Gaming at the Movies #7
‘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. Welcome to a winter wonderland of satisfyingly powdery frags and crisp cool editing.
This week’s box office sets down seven movies for your delectation. There’s a new release in “Max ruuit Aspe” and some overlooked movies in “AUT of Control” and “bruno”. As always things come to a close with some magic from gaming movies’ past.
Name: AUT of Control
Editor: noctis
Runtime: 11:11
Released: 2009
Game: Q3
Description:
A compilation of kills from team [flag:at] Austria ([flag:at] noctis, [flag:at] UwU, [flag:at] jue and [flag:at] Infamous) for the qqc nations cup 2009.
Review:
This is a movie which likely passed a lot of people by but deserves attention. It’s not a blockbuster epic but it’s a really solid movie with plenty of good frags and action against skilled opponents. The frags aren’t out of this world, which is to be expected since it has different restraints from an individual movie over a person’s entire career, but there are quite a few memorable scenes. Plus being TDM there’s a lot of multi-kill scenes rather than single kills, which is a big plus.
It’s understandable that since noctis didn’t finish it the movie perhaps was going to be polished or improved in some areas but that said I think this is a movie to be proud of. It doesn’t really pack the kind of spark you’d need to get an epic or emotional feeling from it but it does deliver a nice package if quality kills which fills the running time. I also really like this style of capture where the action feels fast and the weapon damage feels more substantial. Very solid and a nice look a team of players who, noctis aside, few of us have likely ever paid close attention to.
Thorin Rating: 7.5/10
Name: JungleboY – Hakuna Matata
Editor: JungleboY
Runtime: 10:16
Released:
Game: CS
Description:
A compilation of kills from top UK player [flag:uk] JungleboY who is formerly of [flag:uk] Team Dignitas and currently plays for [flag:uk] 4Kings.
Review:
JungleboY is one of the most profilic in terms of movies of the players to have made it to the top in the UK CS scene. His past movies though were often just ok so when I first came across this movie I didn’t have very high expectations. The movie impressed me though and surprised me a number of times. There are some frags and sequences in this movie which even rewatching I still get a pleasant surprise from, kills from seemingly nothing or in a crazy fashion.
I think the biggest problems the movie has are firstly that the capture setup seems to make the footage ever so slightly jerky though it’s difficult to exactly describe how or why, it just doesn’t look perfectly smooth. Also there are some sequences which should have been thrown out. These 10 minutes trimmed down to say seven could have made for a much tighter and more high level movie. These complaints aren’t major at all though. This is a nice enough movie and has the benefit of exceeding your expectations.
Thorin Rating: 7/10
Name: RTCW Competitive History – Year 2002
Editor: twister
Runtime: 16:50
Released: 2009
Game: RTCW
Description:
A tribute to the golden era of competitive RTCW: 2002. Featuring the likes of [flag:us] Shaftian, [flag:se] radical and [flag:us] wombat.
Review:
This is a solid movie which runs long but keeps you locked throughout the viewing experience and draws you in. The movie has plenty of good kills and good sequences from tons of recognisable names from that era of RTCW. It also successfully captures a nostalgic feeling that really transports the viewer eight years back in time and reminds him that while these greats don’t do battle any more they once fiercely contested the biggest tournament of the era: Quakecon.
The soundtrack is great and really worked into the movie thanks to the editing style. There is a lot of variety in the types of scenes the viewer is shown and the way he’s taken through the different sequences. There are a few times when I felt like some third person perspective kills needed to be shown in first person also but that’s a small enough aside. All in all a successful attempt to encapsulate what was a great year in the history of RTCW and a time when the game shared more than just the hardcore enthusiasts thanks to its profile at Quakecon and some of the Quake 3 players who transitioned over.
Thorin Rating: 7.5/10
Name: bruno
Editor: donutsmaker
Runtime: 4:27
Released: 2007
Game: CS
Description:
A minimovie of kills from former g3x and MiBR player bruno who currently plays for coL.br.
Review:
After the recent FalleN movie left a bad taste in my mouth it cast my mind back over all the movies which have been made about Brazilian players and teams and the sad fact that most have been bad or average. This minimovie is one of the few exceptions to that rule. It’s just about the right length, it’s not overedited, it has a catchy soundtrack and it’s packed with great kills.
There are plenty of really good kills in this one, a number of which are fun in a surprising way where you don’t expect him to get the next one or in impressive fashion. The opponents in the video are often top level teams also. The soundtrack is one of the few Pendulum tracks which still stands up to repeat listening and hasn’t become played out. The editing is minimal and only really stands as basic transitions and slow-mos which I liked since it left me to enjoy the action.
