New Ultramarines Movie Trailer is out... and looks awful

[Feil]

http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/news/20 ... r-released

Facial animation is pretty solidly in 'video game cutscene' territory. A pity.

[Srelex]

This has been posted about three times now, you know?

[Feil]

No, it hasn't. That's why I marked it at 'new'.

[Srelex]

Ah, you're right. Sorry.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I really want to like this movie, but even I have to admit a lot of that animation looked very... 1999. I really, really hope that it's very, very, WIP -- though I wonder why they would release a trailer of animation in such a state. The original teaser looked smoother, so that gives me hope, but Mark of Chaos's intro (which is several years old now) blows away this new trailer.

[Srelex]

Well, it isn't a very high budget thing, is it? So, I guess Chaos is the opponent in this one. Predictable, I guess, but maybe something related to the Tyranid attack on Macragge would have been more interesting. I mean, who knows, perhaps at least they'll get charaterization right. Although we are talking about Space Marines here, so even that's questionable.

[Aaron]

Abnett's doing the script isn't he? He does SM's pretty well.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I don't think "characterization" will be a problem. Dan Abnett did write the thing, you know; the worries are pretty clearly not with the writing at this stage but with the animation and CGI.

edit: To Srelex, not you Aaron

[Srelex]

Ah, yes, forgot about Abnett. Still, we really didn't see much in there, like last time, so there may be a chance of textures being improved. Or perhaps they trying to emulate a plastic tabletop feel.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

I love Ray Harryhausen movies. I can deal with weak CGI. Hopefully, most other 40k fans can, too.

The story is what will make or break this movie, but the lackluster CGI might keep it from being a success outside of the fandom. Presumably, the movie will still turn a profit even without mainstream interest. I'm certainly planning to buy a copy. (On a serious note, I will jump in and give it a '5' before I've even seen it. :V )

[Aaron]

I'm not actually concerned about the quality of the CGI, as long as the story is decent. I'm sure I watched hundreds of hours of absolute crap animation as a child.

[IvanTih]

With that budget they can't make a movie of Dawn of War 2 intro quallity or WoW Cinematics.
Now that would be awesome,most important thing is the story and I hope that Dan Abnett will make it god(which he does many times).

[Lupercal]

ahahahaha that smoke

I´m still gonna watch it.

[Commander 598]

So, I guess Chaos is the opponent in this one. Predictable, I guess, but maybe something related to the Tyranid attack on Macragge would have been more interesting.

Please, do go on about how Generic Space Bug #<InsertNumber> is definitely more interesting.

[Axiomatic]

Okay, the animation doesn't look very good at all, but every aspect of the sound, from the voiceacting to the sound effects and the music...damn, that's cool.

[Lagmonster]

Perhaps many of you kids didn't grow up watching animation that came out of the 60's and 70's, but you may wish to realize that 'bleeding edge' does not mean 'good'.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Perhaps many of you kids didn't grow up watching animation that came out of the 60's and 70's, but you may wish to realize that 'bleeding edge' does not mean 'good'.

Thank you Lagmonster, I look at that trailer, and then think back to movies I saw in the 80's and 90's and think "Damn kids are spoiled these days!"
Ok, so the CGI looks like a mid 2000 videogame, but again, thats not bad.

Now then.. If the CGI is like that AND the script and acting sucks... Well then you have a problem

[Juubi Karakuchi]

Now then.. If the CGI is like that AND the script and acting sucks... Well then you have a problem

Considering the author and the cast, I doubt we have anything to worry about in that respect.

As I'm sure has been said before, this movie is GW testing the waters to see if this medium will work for them. The low budget is to ensure low risk. If GW makes any kind of profit from this, then I would expect better and more ambitious works in the future.

[Cykeisme]

As I'm sure has been said before, this movie is GW testing the waters to see if this medium will work for them. The low budget is to ensure low risk. If GW makes any kind of profit from this, then I would expect better and more ambitious works in the future.

I think Juubi is right, I've heard that elsewhere before this.

I think it sounds like a horrible approach.
While I understand that GW is a company that needs to turn a profit, there is a very real risk that a movie with unpalatable visuals could do poorly even if there was a massive untapped market for Warhammer 40k movies.
Done right, the success of the movie (and possible sequels) might, in turn, boost the exposure and sales of their myriad other 40k products.
Done wrong, there's a chance that a poorly made movie may even cause far-reaching damage to the franchise.

I'm pretty sure I'm doing nothing but stating the obvious here, though.

[VT-16]

If I can watch TCW each week, I can watch a WH40K movie with slightly better visuals. Here's hoping it's a success so they greenlight more and improve the animation.

[[R_H]]

I didn't think it looked that bad, it just wasn't much of a trailer beyond "grimdark there is only war".

[Stravo]

Again, like the teaser, I am more than underwhelmed. I showed this to my gf and mind you she has been painting 40k models with me over the last few months and her reaction was a big meh meanwhile the space marine game trailer had us both wowing throughout. How they could not match the energy and style of a video game trailer is beyond me. And this criticism is coming from someone who has become pretty fascinated by this whole game AND is a self confessed Ultramarine fanboy.

[Ghost Rider]

Perhaps many of you kids didn't grow up watching animation that came out of the 60's and 70's, but you may wish to realize that 'bleeding edge' does not mean 'good'.

While I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, the preview...evokes nothing. The facial animation is too limited to tell anymore but the preview doesn't give much except Space Marine, and nothing. No idea of what is the conflict(I know someone said Chaos, but you'd not get that from the preview), where the struggle is, or what is so dire of the situation.

I compare it again to the Space Marine game preview or fuck...Dawn of War 2 preview, and both have more action and feeling then this. They put you in media res, and you feel it. This just gives a few moving pictures and some basic notes on the 40K universe.

[Lord Relvenous]

As soon as I learned that Codex Pictures would be doing the animation, I knew to expect this. Looking over their previous work, they are an animation company that does not specialize in more realistic renderings, seems like. The Space Marines looked pretty clunky. (Of course this is coming from snippets of video)

I will of course see the movie. However, I am disappointed in the art direction. The Space Marines don't feel "real" enough to me looking at them. To echo other members, the Space Marine game trailer was much, much more interesting. I trust in the acting and script, though, so I'm sure I will enjoy the movie. They just aren't doing a good job presenting it so far.

[Ugolino]

Calling it a video game cutscene is an insult to video game cutscenes everywhere.

You could get better results by making a movie with fraps and Fallout 3. There are certainly enough 40k mods to do so.