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Warcraft |OT| You Are Not Prepared

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Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Saw it tonight.
Movie wasn't as bad as people said. Sure, being a Warcraft fan helps a lot to understand a bunch of stuff, but it was an entertaining movie and hopefully a sequel will see the day in a few years.
 

greyskull

Member
Saw it last night thought it was a bad movie. As someone who has never played a warcraft in my life I was lost thought the whole movie. The pacing was also terrible and as well as the human actor were kind of boring.

Warcraft games fan here. Movie was terrible imo.

I find the biggest problem is that they started the story way too late. There's a lot of backstory to why all the shit went down with Gul'dan and fel energy, why Draenor is no longer inhabitable, how they pick out Azeroth and why they go. I followed because I somewhat knew the lore and characters. I can't imagine how it would be for someone who doesn't know the universe; I could rarely understand orc names during the movie.

Character development was poor. The romance was poorly executed.

And they tried to shove so much into two hours. The scenes were all short and hurried, no room for development. ADD movie.
 
Wow. Absolutely awful beginning to end. A fractured story, human characters without any personal motivation, terrible editing, lazy eye level midshot photography, artificially lit poorly made sets on obvious stages, casting of people who don't look medieval at all in near evey role, scenes that start and ramble with nothing resolved in them, huge leaps of geography and staging, I could go on and on. This whole movie seemed to hate its audience and the money dumped into it was totally irresponsible. The only good thing I can say is that some of the effects work was absolutely stunning in a handful of shots. If only those shots were preceded or followed with something equally worthwhile.
 

Fularu

Banned
I just came back from the theater (Imax 3D) and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I went with a friend who knows nothing about Warcraft and he had a great time. I really don't understand why critics hated it that much.

I hope the next movie is about Thrall. That ending made it seem likely.
 
Huge fan of the games. The movie was horrible but it did have a certain charm to it.

They need to make another movie and somehow get us to reign of chaos right away. People want Arthas.
 

Kitoro

Member
My friend got free tickets and dragged me along. I honestly couldn't stand it, and was bored out of my mind. The action was dull, the acting was poor, the special effects were cringe worthy, and the story and dialog were mind-numbing, IMO.

My friend enjoyed it, and called me a stick in the mud, which is fine, but man I was fidgeting with my phone halfway through the movie to stay awake, and I never do that, haha.
 

Tacitus_

Member
I find the biggest problem is that they started the story way too late. There's a lot of backstory to why all the shit went down with Gul'dan and fel energy, why Draenor is no longer inhabitable, how they pick out Azeroth and why they go. I followed because I somewhat knew the lore and characters. I can't imagine how it would be for someone who doesn't know the universe; I could rarely understand orc names during the movie.

I don't really get this complaint. They go to Azeroth because Draenor is dying and conquering new land is the orcish solution to that. Later on Durotan puts 2+2 together and figures out that Draenor is dying because of Gul'Dans magic. We also learn that Gul'Dan and Medivh were working together.

All of this was said and/or shown in the movie.
 

SaintR

Member
Just saw this and as someone who doesn't know zip from the games I am incredibly lost. It felt like I started watching a movie in the middle. Not sure how else it could've been handled, maybe a 5 minute narration describing the world and backdrop? I know narration is lazy storytelling but this story seems so DEEP that I drowned in it not knowing wtf was going on.

Other than the story being hard to follow I do commend Duncan Jones in his directing, the action scenes were directed well and the cg for the orcs pretty great I thought. It's a shame, maybe if I played the game I'd know more of the story and would've enjoyed this more.
 

TwiztidElf

Member
Saw it today with my boys, and we all totally enjoyed it.
Gul'dan stole the show. He was fucking boss in every scene he was in.
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
Holy shit...

I went to watch this in IMAX 3D, no expectations whatsoever with my father, my mom, my aunt, my sister and my girlfriend... I was expecting just...nothing; taking my father to watch IMAX for the first time.

Holy fuck the movie was decent. Everyone liked it, hell my girlfriend and sister LOVED IT. I liked it a lot. The initial 10-15 minutes had me worried with the messy exposition but then everything sort of started fitting into place. I was very surprised.
 

