Ultramarines - The movie

Nodin

Animated, not live action, but sure its better than a smack in the gob, as the man says......

Erik Morgensen-GW wrote:

"Over the years, we have been approached again and again by all sorts of producers and film companies wanting to take our intellectual property to the screen. We have always believed that, in the right hands, the stories, themes and characters from the Warhammer 40,000 universe would lend themselves perfectly to the movie genre. We're working closely with the talented team at Codex Pictures, who have an excellent understanding of the Warhammer 40,000 intellectual property and an inspired vision for the movie. We can't wait to see our universe come to life on-screen."

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/10/02/animated-warhammer-40000-ultramarines-movie-being-made/


http://www.ultramarinesthemovie.com/home

Gunmonkey

I'm a bit hesitant over this. I remember a CGI Bloodquest movie being made years ago but never saw the light of day. The real problem they face is how deep the go within the 40k universe.

Without delving for almost hours into the backsotry of the Horus Heresy, the Imperium and the dark Gothic setting it could just come off as a generic sci-fi action film, with far too many "Lollz it lookz like Halo" style response rather than the amazingly detailed system GW created over the years.

Nodin

True. However once they keep the words "gothic" and "grim" in mind they should avoid haloesque comparsions....Of course, it being 40k they may face the 'Triumph of the Will' comparsions....ye can't win really....

Dave_The_Sheep

http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/teaser

First tiny bit of teaser animation up there now.

I'm also torn on this - I don't know a lot about the Ultramarines legion or chapters, bar the Battle for the Abyss book and the Tyranid Hive Fleet attack.

The animation seems ok, but in that clip doesn't really give me a sense of the sheer hardass nature of the Space Marine and the grim darkness of the whole universe.

Still, it has John Hurt and Sean Pertwee in it and they usually make decent stuff.

Pugsley

Is it just me or does the space marine look bored in that teaser? Can almost hear him thinking "Come on, get on with it narrator before I tear off your legs and beat you to death with the wet ends"

[PEDANT]Also "They are steel, and they are doom", space marine's wouldn't use steel for anything really, "They are ceremite" would make much more sense [/PEDANT]

hairyheretic

True, but a non 40k player isn't going to recognise that. They need to use words with universal recognition.

Coriolanus

Ultramarines were a mistake imo. Far better to have chosen one of the more flavourful chapters. Pretty much any of Dark Angels, Blood Angels or Space Wolves would have differentiated the concept from standard sci-fi for it's first outing on the big screen.

Gunmonkey

Dont see how Ultramarines arent flavorful, you could get some great looking armour mixed with the classical asthetic they have. Plus the parts of the 40k universe that makes it different (the gothic architecture, the dirty thousand years old broken down feel to the machines, the fascist rule of the Imperium) would be present no matter the chapter.

Blood Angels would just be draged down as "Twilight in space" due to the ramping up of the vampire backstory.
Space Wolves would just be "Vikings in space", while it is kinda fun would lead to a bit of a crap sci-fi film as the spend half the time drinking in a wooden hall.
Dark Angels, you would have to not only explain the Horus Heresy, but also Luther and the Lion otherwise they have as much flavor as you claim the Ultramarines do. And the robe super-warriors would draw a lot of "Jedis in armour" comparisons.

Mantel

Looks like the Imperial Fists will put in an appearance as well. John Hurt will be playing one of them.

Pugsley

If the film is trying to appeal to a mass audience to try to get them interested in 40k I think it's pretty important to show them the standard template of raw badassery, and the best one would definately be the ultramarines.

For the ultramarines you can go in any direction in terms of meanies (Tyranids, orks, eldar, C'Tan etc), and they don't have any major traits that would require a major backstory to be described in the film, compared to a lot of the other chapters.

Ultramarines might not be the most interesting chapter for a 40k gamer, but for a wider audience they're definately the best introduction.

