#the main franchise did it why wouldnt the movies !! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thekaijudude · 1 year ago

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Team MLV vs the Ultra Brothers: Who will win?

Either way, let’s also set up 3 basic rules. The first concerns both sides, the second concerns only the Ultra Brothers, and the last only concerns only Team MLV, because if they have this, they WILL win.

—1: No enhanced forms or fusions.

—2: No reality manipulation or dimensional manipulation or whatever you were talking about in my last qn. I don’t know where Taro and Ace showcased this, but even if it was in their shows, it’s clearly considered non-canon now. I mean, why wouldn’t they have just used that to find the Kingdom in UGF3 if it was canon?

—3: No elemental abilities, ‘cause if Team MLV has this, even if Vylcan’s the only one using them, the Ultra Brothers have no shot, especially given the other rules. I mean it, if their elemental abilities were allowed, Vylcan could probably just amplify himself enough to destroy any one of the Ultra Brothers with only a few punches.

Anyway, I’ve sent you a doc with all of the abilities of each member of Team MLV. (Btw, recall that Ultraman Adam is my name for the OG Ultraman).

Point 2 is gonna rub some feathers tbh cause the reason why they dont use those abilities anymore is the same reason why main series ultras dont just show up and instantly annihilate Tier 2 kaiju even tho theyve shown very clearly that they could, same reason why Tartarus dosent also instantly destroy US Zero since it was clearly shown in UGF3 ep 10 that even the upgraded US Zero barely makes him flinch (recall that Seven was also involved in that fight thus I can say that AT's damage was due to Seven rather than him, consistent with the fact that he took a hit from Shining Ultimate Zero and was still standing AFTER getting a beatdown from the Leo brothers), same reason why PI Belial didnt also instantly dissipate Geed and Z as well despite the vast difference in power and why can Deathcium Ray Burst knock down PI Belial as well

Its all to make a good show, otherwise fights would end in under a few seconds, and the entire displayed conflict between the Ultras and the Absolutians would also end in a single ep since I pointed out that there simply isnt enough Elite Absolutians to handle even the entire cast of UB-level Ultras

Otherwise by your rationale, the infamous Ginga S episode 12 meme where the Zoa Muruchi that solo'ed both Ginga and Victory would be universal level

There are fans that are for and against those feats still being considered canon or nah. Personally, considering the other ridiculous feats of power we've seen beings other than Ultras have protrayed, as well as how powerful Ultras get as they grow older, Im of the opinion that those hax are canon, and they only reason why they dont showcase those abilities anymore is as said, to have a more interesting fight sequence

(Additionally as I also answered before, TsuPro wouldnt want to have to address a situation of "Hax vs Hax" regularly cause it inevitably introduces an extremely convoluted system, iirc i talked in depth about this in the Chaos Darkness vs Sphere ask)

And with good reason too, as the franchise has tried its best to shift away from delving into higher and higher powerscales beyond New Gen Ultras (Movie form++ like US Zero is the current cap) or else theyll eventually encounter the same problem like Dragonball by writing themselves into a hole whereby the in-universe/multiverse/omniverse scaling cannot keep up with its inhabitants (unless they would have a do a metaversal level of retconning every few years just to avoid this issue, which is an absolute pain in the ass to do due to its implications like what Marvel and DC comics do from what I can understand), which was something they alr did up till Taro which was why u saw that they toned it down so much up till now, with the exception of rare occurences of Legendary Ultras and High Tier fusions obviously

(Note that we're currently not even vibing at Multiversal scales mind you, low multi-universal at best with the current UGF plot, expect things to stay this way for the foreseeable future until TsuPro decides to shift their target audiences to young adults)

Thus Im vibin with this canon, and by removing those abilities, youre bascially nerfing them as far as Im concerned

But again, this has too many characters in a single ask, recall I told u max 2v2 yo, unless u can generalize 2 groups in a short summary via numbers or sth within the ask itself (or summarize and highlight the main attributes like base power, multipliers or sth, not just a reference scale to yet another OC which we dk the scaling for) cause I sure as hell aint gonna read all that in the link u sent just for an AU ask

#ultraman #asks

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madisonrooney · 5 years ago

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THOUGHTS ON D3

(some of these may be points about stuff we already knew going into it but like now that weve gotten to see it all together its easier to discuss)

- i like what they did with audrey’s plot. her and mal’s relationship did feel pretty unresolved after d1 so im glad they went this route. not to mention being able to bring her back after her being absent in the second. also i like the message that it gave off about being able to be good or bad regardless of where you come from

- i loved hades! he was so fun and i loved how things ended up with him. and DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO WAS AWESOME probably my fav song. but i cant say im a huge fan of him being mal’s dad. like i loved the way their relationship played out but while the descendants fan in me is happy the disney stickler thinks its a bit too much creative license for them to make a kid the child of two disney characters from two different movies. it also kinda like...almost invalidates her character of “maleficent’s daughter” now shes the daughter of two villains and it?? feels different?? if that makes sense?? could the other VKs possibly have another villain as their other parent?? who knows. also i wish they hadn’t made it so obvious so early like people guessed this A YEAR AND A HALF AGO WHEN THE TEASER CAME OUT. maybe had it just been a few months it wouldnt have been as bad but yeesh. it made the shock factor...well, almost non-existant.