Zackat

Member
I just checked Duncan's twitter. Small spoiler.

https://twitter.com/ManMadeMoon/status/744240244363386880

giphy.gif


I thought that was all CGI for sure.
 

Bearjewpiter

Neo Member
I have a question. I just saw the movie last night and in a scene between the King and Lothar there are a few times where the King refers to him as Anduin (the King's unborn grandson) so I'm just unclear as to why he'd call him by that name.

Edit: Never mind, that took all of 2 seconds on google. His first name is Anduin. I'm smart
 

Chococat

Member
Holy shit...

I went to watch this in IMAX 3D, no expectations whatsoever with my father, my mom, my aunt, my sister and my girlfriend... I was expecting just...nothing; taking my father to watch IMAX for the first time.

Holy fuck the movie was decent. Everyone liked it, hell my girlfriend and sister LOVED IT. I liked it a lot. The initial 10-15 minutes had me worried with the messy exposition but then everything sort of started fitting into place. I was very surprised.

Same here. Went with a group expecting the worst. Came out befuddled that there was nothing to complain about. It was decent for the amount of story they crammed into one movie. Looking forward to the next one. And the directors cut if such a thing comes out.
 

Skab

Member
I have a question. I just saw the movie last night and in a scene between the King and Lothar there are a few times where the King refers to him as Anduin (the King's unborn grandson) so I'm just unclear as to why he'd call him by that name.

Edit: Never mind, that took all of 2 seconds on google. His first name is Anduin. I'm smart

Yep. Current Anduin was named after Lothar.
 
I have a question. I just saw the movie last night and in a scene between the King and Lothar there are a few times where the King refers to him as Anduin (the King's unborn grandson) so I'm just unclear as to why he'd call him by that name.

Edit: Never mind, that took all of 2 seconds on google. His first name is Anduin. I'm smart

Yeah the kings grandson is named after him.
 

xk0sm0sx

Member
Holy shit...

I went to watch this in IMAX 3D, no expectations whatsoever with my father, my mom, my aunt, my sister and my girlfriend... I was expecting just...nothing; taking my father to watch IMAX for the first time.

Holy fuck the movie was decent. Everyone liked it, hell my girlfriend and sister LOVED IT. I liked it a lot. The initial 10-15 minutes had me worried with the messy exposition but then everything sort of started fitting into place. I was very surprised.

I watched it at first in a normal cinema, and for the first time in a movie I felt, shit, this screen is way too small to appreciate all the details.

So I went to watch a second time in IMAX 3D, even picking a forward seat to have the screen in my face, and holy shit, what a graphical marvel. I was just staring at the Orc's body hair, the tooths, how large their fingers are. I completely didn't feel I was staring at a CG character.

I hope we see a more diverse cast with the alliance so I can have more of this CG goodness.
 

Composer

Member
Really glad to see there is some love for this movie. I went to see it recently, and honestly, was really glad I saw it, despite the critical reviews. It was largely faithful to Warcraft, and just felt like Warcraft. So good on them for staying true the feel of the game series. For those who've never played or read anything Warcraft related, I'm not sure this movie was for you.

I really really hope they make a sequel.
 
No clue about WoW or Warcraft, enjoyed the orcs, thought the humans were lame, especially the wizard.

I'm intrigued enough to want to know more though. Any good resources or books to catch up on the lore without having to play World of Warcraft?
 

Sölf

Member
No clue about WoW or Warcraft, enjoyed the orcs, thought the humans were lame, especially the wizard.

I'm intrigued enough to want to know more though. Any good resources or books to catch up on the lore without having to play World of Warcraft?

Well, you could read WoWpedia. Basically everything you need to know is there. You just have to remember that the movie lore differs a bit from the game lore.

Here is the lore section of WoWpedia. Maybe start there?

http://wow.gamepedia.com/Lore

I don't know. It's so much. But it's definitly pretty interesting in the grand scheme of things. Especially since it's so much more than what was seen in the movie.
 

