[mega]

I liked the movie...not the greatest, but still entertaining.

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshifter every camera movement and setup has to have reason. otherwise the director is just pulling his pud. and no, "because it is cool" is not a valid reason.

have you seen the film?

i think the category would fall into the latter of your description.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 have you seen the film? i think the category would fall into the latter of your description.

no, but i have seen plenty of films that use fancy camera moves and lighting that does nothing to add the pure cinema experience. to see the minimalist cinema i'm talking about you should check out jarmusch, carpenter, and kubrick. if you do like fancy camera moves, check out "raging bull" or the vastly underrated "cape fear" by the same director. plenty of fancy camerawork that employs the cinematic dialog.

 

[RnB180]

nice to meet someone with an appreciation for it.
Ive always viewed any cinematic experience as an artform. I pay attention to the angles and camera work used in the film.

Im not too keen on US cinema, but Im very familiar with asian cinema.

Johnny To, is one of the few directors I appreciate in Asia.

Hes directed films such as PTU and Throwdown. He's got emotion, lighting and camera work down to a fine art.

 

[RedLeader]

watched it in the original japanese a heck of awhile ago and loved it. You've got it pegged, its more of a game and less of a movie. Considering its CG and featuring characters from the game what the heck did you want? Action games and their cutscenes do not have static cameras, for the genre of movie that it was (an extended cutscene) I thought the camera work was fine, and was able to just sit back and enjoy the fireworks from some beloved characters

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 nice to meet someone with an appreciation for it. Ive always viewed any cinematic experience as an artform. I pay attention to the angles and camera work used in the film. Im not too keen on US cinema, but Im very familiar with asian cinema. Johnny To, is one of the few directors I appreciate in Asia. Hes directed films such as PTU and Throwdown. He's got emotion, lighting and camera work down to a fine art.

man, the best asian cinema is opera. from japanese samuri films to hong-kong gangsters, and even the horror stuff, i dig the style. i'll check out johnny to.

 

[RnB180]

if you do check out his work, look into throwdown, a very slow methodic film, and somewhat of a dark comedy.

PTU is similar but not as well done as throwdown. Hes just released a film called "election" I have yet to see that one.

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedLeader watched it in the original japanese a heck of awhile ago and loved it. You've got it pegged, its more of a game and less of a movie. Considering its CG and featuring characters from the game what the heck did you want? Action games and their cutscenes do not have static cameras, for the genre of movie that it was (an extended cutscene) I thought the camera work was fine, and was able to just sit back and enjoy the fireworks from some beloved characters

you might be right, if that is the case, its a shame.
It is a wasted oppurtunity, in which couldve been used to advance FF as a viable name amongst the casual crowds. If anything, this film would probably hurt its reputation to those that are not familiar with the game. they sure did misadvertise it, and hyped it more than it really is based off its trailers.

 

[iSleipnir]

FFVII was blantant pandering to the fans...and I loved it! If you watch the making of they address the weird physics saying "people may say that people cant jump that far, or say airborn that long, but we wern't concerned with that. We decided that anything could go if it looked cool." or something like that. Also, this movie was based on a videogame so of course there are going to be some stretches. You don't watch a movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and complain about the realism of the fight scenes. I thought the storyline was good too, my only real complain was that they never explained wher eteh remenants came from. And I did notice the constantly moving camera angles. They didn't really bother me, it just made it a bit harder to follow the fights, but really within the style of animation the fights looked realistically fast. Oh, and you HAVE to have played FF7 to understand the movie. Why is it that so many people see sequels and then complain when they don't understand something? Duh? You missed the whole first half (In this case the majority) of the story.

 

[Idsynchrono_24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSleipnir FFVII was blantant pandering to the fans...and I loved it! If you watch the making of they address the weird physics saying "people may say that people cant jump that far, or say airborn that long, but we wern't concerned with that. We decided that anything could go if it looked cool." or something like that. Also, this movie was based on a videogame so of course there are going to be some stretches. You don't watch a movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and complain about the realism of the fight scenes. I thought the storyline was good too, my only real complain was that they never explained wher eteh remenants came from. And I did notice the constantly moving camera angles. They didn't really bother me, it just made it a bit harder to follow the fights, but really within the style of animation the fights looked realistically fast. Oh, and you HAVE to have played FF7 to understand the movie. Why is it that so many people see sequels and then complain when they don't understand something? Duh? You missed the whole first half (In this case the majority) of the story.

