Ultramarines: The Movie

[Zykon TheLich]

Hmmm...I really hope this isn't going to suck but I'm not very optimistic. I have a feeling this is going to be strictly for the fans. The DoWII intro was pant shittingly brilliant but I don't really see GW being able to do much more than a great 2-3 minute fight scene.

Personally I would like to see the story of a rebellion/civil war (not necesarily chaos influenced, and if it is only very subtly, no traitor marines or daemons etc))on an imperial planet, following a couple of sympathetic characters on either side. Downtrodden masses who just want life to be a bit more pleasant vs. the Governer and PDF/Arbites trying to keep order before someone higher up gets wind of it and decides to send in the Guard to stomp everything flat or the Inquistion decides everyone needs burning.

Mostly it would be focussed on human elements that come up during a rebellion/civil war...conflicting ideologies & loyalties, brother vs. brother etc, violence against civilians, terrorist vs. freedom fighter etc. The marines might get sent in right at the end to utterly crush the rebellion and kill off the main revolutionary characters just as they think they've managed to overthrow the government and free everyone from oppressive Imperial rule.

That said I don't think GW would be able to get in decent enough writers and voice actors to be able to pull off something like that.

 

[soladrin]

Time to resurrect this topic, i dont know if anyone has seen the update, but im glad to say, Dan Abnett has written the script, so this seems be a lot more promising then most people first thought.

The official interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBsWc1i4Cr4

I personally can't wait for this movie, oh, and for everyone whining about it being Ultramarines, ultramarines are generally liked still, and if they had chosen Blood angels, Space Wolves, Dark angels, etc. etc. etc. all the other chapters would still complain about it. (personally i think it should'v been Imperial Fists obviously because they are just the best)

My biggest concern about the movie is who the enemy will be, I doubt they will use Orks since they'r already the main enemy in the new game and they would be getting to much spotlight then, so to see the options left...

Tau, chaos, Eldar, Dark Eldar (yea right), Tyranids and necrons(probably not )

Though honestly i expect Chaos, looking at how Abnett mostly writes about those as enemies, and as for them being the "main" enemy for the Imperials.

 

[Deagor]

if u ask me they should base it during the Horus Heresy fighting against the tratior chapters cos to me the most interesting thing u can have with SM is them fighting the forces of chaos

 

[iPatrick]

Call me when the Eldar movie is being made.

 

[Cargin]

i hear dan abnett is working on the script. thats a definite vote of confidence there. incidentally, while this post is consumed by ideas for what a 40k feature film SHOULD be about (myself being no different, btw, i have my own thoughts on the matter), why have so few people mentioned gaunt's ghost? The ghostmaker totally pwns caiphas cain.

(oh look, i made an internet funi.)

 

[blue heartless]

Skaven ftw

 

[TimeLord]

Why is it always Ultramarines?, Black Templars dammit!

Imperial Fist Dammit!

 

[scotth266]

I remember seeing this. For all the people who've posted OH YEAH, THIS IS GONNA BE TEH AWESUMS, let me burst your bubble of enthusiasm with a bunker buster missle:

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT MADE THE ATROCITY THAT IS THE BIONICLE MOVIE SAGA.

They single-handedly CRIPPLED the awesome factor of a ENTIRE FUCKING FRANCHISE.

You have no chance to survive... make your time.

Spoiler: To make the horror of this clear: they took this...

This is a commercial: the closest thing to a REAL Bionicle movie.

Spoiler: And made it into this.

What we got from these shmucks.

 

[inpachi]

NO.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Voice actors have been announced:

http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/news/2010-03-09/voice-actors-ultramarines-movie-announced

Seriously, could they have picked better actors for this? Both Sean Pertwee AND John Hurt?

Okay, so im not too enthusiastic about the movie being about SMurfs, but as a movie about the WH40K world it certainly has a fitting troupe of voice and facial actors (yes, they are supposed to provide facial expressions for characters as well).

It seems like most of them have some sort of interest and previous knowledge of 40K too which is always a plus.

I say I actually feel rather hopeful for this movie.

 

[ragestreet]

Why is it always Ultramarines?, Black Templars dammit!

Imperial Fist Dammit!

425th Valhallan Dammit!
Their commissar is a HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!

 

[Valthek]

Ultramarines? I never thought there would be a new Smurfs movie.

no, seriously, WHY THE DAMN BOYS IN BLUE? They're so... bland. Absolutely nothing interesting about that whole chapter.

 

[Mr.Valdor]

Ultramarines, Black Templars, and Space Wolves are cool, but how about something that's about Chaos?

 

[Cabisco]

If this movie is going to be like a 70min version of the opening cut scene to Dawn Of War. I will be a very happy bunny, one who will gladly fork over money to watch orks being chainsawed.

However, if it's rating is not 15-18 I shall know that it's not very violent, and therefore I can't help but feel is terrible. Don't get me wrong, I like movies without violence, but a 40k movie without mass 300-esque battles, nah.

