*shakes head*
You know, normally, I'd be infuriated that you'd sully the name of someone who passed away, discarding every possible shred of descency and respect...
But really, since it's up to Newgrounds voters to keep stuff like this OUT of the Portal, you all have only yourselves to blame...
~Phantos
[4.0/10] "A quick laugh, but not much else."
Ah, we see yet another of the "Movies That Tom Fulp Liked But Got A Lower Score Than He Thinks It Deserves, So He Put It On The Front Page" series. Although I commend him for giving underdog movies a second chance, not everyone thinks that they deserve it. But, he's the admin, and it's not hurting anyone, so I won't object to it. I'll just merely question his taste in Flash movies like the judgemental ass that I am. :P
Now, as for the actual movie in question, there really isn't much to it other than a simple, and quite obvious take on an old rhyme. It should be pretty clear what happens when the boy steps on the crack, and although it was executed with a bit of humour, it still got drawn out and repetitive.
The graphics are fine, but truly nothing to write home about. In fact they're very amateurish. It's clear this is one of this author's first movies. Although it is not brilliantly drawn, it is animated fine. Just don't expect him to win any awards for it.
The voice acting too is ok. Nothing extraordinary, and the character's voices fit well. Again, fine, but nothing spectacular.
Next, the...... the um... Actually, that's pretty much it for this movie. So, yeah, in conclusion, it's good for a quick laugh, but not much else if you're expecting something great, or "front-page material".
~Phantos
[9.0/10] "Truly mindbending."
This is a very rare kind of film indeed. Especially for a site which runs rampant with ridiculous parody skits. Although the wave of of more psychological and inventive flash movies are finally in full force here, they are often overshadowed. It seems people are more interested in a goofy, violent cartoon than a chilling, artistic creation. But thankfully, people are able to see that these are still terrific pieces of art, thanks to so many of these kinds of movies being presented on the front page. I'm glad to see things are finally evening out here between drama and comedy. I guess this isn't such a rare film after all... Though that doesn't make it any less satisfying and thought-provoking.
Let me continue to wax poetic, about the style and creativity that oozes from this flash. The animation, which changes with every second, from scratchy, to lighthearted, to eye-openingly realistic. It's a chilling kaleidascope of style and gloom. Sometimes it's hard to watch, and sometimes you just can't look away. The only problem with this, is that sometimes the animation looks a TAD goofy. Early on, with stick figures and a happy clown riding a unicycle just take away from the seriousness of the film. Or maybe it just defines this as a black comedy... Either way, however, it doesn't affect the movie too much, if at all. Simply something that caught my attention.
Then there's the music, which might not seem like the right kind of background for this movie, but when combined with the eerie and relentless visuals, it fits like a shoe. And the very end is a very clever use of sound on your part, which comes at a very startling and disturbing surprise amidst a surpringly disturbing series of imagery, wrapped around a meaningful, yet disturbing and surprising plot...
In fact, this entire movie leaves me wondering whether or not I should feel more surprised or disturbed, by the time it's over... But then again, if a movie from the same site as Retarded Animal Babies can make me think at all, then it must be worth thinking about.
Cherish the thought. :)
~Phantos
[5.5/10] "A poor performance drags it down..."
*sigh*... It looks like getting bashed by the intro from Arfenhouse 2 hasn't stopped you guys... Don't get me wrong, it's good to roll with the punches instead of giving up entirely, but it would have helped had you actually taken into consideration any of the past criticism, be it from the fans or fellow authors, constructive or retarded, we have given you in the LONG amount of time between the 3rd and 4th installments of this flash tribute.
Now let's take a look at what this movie has to offer. After an EXCRUCIATING load time, the viewer is treated to what may be one of the most graphically entertaining opening scenes ever accomplished through flash. So smoothly and perfectly animated to the music, it really is quite a treat. But from there on out, it slowly, but surely, goes downhill. Soon, the terrific effects used in the earlier parts of the movie, are replaced by almost blank screens, and there's some cutting corners with the sprites towards the end. A fiery background and animated eyes to show BM's fury, is somewhat repeated, except this time with a lazier eye-design, and a simple red screen devoid of background. There are less cool camera effects, and the sprite actions which litter the first few minutes disappear, leaving cold, still sprites with opening mouths for the last scene. All of this leaves me feeling as if the production was more half-assedly assembled as production neared finishing.
