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I asked the producer at GD Baltimore about it's availability, and what he said made me cringe a little bit. Basically, the only places you will ever see this film for sale will be the film's website and ebay after people watch it once and sell it. It will not be available from Netflix, or for rent, or in Movie Stop. Basically, this movie made simply for people who are already dropping their paychecks on GW products. It will not expand the fan base. It will not be a cult classic, because nobody who doesn't already play Warhammer will see it. Terrible, terrible marketing.

eledamris wrote:I asked the producer at GD Baltimore about it's availability, and what he said made me cringe a little bit. Basically, the only places you will ever see this film for sale will be the film's website and ebay after people watch it once and sell it. It will not be available from Netflix, or for rent, or in Movie Stop. Basically, this movie made simply for people who are already dropping their paychecks on GW products. It will not expand the fan base. It will not be a cult classic, because nobody who doesn't already play Warhammer will see it. Terrible, terrible marketing.

And you expected anything different from GW?

Certainly not I.

Just makes my sense of decency hurt. I work in marketing, and this is ridiculous. And we wonder why Blizzard consistently puts out copycat products but makes billions of dollars off of them!

Here here... GW is their own worst enemy sometimes. Goes against everything I do in my professional life as well. Oh well, they make great minis, and have us to market for them I suppose.

You do realise GW is not responsible for the marketing of this film?

I can't decide which thread contains more whine, this one or the StormRaven thread...

They should've at least gotten some face time in a White Dwarf ad.

whatwhat wrote:You do realise GW is not responsible for the marketing of this film?

Neither was anyone else, from the sound of it.

AlexHolker wrote:

whatwhat wrote:You do realise GW is not responsible for the marketing of this film?

Neither was anyone else, from the sound of it.

Uh, Marketing costs money. Small company=no $ for marketing. even relatively small add campaigns cost a fair bit of $$.

They'll probably do some limited marketing before the general release in March next year, but thanks to youtube and the like marketing doesn't have to be the expensive affair it once was.

Didnt GW have an Ultramarine week on their website becuase of the movie? That sort of counts as advertising (and a way to shove more SM in our face!)

You can only buy it on the site? Well...I guess I'm not watching this one. Unless it becomes available online through questionably legal methods.

I'm glad to hear it had a good plot, voice acting, and all that jazz, but man, that animation would make it difficult for me to watch on anything but my monitor. I understand the circumstances, I just prefer special effects to be kickin'.

whatwhat wrote:You do realise GW is not responsible for the marketing of this film?

Exactly lol

Do people not read or something?

The movie will be available, via a general release of a "standard edition"(to places like Netflix, Amazon, your FLGS/Games Workshop storefront etc etc) come March of next year.

Or at least that's what Codex Pictures is saying at this juncture.

Calm yourself Kan. I don't want you to burn out another PSU. People like eledamris above are just reporting what they've heard. No harm in that.

MajorTom11 wrote:The core of the point is that there are 2 positive reviews on it from fans (and anyone who gets it will be a fan), saying the story and acting were good. That is the best situation we can hope for at this point, and it should at least be good news that there is a flicker of hope for those that pre-payed for it.

You just gave me an idea for my next big review.

Thanks Tom!!!

??? Lol

Thanks for that excellent review. I am hopeful about the movie and have had my copy pre-ordered for sometime. Even if it's not great, let's face it: we'll still have a certain affection for it, I'm sure.

AlexHolker wrote:

whatwhat wrote:You do realise GW is not responsible for the marketing of this film?

Neither was anyone else, from the sound of it.

LOL. +1 to this.

Manchu wrote:Even if it's not great, let's face it: we'll still have a certain affection for it, I'm sure.

No, I'm a hugely critical, cynical, and pessimistic person who is unlikely to ever be happy with anything in life, let alone a poorly animated movie about screaming bald men shooting screaming spikey men

That's too bad.

Based on this review and one other, I pre-ordered the deluxe set. I guess I'll know soon if I agree with you all.

Fafnir wrote:No, I'm a hugely critical, cynical, and pessimistic person who is unlikely to ever be happy with anything in life, let alone a poorly animated movie about screaming bald men shooting screaming spikey men

Leave the cynicism to me please Farnir.

And even I bought the movie when it went on Pre-Order...

