Ultramarines - an interesting little film

[Overmind One]

Ultramarines is a CGI film from 2010 based on the Warhammer 40K gaming universe. Although the whole film is CGI the characters are all played by some decent actors, such as Terence Stamp and Sean Pertwee. The plot is basically (to me) a coming of age story for Pertwee's character, who is one of the title Ultramarines and centers around his squad going on a recon/rescue mission to a distant planet and finding some twisted stuff there.

So, let's run down the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good

The Acting - all of the actors do a marvelous job voicing the characters in a way that helps them come to life. It really helps the film overcome its low budget.

The Story - the decision to keep the story really simple was a good idea here. I read where some 40K aficionados panned this film because it glossed over their favorite little detail or because it was too "small" a story. I disagree. Keeping the story simple lets viewers not versed in the 40K universe still enjoy the film without getting submerged in a sea of references they would not understand.

The music and mood - for a little film the music was great, and set a sort of dark, almost gothic mood perfectly. And even with the mundane CGI there were a lot of visual details that also helped set the tone well. Things like seeing little mottos like "Courage and Honour" flashing inside the HUD displays of the helmets of the Ultramarines gave a feeling of these troopers being HEAVILY indoctrinated.

The Bad

The CGI - Even for a 2010 film the CGI was just not all that. In particular the facial expressions were problematic, which is why the great voice acting helped so much. It's not Clutch Cargo bad but not up to snuff either.

Insiderish - Even though they obviously tried to make this film not require prior 40K knowledge to enjoy I admit that I liked it better after stopping very near the start, doing a quick read and then jumping back in. If you want to watch this I recommend the following quick reads:

For the Ultramarines:

http://spacemarine.wikia.com/wiki/Ultramarines

For the Chaos Space Marines:

http://spacemarine.wikia.com/wiki/Chaos_Space_Marines

They aren't long and will come in handy.


Oh, and note that it stars Sean Pertwee, and we all know what happens when he is in a movie.....

Okay, I watched this all the way through. As a complete outsider to the Warhammer games, the thing I was taken by most was the level of violence and carnage we see in the film. Marines beheaded, impaled, mutilated and killed in ways only a psychopath might envision. I found myself wondering why these Marines seem to follow the usual communistic organizational structure of the military, yet they insist upon wearing banners and holding standards on poles and carrying them into battle like some sort of knight. The whole "knights and warriors" thing overlaid upon the armor suited Ultramarines was disturbing to watch.

The story was a bit strange, but it was easy to follow. I did not find the story to be that compelling. It seemed to be similar in fare to the stories Worf told on DS9 about Kahliss or some other glorious Klingon battle tale.

The CGI was on the level of The Clone Wars or Rebels, but to me it was a bit better and the sound was definitely superior. All in all, it is worth at least a single viewing.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Okay, I watched this all the way through. As a complete outsider to the Warhammer games, the thing I was taken by most was the level of violence and carnage we see in the film. Marines beheaded, impaled, mutilated and killed in ways only a psychopath might envision. I found myself wondering why these Marines seem to follow the usual communistic organizational structure of the military, yet they insist upon wearing banners and holding standards on poles and carrying them into battle like some sort of knight. The whole "knights and warriors" thing overlaid upon the armor suited Ultramarines was disturbing to watch.

You really need to know the backstory to get why this happens.
The marines are monks OM. when they call each other "brother" or "battle brother", they don't mean in in a familial kind of way, they mean it in a religious way. They -are- holy knights on a grand crusade, yet they are as barbaric and brutal as the crusaders of our own history. The imperium they represent is not in the "golden age of technology", that has come and past, they are literally living in the dark ages with high technology. There are inquisitors rooting out heresy on every world, and if that heresy cannot be rooted out, they do not blink an eye at annihilating entire worlds or star systems to prevent apostasy spreading. Most people have no idea how technology works, and instead of it being maintained by mechanics or advanced by science, it is left to the tech preists who will deliver the holy prayers to the "machine spirit", and apply the holy oils and lubricants to keep the machine working. Hell, they will also deliver the sacred smack with a wrench if that got the machine working 500 years ago!!
It is an age of ignorance and fear, not enlightenment, and the sheer violence is just expected. It is an age where fascism and religion have joined forces in the worst way you could imagine, and it is spread over countless galaxies.

The story was a bit strange, but it was easy to follow. I did not find the story to be that compelling. It seemed to be similar in fare to the stories Worf told on DS9 about Kahliss or some other glorious Klingon battle tale.

