Finally
The messiah has arrived.
I can't help but hold in a chuckle even during the preloader. I had hyped up this series entire since the start, and I've been satisfied with each. Humor, much. This was in production for a long while I'll assume, and such a wonderful title deserves more than a gratiutious showcasing on NG.
Next time, I'll pay for my ticket. Kay.
Bravo
lolaids. superb job.
++atmospheric++
Alot of your more recent cartoons remind me of BW Drama Theater. Even atb made a few bwdt episodes by scanning paper drawings into flash.
Its stylish, yet I'm left wanting to see a bit more story, besides the usual house of lunatics.
Moreover, you should defidently contact Alan himself and get some collab work.
++Another great addition++
Graphics:
You have pretty much a defined graphics style now. The animation is silky smooth, and the character design is comic book stylish. This movie feels like it could have been a comic in its past, was pumped with steroids, and into motion. Brilliant visuals; It has made this ride some great eye candy in addition to its unfolding plot.
Sounds and Music:
All of the sounds and musicical scores sound proffesionally done - as if made in a studio. It is obvious you are using some heavy equipment to pull off the echos, voice effects, and the timeless background score that fits hand in hand with the action. If you are not, I give you props as well for taking advantage of whatever software and hardware you have available to you.
Voice Acting:
Everyone is acted out and done very well. Dirge and the girl have been had their characters defined up to Chapter 6, and I expect them to continue their legacies. Dirges voice creates a strong manly character, in contrast to a soft inocent girly voice. He sounds like he as aged alot, and has been through alot. The graphics back up the voices; the voices back up the graphics. Its beautiful execution.
Overall:
As thin as the plot originally was, it has become deep and enthralling.
Flash series don't get much better than this. Every aspect of your movie backs up its well executed plot. The action sequences, and dialoguees both have an extremely cinematic feel to them. I don't think the series would be as great if it lacked sounds or visuals, but sensory stimulation is key to produces a fun movie.
My favorite moment was when the robot was about to say Dirges real name, "Mr -", and got cut off by the raptor crashing into them. I dont' know if this small detail was meant to show that their is more yet to be revealed about Dirge's past, or I am just off my rocker.
The verdict: Another great chapter; I can't wait for 7.
++What a riot!++
Graphics:
I like your simplistic characters. Although you could probably do some more elaborate animation, it really isn't deemed neccessary since this movie is about wit and humor, rather than looks.
Voice Acting:
I love how great your voice actors help to define your characters. This is a loyal followup to the first one, and you can expect what sorts of crazy things will be said by certain characters. The voices really add depth to the three guys, and the humor helps to bring those deep characteristics and personality to the surface.
Music:
It is wonderful how the music at the end scene complimented the humor so much. You make all aspects of this movie work hand in hand. I don't know if you wrote and did that song yourself, or you got it from elsewhere, but it was used great; very suitable for this type of randomly humorous movie.
Humor:
You've got such an awesome script here. Great actors can make a shit script, a great script can make shit actors work. In this case, the great voice actors make this hilarious script work even better. I like the flash backs, and how the same joke is played twice and works even better the second time around (toga toga toga). The sheer randomness, and not knowing what to expect next in such simple and passe situations worked out brilliantly.
You can throw any characters into a mall, and sit them down at a table to have a conversation. But only when your characters are defined so well, can you have such a great movie.
Your three leads contrast so well, that they actually work nicely being together. There are dumb dumb comedies, and there are smart dumb comedies. It is obvious which one this is.
Can't wait for number three. Hopefully you can keep this series going strong for a while. Don't be afraid to introduce new characters if your scenarios get boring or repetative.
The verdict: worth watching twice.
