[Movie] Warcraft (June 2016)

[Wikiy]

I think this is Thrall; "There's been a war between orcs and humans, for as long can be remembered. But there was once a time when we didn't even know who our enemy was. Or what that evil magic, the fel, had done to us." He is describing the present.

And this is Durotan; "But in the beginning, how could we have known? What choice did we have? Our world was dying. And I had to find my clan a new home." He is describing the "plan" he had back then, before they left Draenor.

So you think the narrator literally changes during the prologue, but keeps the exact identical voice and style? Yes, it's his son, but come on, no one literally inherits the voice of their parent to such a degree.

On another note, with regards to the many reactions from North American viewers... Seems to me Blizzard should move to Europe or China because, holy fuck, that's a lot of irrationality going on in NA. We even have a few potential substance users in this thread, complaining about the Warcraft cinematic universe beginning at the... Oh my god, beginning. Well where else should it have begun, lol?

[SocialJusticeWarrior]

Warcraft movie... ain't as bad as some reviews say but there were a few things that held the movie back.

What they got right:

-Depiction of orc culture was the best thing in the movie.
-Orc relationships are more compelling than anything on the human side (Blizz needs a dude who loves the Alliance as much as Chris Metzen loves Orcs).
-The armor on the human characters was very well done. The exaggerated proportions did not look cartoonish, just high fantasy aesthetic on film. Same thing with the architecture.
-There's an orc vs orc fight late in the movie that had great fight choreography.

What made me sigh:

-Human vs orc fight choreography was spotty at best. Sometimes inventive, most the time just orc's smashing humies once and then next. Would have preferred more even fights like in the very first WC3 cinematic.
-Khadgar was stupid. In the beginning he was unbearable, got a lot better by the end. Actor doesn't have much presence or gravitas. He also spends a scene talking to Glenn Close where the green screen is going so hard it looks like some 1990s shit.
-Lothar's son. Jesus christ. It looked like a 12 year old in plate armor. Sounded so flat when he said “For Azeroth!”
-This movie is why we don't have American accents in fantasy movies. It sounds weird. Especially when they say nerd shit. They almost sound like goddamn DnD players and it made me cringe. Only American accent that I've seen pulled off well in fantasy was Geralt from the Witcher series.
-Eye glow needs to be toned back. Shit was like lens flare. What's cool here and there becomes a joke once over played.
-I spewed my drink out when I saw the Asian High Elf. WTF! I mean even the white man elf was pretty stupid (flat line delivery+overdone eye glow), but when they have the Asian one at the end... ridiculous. I don't give a damn if brown/yellow people are in my European derived high fantasy, because I can buy that maybe they're from that universe's brown/yellow person culture, but when you have an ELF, something from fuckin' Nordic myth, creatures known for very angular, chiseled features... it reeks of soft hearted WE ARE THE WORLD shit, which I hate. Not to mention it goes against how Elves have been portrayed in every single instance in Warcraft.

Speaking of which, Warcraft lore has become very pussified as of late. Around Cataclysm it got all “WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER” kind of shit, about the same time Metzen's testosterone levels dropped off the cliff. I dislike this because it has a way of making everyone on the same side and muting genuine conflict, which is the basis of all drama.

CASE IN POINT: The high point of Warcraft lore is oft regarded to be the WC3 era, when you had the multiple factions of equal import as opposed to two homogenized sides.

All in all this movie succeeded in making me long for a Warhammer movie.

[eillas]

I guess we'll wait and watch to see how the Director's Cut turns out because the theatrical version was on par with Eragon and the like.

lol, I am sorry. But that comparison is like calling it the Battlefield Earth of our century.

[daywalker02]

I thought about it..... I think one of the reasons they did not show too much of Demon Blood or blood at all is because it is still PG 13

Probably a reason they did not show Orcs drinking Mannoroth's blood, instead just showing some green fel energy to replace it

[fakaroonie]

Saw it 3 times, last in imax. cgi in imax is on a whooole different level, just wow.
Most disturbing thing was Llane actor having shitty boring lines.
And that Khadgar saying literally "i am the guardian of the shi-" in goldshire wtf.
Who was that red haired dude that was assisting Gul'dan? Killrog? well in the leaked stuff when he snaps the neck of a human, he is more brutal and menacing. But in the movie he almost has no facial expression.
Also how hard would have been to make some known orcs that participated in these wars like the saurfang bros? yea grom and kargath ok, but they were a lot more known orcs.
Same goes for the humans and easter eggs in general which were way too few.