 

[Nouw]

Oh, good, more Marine Fail. The single least characterful chapter, in the single least characterful army. Why not make a movie about a Tyranid Hormagaunt? Or a Necron Warrior? Seriously, Space Marines in general are faceless, Ultramarines doubly so.

There are 4 books that characterize them and give them human characteristics.

On the 'net, it shows a long block of text revolving around the Chapter Master.

I see where you are going though. But I beg to differ. Space Marines aren't faceless unless you're talking about the Tactical Marines.

I'm sure the movie will revolve it around someone with a "face" because thats what movies do. Well in this case they should...

If this movie is going to be like a 70min version of the opening cut scene to Dawn Of War. I will be a very happy bunny, one who will gladly fork over money to watch orks being chainsawed.

However, if it's rating is not 15-18 I shall know that it's not very violent, and therefore I can't help but feel is terrible. Don't get me wrong, I like movies without violence, but a 40k movie without mass 300-esque battles, nah.

Amen to that.

WH40K without a battle scene is like a piece of Hard Science Fiction without 3 pages of descriptive weapon descriptions.

 

[Makon]

I am looking forward to this, be nice to see WH40K given some screen-time justice.

 

[dalek sec]

I wish they did a Cain movie. Preferably as an anime and directed by Satoshi Kon. He could give the movie the action and the humor it would need.

Count me in as well, I'd give my left arm for Cain movie to be done right and I think it might work as an anime, not sure about it. Do you think they would be done based on the books or brand new adventures during Cain's time as a Hero of the Imperium!?

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck...

I really hope this is going to be good. The DoWII intro was pant shittingly awesome, 40K lends itself to a 3 minute fight scene very well, but I worry about what's going to happen when they try to fill 70 minutes. Fingers crossed eh?

 

[Ultrajoe]

Some thoughts and facts from me, take them for what you will:

1) Fact - Dan Abnett is writing. Good sign, the man behind the best of the best 40K fiction and arguably the best hope for writing prevailing over canon concerns. If anyone can carve the story worth telling out of the mire of a 70-min film, he can.

2) Concern - Why is this not an Animation, or Anime? 40K is a drama, a tragedy, it fits the western idea of a film and story in the same way beat poetry is broadway. Instead of bashing an IP based on scale and imagery into half-rate CGI production, they could have gone for the control and stylistic possibilities of gritty animation. It can be darker, it can be bigger, it can be more visually stunning.

3) Speculation - The choice of Ultramarines is a bold and bothersome one. Detractors have worked their neckbeards into a rage over the Smurfs, decrying them as absent of character, but the laughable notion that any chapter was rich aside... what faction is better suited to displaying the character of the 40K galaxy? Guard? Sisters? I'd personally love a Guard film, but let me explain why that wont work: Shitty CGI. Do you really want to watch poorly rendered faces try and express emotion and depth for seventy minutes? Marines were picked because power armor has few moving bits, Ultramarines because they've got merchandising value. Kid watches film, kid walks into GW shop, kid sees Ultramarines on shelf.

Don't bother yourself with philosophical concerns, it's about cash. This film is a publicity move.

4) Hope - Don't hope for a blockbuster, hope for exposure. The best this film can achieve is to get past the cruddy graphics and splosions to produce something of halfway decent storytelling... to bait a bigger fish. Ideally, the real goal out of this is to spark the head-gears of somebody with the cash to make a proper 40K film. So buy this probable atrocity, use your cash to vote for something better. Then pirate it for ethical integrity. Abnett's pushing the fluff here, if he can show something beyond blue ceramite, we might get something to really work ourselves up over.

Or, you know, 'Warhammer: Grim Darkness' A Micheal Bay Production.

Exploding onto a screen near you.

Personal Wish - Weeaboo-stamp me all you want, but I think 40K belongs in the realm of Anime. As a series, not a feature. You need either an 'Avatar' sized budget to add all the detail, or an Anime one to see past it. And really, if we can't look past a still-frame of 500 skulls etched into cathedrals and see something of worth in the tale of Warhammer, then perhaps we don't deserve to see it brought to life in motion. If Warhammer can't forfeit a bit of grandeur to become a proper story, perhaps it just isn't one. Just my two cents.

And if you don't think Anime can convey horror and darkness, you haven't been watching the right stuff.

 

[ragestreet]

I wish they did a Cain movie. Preferably as an anime and directed by Satoshi Kon. He could give the movie the action and the humor it would need.

Count me in as well, I'd give my left arm for Cain movie to be done right and I think it might work as an anime, not sure about it. Do you think they would be done based on the books or brand new adventures during Cain's time as a Hero of the Imperium!?

I would hope they'd please the fans by starting with the books but then branch out and do their own thing. I see the massive disaster potential though so I'd hope they get Mr. Mitchell to direct the whole thing and make sure it all fits.