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I just decided to watch it, despite all the bad press it's received, and I have to say it was worth watching!

The CGI isn't amazing but what did people expect from a film independently financed by a small film company?

I read a lot about the bad boice acting, but to me it sounded good for the most part, I could be wrong but maybe people think the reason they sounded bored, and I didn't, is because they are British (stiff upper lip and all that). I know I find many mid-level American films to have terrible voices, which dosn't fit the emotion you expect them to be displaying, but it all probably sounds fine to an American.

Another criticism I read was the crappy plot, it is the same as nearly every other bit of 40k fluff I've read, so yes it wasn't grounbreakingly original but it is on par with 80/90% of the other 40k stories I've read. And there are one or two cheesey bits, but again, they turn up in 40k books too.

You might not agree with their portrayal of Space Marines and Chaos but I think it is obvious they did their uptmost to stay true to the "lore". Which is alot more than many movie companies would have done.

I'd give it 3/5.

N.B. I know it is likely no one cares what I think but this is the only outlet I have to discuss Warhammer stuff at the moment lol.

ReturningPlayer wrote:The CGI isn't amazing but what did people expect from a film independently financed by a small film company?

To be fair, "independent financing" doesn't have to result in a small budget.
And a small budget doesn't have to result in a bland-looking movie.

Imho, if they canned the CGI and went with real actors, they might have gotten something much more lively. But this would probably have required to ditch the Space Marine stuff and go with a movie focused on normal people, yet GW arguably prefers to rely on its SM cashcow.

Me, I take COMMISSAR Holt over some CGI Astartes any day.

You did a great review of the movie. And a realistic grade, I give it 7/10.

Voice acting was ba because they were professional all the time, witch is kind of boring. You would expect war cries, Marines sounding more like Astartes and less like Guardsman, best voice line in the entire movie was Carnak and his: BURN HERETIC!!!. The rest was: "We are Ultramarines and we look cool." Chaos Marines sounded like broken record, I couldn't understand word they were saying.

Plot was as good as can be for Hour and twenty minutes movie.

Good things were Soundtrack ( Epic soundtrack ) and the fact that was first real 40k movie in 20 years.
Bad things were CGI ( for a company that is earning like GW you would expect video effects like Dawn of War II intro or somthing liek that . Even peopel in their free time and with cracked programs can do better CGI then that ) and big fluff rape ( petroleum being a gel like fuel, bolter shells not exploding, Chaos Marines superior tactic of charging right into Ultramarines line of fire, both Marines dying like Imperial Guardsman, Imperial Fists being butchered again, the fact that Chaplain and the rest of marines didn't suspect that their captain survived fall from a damn mountain adn may be Daemon Prince in disguise, Damon Prince being the size of a Terminator and not like several Marines one on top of the other etc... )


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Lynata wrote:
Me, I take COMMISSAR Holt over some CGI Astartes any day.

This.
GW should seriously think doing a Guard movie and drop in Astartes near the end to help the Guard win the day.
And to put in some xenos not always Chaos, it's getting kind of boring.

The best thing I can say about the Ultramarines movie is "It was ok." It wasn't great, but it wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen.

I think the biggest problem is that they padded it out. They had about 45-50 minutes of plot, and added several pointless scenes (mostly walking from place to place, don't they have a rhino?) to make it last longer.

What they should have added instead are scenes to give the viewer a frame of reference on the abilities of a space marine. As the movie stands, they just look like normal humans. You have nothing to compare them to. They could have just thrown in a training scene at the beginning, with the Ultras interacting with some PDF soldiers. Or had a fight with some cultists before the Chaos Marines showed up. And speaking of the Chaos Marines, why are those not Khorne Berzerkers? Those were certainly Khornate tactics they used, ie none.

It was OK...not great, not bad, just decently entertaining

It sucked because csm for some reason had 6+ save.

illuknisaa wrote:It sucked because csm for some reason had 6+ save.

Ultramarines just rolled a LOT of 6

Brother Coa wrote:

illuknisaa wrote:It sucked because csm for some reason had 6+ save.

Ultramarines just rolled a LOT of 6

Apparently, they prayed to Matt Ward beforehand.

I won't quote each person but it's obvious which bits I'm responding too I hope.

It is true independent financing and a small company dosn't=a low budget but it is probably more the exception than the rule when they secure a big budget. GW probably didn't want to risk any money, that is the only reason I can see why they wouldn't invest. And wouldn't a film with real people, etc be even more expensive?

I don't know, I allways imagine Space Marines would sound more proffesional than guardsmen, however I suppose when fighting chaos they maybe should sound more angry.

I don't think it is fair to say it should have been like the Dawn of War intro, that has a very cartoony look which I'm not sure is suitable for a film. If it so easy to make good CGI that is feature length then how come we don't see more people making films?

I think they made an effort not to "rape" the law, the bolter shells didn't explode but how big is the explosion meant to be? What is wrong with the IF being butchered? Demon princes can be any size they want I though.

The 2 Ultramarines and Chaos dying so easy is typical of any action movie or game you play, even when they involve "superhuman" type characters. While it dosn't stick to the lore it's basically expected.

I do agree though it is strange none of the Marines, especially the chaplain, suspected the captain of being a demon. They obviously tryed to show the Marines were suspicious of corruption though because they thought the IF might be heretics (while still on the planet, not when the captain/demon said it.)

There was definitly some obvious padding out in it but not as bad as some movies.

ReturningPlayer wrote:GW probably didn't want to risk any money, that is the only reason I can see why they wouldn't invest.

Aye, but that I just can't understand. They're an established company with 20+ years in the business and they have this huge franchise going on - and then they're too afraid to make a proper movie, instead resorting to assigning a couple pounds to produce a direct-to-dvd feature film? That's just meh. Other franchises have accomplished way more right off the bat. I can only think of "Priest", which I have watched about the same time the Ultramarine movie was released - and which I continue to believe has captured the "look and feel" of the 40k setting in a much better way. Why is it that a movie based on some Korean graphic novel can secure a 60 million budget whereas the 40k franchise has to make do with this?

Either GW did not trust itself enough, or they were too lazy to find more generous investors who would adhere to their standards, or they were too greedy and simply went for the "minimum investment, maximum profit" scheme. I'm not sure which is worse.

Now, this is just rumour, but if it's true that the DoW2 cinematics had a budget of 12 million pounds and the Ultramarine movie had a budget of 9 million pounds, that's just lol.

The best part of the movie was the sound.

I hope they make more. It was still a 40k movie, so I liked it. It would be nice if they made the Horus Heresy books into movies like that.

Overall I'd give the movie a 5.5/10

The story and simple and short, for the most part, the character were forgetable (except for the apocathery ) CGI were nice, somewhate captured the feel of 40k, but I'm sure we could do better. Fights scenes were ok, but nothing quite like I imagine they would be.

This movie is the first off many (I hope) of warhammer 40k into a new media that could potentionaly grab a lot of new fans.

Plus it does have one of the best lines ever.

"Remember, the Emprore protects"
"Yes, but having a loaded bolter never hurt either"