[daywalker02]

I just got back from seeing it in 3d, the theater was maybe just under 1/4 full for the 9:45 viewing. I personally give it a 6, it was ok but nothing to get real excited about....nor completely hate for that matter (looking at you, critics).

The two people I was with gave it a 7 and an 8. The 7 said he had trouble following some of it but still enjoyed it and was asking what happens with gul'dan. 8 said she liked the cgi, the orcs, baby thrall, and Ragnar lothbrok(I personally couldn't get past this, with his short sentences and that head cock thing he constantly does but I still liked him I guess. Who better to defend Azeroth from orcs than Ragnar right?).Neither one of my companions have ever played wow, so it was kind of neat to see that they enjoyed it more than me.

Will give a better review when I get on a computer.

Ragnar Lothbrok always does that head cock and him and Floki always seem to be trippin

[Aori]

I think the complaint is more they don't know what the demand will be and so warcraft will have a poor opening weekend because there is less availability. Next week they may increase the showings based on the numbers.

That is essentially what I'm saying. With so little times available people are going to have to pass on Warcraft because of other commitments. There are only 2 2D showings for Warcraft in my area this weekend. Warcrafts numbers would be higher if it actually had more showings.

[Jagang]

Just got back from seeing it. Honestly it was pretty good, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

I'm also not the sort to really listen to internet rant, so I don't check things like Rotten Tomatoes, etc. That might have had something to do with it.

It was a little cheesy at points, but I expected a lot more of that than there was. I was pleased to see that the movie had draenei in it (not a lot, so don't get your hopes up), and I felt really bad for them. :\

"But I need them." I don't know how anyone could dislike that character.

[daywalker02]

Yesterday's Italian Box Office:

#1. NYSM2 - 147.841€
#2. Warcraft - 91.895€
#3. Alice - 83.760€

Conjuring 2 won't be out until 23/06.

I am afraid that the Euro (soccer tourney) could affect the numbers for the slightly worse

It is big in Europe and Asia

[Frozen Death Knight]

Could ask you the same thing? If you have nothing intelligent to say then piss off.

To be frank, what you have said thus far is honestly pretty narcissistic and stupid.

- - - Updated - - -

Some people have much less standards and are pleased a lot easier then i am, i've come to accept this over the years. There is no excuse for paper thin characters and under developed ones with the rich lore WoW has to offer it's that simple.

That is pretty laughable. Get off your high horse. You have never produced anything in your life that would justify this kind of attitude, so get over yourself.

- - - Updated - - -

The whole reason would be for the community you would never be forgotten! My first question to the people responsible for this film would be how do you take longer then the 1st LOTR and still manage to develop paper thin characters and hardily tap into one of the best storytelling lores in history. These idiots got so concerned on CGI, doing cool shit and smashy smashy that they forgot WoW's greatest strengths they used one of the best lores in history and produced a film as deep as a sidewalk puddle.

The Fellowship of the Ring was 2 hours and 58 minutes long when it was in theaters, while the WarCraft movie was 2 hours and 3 minutes (2 hours and 43 minutes if the cut footage was added in). You are factually wrong here by a huge margin.

[Wikiy]

I am afraid that the Euro (soccer tourney) could affect the numbers for the slightly worse

It is big in Europe and Asia

Less big in Asia, and Warcraft has mainly done its work in Europe as it is. The Euro will hurt the movie very little at this point. It would have hurt it a lot more if it had released in Europe the same time as in NA, but, thankfully, they were smart enough to put the release a bit earlier.

[daywalker02]

Less big in Asia, and Warcraft has mainly done its work in Europe as it is. The Euro will hurt the movie very little at this point. It would have hurt it a lot more if it had released in Europe the same time as in NA, but, thankfully, they were smart enough to put the release a bit earlier.