Rayen

Neo Member
I'm not hugely into the lore of Warcraft but I have played WoW off and on over the last ten-ish years and have tried Warcraft III.

I can definitely see the issues with the story, the pacing was terrible. I was really disappointed that a lot of the orc clans weren't shown off after playing through Draenor on the Horde side. I was kind of hoping to see a few more zones as well, instead of just getting a few names dropped here or there. Overall, I was okay with it. I want to see what the 40 minutes they cut out does for the movie, so hopefully when it gets released it's all in there.

I also went with someone who had never played any of the games and only knows the few tiny bits and pieces that she's heard from me and my sister over the years (in other words, basically that we just play). Trying to explain things a little bit to her was daunting because none of the names managed to stick with her. She seemed to enjoy the general fantasy movie of it, but she had absolutely no idea what was going on with the orcs.
 

Zzoram

Member
I just saw the movie on cheap Tuesday hoping it wouldn't be too bad. It was bad. The pacing was awful, especially near the beginning. They tried to give too many characters screen time and show too many locations. A more focused movie with time split between only 2 protagonists (Lothar and Durotan) could've been good. The human actors were largely cringe inducing in their line delivery. The lighting on the humans was really weird and fake looking. The humour was largely a failure. They should've went with more sight gags like the Murlock.
 
I've played warcraft since orcs and humans released, loved the series since then up until a year ago in Warlords

I really liked the movie. I'm maybe who the movie was made for which is admittedly not a large group, but I thought it was awesome. The wife really liked it too and wants them to make a second one.

The CG i thought looked incredible for the orcs and magic and gate and stuff, and I didn't think the humans vs orc stuff stood out as "bad CG" any more than any other modern movie CG

would see again
 

Zoe

Member
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've only played WC3, but I wasn't lost.

Really hope they continue the series.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
Got back acouple hours ago.

Ehhh. I didn't hate it. Certainly didn't love it. But it kept my interest... sorta.

Quick thoughts:

-The orcs stuff was generally pretty great. I loved how fucking unstoppable they were. I thought Durotan was pretty solid.
-the human stuff was terrible. The acting, how chlostrophobic all the sets felt. It always felt like tha
-Medivh's motivations made no sense.
-people are just traveling everywhere all the time. "I have to go to Stormwind!" "I have to go see the mages!" "Back to Stormwind!" "Back to this tower!" It just didn't stop.
-There never seemed to be a scale to anything about the human side of the story. It all felt like they had this one tiny corner of a studio to film on for each individual set.
-Lothar was drunk the whole fucking movie. Or the actor was. Either way, his line delivery in every instance felt slurred and confused.
-the mage kid felt like someone who regularly plays World of Warcraft. He was ineffectual with about every line, his puberty stache was distracting as fuck, and... he just really didn't impress.
-most of the movie took everything about itself extremely seriously. Rarely letting itself poke fun at its own ridiculousness. The problem is, the instances in which it tries, it leaves those moments up to Lothar, who as I said, seemed drunk the entire movie. He completely botched any attempt at levity in the movie.
-I enjoyed the hex quite a bit. Wasn't expecting seeing that.
-Garona's makeup was terrible. The actress did better as the movie went on, but the look was terrible.
-all the locales, atleast in the wide shots, really resembled the places from the games. The props and costumes largely looked pretty cool. That was super impressive.
-the pacing was awful. Scenes come and go in an instant. Nothing is allowed to linger or let an emotion settle or develop. Most scenes, it felt like characters only barely said two or three lines each before cutting away. Hearing a third of this movie was cut seems totally believable.
-There were moments where the action felt really awkward and sorta stilted.
-so little feels to come from any real emotion. I know the comparison may feel unfair, but something like Lord of the Rings, I buy that there is an emotional core to characters' actions and motivations. Outside of Durotan, I don't know that I believed that to be the case for anyone. Part of that is the pacing, but part of it is the writing too.
-
the wife's death seemed real dumb. I mean it was a good scene, but why the fuck did she leave her knife there?

