# Ultramarines Review



## emergeo (Jun 14, 2009)

First a big thank you to Heresy Online and the producers for providing tickets so I could see the Ultramarines movie yesterday on the big screen.

It was a nice afternoon out, the freezing cold aside, and I really enjoyed hearing from the producer before the film started. He gave a feel good spiel about the film being made for fans (yadda yadda yadda) pointed out the director and then they jumped right into the movie…

The first thing I noticed was the distinctly B grade look and feel, it has direct-to-dvd written all over it. While watching I tried to pinpoint what was missing, that would reduce the B-gradeyness of it all, better lighting … textures… animation…depth of field...nope, all of the above! Unfortunately, it just looked like a rushed PC game cut scene.

I’ll be the first to argue that story can save it all, that I can look past any graphics if there's a good plot, but sadly it didn’t catch me here either. There was maybe 20 minutes worth of real story padded out to feature length, mostly by the squad ‘walking’ from place to place it seemed. 

There was a noticeable lack of character development that left me apathetic to any of their victories or failures. I found I really didn’t care when a marine died and I wasn’t overwhelmed when they triumphed. Since there were only a handful of characters in the movie this was a pretty big failing that wasn't overcome by awesome action or effects. 

Very importantly for a Warhammer 40k movie, it completely failed to represent a Space Marine as anything more than some guy in a blue suit. A brief voice over at the beginning tells you these chaps are super-human and that’s it. In this marine only movie a human point of reference is missing, so they appear to be very fragile and ordinary. Their armour proves pretty much useless in the action scenes and they seem to be very light. 

With the quality of animation and depth of the story I’m sure this movie would still appeal to my young children (9 and 6). Sadly the animated violence was enough to rule out any chance of them seeing it for a while. I think if the pointlessly violent bits were cut the movie would have some potential with this age group.

On reflection I think if the movie was recut and expanded into a TV series of 20 minute episodes targeted at kids it could be successful. 

Appearance: 1/5 
Story: 2/5
Pacing/Directing: 2/5 
Overall: 2/5

Is summary, 2/5 stars…this is like 4 stars better than I'd give any of the Transformers movies, so if you liked that rubbish you may just enjoy Ultramarines!


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## Snozz (Nov 16, 2010)

If I'm honest I wasn't expecting it to be great, and though it's depressing that your review confirms this, I'm not all that surprised. It's sounds like it's basically another knocked out shooty film, only with power armour pasted on everyone. Though I really should see it for myself before I make judgements, after hearing this I don't think I'll be paying any money to see it at the cinema.


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

Pretty much what I was expecting too given what reviews i've read about it now from the sensible people out there.


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## Flayed 0ne (Aug 29, 2010)

there are several points to be made about this movie...first off, its the first attempt at a brand new medium...and it shows...-some- of the amimation is sub-par...everything aside form the characters looked great, the thunderhawk, the speeder, the scenery, the chain sword attacks, were actually done very well...the characters, thier faces, all looked the same...the Chaos Marines were totaly bland and lifeless...its very clear they were trying to spend as little as possible on this project...theres NEVER more than a few characters on the screen at any one time and this made it feel very "cheap"...

...the story...or lack of...is perhaps the weakest link in the entire endeavour as a good story can make the most cheesiest animation bearable...there IS no story...just a chance gathering of uninteresting characters...also, a good chunk of the movie was dedicated to the Warriors of Ultramar walking slowly through the landscape, an obvious ploy to stretch the film out...it must also be noted that the "movie" was only about 70 minutes long...NOT a full length feature...90 minutes is the "typical" length of feature films...it was painfully clear they couldnt even stretch it out that long... if i was expecting something great from this movie...i would have been VERY disapointed and possibly even somewhat angered by this noobish attempt at a 40k movie...

...i, however, did not have delusions of this movie being the next best thing in the 40k universe...BUT, there IS clearly potential here...i take this project as a "test"...you have to start somewhere and cutting your teeth in the CG animated world is no small task...i seriously doubt that any Warhammer movie will ever be "Advent Children" quality but with some changes and more money put into it, the next "movie" installment may be much more rewarding...