Nody

I'd go with Orks honestly, tons of character and one liners and no need to explain them (Nids would be seen as Alien wannabies, Eldars are Elves which are not suppose to be bad etc.).

Gunmonkey

Yeah, CGI version of Deff Skwadron

Coriolanus

Yeah, I suppose from a commercial pov it's the right choice.

I hold my hopes for the eventual Inquisition based live action, film noir/Blade Runner homage though.

I shouldn't complain. I'll lap it up even if it's crap.

hairyheretic

You could try hunting down Damnatus. I understand it got out into the wild a while back.

Mantel

It's around, is there a translated version though? Any parts of damnatus I've seen are in German.

hairyheretic

That I don't know. I kinda lost track of it when the whole blow up with GW happened.

crimsonfire

Anyone see the official trailer on youtube yet?

It looks simply awful. Let's hope Dan Abnetts storyline makes up for the late 90's CG. If he wasn't involved in this project at all I would have boycotted this entire fiasco by now.

It's a shameless money grab pure and simple. They know full well how many people are out there waiting for years for any hint of a 40k movie and they decided to contract some two bit production company and a director whose prestiguous credits include largely obscure advertising campaigns. Then when things were looking grim they decide to wave Dan Abnetts script in our faces in a vain attempt to muster some fanboy cred.

This isn't a movie, it's a glorified GW advert.

Coriolanus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOXz10znAKc

Jesus wept... It looks almost like a game cutscene. Serious uncanny valley. They'd have been better going for a more stylised look rather than a bad attempt at photo realistic cgi.

madrab

Yeah it doesnt inspire confidence

crimsonfire

The upside of this is that there's no doubt it will sell and that will inspire them to be a tad braver should they make another movie (which GW would be mad not to do considering how ravenous us fanboys can be for multimedia adaptations of 40k and WFB) which might lead them out of the dark cave of "Space Marines good, everything else weak/bad".

I for one would love to see the Eldar explored in a movie.

Pugsley

crimsonfire wrote: »

I for one would love to see the Eldar explored in a movie.

Heck even a decent book or 2 based around the Eldar would be enough! A very itneresting race they never got into the mind set of long enough to tell a compelling story about. Same goes for the Tau, a race centred around forming alliances could lead to a really interesting series of books or films.

As for Ultramarine, could be interesting enough, not too pushed on the animation but there isn't enough shown yet to give a decent indication of how it will pan out in a feature length film. It could end up being fantastic though, the story and characters will make or break it imo.

Mantel

Nevore wrote: »

Jesus wept... It looks almost like a game cutscene. Serious uncanny valley. They'd have been better going for a more stylised look rather than a bad attempt at photo realistic cgi.

Would have looked better if they hired relic to make the movie.

Nody

Nevore wrote: »

Jesus wept... It looks almost like a game cutscene. Serious uncanny valley. They'd have been better going for a more stylised look rather than a bad attempt at photo realistic cgi.

I thought someone had made it out of DoW1... (not that it will stop me from paying to see it because it is WH40k and well I'll take anything or close to it...)

Gunmonkey

Mantel wrote: »

Would have looked better if they hired relic to make the movie.

All Relics DoW CGI are done by Blur, who do an arseload of the best game CGI's out there.

So why werent they contacted instead of a team most likely setup by GW themselves? Probably as GW is viciously resistant to letting outside sources touch their precious IP, and any games have them hovering over the developers like a hawk inspecting every single texture and line of code.

unclebill98

Well I ordered mine and I'm looking forward too seeing it. Price is a bit steep but no cinema release so what can you do!

Anyone else?

hairyheretic

Not so far. I'll wait for a few reviews of it to come out before I decide whether or not to pick it up. I haven't been overly impressed with the animation quality so far.

Nody

unclebill98 wrote: »

Well I ordered mine and I'm looking forward too seeing it. Price is a bit steep but no cinema release so what can you do!

Anyone else?