I just kinda left feeling sorta middle-of-the-road. I respect Jones, I respect the effort, and I think there is an okay movie at the core of this, but the movie felt so stripped thin by its runtime. I am really curious what the full cut of this movie would have looked like.

6/10
 

Zackat

Member
Does the warlock taking 2 damage and then he draw a card, like Gambit xmen, in this movie?

Actually the warlock in this movie is pretty cool. Same guy as in hearthstone, does some real evil shit.


So with the movie crossing the 400 million WW threshold does that put it into the range that a sequel seems pretty guaranteed now?
 

Toothless

Member
Warcraft is one abysmally odd movie. The best that can be said about it is that there are a couple of good action scenes and Paula Patton's character steals the show from sheer merit of being memorable. The plot is nonsensical and slightly incomprehensible. It relies too much on prior knowledge of the property to work and falls into cliche in the bits of plot that do make sense. The effects are pretty great and the costumes are neat too, but production quality does not make a film break. From the plain fact that half the movie made absolutely no sense, Warcraft fails on a basic level, which is a shame because the elements of fun in it are still quite evident.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
Actually the warlock in this movie is pretty cool. Same guy as in hearthstone, does some real evil shit.


So with the movie crossing the 400 million WW threshold does that put it into the range that a sequel seems pretty guaranteed now?

I certainly wouldn't say so.
 

frontovik

Banned
I hope that Blizzard doesn't entertain the notion of a sequel.

Warcraft was a bloated, beyond cheesy and disjointed movie. It also showed that the Warcraft universe doesn't have good story or writing, and they should confine that to their video games.

I would say that it is an insult to fantasy films in general, and deserving of being Battlefield Earth tier.

Lord of the Rings set a high bar for production standards, and it's amusing that Warcraft is nowhere near it. Even Game of Thrones (a TV series) has far better production values with less budget.
 

Finaj

Member
I hope that Blizzard doesn't entertain the notion of a sequel.

Warcraft was a bloated, beyond cheesy and disjointed movie. It also showed that the Warcraft universe doesn't have good story or writing, and they should confine that to their video games.

I would say that it is an insult to fantasy films in general, and deserving of being Battlefield Earth tier.

If a sequel is made, you can always just not watch it. It's what I do with the Transformers movies.
 
I hope that Blizzard doesn't entertain the notion of a sequel.

Warcraft was a bloated, beyond cheesy and disjointed movie. It also showed that the Warcraft universe doesn't have good story or writing, and they should confine that to their video games.

I would say that it is an insult to fantasy films in general, and deserving of being Battlefield Earth tier.

Lord of the Rings set a high bar for production standards, and it's amusing that Warcraft is nowhere near it. Even Game of Thrones (a TV series) has far better production values with less budget.
Alternatively, you're wrong. The Warcraft universe has a million stories worth seeing on the big screen, and while not a perfect movie, it was the best video game adaptation there's ever been, and a good enough movie that every person I took to see it enjoyed it. Including my parents.

I dearly hope they do make a sequel
 

Interfectum

Member
I hope that Blizzard doesn't entertain the notion of a sequel.

Warcraft was a bloated, beyond cheesy and disjointed movie. It also showed that the Warcraft universe doesn't have good story or writing, and they should confine that to their video games.

I would say that it is an insult to fantasy films in general, and deserving of being Battlefield Earth tier.

Lord of the Rings set a high bar for production standards, and it's amusing that Warcraft is nowhere near it. Even Game of Thrones (a TV series) has far better production values with less budget.

I disagree. Eventhough the movie wasn't that great, it showed that Warcraft actually has a good story for TV and movies. It's a great contrast from something like Game of Thrones.
 
Saw it at my local IMAX. Loved it. The movie was stunning in IMAX. The chase scene in the forest when the humans were ambushed had very vivid colors with the dire wolf looking absolutely incredible. I could see the studio being very passionate with their work. I was also surprised at how well done the orc's story was. Durotan had more emotion and gave a more convincing performance than the real human actors. They made do with an old us vs. them, but we have common ground story, but now that the base has been established, I'm looking forward to sequels where they expand on it. Give me the lich king.
 