- continuing on their relationship, i thought tackling the idea of an absentee dad was a bold move for a movie like this and i applaud it. not to mention with an upbeat musical number? they really did that

- i loved celia too!! i was afraid she was gonna be more bad news than she was but she was super cute and sweet. loved her friendship with dizzy. and loved getting to see more of dizzy! and even though dr facilier wasnt in it much he was fun. i thought it was sweet that he and celia seemed to have a good relationship. im also glad we got to see lady tremaine! but wheres drizella lol

- also in regards to hades and celia, i liked that they brought in two more movies into the universe that hadnt yet been acknowledged (not counting wicked world or the books). i love both hercules and princess and the frog and while i wouldnt call them underrated theyre not quite as mainstream as some of the other movies in the descendants universe so im happy with that.

- on the other hand, i dont really like it when they get more kids from movies that they already have kids from. in this case, squeaky and squirmy. gil seemed out of place to me when i first watched d2, especially cuz like why would gastons son be a pirate, but since he had some funny lines with ben (in this movie too!) it was worth it. but squeaky and squirmy had no lines with harry? THEY ALMOST DIDNT HAVE ANY LINES AT ALL??? so why couldnt they have had them be kids from a movie they hadnt used yet? the more the merrier imo. idk.

- mal and uma repairing their relationship was like the highlight for me ugh it was so good. i think we all had a feeling that would happen (not just from speculation but from set pics and whatnot) but it felt satisfying regardless. uma saying “im right here mal you got this”? love that

- WE LOVE MORE DRAGON MAL. EVEN MORE THAN IN D2. WE LOVE THAT A LOT.

- WE ALSO LOVE MORE DUDE. OK SO MAYBE THATS JUST ME BUT SCREW IT I LOVE TALKING DOGS SO IM GLAD HE STILL TALKED. DOVE CAMERON AND A TALKING DOG IN THE SAME MOVIE IS BASICALLY PANDERING TO ME OK

- WE ALSO LOVE MALVIE CONTENT!!! love that evie was the only one who knew hades was her dad AND LOVE THAT THEY SAID I LOVE YOU TO EACH OTHER LIKE DAMN. AND DURING MY ONCE UPON A TIME WHEN MAL LIKE CARESSES HER FACE??? LIKE HER INTERACTION WITH HER WAS MORE INTENSE THAN WITH ANYONE ELSE EVEN BEN??? GOOD SHIT

- OK I KNEW ABOUT THE DID I MENTION REPRISE AS OF A FEW DAYS AGO BUT IM A SLUT FOR PARALLELS SO THAT STILL KILLED ME

- any parallels killed me. especially, ofc, ending with “cuz were rotten...to the core” (tho i was hoping the rotten remix thats on the soundtrack would be in the movie)

- loved getting more harry and gil content. gil is so blissfully stupid and precious and i love him and harry is so chaotic and i love him too

- and just...love the sea three bonding with the core four. also it felt well paced. wasnt rushed, had its moments to slowly get us there (mal+uma, jay+gil+harry) it felt like it went just the way it was supposed to.

- the whole series of events felt well paced and well ordered

- tbh i think its hilarious how chad’s douche baggery never dies down. i mean points for consistency i guess

- (did anyone catch the sign on the isle that mentioned monstro? good easter egg)

- (im really going out of order ik)

- one kiss was fun and cute, but i never felt like doug and evie were like...behind in their relationship? if anything i thought as of d2 their relationship was more stable than that of mal and ben

- night falls was a little silly and felt a little too similar to its goin down to me but it served a purpose and it was still fun

- and ofc it was so bittersweet to watch cam. the dedications were heart-wrenching but beautiful.

overall it really could not have been better! great new characters, great development on the characters we love, great soundtrack, and, most importantly, a story that perfectly wraps up the franchise. its hard to get a trilogy right. i love a lot of trilogies but a lot of them have some major flaws. with like say the kung fu panda movies, the 2nd and 3rd feel like theyre about very different things than the first. it doesnt feel like its telling one cohesive story. some have a second that feels unimportant to be between the 1st and 3rd. this just felt like perfectly coming full circle. everything from the beginning of the first movie to the end of the third felt necessary to tell the story. no useless filler, all essential to the plot, adding more as we go and resolving more, but having a hell of a lot of fun the entire time. i remember d2 being one of the most, if not the most, satisfying sequels ive ever seen. maybe part of that has to do with descendants being such a main fandom of mine when it came out, but sometimes, even new additions to my main fandoms can disappoint. these sequels really haven’t. part of that may just have to do with my love for the franchise regardless of the direction it goes in, but i know that it also has to do with just a great job in storytelling. continuing the story and wrapping it up just right. when the first one came out, we didn’t know it would be a trilogy. it works great as a standalone movie, but when you see the third one, you would think it was intended this way from the beginning, which honestly gives it even more power.

it breaks my heart to let this franchise go, but ofc in mal’s words “this is not the end.” with it just coming out, that means its just the beginning of discussions, gifs, memes, fanart, and all that fun stuff. so lets jump right in!

and, as always, every bit of love in my heart goes to cam tonight. we still miss you endlessly and we always will.

#descendants #descendants 3

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thesharondefenseleague · 3 years ago

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You know what initially I wasnt down for them sidelining Sharon x Steve for Peggy x Steve and I was meh on Stucky mostly because I was more attached to comic characterization.

But honestly right now I believe the ship should have been Stucky. Not because i think Stucky is inherently better but because the creators of Steves series cared more about that relationship even if it was in a platonic way.