Hi everybody,

Cheers for all the comments, glad the review was at least informative, I feel I should clear a few things up though.

First of all I am in no way affilliated with Codex pictures, although re reading my review maybe I came across as a little over defensive of them.

There was a good reason for this. I have posted this review on other 40K forums where reaction to the trailers wasn't all that positive, and the overall impression was that GW had somehow let down the 40K fans by producing a bad movie.

As I have said in my review and will say again, Games Workshop are IN NO WAY involved with the production of this movie. They are in NOW WAY involved with the marketing of this movie, and they have invested NO MONEY in it either.

That is the reason I spent a bit of time giving some background regarding Codex Pictures at the start of my review as the majority of people believe that this movie is a Games Workshop product and it really isn't.

This is a small film company who have been given permission to make this film by GW, and have had the final movie approved by Games Workshop but that is literally where their involvement starts and finishes.

If a bunch of 40K fans had grouped together and raised thousands of pounds to make a 40K Movie (like the guys who made Damnatus did) I don't think the reaction would be anything like it has been towards this movie.

And the reason that the movie is currently only on sale on the website? That's because this movie was from day one aimed solely at a 40K audience. It was made for the fans and the intention was to not cater to a wider audience as this would mean watering down the IP. Codex pictures didn't want to do this, they wanted to produce a film that was as faithful to the 40K universe as any product GW would produce, and I would say thay have achieved that.

And why is it only on sale via their website? That's because if they tendered out the producttion of the DVD to a third party and then sold it through retail they would see very little of the profits. However if they produce the DVD themselves and sell it through their own website they get to keep the proceeds. The sales of the DVD and subsequent merchandising are the only way this company will make back their investment which runs into thousands of pounds (if not more).

And the reason the DVD is expensive is because it is a limited edition 2 disk version which comes in a metal embossed box with a graphic novel included. This would have been expensive to produce and they obviously need their money back. And the limited edition has been released now so that fans who want to buy the movie early can do so now, but pay a premium.

The movie itself will get a Worlwide release in March next year, and will be available to buy through all the usual chennels and will get a limited cinema release. We are just getting it a little bit early because we are the core 40K fanbase, and I don't really mind paying £25 for the DVD having now seen it. I would still agree that for a DVD that runs for 75 minutes this is over priced, but then when you take into account that this is a self produced movie from a small company I don't think it's at all unreasonable to expect them to want to get their money back.

Codex Pictures do want to make more 40K movies, they are in fact already in talks with their team to start thinking about which direction they will take. However if they don't get their money back they won't be able to do this.

This is the first time GW have ever actually had the confidence in a movie enough to give it their approval, but if this doesn't work they may well be reluctant to do so in the future.

However if the film sells and Codex pictures get their money back they will be able to attract larger investors for the next movie and produce something of a quality that more people may appreciate.

Taking all of this into account maybe did influence my review slightly. I want this film to do well because I want to see more of them, but also because I think Codex had the right idea in aiming the film at core fans and I wouldn't want that to back fire on them.

And in terms of the beer, I wasn't drunk whilst watching the movie, just after. However it is the sort of movie you would want to watch with a few mates and a few beers in surround sound on a big telly!

And I have read lots of other reviews and they all agree. It's no Avatar, but it was never going to be (although it's better written! ). But it does stay true to the original source material and that's what's more important to me.

The graphics aren't the best, but they're by no means awful, and to be honest nothing grates too much apart from the walk cycles in places (going up stairs or walking through desert - there seems to be no mass and the legs look a bit floaty). Some of the dialogue is a bit cheesey but is generally better than most movies, but the voice cast do a great job and the characters are nicely realised.

I honestly believe this is the closest we will get to a 40K movie that will appeal to gamers. It isn't watered down for a more general audience (there is a fair bit of gore - tops of heads lopped off with chainswords etc) and captures the atmosphere very well.

It isn't the best movie I have seen this year, not by any means, but it is strangely my favourite. Maybe I am just a fanboy, but I think it was worth the wait. I don't deny it could have been better, but let's hope it sells and the next one is an improvement.

And just to reiterate - this is not a Games Workshop product, they have simply allowed Codex Pictures to make it and have approved its release.

StraightSilver wrote:If a bunch of 40K fans had grouped together and raised thousands of pounds to make a 40K Movie . . .