++Good, but could improve alot++
Graphics:
Stick figures are the basis for any character. The movie would have felt more complete if you added a bit more complexity to the bodies, instead of just going Joe Zombie style and making unique faces. The difference between Joe Zombie's characters and these, is that his were executed better and animated more fluidly. Although I don't mean to make the two movies comprable, you could have taken a different approach on the character design here. Simplistic bodies and detailed environments make this movie seem more like a, well, alpha version - or an incomplete concept. The blood effects were nicely done, as were the environments and the weaponry - Nice job on making closer / farther objects go out of focus. The only other gripe I have with the characters, are the mutants; They fail to intiminate or scare me. I don't know if your aiming for a zombie look, or just a gross infected look, but add more texture and detail to make the enemy appear rugged and strong - even if he is a stick figure.
Sound effects and music:
I enjoyed most of your soundtracks, notably the theme from the Rock, and the music playing during the church scene. The heavy rock after your [second] introduction could've been replaced with something a bit more atmospheric. Its hard to tell if you are trying to achieve a movie emphasised on action or focused on atmosphere. If action - heavy rock suits it fine, but if you are trying to set a heavy mood for your audience, you might want to change the playlist.
Most of the sound effects were clear and crisp, such as gunshots. Maybe add soft footstep noises when the characters walk on soft ground, or a floor.
The script / the Voice acting:
This was one of my major problems with this flash. The graphics were decent, and so was the music and voice acting. What really could've pushed this movie far was a better script. This type of story has had its cards put on the table in the same way and many others a thousand plus times. If you want to make this the best it can be, take the time to make its story and the character dialogue original and suprising.
You are skilled with most aspects of flash, except you seem to fall behind on story telling and overall execution here, so let me help you out:
You want some sort of pace to your movie. The music, action scenes, and dialogue all need to fit hand and hand, and move steadily throughout to reach a proper climax. Yes, offbeat movies are amazing, but it is almost impossible to execute in such a way. Romeo and Juliet was written in verse, to the throbbing of a heart beat. All scripts have somewhat of a heart, with their own beat; In an action movie, action requires the artist to pump adrenaline into its heart and speed up the tempo.
Once you get the pacing down, you need to remove all passe lines from the movie. The introduction in the lab - they aren't going to say "Keith? Is that your name? I believe it is." [gL] questionably. If the scientists are performing an experiment on him, I would sure hope that they are aware of who exactly they are experimenting on. All the dialogue in the church could have been a bit more dramatic, by making sense. She stormed out of there on her dying buddy and easily took out a horde of mutants. The "good luck" scene [before Keith goes to bomb the hideout] could have been played out differently. It is a wonderful method to put a few lines in a different language; It will give a mysterious intimacy to your movie. Buona fortuna is good luck in Italian, and it sounds much more epic.
I don't mean to bust your balls on every little error I came across in your movie, but a series is best when each episode improves and builds off of the previous one. I like where this series is going, and you can make it out of this world.
"Buona fortuna".
I wish you luck with your series.
++Fifen this++
Graphics:
Extremely smooth drawings + extremely well done animation = Best looking series on Newgrounds. The voices, bodies, and faces all looked realistic, yet had a nice cartoony feel to them. Since the characters were so symmetrical, it had a natural movement to it aswell- Your walk cycles are amazing. Your exquisite design makes for a very proffesional looking cartoon. I love the camera pans, the special effects, and the lighting. Your scenery and characters in the moon light added added to this chapter's extra element, mystery.
Voice Acting:
All the characters had well done voices; Sinister characters sounded evil, goofy characters sounded stupid, intellegent characters sounded enlightened and inspired, alert characters sounded suspicous. The voice acting really helped add more than pulchritudinousness to the characters, a sense of depth.
Sounds and Music:
All the sounds, music, and effects helped propel the voice acting. I loved how they fart echoed through the cave, and the voices echoed through the open stone room. Such effects really added to the atmosphere and overall mood from each scene. The music was subtle and didn't overpower the voice acting which is good.
Story:
I love where you are going with this story. The first chapter was much happier and brighter, and Ch2 has a very dark story, yet it is comprable to Ch1. The cartoony style taken on by the character design and the voice acting gave me a secure feeling, but I knew Evil was going to rear its ugly head. The protagonist and antagonists both fufill their stereotype which is amusing and scary at the same time.