...despite the overall poor quality of the film...i -still- enjoyed it and am glad i spent the money on the collectors edition...if only to support future projects...which i hope they do...greatness is achieved one battle at a time...and in light of this defeat, a new strategy is in order...lets hope they take it alittle more seriously next time...a better story (sorry Dan) and more money will work wonders...id bet on it...

:smoke:


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## RIVALBLACKWELL (Dec 13, 2010)

Meh I thought it was a good start but their right if they put more money in it and some story then it will be great. And at least its a movie.


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## yapyap23 (Jul 18, 2010)

Wish I would have read this before buying the movie. That's 40USD that could have gone towards books. Oh well.


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## gashacker (Jan 2, 2011)

Hey you guys! It was the first Warhammer movie ever! What could be more exciting than that? This movie is great! We fired it up on a big screen with a room full of devoted gamers and we had a blast. The movie took the subject matter seriously and respectfully and those crappy chaos tainted scum were toasted!! Long live the emperor and long live warhammer movies. I hope this is the first in a long line of movies that get better and better but as for 40K number 1, I loved it! 5 STARS*****


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## gack (Jun 12, 2008)

Just saw it as well. I have to echo what the OP said. Character development was very bad, and I'm not sure why everyone showed so much resentment towards Proteus (or whatever his name is). The story was awful, and while it had some semblance of a space marine kinda atmosphere, I don't see how a squad and 1 captain are the only people inside a strike cruiser. Could have easily kept it down to a 20 minute short movie and I would have been more impressed. 

Instead, I will be keeping my eye on this project: 
http://destrega85.wordpress.com/?blogsub=confirming


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## Doelago (Nov 29, 2009)

gashacker said:


> Hey you guys! It was the first Warhammer movie ever! What could be more exciting than that? This movie is great! We fired it up on a big screen with a room full of devoted gamers and we had a blast. The movie took the subject matter seriously and respectfully and those crappy chaos tainted scum were toasted!! Long live the emperor and long live warhammer movies. I hope this is the first in a long line of movies that get better and better but as for 40K number 1, I loved it! 5 STARS*****


:goodpost: It seems like you had a lot of fun! Nice to hear that you enjoyed it as well... I still have not bought my copy...  But I am looking forward to doing it!


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## angelXD19 (Feb 11, 2010)

i watched it and was horribly disappointed.


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## KingOfCheese (Jan 4, 2010)

It was terrible.

The visuals were bad, but were still bareble.
But the complete lack of storyline, setting, and character development was epic fail.

If somebody watched this not knowing anything about the 40k universe, they wouldn't understand a thing.


Criticism aside, its good to see a step down a potentially exciting path for GW.
The creation of a movie with a decent storyline and character development would be excellent, although it would need to go for 3+ hours and have a MASSIVE budget.
Either that, or possibly a series of short films or TV series.

Just a pity they couldn't pull it off with this movie.


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## bdipauly (Dec 25, 2010)

For a movie based on a game about fighting, it was incredibly boring. The first 20 minutes were so slow.
The combat scenes were actually pretty cool.


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## Hooobit (Dec 5, 2010)

Character development didn't really exist, the fight scenes seemed more based on "what'll be cool", the weapons didn't seem right, Why is a captain leading a tactical squad?, why does a tactical squad have a whole cruiser to itself? etc.

This movie left me with that shitty feeling you get when you know you are watching a film, and not a great story. They could have done with a bit more research, given the characters face's and names that were different (had no bloody idea who anyone was and half the time the characters just became "the white guy" or "the captain" in my mind)

I came away from this film with a massive sense of "what a waste of fucking time" ,that said, I am looking forward to the next movie from Codex Picutres called "paint drying".


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## jaws900 (May 26, 2010)

not seen it but i did enjoy the first Transformer moive so hay i'll give it a go some time. Hell hering that there where some Imperial Fists in it made me want to see it more than the nothing which it started otu as.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

I still want to get it, thousands on dollars on GW crap over the last decade, whats another 40.


