Though the Uncharted movie told an entirely new Nathan Drake story, there were still plenty of Easter eggs and sequences familiar to fans of the original PlayStation games. Five games exist in Naughty Dog’s Uncharted franchise, including four sequential games focused on Nathan Drake and one additional spin-off game, which primarily focused on one of Drake’s partners in crime, Chloe Frazer. The Uncharted games provide plenty of thrilling action-packed sequences, and the Uncharted movie was certainly inspired by some of them, despite focusing on Nathan Drake’s life before the events of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
The Uncharted movie stars Tom Holland as the infamous Nathan Drake, and Mark Wahlberg as his reluctant friend and treasure-hunting partner Victor Sullivan (aka Sully). The Uncharted movie sees Sully recruit a young Nathan to help him recover explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s fortune, which was lost by The House of Moncada over 500 years ago. This is Nathan’s first real treasure-hunting mission, and his inexperience is evident throughout the movie, making this chapter in the Uncharted movie franchise feel more like an origin story than anything else. Nathan’s first meeting with Chloe (Sophia Ali), for instance, isn’t shown in the games, but their dynamic is nonetheless similar in the movie adaptation. The disappearance of Nathan’s brother Sam is also heavily hinted at in this film, which is a part of Nate’s story that isn’t explored in the games until Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
Though the Uncharted movie takes cues from the videogames and maintains the same atmosphere and sense of danger and fun, it did well to choose an entirely new story to open its franchise with. This way, the movie is separate from the Uncharted games’ storytelling, allowing for changes that will keep audiences intrigued to find out how this younger version of Nathan Drake becomes the man they know and love from the Uncharted games. To ensure that audiences would still recognize its adaptation of Uncharted, the film clearly took inspiration from some famous sequences from the games, one of which was even ripped straight from Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Here’s every sequence from the Uncharted movie recognizable from the Naughty Dog games.
The Cargo Plane
The Uncharted movie opens with a shot of Nathan Drake dangling upside down in midair, held aloft only because his foot is stuck in the netting of a cargo container. This sequence is ripped straight from Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, which also sees Nathan climb his way back up to a plane via various cargo containers, evading and fighting the villain’s henchmen as he goes. This is such an iconic sequence from the games, it’s no wonder the movie wanted to use it as one of its grand set-pieces. It establishes reverence for its source material, undoubtedly attracting fans of the games to see what the movie has in store. Despite the stories of Uncharted and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception being entirely different, the sequence works well in both narratives, showcasing Nathan’s impressive physical prowess and quick thinking.
The Drake Brothers Go On A Mission
The Uncharted movie delves into Nate’s older brother Sam Drake much sooner than in the games. In fact, after the opening tease of the cargo plane sequence, the movie shows a much younger Nathan (Tiernan Jones) and a teenage Sam (Rudy Pankow) sneak out of the orphanage and break into a museum to steal a world map made after Magellan’s failed expedition. Unfortunately for them, they get caught, and Nathan and Sam are forcibly separated. In Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, a similar sequence is shown as a series of flashbacks throughout the game, in which Sam tells his younger brother that he’s managed to find his mother’s possessions, and they break into the house in which those possessions are currently being held. Both sequences end in the same way: Sam has to leave, leaving Nate all alone.
Infiltrating An Auction
Nathan and Sully’s first mission together in the Uncharted movie has them infiltrating an exclusive antiquities auction to steal a golden cross with a link to Magellan’s crew. Though the heist doesn’t exactly go to plan, Nate and Sully do manage to get away with the cross, and the hunt for Magellan’s treasure can begin in earnest. A similar heist takes place in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, though in the game, Nathan, Sully, and Nate’s long-lost brother Sam infiltrate a black-market auction instead to steal a clue that might lead them to pirate captain Henry Avery’s long-lost treasure, and Nate is ambushed by mercenary Nadine Ross. The movie’s version of this scene is a little more humorous than in the game, as Nate manages to bring down an entire light installation and Sully manages to get away with the coveted cross by dressing up as an employee of the auction house.
Ships In A Cave
During the ending of the Uncharted movie, Nathan and Sully discover Magellan’s two lost ships full of treasure in an abandoned cave in the Philippines. This discovery is very similar to the final discovery in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, in which Nathan and his long-lost brother Sam find Henry Avery’s lost treasure and ship, also stashed in an ancient cave in the mythical pirate utopia Libertalia. Though the ships belonged to two different voyagers and contained very different backstories, the visual similarities between these two sequences are undeniable. The two discoveries do end very differently, however. In the Uncharted movie, Magellan’s two ships are air-lifted out of the caves by villain Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) and subsequently destroyed and sunk, while in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, the ship eventually burns to ash after an epic sword-fight with Uncharted 4’s villain, Rafe Adler.
The Post-Credits Scenes
The Uncharted movie boasts two post-credits scenes. While neither of these sequences is lifted straight from the games, they do hint at certain familiar Uncharted story beats. The first post-credits scene has Nate and Sully bargaining for an “old Nazi map.” Though this could technically be referring to anything, it seems a likely setup for the story of the first Uncharted game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Drake’s Fortune sees Nate and Sully looking for the mythical golden city of El Dorado, and their search is fast-tracked after finding numerous clues on a Nazi U-boat, including a map.
The second post-credits scene from Uncharted hints at Sam’s incarceration. A figure shrouded in darkness, but who is presumably Sam, is scribbling a note on a postcard addressed to Nate. In Uncharted 4, Sam and Nate are reunited only after Sam breaks out of prison, where he was left to fend for himself after Nate believed he had died in a previous escape attempt.
Though the Uncharted movie had to overcome some tough reviews, it still hit a total of $400 million at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo). Reportedly, Sony was impressed with the film’s reception and has designated it as the start of a continuing movie franchise, though Uncharted 2 has yet to be officially announced. In any case, the Uncharted movies would have plenty of narrative threads still to explore, including Nathan and Sam’s reunion, Nathan’s growing friendship with Sully, and the introduction of Uncharted character Elena Fisher, who played an integral role in the videogames and eventually becomes Nathan’s wife. There are plenty of iconic action sequences left to inspire the movie sequels’ visual spectacle, such as Nathan having to climb his way back up a train that is dangling over a cliff’s edge, from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. If Sony decides to give the Uncharted movie franchise the green light, there is surely plenty of exciting storytelling yet to come.