Hari Seldon

Member
I hope that Blizzard doesn't entertain the notion of a sequel.

Warcraft was a bloated, beyond cheesy and disjointed movie. It also showed that the Warcraft universe doesn't have good story or writing, and they should confine that to their video games.

I would say that it is an insult to fantasy films in general, and deserving of being Battlefield Earth tier.

Yeah I have been saying this since they first announced it lol. It is impossible to make a movie good based on a teenage fanfic of warhammer. Well maybe if it was a porno it would be alright.
 

Shirow

Banned
Saw it a few days ago and liked it a lot. Thank goodness these movies do well in China. Most likely people there just watch what they like instead of waiting for instructions on what's likeable from the establishment like they do here.
 

gatti-man

Member
Blu-ray listed on Amazon. I dunno if this has been up for a while but I figured I would put it in here.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GUVOXIW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Fuck yes a 4K version. Thank the lord. Preordered.

I hope that Blizzard doesn't entertain the notion of a sequel.

Warcraft was a bloated, beyond cheesy and disjointed movie. It also showed that the Warcraft universe doesn't have good story or writing, and they should confine that to their video games.

I would say that it is an insult to fantasy films in general, and deserving of being Battlefield Earth tier.

Lord of the Rings set a high bar for production standards, and it's amusing that Warcraft is nowhere near it. Even Game of Thrones (a TV series) has far better production values with less budget.

Game of thrones has the best fantasy writing I've ever seen on any visual medium. Period.

Comparing Warcraft to that sure Warcraft looks shitty but I really enjoyed it and hope blizzard keeps it up. It was an excellent first try and definitely has potential. Get better actors or go full cgi. It wasn't art but it definitely was entertainment for me.
 
I took my dad and brother to see it yesterday and was shocked to get there 15 minutes early and see the theater 3/4 of the way full.

My dad and brother gave it a 10/10, I gave it 7/10. All 3 of us still play WoW. It was certainly an entertaining movie. I think my wife will really like it.

It was better than any of the Hobbit movies, which is a mind fuck.

I wanted a bit more fan service. Little things, like I wanted to see "classes" like a background dude send his pet in to attack while he attacked with his bow, or if the night elves would have showed up at the big battle at the end and then we watch half of them turn into bears, cats, and moonkin. Just little things like that would have gone a long way.

The orcs were brutal. Loved everything to do with them, for sure.
 

jwk94

Member
Saw it this weekend with girlfriend and sister. Sister and I are into WoW (I played it in my teens) so we liked it, but girlfriend didn't which highlights this film's problem: It's a WoW film that has no regard for anyone outside of that demographic. This movie does nothing to introduce these characters to us or even the world. It expect everyone to come into the film knowing bits of WoW knowledge so it can get started. As someone who played WoW, I was fine with that for the most part and I enjoyed the fan service, but this direction sunk the thing.

This feels like a sequel rather than the first movie in what could've been a franchise. We should've been given a movie about whatever war happened before this. Something that introduces the main Warrior and his family, The Guardian, the king, etc so the emotional beats they hit in this movie would have an impact. Without proper introductions, they're just boxes on a list of things you'd expect them to do.
 
I went into it only playing warcraft 3 years ago. I don't think it's remotely as confusing as people have been giving it credit for.

Whatever confusing stuff they do mention such as the mention of "fell" can be figured out on your own as you watch or is quickly explained near the end anyways.

That it hit the ground running was one of the better things about it. It's not particularly great. If I had to rate it it would be a 6 prolly but it had its merits.
 

Schryver

Member
Saw it last night finally. Yeah it had issues but I loved it overall. Really awesome to see some of the places I have spent time playing in WoW over the years. Really hope we get a sequel (ideally multiple) because they could be incredible. China please
 

Loxley

Member
From Warcraft's Chinese distributor:

G1nOHax.jpg


So I'll meet-up with you guys in Beijing in four years for the premiere of the Chinese co-produced sequel :D
 
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