They cared about Steve they cared about Bucky and they cared about that relationship. They didnt care about Sharon and didn't care about that relationship she had with him and to be honest they didnt care about Peggy either.

Even if you discount Agent Carter in the movie verse she says she lived a fulfilling life and wanted Steve to live his own. And the writers didnt care if her fulfillment was deleted as long as Steve could have the imagery of a happy ending.

Personally I think having writers focus on characters they dont care about leads to awful things like Sharon being the power broker. I have no doubt that if somehow she had ended up with Steve and they were end game MCU would make several multiverse versions after where she was awful and never show the og Sharon Carter again. It would be a different story if they did actually hire writers who gave a shit about her. But they dont have that and they dont care about that.

Personally I would rather have no Sharon or barely significant Sharon rather that shitty Sharon the writers fuck up on purpose because they resent her existence.

Id rather they just not explore her and stick to the people they want to explore since they'd treat those people better. So Stucky only platonically with no Steve romance or Stucky romantic regardless of whether or not that would actually be allowed by Disney was the best written relationships we'd get with these writers.

And id say I blame the fans more but tbh fanfic is derivative. I have no doubt sexiest takes and shipwars would exist regardless as it does for all fandom. But if this stuff wasn't baked into the source material aka MCU then it wouldnt be anywhere near this bad.

Comics arent nearly as acessible or easy to follow or get into as newcomers compared to the MCU. And while some still got love despite this it was normally characters that had more effort put into them that people looked into.

Like the og Avenger team Spiderman Black Panther or even Bucky. Sure he started with limited scenes but they were impressive memorable scenes and his story kept having narrative and emotional weight. Sharon barely got that her chance to shine was covered up in the overbloated mess known as civil war. She was massively helpful to team cap but it was drowned out by all the other storylines of characters the movie put more effort into, some who had several more movies , and some who were far more iconic.

Even her connection to Peggy wasnt there narratively for her but for Steve to be inspired by.

I wont say the rest of Team cap is handled well but they all get more love and care than Sharon.

Why would a MCU fan be interested in looking up more about her instead of any other character in that movie? And sure if they looked up Bucky or Sam or Steve she'd show up. But she wouldnt be the focus of whatever they looked into. They wouldnt be looking for her.

She also didnt have the luxury of being a popular Marvel franchise pre MCU unlike Spderman or the X men. Unless the MCU hyped her like they did for others she wasnt going to be noticed by a fanbase new to all this. Her best bet was to be connected to the cap squad in WS. Maybe it might lead to a Avengers team fic stuation where even less focused on characters got importance. But the main squad focused on is Steve Sam and Natasha.

And the non squad member given importance isnt her but Bucky. Unlike say Avengers where every squad member gets memorable moments and time for u take them in. And side characters like Nick Fury and even Coulson get their moment where all the attention is on them and it has an impact.

Civil War barely gives you time to digest her scenes if you arent a fan on the lookout for her and WS only connects her to Steve and TFAWS starts out great with her. But then makes her the powerbroker by the end . I wanna be more mad at fans because of the anti Sharon sentiment but i dont think she'd be very appealing as a character if I didn't already like her in the comics.

And thats on the MCU so ya....id honestly be happier if they never tried to put her in. At least id have something Id want from them that way.

If we’re going on romantic, based solely on how the MCU set them up, Steve should’ve ended up with Natasha.

Also, Sharon has been around for over 50 years as a main Captain America character. She has had more appearances in the comics than characters in the MCU who didn’t even exist before their MCU debut. She has been in events, working with the Avengers, the director of SHIELD — she’s put in the hours. Her not getting her flowers is because of a shit creative team. This can be said of many characters. I’m not gonna pretend they didn’t respect Peggy 90% of her screentime, up until What If? They barely respected Natasha. They blatantly do not give Sam’s character what he deserves. They didn’t know what to do with Bucky until they got rid of Steve. It’s a mess. Sharon just got some of the worst of it.

~Mod R

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emperorren · 7 years ago

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Even after this movie i see people either saying that reylo is finished now or just straight up denying that their force bond had romantic coding in it and im just like ??? I have no clue where theyre gonna go from here but i wouldnt say the ending is a nail in the coffin. Theyve established kylo as the main antagonist now but i dont think redemption is out of the realm. People forget vader wasnt redeemed till the last possible second i guess lol. Nothings impossible

The ending is the opposite of a nail in the coffin.

We should be more worried if Rey and Kylo had ended TLJ on a high note (such as defecting together, which was often misconstrued by the reylo fandom as a sufficiently “bleak” ending for the second act of the trilogy… but it’s not. It’s not bleak, because we are supposed to root for Rey and Kylo, not dread their union. So them defecting together would be a high point, which of course is why we’re getting the opposite of that).

There’s going to be a whole movie after TLJ, a movie that will subvert the status quo and change the dynamics again, just as TLJ did with TFA. As others put it, saying that Reylo is over is just as stupid as saying that Han/Leia was over at the end of Empire because Han was stuck in carbonite. Stupid and ignorant of how storytelling works. Storytelling is based on cycles of ups and downs. If the story sinks and reaches the bottom, the only direction it can go in the next installment is up. And viceversa (this is why TFA destroyed the original trilogy’s happy ending. It had to).