That makes perfect sense.

 

[Overmind One]

You really need to know the backstory to get why this happens.
The marines are monks OM. when they call each other "brother" or "battle brother", they don't mean in in a familial kind of way, they mean it in a religious way. They -are- holy knights on a grand crusade, yet they are as barbaric and brutal as the crusaders of our own history. The imperium they represent is not in the "golden age of technology", that has come and past, they are literally living in the dark ages with high technology. There are inquisitors rooting out heresy on every world, and if that heresy cannot be rooted out, they do not blink an eye at annihilating entire worlds or star systems to prevent apostasy spreading.

So, they are in a Jihad. And their goal is to kill all who refuse to follow the prescribed religion. Now I know why I didnt find it appealing. Sounds too familiar....

Most people have no idea how technology works, and instead of it being maintained by mechanics or advanced by science, it is left to the tech preists who will deliver the holy prayers to the "machine spirit", and apply the holy oils and lubricants to keep the machine working. Hell, they will also deliver the sacred smack with a wrench if that got the machine working 500 years ago!!
It is an age of ignorance and fear, not enlightenment, and the sheer violence is just expected. It is an age where fascism and religion have joined forces in the worst way you could imagine, and it is spread over countless galaxies.

I like your explanation. It makes the movie make more sense now. I could actually like it if I go back into it with that explanation. It was definitely entertaining.


That makes perfect sense.[/quote]

 

[Joelist]

That is a good point - they have technology but no understanding of how or why it works. Even the "technicians" are performing their tasks by rote - for example they have no understanding of why the legionary emblem blazes in the presence of chaos or why that hammer is particularly effective versus "demons". In both cases it is technologically based - the banner pole has technology that blazes light when it detects the "chaos" form of psychic energy and the hammer (a thunder hammer) likewise has tech built into it that can disperse chaos psychic energy it comes into close contact with.

 

[Gatefan1976]

So, they are in a Jihad. And their goal is to kill all who refuse to follow the prescribed religion. Now I know why I didnt find it appealing. Sounds too familiar....

How did I know you were gonna make that comparison...............................

The thing of it is though, there -are- other threats out there, be they Orks or Tyranids (think Aliens, but with more biodiversity) that need to be stopped, and yes, there is even a cultural imperative as well that makes them want to fight races like the Tau (think roswell aliens with high tech, and know how to use it) who's only crime is to believe in "the greater good for all"
Apostasy in this instance could be a massive ork invasion force, or a genestealer cult (think of aliens, but having human looking recruiters who promise freedom, but turn you into breeding chambers), Or it could just be, like you said, people railing against the god emperor.

There is far more too it of course, the 40k mythology is a rich environment, if very, very dark.

I like your explanation. It makes the movie make more sense now. I could actually like it if I go back into it with that explanation. It was definitely entertaining.

Marines are the best of the best (sound familiar HO-RAAAA!!), they are genetically engineered to be superior to normal humans in every way and they use the genetic material of the Emperors children to make them that way. They are the living embodiment of the Emperors wrath, his holiest of soldiers, yet nigh on all of them are flawed to some degree or another.

Play dawn of war, it will give you some insight into the 40K universe.

 

[Gatefan1976]

That is a good point - they have technology but no understanding of how or why it works. Even the "technicians" are performing their tasks by rote - for example they have no understanding of why the legionary emblem blazes in the presence of chaos or why that hammer is particularly effective versus "demons". In both cases it is technologically based - the banner pole has technology that blazes light when it detects the "chaos" form of psychic energy and the hammer (a thunder hammer) likewise has tech built into it that can disperse chaos psychic energy it comes into close contact with.

Thunder hammers are good at, errr............ "dispersing" anything they come into contact with

 

[Overmind One]

BTW, to fix the sound issue with the booms and bangs, I opened up the movie in VLC, went to Tools, Effects and Filters, then enabled the Graphic Equalizer for audio and adjusted accordingly.

 

[Joelist]

And the enemy in the film are Chaos Space Marines. These are former Marines who fell prey to "chaos" and in the process have become very twisted and evil (as the nature of the killing noted in the film illustrates):

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Chaos

And the Marines in the film are part of the Ultramarines chapter, which I linked in the OP. They are unique amongst the Space Marines in a number of respects. They are required by their code to protect innocents, to honor treaties and committments and their little corner of the Imperium (actually their own subfief) is according to game canon patterned after Rome and not nearly as oppressive as the rest of the Imperium.
--- merged: Jun 7, 2015 at 10:04 PM ---

BTW, to fix the sound issue with the booms and bangs, I opened up the movie in VLC, went to Tools, Effects and Filters, then enabled the Graphic Equalizer for audio and adjusted accordingly.