The sound, however, is a different story. The music selection was cleverly chosen, properly used for most of the scenes, and is a treat to listen to. And the addition of White Mage's voice actress certainly increases the credibility of this tribute. The calmness and serenity of her performance is a very soothing one indeed. Perhaps too much, as when the writing requires her to be a bit more fed up with her determined ogler, her voice remains calm and pleasant. Though she still did a VERY nice job indeed.
In fact, I would have given the sound a MUCH higher score, if not for you-know-who's relentless SLAUGHTER of one of the most loveably hateful characters ever portrayed in any medium. I'm sure Ohmadon is a fine person, talents and skills all his own. But one of them sure as hell is NOT acting. It's hard to appreciate the effort put into this movie, when there's that one so embarrising voice-over f***ing your ear throughout the entire 10-minute movie. One that took over a year to come out.
In fact, in the 16 MONTHS that this took to come out, you could have held auditions for a much more competent actor to don the voice of BM, or the actor you currently HAVE, could have spent that time preparing for his lines just a tad more. The grammatical and verbal mistakes he makes with his lines are just the tip of the iceberg that sinks this movie. Which is a crying shame, because so much more very well could have been done, but nothing was.
The interactivity is a bit sparse this time around, so I can't give it as high a score as in the last few. And as I mentioned before, it's hard to enjoy the humour of this flash movie, when such a poor performance drags it down... By the next episode, I fear my favourite character, Red Mage, will be verbally decimated as well. However, since White Mage's actress is a newer addition to the cast, perhaps newer people enlisted will fare better than those who started with this earlier on. I can only hope for the best...
Finally, I can understand if you don't think that I could do any better. I have yet to prove my skills on Newgrounds, but I am very willing to at least present myself for a fair audition, to see if I really DO have what it takes, or if I really am just a hypocrite. I'd like to help out, but I can't help, and you can't be helped if you don't listen to anyone's advice or suggestions or complaints. Be it demented or reasonable, be it from experience, or just from opinion. You have to take risks, if you want to make this better.
~Phantos
[6.5/10]
Honestly, I always thought this was an overrated series of tributes to the Zelda series. Mostly due to a lack of originality or style, and the outdated animation, which is reminiscent of poorly made flash movies from nearly half a decade ago. Most notably, the overuse of tweens. Frankly, the overall look of this series are hit or miss(the hit being the more fluid and detailed battle scenes, the miss, being Zelda, who looks like she was drawn in MSPaint... in no greater than 3 minutes of effort). The only real way to save a film with "less than professional-quality" graphics, is if there's a lot of frame-by-frame animation in it. When tweens are used, it's easy to notice. When a LOT of tweening is used, it just makes the entire project look laughable. Yes, it would take a lot more time and effort to put in more frame-by-frame animation in a movie, but tweening is the easy way out, not the solution. The longer you work on something, the better it will turn out. The Matrix Reloaded took 5 years to come out. It took Revolutions 6 months. Granted, both were being worked on at around the same time, but Reloaded was heavily focused upon, while, as most of us can tell, Revolutions was by far one of the biggest hack-jobs of recent cinematic history. But you see what I'm trying to say, right? I can tell you were eager to surprise your fans, but if you had taken longer to work on it, and perhaps worked to make the movie more fluid and "professional", then maybe you would have gotten a bigger surprise out of your fans.
Though that's not to say it ruins this movie entirely. It's just the most noticeable of foibles featured. I just don't enjoy watching something where the quality of how the picture looks drastically changes at random intervals. Actually come to think of it, it seemed like everything OUTSIDE of the fight scene wasn't nearly drawn as well. Every moment outside of Link killing an evil Lord Of The Ring orc extra, the animation is quite gaudy. As I mentioned earlier, the Princess Zelda featured in this series, is one of the worst representations of the character I have ever seen. It lacks depth, detail, and effort, which is really too bad, since the fight scene proves that you have SOME artistic ability. Sometimes it looks very well, sometimes it looks ok, but everything outside of the fight looks like ass. Of course, I make no claims to be able to draw better. I simply have eyesight, and the ability to put my thoughts into words.
As for sound, there wasn't a huge variety, but there was enough to differenciate each scene from the next, and the music and sounds were used well. Nicely done.
