to Watch After ‘Uncharted’

Whether or not you like the new video game adaptation, you'll want to check out these movies that came before it.
Uncharted Review Tom Holland

National Treasure (2004) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

Remember when Sully calls Nathan “Jack Sparrow”? Maybe there are audience members who don’t get that any more than they’d get a Cocktail reference. After all, it’s been five years since the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie. And almost 20 years since the first and still very much the best (some would say only good) installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Well, Fleischer is probably right to presume that most of his viewers will know who Jack Sparrow is. But just in case you are one of the few people unfamiliar with the franchise based on Disney’s theme park ride, now’s your chance to catch up to get this connection:

“‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ has a cumulative adventure spirit, not as an individual movie but as a franchise. I wanted this movie to live in a similar space where it was fun for the whole family. Also, in the film’s finale, you can’t avoid the obvious parallel of the pirate ships.”

Since I did just recommend The Curse of the Black Pearl to watch after Jungle Cruise, I’m moving on to the second installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. From there you can keep on going until you’ve seen On Stranger Tides, which is at least watchable. Dead Men Tell No Tales is not. Meanwhile, I’ve included the first National Treasure here because it’s another Disney movie that fans have been comparing to Uncharted. I think the National Treasure movies are awful, but this column isn’t about recommending stuff either I or you would necessarily enjoy. The genetic context is still worth knowing.

The National Treasure and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are streaming on Disney+.


Loot (2008)

This week’s obligatory documentary recommendation presents a real-life scenario we’ve seen played out in a number of dramatic pictures, most recently Da 5 Bloods. During World War II, Darrel Ross and Andrew Seventy stole valuable jewels and hid them away to find later. Now it’s much later, and the two men team up with amateur treasure hunter Lance Larson to help them find their respective buried booty. Ross’ stash is sitting in a farmhouse somewhere in Austria. Seventy’s treasure is more relevant to Uncharted as he was stationed in the Pacific and he stashed it in a village in the Philippines. He just has to find the map he made…

Loot is available to rent or buy on Amazon and iTunes. 


The Lost City of Z (2016)

James Gray’s The Lost City of Z has appeared on a number of Movie DNA lists, including Jungle Cruise (though it doesn’t have its own entry there). But as long as The Lost City of Z isn’t talked about by film fans on a regular basis, we need to keep on mentioning and recommending it wherever we can. The biopic, about explorer Percy Fawcett and his pursuit of a lost city in the Amazon, also co-stars Tom Holland as Fawcett’s son, Jack, so there’s an easy connection. In interviews, Holland has said the stunts in Uncharted were the hardest he’s ever had to do, but he broke his nose while making The Lost City of Z, so he’s used to pain on the job.

The Lost City of Z is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, FuboTV, Paramount+, and Hoopla. 


Tomb Raider (2018)

Tomb Raider is another movie based on an adventure video game that’s very much inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark. In this reboot, Alicia Vikander takes on the role of Lara Croft, an archaelogist who goes hunting around the world for ancient artifacts, just like Indiana Jones. Tomb Raider and Uncharted have been compared for years, and players have even written their own crossover fan fiction. Now Holland hopes for a cinematic team-up, despite the fact that Uncharted is a Sony property and Tomb Raider is a Warner Bros. film franchise (the game is available on Sony consoles as well as other systems). Holland told Fandango:

“The natural one [for a team-up with Nathan Drake] to say would be Lara Croft. There is a synergy between the two characters and in the sort of adventures that they go on. I don’t know who owns Lara Croft. I don’t know what studio makes that film, so I’m not sure how that work. But Sony and Tom Rothman, being the incredible studio head that he is, has made a deal with Disney with Spider-Man that has never been done before, so I’m sure he has all of the skills in his back pocket to make a deal if they wanted to do an ‘Uncharted’/Lara Croft team-up. Which actually could be really fun. That would be a really cool idea for a film.”

In case it ever does happen, you’ll want to have familiarity with this movie in your back pocket. And maybe even earlier two adaptations starring Angelina Jolie, 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and 2003’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Because who knows how long it’d take and what incarnation of Lara Croft will be around at that time?

Tomb Raider is available to rent or buy from any VOD service.


Uncharted Live Action Fan Film (2018)

It took a long time for Sony to make an Uncharted movie. Throughout its development, actor Nathan Fillion was vocal about wanting to star in an adaptation of the video game. He never got the chance officially, but in 2018 he released a short fan film in which he got his wish to portray Nathan Drake. It could have served as an audition tape for Fillion and/or a proof of concept for the real deal. Alas, that wasn’t the case (they couldn’t have even given Fillion another role?), but fans, critics, and even executives at Naughty Dog, the company that produces the Uncharted video games, showed their support for the film on its own.

Watch Uncharted Live Action Fan Film on YouTube.

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Christopher Campbell: Christopher Campbell began writing film criticism and covering film festivals for a zine called Read, back when a zine could actually get you Sundance press credentials. He's now a Senior Editor at FSR and the founding editor of our sister site Nonfics. He also regularly contributes to Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and is the President of the Critics Choice Association's Documentary Branch.