Antis are going to desperately cling to the idea that TLJ was written to “deal” with Reylo, as in “sink” it and move on (presumably reverting to less compelling dynamics like f nnr y and d am r ey). Not only they seem to think that dropping the central dynamic between the hero and the villain would be good storytelling, they’re still willfully blind to the fact that The Force Awakens established Reylo in the first place—-Rian Johnson didn’t “come up with Reylo” from nowhere. The Last Jedi developed the first part of a central relationship whose seeds were CLEARLY planted in the first chapter of the trilogy. (People need to realize that the films of this trilogy are following a basic structure that was conceived YEARS ago—otherwise it wouldn’t be possible for JJ Abrams to pitch the script for IX when VIII has been barely released, and for Rian to be writing the script for TLJ while TFA WAS STILL BEING FILMED.)So we have:

first movie: set up. Rey and Kylo are introduced, the major conflict between them is created, the seed for a future attraction is planted, while the two are developed as individual characters because they’re complete strangers to the audience and the audience needs to learn who they are, see them as people. So we have Kylo dealing with San Tekka, Snoke, Hux, and Han while Rey develops a great friendship with Finn and finds a surrogate father in Han. Because it’s important that we see Kylo and Rey as full fledged people independently of their interactions, in order to make their actual interactions great;

second movie: development. the dynamic, so far only suggested / subtextual, becomes finally text. We’re doing the enemies to friends at this stage, but with more than a spark of romantic, even sexual tension. Basically, it’s the dynamic of our dreams, the way anidala should have been done, the way EVERYTHING should be done. And then it comes to a brutal halt. Because THAT’S WHAT YOU DO TO KEEP YOUR AUDIENCE HOOKED. Literally every good fanfic author knows this! The heart of this dynamic is the tension between opposites, between good and evil, damnation and redemption, compassion and hatred. To keep that tension alive and sizzling, we’re temporary reverting to the /mutual hatred/ stage, which is what left us wanting more at the end of TFA. Except a) it’s different now because they tasted each other (they really did, even if just metaphorically), and b) the audience is now more hooked than ever, thanks to this beautiful thing named Force Bond that is still alive even though they broke up in the worst possible way and to a fight scene that was basically a Giant Sexual Metaphor.

and that’s already 2/3 of the trilogy. That’s a LOT of narrative capital invested in these two, and it became EVIDENT in TLJ but, again, it was already there in TFA. There’s no way IX isn’t going to deliver more development and a resolution. Their outrageous break up in TLJ is not a resolution, because so much between then remains unresolved. The Force Bond. Their mutual thirst attraction. The visions they had of each other. The reason why the Force keeps binding them (it was always the Force, Snoke be damned. Their bond was born during the interrogation, and they created by penetrating each other’s mind at the same time). The fact that Rey almost succeeded where everyone failed (as acknowledged by Luke, eventually). THEIR LAST SCENE. Do you know when in horror movies you get a happy ending and it’s almost too good and then when peace seems to be restored, you realize that the demon only faked its death and IT TAKES YOU? That’s Reylo at the end of the movie.

What Rian did, his vision, was making sure that at the end of the central movie Kylo would be his own master, in charge and being able to make independent decisions (and also: fully, unambiguously responsible for his actions), while ALSO having a complex relationship with our hero, Rey, one that isn’t simply hatred and antagonism (x). That’s a lot to unpack for JJ, admittedly, but it’s also explosive material; it makes Kylo’s redemption both harder to achieve (with Snoke out of the picture, there will probably be no “redemption by destroying a greater evil” cop out. There’s no ~~greater evil~~ than Kylo now, and while this definitely makes me anxious and confused, I also have faith in the story because the people who are writing it are FAR BETTER STORYTELLERS THAN ME), and potentially more convincing (whatever good Kylo starts doing from this point on, it will be his doing, and a free choice, not a reaction against his former abuser, not a way to seek agency for himself—not that those things aren’t good, but they aren’t necessarily redemptive in the truest sense, which is often the objection you have to most villains’ redemption arcs).

In short: it’s always darkest before the dawn, and a huge franchise like Star Wars doesn’t drop the central dynamic between the hero and the villain like a sack of potatoes, especially as it has been made clear over and over again how much of a protagonist—though a villainous one—Kylo Ren is.

Seriously, they’ve invested too much (money, narrative capital) in him and in this relationship with Rey, and they wouldn’t be backpedaling even if the audience and the critics alike weren’t head over heels over this dynamic and literally screaming from every media outlet how HOT their interactions were, lol. This story has already been written.

#anon #asks #reylo #*#//#//////#tlj spoilers #sw spoilers

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fabelyn · 7 years ago

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Overall I liked the Last Jedi

The good:

-I was worried they’d lessen Finn’s screentime or importance, but the movie was basically devided into Rey, Poe and Finn

-They also didn’t forget the character relationships in the last movie: Poe and Finn being buddies, Finn and Rey’s friendship and woprry about each other

-Character development for the main trio, though mainly for Poe and Finn (who needed it more)

-The porgs were the most blatant cash grab ever...I still fell for it and want a toy

-Leia still great

-The new girl is good

-The humor in almost every serious scene was fine with me

The bad:

This part has spoilers

-The romance department. Uuugh

-The Kylo & Rey dream sequences, when it implied they had something going on. Kudos for Rey not wavering over Kylo’s pasty trash ass, but I didnt like the undertones of some scenes. I’d liek toh oep it was misdirection but I dont trust the writing enough for that

