Gaming at the Movies #6
‘Gaming at the movies’ is a weekly movie review feature which brings you the latest, the greatest and other combinations of gaming movies to stream or download every Wednesday. Now let the gaming movie sandman sprinkle his dust upon you and join me in the land of blissful but lucid frag movie slumber.
This week’s box office slaps out a healthy serving of eight gaming movies for your consumption. The extra tasty marinated meat that is the “Classic movie magic” will ensure you’re stuffed to the gills with frag movie flavour before you leave the table.
Name: karrigan – Welcome to FINNland
Editor: z0rgan
Runtime: 6:08
Released: 2009
Game: CS
Description:
A compilation of kills from former Full Gaming and future [flag:de] mousesports player karrigan.
Review:
Being as karrigan is all set to join mousesports’ 2011 roster now seems like an appropriate time to dig his up frag movie which came out at the end of 2009. This movie really didn’t bring the heat for me at all. It’s one of those movies there are good things about it but they are mired by the problems that the movie presents along with them. The kills were all in quite decently high level but there were a bunch that were good in terms of if you were to perform them in-game but not good in an aesthetic visual sense, which is the primary quality for frags in a frag movie in my opinion.
The editing also hampered the kills as it seemed to be all over the place and overly concerned with synching to the strong which ended up being to the detriment of a numbre of scenes. There are a few sequences which are basically nothing because to go with a fast paced build-up moment in the soundtrack they are very harshly cut together so the viewer just sees the kill itself with basically nothing leading up to it and then immediately afterwards it cuts to the next kill with nothing in between. I also really dislike it in movies where I’m showed the enemies dying from a third person POV before I see the action from a first person POV. This sucks all the anticipation and magic of the kills out. That element of the unknown is vital to the satisfaction of viewing them.
This is a movie which suffered from being too dark. At times I couldn’t make out enemies at all and at others I could just about see them but that alone provided irritation since my eyes were straining and I wasn’t just sitting back taking in the action. There are too many completion kills in this movie also which hold up the flow and make it a bit of a chore at times as I was waiting around for a new sequence.
A movie which quite easily could have and probably should have been better. Not that it would have been a world beater though as despite good kills some of them were good but not the kind which fit in a movie. Despite all of these problems this isn’t a movie I felt the need to turn off or was massively irritated by. So if you’re interested in karrigan and you’d like to see some good kills by him then this is a movie worth giving a watch.
Thorin Rating: 5.5/10
Name: DaHanG 2010
Editor: justin
Runtime: 4:58
Released: 2010
Game: QL
Description:
A compilation of kills from EG player DaHanG in 2010.
Review:
This is a movie which features quite a bit of synching and that’s the first thing that stands out as you watch it. In general the synching is done well and helps structure the movie around the song well. I did feel like there were one or two slow-mo sequences where they didn’t reallt warrant that much time and attention but were done for the sake of part of the song. That aside it was acceptable for moments like the plasma to rail combo on tourney7 which was right on the money with the synching.
There are lots of good frags in this movie and in different circumstances so you get a nice surprise and see some high level shots. The level of opponents is pretty high too which adds some nice juice to the atmosphere of the kills. Even it’s still not that common to get individual frag movies of good players and even more rare to get legitimately good ones. This movie succeeds and isn’t just for DaHanG fans.
Thorin Rating: 7.5/10
Name: HyvlarN – Let It Rock
Editor: rglaf
Runtime: 4:31
Released: 2009
Game: CS
Description:
A minimovie of former PlayZone.se and H2k player hyvlarn.
Review:
This is a fun movie and just like rglaf’s “Heartbeats” it really feels like a complete effort. The music isn’t at all to my tastes yet in this movie it fits so well you can’t imagine it without these tracks. When I often mention the vibe of a movie it can seem like a vague or abstract concept but this is a movie I could point to and say that beyond just the individual parts or elements of the movie when it is all blended together and shown to you there is a different sense than other movies which might have equally good kills or more appealing music but on their own or not worked together in this kind of fashion.
The frags are good to very good throughout with only one or two anti-eco sequences I can remember. There are also a bunch of memorable kills which seemed practically made for a frag movie. There’s good variety in terms of scenes and positions and opponents. This is a movie where both the frags and editing really shine through. The transitions between individual kills are very well done and I’m impressed by how the flow of the movie was never broken once it got up to speed in each section. rglaf’s understanding of when to speed up from one kill to another and when to cut altogether, or even show a third person POV, is impeccable here and really elevates the viewing experience.
Part music video, part frag movie and part editing masterclass this one has it all. It maybe won’t get a million rewatches and go down as a classic but it fulfils its purpose as a satisfying minimovie which shows off both hyvlarn’s skills and rglaf’s editing. Despite the running time I actually felt like its length was good and I was left perfectly contented, not feeling robbed of more or bored by too much.
Thorin Rating: 7.5/10
Name: CyberFight sense
Editor: HMage
Runtime: 7:02
Released: 2002
Game: Q3
Description:
A compilation of kills from primarily top Russian players from many years back. Most of the footage is of Polosatiy since he “directed” the movie’s creation.
Review:
This is a movie for those nostalgic for Quake 3’s past. Some of the kills are 9-10 years old so understandably they won’t blow your mind now but even so the players featured were high level at the time and there are good opposition players in most of the scenes too. Good frags from those kind of players tend to still retain entertainment value. It’s not that these frags are no longer good it’s that a lot of the top level players now make them quite often so they have less wow or surprise factor now in comparison to when a movie like this came out.
