Ultramarines: The Movie[2] is a 70-minute
science fiction thriller
CGI movie set in
Games Workshop's fictional
Warhammer 40,000 universe and based around the
Ultramarines[3] Chapter of
Space Marines. The screenplay was written by
Black Library author
Dan Abnett.
Terence Stamp,
[4] Sean Pertwee[5] and
John Hurt[6] head the cast of voice actors.
[7]Plot
Captain Severus
[8] of the Ultramarines Chapter receives a distress signal on the planet of Mithron.
[9] The only site of importance is a shrine guarded by a full company of the Imperial Fists, implying that if they are calling for help, matters are truly dire. Leaving the bulk of his company on Algol to continue an ongoing campaign, Severus sets off for Mithron with only the ten-man Ultima Squad for support. Accompanying is Apothecary Pythol, a veteran of many battles and Severus's de facto advisor. In the squad itself, Battle Brothers Proteus and Verenor are the most eager to prove themselves in battle. On the tough and unforgiving surface of Mithron, Ultima Squad discovers that a terrible battle has taken place. The planet's
Imperial shrine has been desecrated, the Imperial Fists detachment has been annihilated and vile evils unleashed. As unseen dangers close in around them, the recruits have to mount a tense and deadly insertion to find any surviving
Imperial Fists, and the reason behind the distress beacon.
While investigating the ruins of the shrine, the Ultramarines are ambushed by Chaos Space Marines from the Black Legion. Several Ultramarines, including Sergeant Crastor, are killed but the ambush is thwarted. The squad continues on but they are again ambushed, this time by a Daemon Prince. The Daemon kills another Ultramarine and engages in combat with Captain Severus, and both combatants tumble over a cliff. With Severus gone and Sergeant Crastor dead, command of the squad falls to Proteus. While the rest of Ultima Squad wants to return to their strike cruiser and wait for reinforcements, Proteus decides to continue on to the distress beacon. At the reliquary at the shrine's summit, they find Chaplain Carnak and Brother Nidon, the sole surviving Imperial Fists. They reveal they have been protecting the Liber Mithrus, an ancient tome given to the Imperial Fists at their founding by the Emperor himself, and is a sacred relic to them. Ultima Squad agrees to help Carnak and Nidon take the book to safety, but Verenor and Proteus are suspicious about how just the two of them have managed to survive for so long.
As Ultima Squad retreats to the extraction point, they are attacked by a massive force of Black Legion Marines. During the fight, Ultima Squad kills many of the attackers, but suffer heavy casualties as well. When it looks like Ultima Squad will be overwhelmed, Severus suddenly appears and with his help, the remains of Ultima Squad, Carnak, and Nidon manage to escape back to the strike cruiser. Upon their return, Proteus confides to Severus about his suspicions of Carnak and Nidon. Both Proteus and Severus confront the Imperial Fists, with Severus taking the book and discovering that it is empty. Declaring that Carnak is tainted by Chaos, Severus shoots and kills him. However, Proteus figures out that Severus was possessed by the Daemon that he fought. The possessed Severus knocks out Proteus, kills the remaining members of Ultima Squad, and heavily injures Pythol. Proteus, Verenor, and Nidon chase Severus and confront him in the ship's reclusium. Severus knocks out Verenor and Nidon and pins down Proteus. He reveals that he plans to possess Proteus, and while disguised as him, stow away on the strike cruiser to reach the Ultramarines' homeworld of Macragge, whereupon he will use the Imperial Fists' tome to open a warp gate, allowing a horde of daemons to descend upon and destroy Macragge. Pythol arrives to help but Severus kills him. However, Pythol's sacrifice allows Proteus to escape Severus' grip and grab one of the Ultramarines' sacred weapons, a Thunder Hammer. Proteus uses the Thunder Hammer to kill Severus and banish the Daemon possessing him.
Afterwards, it is shown that Proteus is eventually promoted to Captain with Verenor as his second in command, and both Marines are preparing to lead their own Ultramarine squad into battle.
Cast
Production
Production of
Ultramarines[10] was announced at the 2009
Games Day at the
Birmingham NEC.
Ultramarines movie is being made by UK-based production company
Codex Pictures[11] under licence from
Games Workshop, working in association with Good Story Productions Ltd
[12] and Montreal based POP6 Studios.
[13]Animation
Ultramarines[14] utilized
Image Metrics[15] animated facial capture techniques. Image Metrics' previous credits include
Grand Theft Auto IV,
Assassin's Creed II,
NBA 2K10,
Black Eyed Peas’ video "
Boom Boom Pow" and
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
In 2006,
The New York Times heralded Image Metrics' techniques as
‘technology that captures the soul’.
[16]A short teaser sequence showcasing
[17] the detail and treatment likely to be employed in the final movie was released on Saturday 29 May 2010, on the official movie website and simultaneously at the MCM Expo at
ExCeL London.
[18]The second trailer for Ultramarines the movie was premiered at UK
Games Day at the NEC, Birmingham Sunday September 26, 2010.