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## Wolfblade (Mar 18, 2008)

Truly terrible movie. Lacked plot, atmosphere, action and pretty much anything else which could have made this good.

At times, there was just pure silence as the camera slowly zoomed in on a character. How exactly is that meant to work with animation, especially STATIC animation.

The sound was terrible, total lack of any real ambiance in any of the scenes.

I planned to go on, but... it's not worth my time or yours. I didn't expect it to be great, but this was utter drivel.


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## unxpekted22 (Apr 7, 2009)

I largely agree with the original post and after doing so much work with creative writing I cant get myself to ignore the flaws either. However, as others have mentioned, I still enjoyed it I guess simply because its a 40k movie. There still is a very small amount of visuals out there where I can watch space marines and such actually moving around and fighting. Perhaps after the ultramarines game has come out I will get my fill and then feel I can neglect the bad ones.

considering the writer does books and this was the first film he officially wrote the script for I think that is a big reason for a lot of the flaws. fiction writing and film writing are very different. In a book where he could have written in the characters thoughts every time they werent saying something, where as on screen they are just standing around.

The chaos marines definitely went down way to f***ing easy. That was annoying to me.

Also, off topic but have to say it since someone brought it up. The first transformers movie was great, fantastic, re-watchable for sure. the second one is terrible because the writers quit, leaving michael bay to his silly antics and obsession with action without giving a shit about character development or plot. (the reason the writers for the first film decided they couldn't work under him anymore.)


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## Wusword77 (Aug 11, 2008)

Given it was a movie that seemed geared more towards fans then a mass audience I can't complain about the movie. Sure, it could have been better but without serious back from GW the money wasn't going to be there.

I would love to see more 40k movies, as I think they could make the jump to the big screen rather smoothly. All it would need is the right setting (maybe 3rd war of Armageddon) and some decent writing.


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## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

Being a hardcore WH40K fan I should probably be buying this to show my support and awe at an actual-freaking-40K-movie, buuuuutt..... I took a solemn oath to never buy anything with Ultrasmurfs on or in it. Sorry.

EDIT: The shot of the Smurf aiming down the sights of his FLAMER was enough. Ugh. No.


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## unxpekted22 (Apr 7, 2009)

MetalHandkerchief said:


> Being a hardcore WH40K fan I should probably be buying this to show my support and awe at an actual-freaking-40K-movie, buuuuutt..... I took a solemn oath to never buy anything with Ultrasmurfs on or in it. Sorry.
> 
> EDIT: The shot of the Smurf aiming down the sights of his FLAMER was enough. Ugh. No.



haha well maybe you'd be happy to see him blow the fuck up from his own weapon then.

Actually one thing I really didnt understand was what power the chaplain used, the big blue light thing from his staff. Can anyone explain that? Seemed more like a librarian power to me.


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## Darkoan (Oct 18, 2010)

Hey hey HEY people, whats with the turn to Negative-town?

I will be the first to admit the execution let them down (refer to comments above - lack of character development, lack of back story, poor ani, and I will add VERY sketchy direction and camera angles)
BUT
the idea of a SM film, the inclusion of Dan Abnett, the use of great voices, the extreme dedication to faithfulness to the WK40 universe, all made it a worthwhile project.

When I think about it, there are few projects I believe in more than this one - I will continue supporting SM films. And so should you all. I spent $30? on this movie, and I pay more for a round of drinks for a bunch of useless people at work. I know which avenue of patronage I would prefer to go down.


*IMHO* - What they should and could have done:
- An extra 5 minutes on WK40 backstory - Emperor, primarchs, the 40k situation etc. This was an entry level movie after all.
- Included the back story contained in the DVD set for another 10-15 minutes (for those who didnt see it, they were battling Tyranids on another planet and had to rush to Mithron to check out the distress beacon, which explains why there was only a squad of them).
- With the scale of WK40k i think traditional cartoon animation is the only way to go. Get the Asian manga geniuses in on it.
- They should have done a Blood Angels Space Hulk movie. Terminators firing off bolters on sustained overwatch. Nuff said.


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