The daily numbers in China started to decrease the day France kicked off against Romania, and today

1st day 46 Million
2nd day 46 Million
3rd day 33 Million

today so far 17 Million

Do not underestimate how many are watching at home instead of going to the theater around 8 or 9 pm

and it is not looking good for midnight sale (1 am-2 am)

[Deleted]

Can someone explain how the movie needs 500 million to break even if it cost 160 million to make? Marketing costs? But the marketing was abyssmal and seemed to be cheap. Where does this come from?

[vitor210]

I went yesterday to see it with my gf here in Portugal, even though she never played any of the Warcraft franchise she loved the story. Also, the theater was not completely full but it had more than 50% attendance, on a friday afternoon, way more than the usual attendance I'm used to since some years ago

[Deleted]

The daily numbers in China started to decrease the day France kicked off against Romania, and today

1st day 46 Million
2nd day 46 Million
3rd day 33 Million

today so far 17 Million

Do not underestimate how many are watching at home instead of going to the theater around 8 or 9 pm

and it is not looking good for midnight sale (1 am-2 am)

Point is that decrease is "normal". That's how that should be usually.

[Wikiy]

The Fellowship of the Ring was 2 hours and 58 minutes long when it was in theaters, while the WarCraft movie was 2 hours and 3 minutes. You are factually wrong here by a huge margin.

And another of his complaints is also blatantly wrong; that we didn't get deep lore. What we got was a modified, deepified (new word) version of the Warcraft 1 lore. We got the story of an orc who is brave enough to get himself killed by being soul drained by a maniac, thus showing his people what said maniac truly is. That there is already a great story arc, let alone the fact that it's a huge setup for an even greater story arc; The Green Moses. The dude who now not only has to live up to the legendary memory of his father (something that literally wasn't a thing in this precious set of ideas the lore purists think is lore), but also outdo it. Something we know he will do. Man, after seeing Durotan die in such a way, I cannot wait to see Thrall become the warchief. Gul'Dan ends up eventually passing the Horde (through his own acts against Durotan) down to the descendant of his greatest enemy. The irony is precious.

And there are many more threads of deep story in all of this - like Orgrim. We watch him betray his friend, live to regret it and then have to stand still as his friend dies in a really brutal manner because he knows his friend is trying to achieve something with that death. We also know that Orgrim allowed the whole Green Moses story arc by saving him and his mother. I.e., we get a morally grey character, or rather one who learns as he goes, we get to see him evolve.

Now, the story arcs that were mostly true to the lore are the ones that were relatively boring. Medivh and Khadgar being the prime examples. Almost the only thing that made Garona's arc interesting is the ending, where she is now a false member of the Horde, having killed the king. Her arc is only yet to begin, because her current situation requires a resolution, and it will be really interesting. Her story, in the lore, was already done at this point.

My two ultimate points - we got some deep story arcs, but it could be said that it's difficult to notice due to the fact that Duncan is trying to tell a story from two sides in two hours, where, for example, The Fellowship of the Ring followed one side for three hours. And the second point - lore is not the golden standard of everything. It is not a perfect, unchangeable thing.

[zorkuus]

Can someone explain how the movie needs 500 million to break even if it cost 160 million to make? Marketing costs? But the marketing was abyssmal and seemed to be cheap. Where does this come from?

The studio doesn't get 100% of the ticket sales. The theaters need their share too.

[Wikiy]

The daily numbers in China started to decrease the day France kicked off against Romania, and today

Correlation does not equal causation. There are many more reasons why the numbers would drop off.

Why would Asians ever follow something so daft, from their perspective, as football?

[Zoreslav]

Can someone explain how the movie needs 500 million to break even if it cost 160 million to make? Marketing costs? But the marketing was abyssmal and seemed to be cheap. Where does this come from?

$160 production + P&A $110M

[daywalker02]

Correlation does not equal causation. There are many more reasons why the numbers would drop off.

Why would Asians ever follow something so daft, from their perspective, as football?

Why they are watching, I guess you did not follow the soccer boom that is happening in China the last two years and the President has been a fan.

It goes into politics, every kid should play.... but that is material for another forum or convo