[19]Crew
The screenplay for
Ultramarines[20] has been written by
Dan Abnett.
[21] Abnett has written more than 25 books for
Games Workshop’s
Black Library including the
Gaunt's Ghosts series, the
Eisenhorn trilogy and
Ravenor spin-off and more recently, three books of the
Horus Heresy series: the series opener
Horus Rising,
Legion, and
Prospero Burns. Abnett also works regularly for
2000 AD,
[22] Marvel Comics[23] and
DC Comics[24] and has recently seen publication of the first of three novels for
HarperCollins'
[25] new sci-fi, fantasy and horror imprint, Angry Robot.
[26]The director is
Martyn Pick,
[27] whose credits include the 2009 film
The Age of Stupid,
[28] on which he was animation director; London 2012,
[29] the promotional film commissioned by Film London and the London Development Agency which was premiered at the Beijing Olympics; the
2001 US Budweiser NBA commercial; and the celebrated BBC
promotional trailers for the Euro 2004 football tournament. Pick was chosen to direct
Ultramarines for his distinctive ability to fuse live action with animation, and the fluid painterly style of his film-making.
[30]Producer
Bob Thompson[31] is best-known for co-creating the hugely successful
Bionicle IP for the
Lego Company and producing the original multi award-winning
Bionicle movies. The founder of Good Story Productions, a film and TV production studio with multi-platform expertise, Thompson formerly worked at the
BBC and
BBC Worldwide. Thompson said in an interview
[32] in late 2009, ‘One of the many challenges in bringing the
Warhammer 40k universe to the screen is to make a natural transition from
table-top game to film reality. Our art and design team have used extensive source material from
Games Workshop’s
Forge World and publications to ensure every element of the movie is as authentic as possible’.
David Kerney,
[33] producer of the Ultramarines movie and Head of Production for Codex Pictures Ltd, is an experienced media accountant having worked with such companies as
Working Title, Zenith,
Universal Pictures,
20th Century Fox and on the original
Bionicle films for the
Lego Company.
Roddy McManus, co-producer of the Ultramarines movie, is responsible for creative affairs at Pop6 Studios, producing, writing and directing film, television and multimedia. He has held key production and management positions with
Discreet Logic,
Softimage,
Microsoft and
The National Film Board of Canada. McManus began his career as a musician and recording artist for
CBS /
Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
Dan Faucett,
[34] Head of Story,
[35] is a storyboard artist with more than one hundred movie and TV credits, including the original
Bionicle trilogy of DVDs,
Space Jam and the
X-Men TV series.
Alexander Lentjes,
[36] Line Producer and Post Production Supervisor,
[37] has worked as animation producer, director and stereographer on international animated feature films and television productions.
Release
The Special Edition
DVD accompanied by a 32 page hardback graphic novel,
Hard Choices 'What happened on Algol?',
[38] written by
Dan Abnett with art by renowned comic book artist
David Roach, was to be released worldwide on 29 November 2010.
[39]However, the release of the DVD was delayed due to a production problem, as reported by Codex Pictures on the 29th November 2010.
[40] The exact details of the problem have not been released, however Codex Pictures reported that the issue was not with the DVD, but with one of the other components of the collecter's edition DVD.
[41] Many customers were angered by the news, including on fan sites, such as Facebook and internet forums. Frequent complaints included the lack of detail in the updates posted on the official website, the delay in the shipping of the DVD and the irregular responses to emails by Codex Pictures.
[citation needed]Codex Pictures has since announced that the shipping of the film will begin in the week of Monday 6 December, and that they intend to prioritise the dispatch of the film, to their customers, according to the date they received the order, with the last dispatch taking place by the end of the week. This however was not the final resolution of the situation as there are still many people who have pre-ordered as far back as October and not received their package as of January 27th, 2011. This matter is confused further by Codex Pictures's own site still offering the DVD for sale, and not offering clear warning that there remains an issue regarding supply of said media.
[42]Reception
Advanced preview screenings of Ultramarines: The Movie received generally favorable responses from viewers. The film itself is seen favorably however the CGI and animations are considered sub par by some reviewers. The CGI makes the Ultramarines seem "tall" and "thin", whilst much of the "set" of the film is conveniently shrouded in dust; the largest gripe has to be that given the detail and creativity put into Warhammer artwork, the film looks and feels cheap, rushed, and simple.
[43][44][45]After release the film received mixed reviews. Some critics praised the story, saying that it is short but well paced and with good character interaction
[46] while others said the story was simplistic, slow to get to the action, and lacked a sense of mystery and importance.
[47] The music has been seen as a positive aspect of the film, with one reviewer saying that the score was "ominous and awe-inspiring by turn; never over-powering but lending a real atmosphere to the film".
[48] The film's attention to visual detail was also noted, with every piece of stained glass in the background telling a story.
[45] The movie was given average rating of 5.9 out of 10 in IMDB by the users.
[49]References
External links