This was the only review that I agreed with. I torrented the movie months ago, and liked it then, and I like it now more on DVD. You guys aren't taking the movie in for its intended purpose: and extension to a very popular RPG. Of course you have to have played FF VII to actually understand anything at all going on in the movie. Nevermind that FF VII had an incredibly convoluted storyline, this was just pure fan service. The camera pans never bothered me, and I think that RnB was way too harsh in his assessment, this is NOT one of the worst films ever, far from it. If you want to see truly terrible films, watch a film directed by Uwe Boll, that's pure film schlock right there. You're looking at it way too critically, this isn't a serious movie, it's a company appeasing fans who weren't pleased with how things ended in the original game. I think it's similar to Gainax's huge screw You to fans with the movie End of Evangelion. Take it for what it is, or you're likely to come away disappointed.

Catch you later,
Id

 

[Alu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Idsynchrono_24 This was the only review that I agreed with. I torrented the movie months ago, and liked it then, and I like it now more on DVD. You guys aren't taking the movie in for its intended purpose: and extension to a very popular RPG. Of course you have to have played FF VII to actually understand anything at all going on in the movie. Nevermind that FF VII had an incredibly convoluted storyline, this was just pure fan service. The camera pans never bothered me, and I think that RnB was way too harsh in his assessment, this is NOT one of the worst films ever, far from it. If you want to see truly terrible films, watch a film directed by Uwe Boll, that's pure film schlock right there. You're looking at it way too critically, this isn't a serious movie, it's a company appeasing fans who weren't pleased with how things ended in the original game. I think it's similar to Gainax's huge screw You to fans with the movie End of Evangelion. Take it for what it is, or you're likely to come away disappointed. Catch you later, Id

I agree. Even though I wouldn't compare a more complex ending like EoE to a simple closer like FF:AC. It was an actionpacked film that absolutely worked for me as visual pleaser. Sure the story wasn't brilliant, it wasn't even good imo, but I can live with it, since it's not really the story that drives this movie. The soundtrack is quite nice as well, made by Nobuo Uematsu.

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSleipnir FFVII was blantant pandering to the fans...and I loved it! If you watch the making of they address the weird physics saying "people may say that people cant jump that far, or say airborn that long, but we wern't concerned with that. We decided that anything could go if it looked cool." or something like that. Also, this movie was based on a videogame so of course there are going to be some stretches. You don't watch a movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and complain about the realism of the fight scenes. I thought the storyline was good too, my only real complain was that they never explained wher eteh remenants came from. And I did notice the constantly moving camera angles. They didn't really bother me, it just made it a bit harder to follow the fights, but really within the style of animation the fights looked realistically fast. Oh, and you HAVE to have played FF7 to understand the movie. Why is it that so many people see sequels and then complain when they don't understand something? Duh? You missed the whole first half (In this case the majority) of the story.

regarding physics,
crouching tiger is different, it was a choreographed dance the moves were graceful.

I understand the difference with FF trying to replicate anime in CG. But IMO they went about it poorly. as you said in your post, there was no intention of grace or fluidity, you said the directors intent was because he thought it was "cool". reverting to 5th grade mentality.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

That slightly moving camera is going for a handheld effect in an effort to add realism. I find that sometimes it helps in 3D as you're constantly reminded of the fakeness of everything just by seeing all the smooth nurbs surfaces that would never happen in RL. As many of you said, there seemed to be way too much movement during the fight scenes, if the camera could settle down and not move a mile a minute it would give the viewer a much better sense of what's going on. I remember one of my instructors told me that just because it's easy to move the camera all around in 3D doesn't mean you should.

In regards to FF:AC, I pretty much agree, it was all eye candy and very little else. There were a few What? moments that really only served to keep the movie going and continue to drag along a plot that could be summarized in a sentence or two. I don't really mind owning it, it's got a lot of really well done 3D, but for those of you who despise your copy, I'm sure you could sell it for what you paid on ebay as it's tough to find at the moment.

Finally, there was plenty of action, as many people had told me, but it lacks bite. People slide across a mile of asphault only to get up with their jacket in pristine condition. Characters fall a mile from the sky and land on a steel girder or sidewalk and there's no bending or breakage underneath them. There are numerous swordfights but very little blood, and the only things that got chopped in half were rocks. If FF:AC was going for anime style all these things should have been a given.

 

[JahJahBinks]

To me it's really an anime movie.

 

[foo_me]

I liked it alot...sure, not very coherent, but very entertaining.
Think it depends on your expectations.
I like this type of genre and I think most others that do like anime will really like it.