-Luke. Basically learning Luke even for a second considered murdering a child because he could sense darkness in him. The dude literally saw Darth Vader turn and do good, so why wouldnt Luke of all people believe a child could still be saved? Dumb

-Snoke’s demise. Who was he, how did he come to power? If you’re going to kill him off so easily, just fucking dont place him in the franchise and without a background, I have had no time to backstory to give a damn or think Kylo killing him was shocking

#the last jedi #the last jedi spoilers

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tigeowe · 5 years ago

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personal shit/facts

- my birthdays on the 2nd september and im gonna turn 21 soon wuhu

- im still waiting for my uni to send me the acceptance-papers so i can apply for my loan

- what am i gonna do with that money: tattooes, a new graphic tablet, new furniture, clothes, shoes!!!, plushies (kawaii shit from japan), merchandise from different franchises, save some for trips to anywhere, pc parts, new video games, piercings, hairdye (purple, pink, blonde, orange... ),

- i love flamingos

- i love neon lights

- i love rainbow colors especially purple, uff

- sometimes i just get too nervous/anxious and bite off my nails which btw grow again

- im streching my ears until i reach 3cm(?) but currently im at ~1,5cm

- i love to paint but i barely do cause im annoyed by my graphic tablet and i dont like drawing on paper

- i think in english though my native tongue is german, since i only talk english to my boyfriend (and that for like 2 years now so ive quite learnt a bit)

- my boyfriends from sweden ghehe uwu

- im gonna start a swedish course soon

- i might move to sweden in the future

- billie eilish is a queen. so is sasha sloan.

- i love music and dont really have a favorite music genre but what i find myself listening to often is chill step, electro, house, instrumental stuff, pop, and really everything i like

- im still a fkn weeb, though i wouldnt ever consider me one infront of people (oh wait i just did :^) )

- a varety of animes (anime movies) i love: fullmetal alchemist, bleach, tokyo ghoul, attack on titan, silent voice, your name, but hey... why dont you check out my animelist? thehehe https://myanimelist.net/profile/CutiePantsu

- im in bed listening to music and my boo is beside me rn

- i can be hella cringe but whatever

- pewdiepie is a hero

- tomorrow im gonna go to ikea and ill buy some mfuckin shelves

- i love animals theyre basically my life and if i were to be rich id dedicate my life to build dozens of shelters for animals

- i find myself playing femals only in whatever game allows you to choose obviously :b

- i play league of legends and im a midlane main, but if theres a mate i will accompany them on botlane and be either support or adc, i can play jungle as well with certain champs but i absolutely suck on toplane, kek

- my wardrobe is full af but i cant stop buying stuff ugh... sucks being a woman, right :^^^

- i have a lil hate-love relationship with sims...

- i wanna have at least 2 kids when i get my own place

- wanna see the whole world and my next destination will probably be either netherlands or croatia

- you probably are a hecking stalker when youve reached this or just hella bored :') , props to you bru

have a good night/day (if youre a person i hate - who is most likely not going to be here anyway - i wish you the complete opposite!) :P

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lizziebennet · 8 years ago

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Order of favorite to least favorite Harry Potter movies and why? :)

i love getting questions like this!!!

1. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

this movie is the Official™ best harry potter movie. director alfonso cuaron (who would later go on to win a best director oscar for gravity) completely elevated the series from chris columbus’ movies that were obviously aimed towards children. cuaron took the source material seriously and gave us a well-crafted, well-directed, and pretty faithful harry potter movie. PoA isnt my fave book – not even close to my fave actually but this is both the best movie cinematically and the adaptation that is most enjoyable to watch over and over and over again. there are some sticky moments tho: dan’s acting in the infamous “HE WAS THEIR FRIEND!!!!” scene, the opening scene not making any sense .. at all…, the character of dumbledore just… in general, the introduction of ron as a vehicle solely for comic relief, and the dropping of wizarding robes at hogwarts. listen, i can complain ab small things from every hp movie for HOURS but overall this movie is just FANTASTIC!! the score!!!!!!!!!! the only movie where they got harrys hair right!!!!! and definetly has the best ending of any harry potter movie. if u wanna know more ab why this movie is awesome check out this video essay which goes in depth about cuaron’s directoral style in this movie.

2. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE

i feel like this is such an underrated hp movie tbh. goblet of fire is such an important book because it sets up the conflict for the rest of the series w voldemort’s return. and thats the main reason this movie gets my #2 spot tbh: the graveyard scene at the end of the movie. this movie isn’t perfect always, but the graveyard scene is a pivotal moment in the series and imo they hit it out of the park in this movie. they didn’t edit the scene to shorten it for time – they have harry and voldemorts first interaction be as tense and lengthy as it is in the books. the scene where voldemort comes out of the cauldron and rubs his head… it gives me chills every time. i think the dark parts of this movie is where it really shines – the opening with frank for example. it makes me SO happy that they opened the movie the same way they do in the book. they do a pretty good job w the character of moody and with showing harrys feelings of isolation and general angst. and yes, everyone has shitty hair in this movie but what can u do. i also take offense w the treatment of fleur in this movie… in fact whose idea was it to make beauxbatons an all female school? and durmstrang all male?? because that was a fucking dumb idea noah fence. another thing that i hate about this movie is the “conversation” between dumbledore and harry at the end of the movie – if you can even call it that. the talk they have in his office in the books is integral to the plot going forward and it is so shitty that they just had like a .2 second scene instead. actually, dumbledore is just horrible throughout this whole movie. another infamous moment w the “DIDYA PUT UR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE!?!??!?!” i remember that michael gambon (dumbledore) just refused to read the books ever and they completely missed the mark on dumbledore. i actually know of a lot of hp fans who hate this movie but i

3. HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE

i know this is a lot of people’s fave or second fave harry potter movie, but i just couldnt give it that #2 spot. its tough because hbp is my 2nd favorite book behind ootp and it means so much to me and there are just some things the movie royally fucks up that i cannot give it so much praise even though, overall it is a good movie. simply put: if i hadn’t read the books this might be my #1 or #2 movie. but alas i have so i get to judge it harshly. lets start out with what the movie does well: this movie does a gREAT job of being a coming-of-age film. we really get a sense of the characters growing up and being teens in this movie and its great and hilarious at some points. this movie also does the best job with the harry/dumbledore relationship. michael gambon stretches himself to be closer to the soft and omniscient dumbledore from the books. he doesnt exactly get there for me but its closer than in any other film with him. they do a good job with the pensive stuff and the introduction of horcruxes, and with the climax of dumledore’s death. the reemergence of quidditch is lovely. HOWEVER, this biggest most irksome thing that i just cannot get over in this movie is the fucking MESS that is harry and ginnys relationship. one of my absolute favorite parts of the book is their relationship – the way harry pines for her and the way they get together (”several sunlit days”!) and they just completely throw all of that in the trash along with ginny’s character. i also dont love how hermione is portrayed in this movie. the way they did her and ron’s relationship is just… not great. in the books its so obvious that they belong together but in the movies its like theyre both just stupid. this movie does a fantastic job of balancing comedy – giving us some of the funniest scenes in an y harry potter movie – with the darkness and threat of voldemort. the way the did the whole sequence in the cave is great. the scene where the death eaters attack the burrow is stupid and unnecessary however. and while i think they do a great job like telling the story in this movie, they dont really go deeper into harrys psyche which is one of my favorite parts of the book – harry realizing and accepting his role as the savior of the wizarding world. the prophecy is kind of ignored in the movies which is … lame but we also miss out of some of my favorite book moments: harry understanding why his parents died and vowing to fight voldemort w his last breath, harry flipping out when he learns that snape is the one who overheard the prophecy, harry fighting scrimgeour. overall, this is a fun movie to watch and it isn’t half bad, but it couldve been so much more in my opinion.

4. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE

the original!!!!!!!!!! i rewatched this recently and this is ?? such a solid movie?? most of the credit for this being a good movie goes to jkr for writing a great book, but still they coudlve easily fucked up this movie and then there wouldn’t be a franchise!!!!! so i have to give it a lot of credit. it does a wonderful job of introducing us to the wizarding world, giving us our main characters, and giving us hOGWARTS. the pacing of the movie is great, the kids are soo soosososo cute in it i cant even stand it!!!!! the comedic beats hit, the emotional beats hit. the one beef i have with this movie is that they cast like 40 yr olds to be james and lily in the mirror of erised and they are not!!!!! that old !!!!!!! also they do a great job w effects considering when it was made. watching this movie is like being held by a warm blanket of childhood memories and i love it so much.

5. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2

im sure some of you are surprised to see this movie so far down on my list but guess what this movie fucking infuriates me!!!!! let me just start by saying that the majority of this film is actually really good. but the small percentage of the movie that isnt good RUINS THE WHOLE THING FOR ME!!!!!! ill start with the good tho: the gringots sequences. badass. the cinematography in this movie is just like 5x better than most of the series so well done them. snape’s memories sequence is just like really fucking good okay ill give them that like the moment harry looks up after emerging from the pensive knowing he has to die GIVES ME CHILLS. voldemort killing harry in the forest. this is well shot and executed scene. harry being dead and talking w dumbledore is good too one of the only times michael gambon like acts so. the courtyard apocalypse scene. hermione’s “ill go with you”. while i object to this scene being in the movie that line is [gets choked up and cant continue]. like i said the majority of the movie is good, great even. BUT THEY FUCK UP SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE ENTIRE SERIES!!!!!!!!!! lets start slow: ariana dumbledore. bet u forgot she was in this movie. dont worry the writers did too. why did they make harry some kind of horcrux gps???? no???? WHY DOES HOGWARTS RANDOMLY HAVE A BOATHOUSE THAT WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE?? AND WHY DID SNAPE DIE THERE?? ron and hermiones kiss in the chamber of secrets was stupid and doesnt compare to the moment in the books. dont even get me stARTED on harry and ginny. THEM NOT MENTIONING THAT REMUS AND TONKS ARE MARRIED/HAVE A KID UNTIL LUPIN IS DEAD RIP. those things bother me but nothing compares to the fucking mess that is everything after harry comes back to life. good god its the fucking most important act in the entire series… and it is a complete disaster in my opinion. just so many?? horrible?? decisions?? starting with voldemorts speech after harry is “dead”.. why did he hug draco. why. also i dont get nevilles speech at all that was stupid. the reveal that harry was alive is stupid. the fact that they dont kill the snake and have it be like this ooo will they kill the snake in time thing is STUPID. voldemort wrapping harry up in his robes?????? why???? voldemort and harry jumping off a building together???? WHY???? voldemort and harry melding faces????? WHY?????!?!?!?!?!??!?! it just doesnt make any sort of logical sense and its not so exciting to watch. why wouldnt voldemort just KILL HARRY ANY OF THOSE TIMES??? iT DOESNT MAKE SENSE?? i fukcinNNGNNG hate it im sorry. and the final like showdown between them is just not as good as it is in the books??? like them circling each other in the great hall with everyone watching as dawn breaks >> them crawling through rubble outside on a bridge. also it REALLY FUCKING IRKS ME THAT VOLDEMORT LIKE DISINTEGRATES INTO PAPER WHEN HE DIES LIKE. that completely undoes a lot of what the books are saying and like lessens the impact of his death imo. the whole point is that he was trying to be like this immortal god but in the end he died just like everyone else he was HUMAN. they also do that w bellatrix like when molly kills her she like ?? explodes?? it just lessens their deaths i think. and the lack of closure with the elder wand like harry just fucking throwing it into the distance is DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ugg ugg ugg. i know my expectations were high and i know its a tough task to finish the series buT they really let me down with the FUCKING CLIMAX OF THE SERIES. like guys it was epic enough in the books u dont need to add this nonsense!!! jfc!!!!

6. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1

noah fence this movie is just really unenjoyable to watch. its a tough movie to make bc its like 95% just setting up for what happens in part two, but i think they def couldve done a wayyy better job in some areas. one of the great things ab deathly hallows the book is harrys psyche and how angry he is with dumbledore, how he is trying to figure out these clues, his desperation, his fascination with the hallows etc. they really underplayed harrys anger with dumbledore imo giving it just one or two scenes and a handful of moments when i think it couldve been such an interesting emotional core of the movie. they do a good job showing the war and having it be like war movie and being isolated. but they struggle with pace in this one a LOT. however two sequences really stand out to me as Good: 1. bathilda bagshot’s house. in the theater the snake was TERRIFYING waiting for it to jump out that was a good action sequence. 2. the tale of the three brothers. beautiful animation. the ron/hermione conflict with couldve been another emotional center of the movie is glossed over in my opinion (maybe this has something to do w the fact that emma watson can not act like she is enraged???). overall meh tho. i dont go to rewatch this one very often.

7. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

this movie is………….. not great. again it relies totally and completely on jkrs work for any of the good parts of this movie and considering that this may be my least favorite book well…. the camera work in this movie is just bad honestly like they just plop the camera in one spot and film the scene???? gilderoy lockhart is HILARIOUS in this movie however a real gem. there are some good sequences and i love this movie but there are also lots and lots of cringey moments.

8. HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

i debated whether i hate this movie or CoS more but ultimately decided on this one because this movie makes me so angry and CoS is just like moderately not great. [deep breath] ok guys heres the thing: OOTP is my favorite harry potter book. and this movie takes exactly zero (0) of my favorite things about the book and does them in the film. the tone of this movie is angst and suffering but not even in a good way. i love LOVE the angst in the book because it is justified it is raw it is harry working through his feelings and being attacked from every side. the movie just communicates…. sad. theyre just like “oh lets uh have this be blue toned… nice.” they do not go deeper than the plot of OOTP, just the events that happen. they dont get into the story, the message, the POINT OF THE BOOK!!!!!!!!! were they afraid to have people yell in this movie??? like ??? they have mrs figg be soft spoken and just like murmur to harry and uncle vernon and aunt petunia dont really go in at harry like its all very tame?? and then THEY MISS OUT ON HARRY DRAGGING RON AND HERMIONE SO HARD WHEN HE GETS TO THE BURROW!!!!! an iconique scene that instead harry just like says some stuff passive aggressively and then fred and george come and are like “we thought we heard u yelling harry” like how??? he was just speaking at a normal voice??? the movie skips out on the fascinating moments with the order at grimmold place and with ginny and the weasleys to instead give us sirius naked in some weird room at the train station and harry dreaming about voldemort in a suit??? why????????? generally they do a good job with the umbridge stuff but again fail to communicate the deeper meaning of what the fuck is happening like the mINISTRY OF MAGIC IS DENYING THIS!! and what does that do to harry?? and his angst?? some of the stuff with the DA is good but some of it is… not. this movie really fails when they try to incorporate comic relief. it doesnt land great and it just makes me think about how much time we are wasting on this when we could be doing other things. FOR EXAMPLE GRAWP????? GRAWP. i hate the dumbledore stuff in this movie. like. their relationship isnt set up enough in the previous movies to understand how hurt harry is by dumbledore. instead we get like half-assed scenes like when harry just like calls “sir” to dumbledore but he walks away fast like. really?? THE WAY THEY DID SNAPES’ WORST MEMORY [SCREAMS FOR 1200 YEARS]. LAZY! AS! SHIT! GOD GOD GOD GOD GOD GOD GOD GOD WHAT A NIGHTMARE WHAT A TOTAL DISASTER MY GOODDDddddddd AND THEN ITS LIKE NEVER EVEN ADDRESSED AGAIN???? JESUS CHRIST I SWEAR TO GOD THIS MOVIE IS A MESS. the break into the ministry is okay… its starts the david yates trend of like not saying spells while ur dueling and just having like bright lights come from ur wand which i HATE and also the stupid trend of death eaters apparating with black smoke which i HATE. i have mixed feelings about “nice one james.” sirius’s death is GOOD like the way they have it silent with harry like screaming i like that they did a good job a+. however dumledore and voldemorts fight is……….. strange and just not as good as in the books. also when voldemort possesses harry and harry like has a chat w him?? DUMB. and that leads me to the greatest sin of all…… the reason this movie gets the last ranking… THE LACK OF HARRY AND DUMBLEDORE’S TALK AFTER SIRIUS’S DEATH. my absolute favorite moment in the books. unparalleled. some of the best writing i have ever seen in my life. JUST COMPLETELY GONE. IT MAKES NO SENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY MENTION LIKE THE PROPHECY IN THE MOST FUCKING LAZY WAY EVER IN LIKE HALF OF A SCENE THAT LASTS 1 MINUTE. AND JUST SHOW SOME LAME ASS NEWSPAPER MONTAGE WHICH IS SOOOOOO LAZYYY OH MY GOOOOOODDDDDDDDD. we get NO emotional resolution for harry and dumbledore. we get NO resolution for harry and sirius. its like these events that happen have ZERO consequences. THE PROPHECY!!!! THAT IS THE CENTRAL PART OF THE STORY MY GOD!!! harry finds out he is THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST CUT OUT OF THE STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT NO WE NEED A SCENE WHERE FILCH GETS BOILS!!!!!!!!! like harry after sirius’s death is so critical like him asking nick if sirius can come back…. harry smashing the mirror… you get none of that emotional depth, that grieving. the ending of the movie is also stupid. also why tf is harry wearing a BLAZER????? god i hate this movie.