When making a movie, you don't always write a script because is original, or funny, or scary. When you combine different story telling elements, and fuse different emotions [while executing a simple plot along the way] that is when you have entertainment. I want to feel intiminated by the bad guys, and befriended by the good guys, and understand what tempations each of these characters is apt to falling for as the movie progresses.
Awesome job.
The verdict: Thumbs way up
Thank you for your thoughtful review of our cartoon. Your response to our work is very much in line with our overall intent with Fantastic Realm. Reviews like yours are the most beneficial to our creative development. We appreciate your praise for our work but most importantly your thorough feedback on each aspect of the movie. Our goal is to improve upon the overall quality of our series with each new episode. We are very interested in knowing what aspects are working and what are in need of improvement. Thanks again for the great review! We hope you continue to enjoy our work!
++spank my ass and call me susie++
Graphics:
Your frame by frame animation is amazing. Your character movement and anime style jumpyness makes this toon really engaging. The colors, attention to detail in the background, and lighting were all exceptional.
Style:
You seem to have an original brand of animation and humor. You take a very cinematic approach at most of your movies. The 'camera' work is great. Some of the angles you did were very proffesional looking. ie: the panning in the milk bar, and when link was lying on his back looking up at Zelda who's front was darked by the sunshine.
Music:
I watched this movie twice and wrote down the songs I really admired being used in this. 'The good, the bad, and the ugly' music used for the scene when link draws his Donkey Keys was used nicely. The memorable peices of music really made this movie that much funnier. I noticed you used 'the Sims' construction theme a few times; The epic 'The Rock' theme song used when Link has his fantasy about saving Saria, the 'Kill Bill' theme song when Link prepares to fight but then flees, and the opening sequence with the epic 'Ranch' theme playing. The music really made this movie.
Sounds:
The voices were probably streamed since the quality wasn't too clear. But it would be almost impossible to produce clear quality voices when you have already gone over the size limit by 2 mbs, ha. Most sound effects were done well though, from swords, to the grapple, to the watterfalls at the kokiri (sp) forest.
Humor:
Humor wise this was a great follow up to your first one. Alot of the humor might not be understand if you haven't played ZeldaOOT, or if your not a very avid dedicated fan to it. The race scene at the graveyard was humorous, and so was the whole sequence in the lost woods. Some jokes, such as Links 'noble steed', could be understood universally, so I'm glad you included funny moments for both the hardcore fans, and the casual fans.
Overall, you did an awesome job on this. The music really pulled the artwork and the humor together for me. All of the characters had personality, and were so closely similiar to the ones from the actual game.
In a fictional movie, the idea to create very unique and defined characters. The same goes for a comedy, except the characters have some weird unreachable unwholesome desire, yet such desires are understood by humanity.
That is when you hit comic gold- And Jerry, you have struck gold.
++wow++
Graphics: Your black and white atmosphere was amazing. Your animation was well done, and the characters ran smoothly. Your 'camera' angles were so cinematic and stylish I couldn't get over it.
Style: I love how all the emotion and chemistry was expressed through the animation and the music - voices could have broken this movie. Having no dialogue was the best risk you took for this movie. This film's visuals and music were very old school - as in 30'-50's.
Overall:
Awesome job, you created a long well paced story that provided its happy moments and its sad moments at the right time. I hope to see more of your work on newgrounds.
adieu.
++Good job++
Hey ty!
I' ve seen this before but wasn't sure if I got a chance to review it.
graphics:
awsome effects. great blurring of fast moving objects, and really smooth framerate and animation.Nice gore too.
style:
it is a madness tribute, and you fufill the madness style. :)
violence/ humor:
I love how someone getting beat with a street sign can be so gory and humorous, all at the same time. great job.
-
Age 34, Male
student.
Joined on 11/7/03
Arfenhouse Teh Movie 3 
Timmy has Aids 
B/W Cartoon About Berries 
Xombie: Chapter 6 
Malltime Musings 2 
Alpha Soldiers: Part II 
Fantastic Realm Chapter 2 
The Real Legend 2 
The Composer 
Madness Dream 