I ordered it after seeing the second trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vF_VLZotWc

madrab

Still looks very bad with really clunky animation and quite hammy voice acting

Nody

madrab wrote: »

Still looks very bad with really clunky animation and quite hammy voice acting

Of course it is; but I'm used to pay out of my nose for anything from GW any way. At the end of the day it is a WH40k movie; bad or not it is a WH40k movie and that I support in the hope of higher budget versions in the future.

Dave_The_Sheep

2nd trailer a bit better, but I'm still not convinced. As someone mentioned, the animation doesn't look the best - I'd also say the environments the battles are occurring in also don't look the best. They seem to be very vague and lacking in any kind of detail - a dusty desert planet where the sand/dust conveniently happens to obscure anything outside a few metres away - so you need not bother putting in any detail. It struck me as almost a test for the animation - to see what it looks like without actually being a finished product. One can only hope.

The quality of the voice actors is decent though. regardless of the lines they have to read, and with Abnett writing the storyline should be good too. The voices just don't sound meaty enough for my imagination though. Wonder if that will change.

Coriolanus

Nody wrote: »

Of course it is; but I'm used to pay out of my nose for anything from GW any way. At the end of the day it is a WH40k movie; bad or not it is a WH40k movie and that I support in the hope of higher budget versions in the future.

I'm of the opposite frame of mind. I refuse to support over priced shoddy productions or products because in my mind it only encourages the company to do more of the same.
This will be one for the second ha.d or bargain bin purchase imo.

Nody

Dear X

RE: Order Y

Unfortunately, due to a production issue outside of our control, we are not able to start shipping your order for the ULTRAMARINES DVD Collector's Set today, November 29th as planned. We are working around the clock with our third party suppliers to resolve the issue as soon as possible and hope to be able to give you details of a new ship date tomorrow.

We at Codex Pictures know you will be very disappointed not to receive your DVD as soon as anticipated and are equally distressed ourselves that this has happened.

Please accept our sincere apologies and rest assured we are doing everything we can to resolve the issue and get your order to you quickly.


Codex Pictures

Oh well; we'll see when it arrives

Nody

Dear X

RE Order Y

We can now confirm that shipping of the Ultramarines DVD Collector’s Set will begin next week. Orders will be prioritised according to the date that they were received. All orders should be shipped by the end of that week. You will receive a confirmation email once your order has been dispatched.

Once again, please accept our sincere apologies for this delay. We do hope that you will soon be able to enjoy to your Ultramarines movie.

Codex Pictures

Yay!

hairyheretic

We shall be expecting a full review shortly then?

Nody

hairyheretic wrote: »

We shall be expecting a full review shortly then?

With in 24h of arriving at least

Dave_The_Sheep

Reviews online seem relatively positive, though they do mention that the CGI isn't the best due to the budget.

Nody

well my copy was shipped yesterday (no online tracking available) so I'd guess it will arrive next week.

Foxhole Norman

Just watched it there. Great story arc while the CGI is ok but i was expecting that from a low budget film. Being a huge warhammer fan anyway i was a bit biased but i loved it. 8/10

Venom

Watched it last night and I want that wasted time back. The animation is early 1990's animated TV show quality bad, the lip syncing and facial animations are not even close to current video game levels and the action sequences for want of a better phrase suck major balls.

The plot tho is what's unforgivable about this movie as it's slow to get going, dull,boring, predictable and not to mention ignores way to much 40k lore and universe cannon.

What's really sad is Relic's intro for its Dawn of War games are not only a million times better but show how awesome CGI Space Marine battles can been and to have such an opportunity wasted really gives the impression the majority of this films budget when on the voice over actors

2/10 - music is cool

grugni

Not allot to say other than very poor, being a massive fan of warhammer and warhammer 40k universes I watched it till the bitter end and was totally dissapointed. Hopefully this will not turn off future productions based in the game worlds.