It rather sounds like this is pretty much the case with the Ultramarines movies. We will know on viewing, I'm sure.

Glad to hear the script and voice acting are decent. Too many SciFi movies blow their dough on effects and forget to bother with scripts and actors. This review looks like a "best case" scenario from my perspective. Graphics were never going to be top-notch on a limited budget (and I'm thinking the budget here was FAR lower than even, say, Skyline) glad it sounds like they got the rest right.

That said, I wonder why, from an IP perspective, GW was willing to "allow" Codex Pictures to make a 40k-themed movie, but not to allow the Damnatus folks to do theirs? I seem to recall there was something in the Damnatus situation about the "creators" of the movie having irrevocable rights to their production. I wonder what was different in the Codex Pictures case...

And that said, if Codex would allow PayPal to be used on their site, I'd probably buy a copy. Credit Card only? I'll have to wait...

Valete,

JohnS

I'd like to pre-order it but what with all the seasonal expenses I'm not sure I'll be able to afford it and food.... hang on a minute... we all know warhammer comes before healthy living

cygnnus wrote:Glad to hear the script and voice acting are decent. Too many SciFi movies blow their dough on effects and forget to bother with scripts and actors. This review looks like a "best case" scenario from my perspective. Graphics were never going to be top-notch on a limited budget (and I'm thinking the budget here was FAR lower than even, say, Skyline) glad it sounds like they got the rest right.

That said, I wonder why, from an IP perspective, GW was willing to "allow" Codex Pictures to make a 40k-themed movie, but not to allow the Damnatus folks to do theirs? I seem to recall there was something in the Damnatus situation about the "creators" of the movie having irrevocable rights to their production. I wonder what was different in the Codex Pictures case...

And that said, if Codex would allow PayPal to be used on their site, I'd probably buy a copy. Credit Card only? I'll have to wait...

Valete,

JohnS

I'm no legal expert, but I seem to remember that European copyright laws are very different from the US. Basically, if you allow someone to use your IP, like the Damnatus guys did, then you give up your ownership of the IP. Basically, you just threw everything away...

In fact, many "rumor sites" will watch European trade magazines, because by law, companies have to announce any future ventures months in advance. This allows everyone to fairly compete for any marketing merchandise, such as action figures and the like. This is how many Clone Wars rumors were started. Because, the EU laws made Lucas put his plans out months earily, so that everyone could bid on making stuff for it.

Now, GW may not be very NICE about how they are protecting their IP, but NO ONE can blame them for holding on to it so tightly. YOU would too.

CaptainLoken wrote:

cygnnus wrote:Glad to hear the script and voice acting are decent. Too many SciFi movies blow their dough on effects and forget to bother with scripts and actors. This review looks like a "best case" scenario from my perspective. Graphics were never going to be top-notch on a limited budget (and I'm thinking the budget here was FAR lower than even, say, Skyline) glad it sounds like they got the rest right.

That said, I wonder why, from an IP perspective, GW was willing to "allow" Codex Pictures to make a 40k-themed movie, but not to allow the Damnatus folks to do theirs? I seem to recall there was something in the Damnatus situation about the "creators" of the movie having irrevocable rights to their production. I wonder what was different in the Codex Pictures case...

And that said, if Codex would allow PayPal to be used on their site, I'd probably buy a copy. Credit Card only? I'll have to wait...

Valete,

JohnS

I'm no legal expert, but I seem to remember that European copyright laws are very different from the US. Basically, if you allow someone to use your IP, like the Damnatus guys did, then you give up your ownership of the IP. Basically, you just threw everything away...

In fact, many "rumor sites" will watch European trade magazines, because by law, companies have to announce any future ventures months in advance. This allows everyone to fairly compete for any marketing merchandise, such as action figures and the like. This is how many Clone Wars rumors were started. Because, the EU laws made Lucas put his plans out months earily, so that everyone could bid on making stuff for it.

Now, GW may not be very NICE about how they are protecting their IP, but NO ONE can blame them for holding on to it so tightly. YOU would too.

Damnatus was solely an issue with German law. Not EU law.

Basically GW couldn't give Damanatus the go ahead without giving up their IP in Germany.

Ftr. Not the case in the rest of Europe.

Thanks for the review and where did you get the info that DOW1 cutscenes costed 3 million euros?