While Super Mario and Pokémon have gotten movie adaptations, The Legend of Zelda series has yet to hit the big screen, despite being one of Nintendo’s most-celebrated franchises. But even with rumors circulating that Link and Zelda may soon show up in a theater near you (though it doesn’t sound like it’s in active development), fans have been imagining what a Zelda movie might look like for decades. That includes video editor Dom Nero, who spliced together some clips from ‘80s dark fantasy movies to capture the vibe of what a Zelda movie might have looked like around the time the original game launched in 1986.
The trailer includes scenes from movies of the era like Legend, The Princess Bride, and The NeverEnding Story to capture the vibe of a live-action Zelda film as it would likely have appeared were it made in the ‘80s, but there’s still some of the game’s iconography like the Triforce in the footage, as well as music and sound effects like Link’s signature “hyah” in the mix.
Check out the full video below:
While a Zelda movie still seems like a pipe dream, fans have been making movie mock-ups for years now. One of IGN’s most notable April Fools Day pranks was with a high-quality Zelda movie trailer in 2008 that, if it had been posted any other day, would have fooled me. Until that day comes, we’ll just have to be content with stellar games like Tears of the Kingdom. I’ve pretty much put the game away for the time being, but man, I’m still thinking about that ending.
In other Legend of Zelda news, Nintendo is trying to patent some weirdly broad aspects of Tears of the Kingdom’s development, such as how it coded physics into Link riding vehicles and loading screen maps.