Nody

Sorry but I'll have to disagree with the previous two posters here. Yes, it is not Relic intro style but there is a reason for that and it comes down to cost and computing power (have a look at any Disney computer animated series in the last couple of years, they are horrible to watch due to the blank areas etc. used to lower the cost). Considering the WH40k universe I found this style of animation to be very suitable as it portraits the dark and gritty future compared to what it could have been. There is a reason why you don't see Relic style animation movies in general, the cost is simply far to prohibitive to make it possible (Did not that big Hollywood blue alien movie clock in as the most expensive movie ever made?).

The story, well it is more an excuse to tell something about the universe, not really impressed by it but hey, it's 40k and the story is at the same level as many other direct to dvd movies.

Worth buying? Meh, why not.

Greyjoy

I found the animation ok but would definitely agree that the facial modelling & lip-syncing were weak. I also thought they could have put in a bit more of an effort with the character design of the individual marines. But what i found really disappointing was the plot itself particularly as I'm a fan of Abnett's 40k fiction. This felt like something Abnett could have knocked out on the back of a beermat down the pub.

Oddly for a film about space marines the tone was more like that of a horror film than action movie. That would be fine if the story was based around the Inquisition but for marines it gives the film a slow start and few action scenes. The cynical side of me would suggest this was a deliberate approach to hide the film's budget (plenty of smoke & shadows, no big battle scenes and only a small number of combatants onscreen at any time).

Dave_The_Sheep

Watched it there.

Pleasantly surprised, espcially given the criticism that the production has taken. I hesitate to call it a full film, because of the length of it - quite short. Then again, how much character development do you need to put into Space Marines to make it to a full length film? Most of them are going to die anyways...

The animation wasn't as bad as I expected. Sure, it's not a Relic intro, but it wasn't that bad at all. I'm not too worried about lip sync, the action and fluidity of the Marine's actions is more important, and they seemed to put more effort into that than the rest. You could see where they had to cut down costs but filling the background with fog/smoke, but still, it worked quite well.

It wasn't as epic as you'd like, but for the budget they had, it as pretty damn good. For anyone who is familiar with the MO of Chaos through various novels, or even just familiar with Abnett's work - the "twist" won't come as too much of a shock. One thing I did like though - too many films give away the bad guy with a few tells, be it ominious music, a suspicious glance of the protagonist, or something similar. Here, it wasn't telegraphed that much at all. Kudos to the screenwriters for that.

The combat was a bit lightweight (if you're used to the games), but worked pretty well, chainswords seemed meaty, bolters were pretty heavy feeling - overall the weaponry worked. Felt right.

It's nothing you weren't expecting given we all know of Chaos. If you were a newcomer, I'm sure there would be a multitude of questions, but still. Who was the film aimed at, newcomers to the W40K universe or those acquainted with it? Both, I think and it didn't suffer too much for trying to straddle the divide.

Overall - 7/10. Maybe 7.5/10 in a good light.

Coriolanus

What was the budget, does anyone know?

Dave_The_Sheep

I recall reading €9 million somewhere.

crimsonfire

Ok after much thought and deliberation I have formed my opinion. I found myself flipping back and forth between hating it and meh-ing it so I'm officially off the fence now.

Story=OK, could be better given it's Dan Abnett but hey they probably slapped a load of constraints on him to make it more accessible or whatever to potential fans. If he had a bit more free reign I would imagine the plot would have a lot more depth. The great thing about Dans stories are the characters and how their fates ultimately interwine. He couldn't really work his slow-burning-big-payoff style in a 90 minute ultra lo-fi CG flick. I suspect he was given a Draconian brief which he just had to flesh out just so they could put his fanboy-baiting name on it.

Character Animation=Abhorrent. I know it was low budget but...really? The characters moved like they were Dawn of War 1 models on a mid range PC, just zoomed right up close. They couldn't have squeezed just an itty bitty bit more detail or fluidity out of their rendering software?