I can't say there's a whole lot of "style", 'though, considering this is basically a movie about Link killing things. There isn't even much dialogue, aside from a hammy confession from an injured soldier at the start. And when a movie is soley focused on watching things explode in a bloody pile(sometimes unrealistically, as with the part involving a man getting hit by a single arrow and suddenly bursting), there isn't really much story to judge upon. But then, if anyone is watching this for the story, they're most likely the same people who would read Playboy for the articles.
And you can't really give points for interaction and humour, when a flash is made specifically not to have humour or interaction included. But, at least the play button works, right? :/
I'm really torn between whether or not to give this a 6 or a 7, overall. I'd say it's like a 6.5, so just assume that six at the top of the review has a dot and a 5 after it.
Well, good luck to ye on future flash projects. Though with a fanship as forgiving as yours, I don't think you'll need it. :P
-Phantos
Fine, but nothing to write home about...
Let me start off with the animation. It's fine. Certainly not ugly by any standards, and it gets the job done. There's a fair amount of shading, but there probably could have been more detail put in. Still, it's fine the way it is.
As for the overall presentation, I felt there was a little more to be desired. There isn't any buildup to the clown coming to life. In fact, it happens almost as soon as the movie starts. There isn't any backstory. There isn't much logic to the whole thing. In fact, whatever "plot" there is, is just an excuse to show blood at the end. Which is fine, if it's not meant to be taken seriously and is something along the lines of Mr. Happy Face. But how can we take this one seriously? Not only is the style very cartoonish, but it's also reminiscent of many bad flash movies with pointless violence, except this was done much better than the aforementioned crap that is blammed on a daily basis. I wouldn't even classify this as "scary". In fact, it's this kind of scenario that's already been mocked so many times in flash before, it's impossible to accept this as scary or serious. Because there have been parodies with more surreal and chilling atmosphere than this... Also, it would have helped if the lighting were used better. A lot of people think Silent Hill 4 isn't as scary as the first 3, and that just happens to be the game with much better lighting, destroying the need for a flashlight. It's so much scarier in the dark, because you don't have any idea where the big nasty thing that wants to kill you, is. It's that level of helplessness that makes people afraid, and is why so many people are afraid of the dark. You could have at least tried to bring this into the Flash you've created.
The music, is very nice. Probably the high point of the movie. It's surreal, and sets the mood entirely, but I'm sure there's probably "scarier" circus-style music out there on the internet.
Overall, this isn't a scary flash movie, it isn't visually impressive by today's standards, and the style just doesn't work. But it's not a horrible stain on this 'site's reputation. It's just a movie that doesn't take any chances, and accepts it's own mediocrity.
-Phantos
Holy S***!
I like to think that there's a certain line in the quality sand that determines whether or not works provided to the internet in flash form can be ranged as Really Good Flash, or beyond the limitations of the flash community; The talent and ability to go beyond this form of media and actually pass off as something else more "official" in today's media. Television shows, music videos, and movies are prime examples. Flash is less of an officially renowned art form, and more of a starting point for would-be animators, writers, programmers and what have you. Like, training for possible future positions in the 3 mediums listed above.
Some flash movies are simply very good movies made in Flash. Entertaining in it's own medium, but perhaps not unique or creative or professional enough to stand as it's own original project in the "real world". Others, show great signs of becoming commonplace in the media, should the author(s) ever decide to bring such an idea out into the world. But they remain as simply flash movies. Nothing more than a flashy little presentation for your portfolio. Never going beyond what convention seems to think is the limit. And I can say without a doubt that this film shatters all of those expectations.
This movie, by far, has the most potential to become something beyond a simple flash movie. It's this kind of style, devotion and talent that was not made for music videos, and is a scale too rich for television. If this flash is any indication, you may very well end up making actual feature films one day.
This movie looks fantastic, sounds fantastic, and so professionally done in all aspects, I myself wonder if it even is a Flash movie, and not just a promotional preview for a greater project done in flash. It really is amazing in every category. This project has taken the next big step in the flash community, and has raised the bar for all of us budding artists, writers and programmers.
Or, if you'd like the short review:
This, quite simply, pwns.
-Phantos
Thank you very much. :D
A bit flawed, but Good nonetheless.
I noticed this episode, though it had it's share of humourous aspects, there seemed to be more of a serious aspect to it, in spite of "Sailor Moon is a whore" jokes.