Makes perfect sense.

 

[Overmind One]

And the enemy in the film are Chaos Space Marines. These are former Marines who fell prey to "chaos" and in the process have become very twisted and evil (as the nature of the killing noted in the film illustrates):

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Chaos

And the Marines in the film are part of the Ultramarines chapter, which I linked in the OP. They are unique amongst the Space Marines in a number of respects. They are required by their code to protect innocents, to honor treaties and committments and their little corner of the Imperium (actually their own subfief) is according to game canon patterned after Rome and not nearly as oppressive as the rest of the Imperium.
--- merged: Jun 7, 2015 at 10:04 PM ---


Makes perfect sense.

The way the Marines actually LOOK reminds me a whole lot of those in Starcraft I and II (Terrans).

 

[Gatefan1976]

Ultramarines are dirty Frenchmen.................

Long live Sanguinius!!

 

[Overmind One]

Ultramarines are dirty Frenchmen.................

Long live Sanguinius!!

Is there a "prime" movie I can watch on these guys which tells the backstory, or is it only in books?

 

[Gatefan1976]

Is there a "prime" movie I can watch on these guys which tells the backstory, or is it only in books?

And I am the young, out of touch one

Need to read some books my friend.
Here Ya go: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Marines

 

[Overmind One]

And I am the young, out of touch one

Need to read some books my friend.
Here Ya go: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Marines

You’re not young and out of touch. . Your world is a different place than the one I grew up in, thats all. Mine isnt better, its just different. I dont mean to be a curmudgeon.

This game series...is it any good? Standard fare strategy game? Shooter game? It's amazing how some of these games (like Starcraft and Diablo) have compelling stories to tell and well developed characters you can follow (and play as, if you dare). Some of the cutscenes in these same games are on the level of theatrical cinema.

 

[Joelist]

The quality of the games varies, but there are 40K games in the boardgaming, miniatures, roleplaying and video gaming areas.

As to their look, what is interesting is that the Space Marines and their look were created by Games Workshop in the mid 1980s, and as such predates Starcraft by around 13 years and Diablo of course is more recent than that.

Here are some links to 40K game products (note that Warhammer Fantasy is not the same as 40K):

40k videogames:


40K miniatures:

http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Warhammer-40-000

40K by Fantasy Flight Games (who I mentioned upthread as creating better 40K content than Games Workshop in my opinion):

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/#/universe
--- merged: Jun 8, 2015 at 3:58 AM ---
Side note, can we possibly stop wikis from having their links expand into full panels?

 

[Gatefan1976]

You’re not young and out of touch. . Your world is a different place than the one I grew up in, thats all. Mine isnt better, its just different. I dont mean to be a curmudgeon.

Aww, but you do it so well in other threads

This game series...is it any good? Standard fare strategy game? Shooter game? It's amazing how some of these games (like Starcraft and Diablo) have compelling stories to tell and well developed characters you can follow (and play as, if you dare). Some of the cutscenes in these same games are on the level of theatrical cinema.

A tad more advanced than your basic strategy game as your main "leaders" can advance in level and get specialized gear, and you don't have to deal with the base building aspects of most RTS's
I guess the best way to describe it is a fusion of RTS and RPG in computer game terms.

 

[Gatefan1976]

The quality of the games varies, but there are 40K games in the boardgaming, miniatures, roleplaying and video gaming areas.

As to their look, what is interesting is that the Space Marines and their look were created by Games Workshop in the mid 1980s, and as such predates Starcraft by around 13 years and Diablo of course is more recent than that.

Here are some links to 40K game products (note that Warhammer Fantasy is not the same as 40K):

40k videogames:


40K miniatures:

http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Warhammer-40-000

40K by Fantasy Flight Games (who I mentioned upthread as creating better 40K content than Games Workshop in my opinion):

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/#/universe
--- merged: Jun 8, 2015 at 3:58 AM ---
Side note, can we possibly stop wikis from having their links expand into full panels?

I still have the first book (rogue trader) that was ever made for 40K

 

[Joelist]

Did your reading include the development where the Ultramarines got the Inquisition barred from entering their subfief?