Hell even half realistic physics wouldn't tax the kind of high end equipment I assume they'd be using. Did you see the scene where they're jumping over the bridge? Awful. If my humble Radeon 5750 can simulate things falling from other things or things flying through the air in a decent fashion in Fallout New Vegas then they had no excuse. There didn't seem to be any force of gravity acting on objects and people. They just flew around Crouching Tiger style.

Mechanical Animation=Pretty Good. The ships, the landspeeder, the buildings, anything geometric or artificial looked good. But then the nature of CGI at any budget lends itself well to this kind of object. This doesn't apply to the SM power armour. It had to move and articulate a buttload more. Matching the natural movements of a person without motion capture is tricky though. It looked a tad stilted to me but I won't hold that against them too much.

Also a final little niggle I had. I found there was a lot of dead air in the movie like the score and the dialogue didn't quite flow. It was like they were having a load of awkward silences which kind of jarred me as a viewer. I think they were relying on the facial expressions to fill in the gaps but eh...you know my feelings there. If the visuals are a bit on the sh!te side then the sound has to pick up the slack dramatically. The sound director/manager/music man/whatever should be slapped.

Congratulations and thank you if you read all the way through my sad fanboy tirade.

unclebill98

My 2 cents.

Crap....

I paid for the best delivery price, 64euro later and weeks late......

Hardly enough in the movie to actually call it a movie. The dodgy CGI has been well covered by other posters as have the holes in the story.

But the basic story in any any other film would have been done in 20mins.

Charaters meet, go to planet, kick ass, get kicked up the ass, rescue 2 marines, twist, final battle, end.... Talk about dragging 80 mins from such a poor story and calling it a movie is a disgrace tbh.

The first "what the hell" moment for me is when they land on the planet. Even guys playing paintball would not take up a formation like that when landing in a hostile area.

I guess they made it and are sending it to all the Hollywood heads in the hope they pick up on it. After all, with all the back ground stories with all the armies there is enough stuff there to make a 100 movies. Sure look what at Lord of the rings.... only a few books there!

Over priced for what you get. Glad they tried but they need to try harder.

crimsonfire

Agreed but I'd say they kept the story simple to attract potential fans. I will agree though it was fairly lacklustre.

the_syco

Got my hands on this. A fun film. Liked the plot, and the twist at the end was nice. Not the best if you read too much into the film, though.

crimsonfire wrote: »

Hell even half realistic physics wouldn't tax the kind of high end equipment I assume they'd be using. Did you see the scene where they're jumping over the bridge? Awful. If my humble Radeon 5750 can simulate things falling from other things or things flying through the air in a decent fashion in Fallout New Vegas then they had no excuse. There didn't seem to be any force of gravity acting on objects and people. They just flew around Crouching Tiger style.

I'd like to know what, if any game engine was used for that. Also, the bridge was, like a lot of the landscape, drawn, not made. To me, it was sort of like walking over a painting on the ground, as opposed to walking over a bridge. I agree that the graphics weren't the best, but I wonder was a game engine used? If there was one used, tweaked a bit, it would've been better, IMO, as the characters didn't move a whole lot aside from walking, for a good part of the movie.

Hope they do another movie like it, but with a better engine.

CruelCoin

Personally i didn't like it.

Too much build-up.

That and aren't space marines meant to be mega-men who show no fear and kick ass, etc etc? In the film they came across as scared novices. If you follow the lore, they're meant to be battle hardened through service in the scout company before they earn their armour. Why then is it first blood this and first blood that?

I'd have loved to see the film show some large-scale fights, rather than this scouty scouty stuff. Like say a film based on the wars of armageddon etc....

Graphically i though it looked quite well, and the guns had a nice strong "thump" to them.

Khorne_Dogg

Well despite all the negative comments Iam still looking forward to seeing it. I have no intention of paying 64 euro for it as i simply don't have that sort of money to spare. So I will either wait till it gets released in a normal edition or "Borrow" a copy from somewhere.