One scene I wasn't too fond of was the fight between Bartz & Cecil. It seemed far too literal, and actually very pointless for Cecil to be saying the lyrics to the entire song throughout the fight. We can figure out the similarities between the song, and the plot. There's a certain thing called subtlety. ;)
Also, you might want to try and work on choreography for upcoming fight scenes. For a good 5 minutes, it seemed like I was watching 2 sprites floating around as their weapons motion tweened against eachother...
Another point I'd like to stress is in the character's personalities. Obviously Shadow only recieved 2% of the eviction votes because he's cool. That's a given. But consider his personality in THIS episode. He's supportive, he does favours for them, defends Cecil in a argument with Rosa, and then Terra later on at his tribe camp. I really like what you've done with him. He knows he's cool and popular, but instead of making him cocky about it, you gave him a very good-hearted nature to him. He's still secretive and shadowy, but there's a valor to him that really makes the character something memorable & unique.
I think you should really consider taking this kind of action with all of the remaining characters. Sure, there are too many right now for each and everyone of them to have individual personalities, but after this eppisode, you can really begin to individualize your cast. Build a foundation of character for your characters. And try to give each character a different personality, or at least show different emotions for the characters in certain scenes so as to differentiate them.
EXAMPLE:
Let's say Terra and Rosa are 2 nice, sweet, kind people, and then hear news that, one of their friends was killed by a bear. Now, they could both be upset, but you could better emphasize that maybe one has a tougher outer shell than the other, by interpreting it through how they respond:
IE:
Rosa: "Oh no! That's horrible! How could this have happened??"
Terra: "That's awful... He was a good person too..."
See? One is very upset, while the other handles the situation better. It makes it easier for the audience to differenciate the two, and thus, make it easier to remember them. ;)
For a more particular, suggestion, you show Bartz laughing maniacally a lot, punching Fighter, "tricking" Rosa into doin' the nasty with him, and brawling a bloody brawl with Cecil. You're establishing very evil characteristics for him, and if he makes it to the next round, I suggest you run with it. REALLY make use of it. After all, what is light, without darkness? And what kind of story would this be without a villain?
I also like how Flik isn't really angry or upset that he lost the challenge. In fact, he even says "Good game" to the victor. Another oppuritunity to flesh out a character here. He doesn't have to be an overly happy kind of guy, but it's nice to see that this character isn't veangeful against the winning team. It seems he's got a fair mind, or at least something like it.
Mario's scene at Newgrounds was REALLY funny. I can see it must have taken a long time to edit those screens properly, because it looks very convincable... All I can suggest is to try and work on better dance sprites for him.
I'd go into further detail, but I'm already running out of room to type. Just keep trying harder and harder to make this a great series, and you'll have a great series in no time. :)
I vote for FIGHTER, to avoid stupid 8-Bit Theatre rip-off jokes(as they are nigh unavoidable in this day and age), and CHRONO. Don't get me wrong, Chrono Trigger was an awesome game, but without speech, there isn't much growth the character can get dramatically. Plus, I don't have the heart to vote for Faris or Megaman...
Well, here's to future episodes.
-Phantos
FIGHTER - CRONO
Wow that was a great review. Thanks a lot for that. And i will try harder to bring out indavidual personalities with each character. Im starting to but its jsut hard to do it with do many characters. As for the disturbed song.... I love the song and thought the words were appropriate for the movie.
Anyway thanks for votes and review
Nice job
I think you put a lot of effort into this, but in the end, the whole thing just seems like a copy-cat of the ROTMK and Mario Bros. series... The uh, the serious one... you know, the 8-Bit one by Phantasmagoria Crow?
I'm sure you could've done a little more to make this stand out... Though a good film overall, it just doesn't quite break the mold of this new wave of cinematic mario flash movies...
Typical Newgrounds Shlock
Mediocre animation, an obscene title, pointless and generic violence to innocent animals, and an all-around idiotic presentation altogether, this is sure to be on the Front Page in no time.
Here's a riddle for you:
Why oh why, did Newgrounds save "The Retard"? Because they can relate.
-Phantos
"All good art is about something deeper than it admits." -Roger Ebert
Age 37
Joined on 5/18/03
R.I.P. LiveCorpse 
Don't Step On A Crack 
Jeremy. 
8-bit Theater 4 
Zelda: Heroic Rage 6 
Chuckles 
Fallen Angel: Teaser 
Sprite Survivor - 3 
MarioBro Unholy Alliance2