The image quality isn’t very good and the editing doesn’t add anything except for one or two scenes where it means you can’t fully make out the kills. The Rob Zombie track is very played out, especially in gaming movies, but the second one is really nice and especially for nostalgic viewing which is likely to be the case for many people reading this review. Some good kills from some of the top players of yesteryear, if that sounds appealing then fire it up.
Thorin Rating: 5.5/10
Name: dikfilmen – deltaiotakappa the movie
Editor: [flag:se] BFG
Runtime: 7:45
Released: 2010
Game: CS
Description:
A movie of kills from the r60 team deltaiotakappa.
Review:
This is a movie I came into with no expectations of any sort and came out of very pleasantly surprised, even delighted. The frags in this movie are the amongst the best in terms of level of consistency that I’ve ever seen from a CS movie of players I’ve never heard of before. There are tons of very good frag sequences in this movie and by the movie has ended I’m sure you’ll be impressed.
The soundtrack is nice enough, the first track is wicked and the others I didn’t mind. The editing is minimal so it stays out of the way and lets the action speak for itself, which it certainly does. This is the kind of movie I love to put in “Gaming at the movies” because it flew under the radar but I feel as a lot of people are going to like this and be surprised by how good it is.
I was in two minds about perhaps scoring it higher but it didn’t really have a magical or cinematic or epic feeling to it that I often think is a key characteristic of the truly great movies. That’s not a problem though, this is a really good movie of players you’ve never heard of but frags you’ll be glad to have seen.
Thorin Rating: 8/10
Name: finnhits vol. 1
Editor: Dimmo
Runtime: 17:24
Released: 2009
Game: Q2
Description:
A compilation of kills from top Finnish Quake 2 players such as Damiah, provi and Dimmo.
Review:
Of all the Quake titles Quake 2 seems to be the one which hasn’t received it’s proper share of good frag movies. This is a movie which helps correct record. This is a monster of a movie in terms of length and features practically every top Finnish Quake 2 player you could name. The vibe of the movie is pretty chilled out for nearly all of it and that’s a good thing really since you’re strapped in for the long haul so you don’t want to be burn out part way through. The image quality is very nice and the overall feel of the movie is very smooth from a production standpoint.
There are lots and lots of frags in this movie so not all of them are super high level but the overall level is pretty good and keeps the viewer entertained. There are tons of air rockets and grenades and rail shots. Being as Damiah, one of the all time greatest players, is the second most featured player you know there are some great kills in this movie and by the end of 17 minutes you feel almost as though this movie had a Damiah frag movie hiding inside of it since he is featured so much. Sequences like the three identical flick rails he hits on q2dm1 can’t help but make me smile.
Not without some flaws and not a quick “Wham! Bam! Thank you ma’am” type of movie but more a relentless and very healthy serving of good and great quake 2 kills. A keeper for Q2 fans without a doubt.
Thorin Rating: 7.5/10
Name: n0swal the movie
Editor: [flag:ca] muffz
Runtime: 4:26
Released: 2010
Game: CS
Description:
A minimovie of AREA51 player n0swal.
Review:
If you’re wondering where you’ve seen or heard n0swal’s name it’s possible you saw him in action for AREA51 at Arbalet Cup Dallas or WCG. Apparently a decent amount of the demos intended for this movie were lost on the player’s hard drive. To be fair that seems quite plausible when you watch the movie. There are a lot of sequences which are fairly average. It’s not that they’re terrible or that they make you want to turn the movie off. Rather they’re just ok, plain and/or uninspired.
There are a couple of good sequences but aside from those the majority lack wow factor and the ability to generate excitement. It’s another of some frags being good on paper but not in a movie. A good example if the glock round on nuke which ends up taking way too much time for what is not that exciting a scene. There are also too many anti-eco sequences. The opposition in the movie is made up of known players, within the North American scene, but all in all this movie lacks in magic or flair or raw excitement.
The soundtrack is one of the best Pendulum tracks out of their modern material and as such also hasn’t been completely hammered to death in frag movies just yet. That’s a plus and I certainly didn’t mind watching the movie, it just didn’t move me or draw me in enough.
Thorin Rating: 5/10
Classic movie magic
Name: frags done extreme II
Editors: sLASh, Delirium and don surmo
Runtime: 6:23
Released: 2001
Game: QW
Description:
A compilation movie kills from some of the top QuakeWorld players of many years ago, including ParadokS, Dag, Harlsom and LakermaN.
Review:
This movie is incredible in all the ways a frag movie should be. Some movies age as the soundtrack becomes overplayed due to copycats or the songs being too gimmicky. Others have the sheen taken off the footage by the evolution of the game and the increase aim level of the top players. This movie has no problems in their of those areas. The soundtrack is great and each part still works really well for the action contained within that section of the movie. The frags are still very very good, with some still amongst the best of any frag movie out there. That crewl nailgun kill is amazing, ParadokS has a number of crazy multiple kill moments and that Harlsom lg-rl combo kill on dm4 still rocks my world.
This is a movie where it’s so good I could write 10 paragraphs about why I love it. Instead this really is a case where you should just watch the movie because I’ll happily give it my highest recommendation and say that it’s still one of the top 2-3 QW movies ever produced and certainly retains a spot amongst my favourite gaming movies ever. This one is a no brainer slam dunk sure-fire hit. Very much “The Godfather II” of gaming movies.
Thorin Rating: 9/10
What rating would you give each movie? Leave your answers in the comments section.
‘Gaming at the movies’ will return next Wednesday with another batch of movies to excite, infuriate and entertain you.