A minimovie I have a soft spot for and can enjoy watching more than once. It’s difficult to find proper streams for this movie though so I’d recommend downloading it since the youtube quality isn’t that great. Part of this is because the file has some problems playing most places it seems and as a result even VLC doesn’t work that great with it. That said it works fine in Winamp and windows media player so I’d suggest using one of those.
Thorin Rating: 6.5/10
Name: Unagi
Editor: ZeroQL
Runtime: 8:25
Released: 2009
Game: QL
Description:
A frag movie featuring kills from a number of top players like Cypher, fox and noctis as well less well known players. From the creator of the excellent “The Gate Keepers” and “The Last iCE cLIMBER”.
Review:
First things first I need to get out of the way that the version of this movie I’m reviewing and featuring is edited down. The original contained over six more minutes but that additional material was all very boring and ruined the viewing experience. It was composed of a rather banal standup comedy sketch around the titular unagi and a sequence of an old Serbian quaker speaking for minutes with no English translation. Those who are desparate enough or hardcore completists can find the full version in this thread but everyone else can be assured this is the far superior version.
This movie is stunning and I was very impressed by the level of the frags. There are tons of really good kills and even some great kills. This is very much a movie of frag movie worthy kills. Tons of variety in the types of frags and positions and opponents. Those two quad runs in particular were great additions and really kept the entertainment value high and the flow of the movie in a good place. The editing is spot on and the only thing I could really criticise is the inclusion of the mechanical parts between two of the frags which I didn’t think worked so well.
Some people have complained that there haven’t been that many good QuakeLive movies, in comparison to Quake 3, but ZeroQL’s movies have been really entertaining and this one stands above the rest as the best thusfar in my opinion. This is a movie which reminds you that great and unexpected things can still be found in the world of frag movies no matter how many you may have seen. A modern day must-watch which is destined to become a classic.
Thorin Rating: 8.5/10
Name: Max ruuit Aspe
Editor: Goldy
Runtime: 7:03
Released: 2010
Game: CS
Description:
A compilation of kills by currently inactive former hoorai/69N-28E/Roccat/GamePlay and [flag:fi] PowerGaming player ruuit, considered by most to be the greatest Finnish CS player of all time.
Review:
I’ll let you know right out of the gate that this is a movie which is only featured here because it’s recently released, centered around a high profile player who hasn’t had his own movie before and is something people will want to see regardless of how bad it is. ruuit is one the all time great players so he’s someone I definitely want to see a movie about. Sadly this turns out not to be the movie I want to see.
Absolutely all of the footage is laggy HLTV sourced, even though for some of these scenes I happen to know for a fact that POV demos exist so that’s just lazyness on the editor’s part. The hud seems to have been messed with for the obituaries which is a little distracting. A bunch of the kills shouldn’t have been in a movie as they’re too drawn out and not spectacular enough. There’s no need to go into a great amount of detail on this one, it’s just a bad movie.
Thorin Rating: 2.5/10
Classic movie magic
Name: FURY 3 IYC$CUF
Editors: X-BeRt^
Runtime: 7:51
Released: 2008
Game: CS
Description:
The third movie of former [flag:se] Begrip.swe player [flag:se] fury.
Review:
This is a movie which is very much a modern day classic. Of all the movies of semi-pro Swedish players I think this one is the king as it does everything better than the rest. The action is furious and overwhelming as the entire movie is filled seemingly nothing but pure spray headshots. There are scenes after scenes of great kills which for any other CS movie might be the best or in top 3 scenes in the entire flick. The editing is nice enough to facilitate the relentless action but not get in your face at all, just providing a constant stream of frags to blitz your eyeballs.
I’m not at all one of these people who gets swept up by movie frags and then translates that into thinking the player himself is good enough to be in fnatic or something equally ridiculous but within the context of this movie this is very much an aim clinic. It’s fun to see technique just dominating opponents in ways they clearly weren’t prepared for and couldn’t do anything about.
The soundtrack I really don’t care for but the action is so great I don’t feel as though it’s irritating even upon multiple rewatches. Likewise there is eco footage included but since even those scenes tend to be spectacular I can’t hate on them. I think this movie has even improved with age as when I rewatch it I still find myself impressed by how good some of the sequences are. The running time is close to perfect too. Enough time to smash you with tons of great kills but not enough to risk you getting a little tired or your excitement level lowering.
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.