i swear i did not mean for this to get so long but once i start talking about harry potter i CANNOT shut up im so sorry and thanks for asking babe

#hp #anonymous #aurora got an ask #aurora RANTS

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bensopinionsonvariousthingsblr · 6 years ago

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Top 5 favorite games

Alright so here is the second, part I’ve been spending a lot of time working on this whole thing so I hope you enjoy!

Number 5:The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap Developer and Release year: Nintendo, 2004 Japan, 2005 NA What it can be played on: GBA/ Wii U Virtual Console

So I’m not gonna pretend like 4 of my top 5 picks aren’t Zelda games, that being said the Minish Cap is a game I played more recently, around last year, and at first after beating it I sort of just put it in my top 20, I loved it yeah, but I never really thought about it until now that, even though it was short, every thing about this game was solid and fun to me, the shrinking mechanic was challenging but very well done aesthetically, and the story was good, with the relationship between Link and Zelda, them being childhood friends and Link doing whatever it takes to have his friend back, and the villain Vaati was interesting in his relationship with the Minish (The inhabitants of the tiny world) and his final boss fight being very difficult for me, and the story wraps up nicely as usual, all in all it was a Zelda experience that I truly loved, and my favorite 2D Zelda game.

Favorite part(s): Definitely the Aesthetic and design of the tiny world, and all the charm around the entire game

Number 4:Sonic Adventure 2 Developer and Release year: Sega, 2001 What it can be played on: Dreamcast/Gamecube/PC/PS3/XB360

There it is, probably the most controversial pick on this entire list, unless maybe the next one is too i dont know, but I am a Sonic fan, which is something sort of rare these days, unless you like Mania which is pretty awesome but I’m more of a 3D guy, but this game is my favorite Sonic game because, even though the story is confusing I love it, it was dark and i legitimately felt like Dr.Robotnik was actually a major threat. There are 3 types of gameplay, the Classic Sonic/Shadow, The treasure hunting, and the robot/mech levels that make up the game, the best is the Classic gameplay of Sonic and Shadow, that usually isn’t up for debate, the other modes are pretty fun, but I love the game for the Sonic/Shadow levels, and the game to me really picks up on the Space Colony Ark in the Final Act. The *spoilers ahead* part where Shadow (who I forgot to mention is one of my favorite characters and not because I’m an edgy frick) turns to Sonic’s side and fights the Biolizard to buy them time, Shadow’s character arc was amazing in this game, and the final boss was really fun too, not to mention the soundtrack i mean, it’s a sonic game of course there’s a good soundtrack.

Favorite part(s): Shadow the Hedgehog, his levels, character arc, and general mystery surrounding the black and red anti-hero was amazing to me.

Number 3:The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Developer and Release year: Nintendo, 2011 What it can be played on: Wii/Wii U virtual console

I have defended this game in so many tweets and irl debates it’s incredible, Skyward Sword released to a 10/10 from IGN (that doesn’t matter to me much but it is an accolade) a 93 Metacritic score, which I do care about since it is an overall score and even got some Game of the Year awards in a year where Skyrim, Portal 2, Minecraft, Mario Galaxy 2, and many more were up for contention, but that proves nothing I just wanted to prove that I have argued about it enough that I know what I’m talking about. The main problem everyone has with this game is the motion controls, they say they are not accurate or don’t work, which can sometimes be true but, Scott Falco (he makes the “”with a side of salt series which he has some very good opinions on) says it the best, he said that he didn’t like it sitting down just waggling the wii remote, you’ve gotta stand up and play, then you fell immersed like YOU are the one doing it and not the wii remote, that is what i agree with and stand by anyway. Now past those criticisms I don’t think there are many more, some people don’t like the story, but to me this game has the BEST story in maybe any game I’ve ever played, the Link and Zelda relationship is better than any other game in my opinion and only Breath of the Wild comes close to that relationship in my opinion, now, the rest of the story is intriguing too, the origin of the master sword (I’m not going to comment on Fi, some people got too annoyed with her to focus on her amazing character arc in my opinion) the existence of Skyloft and the very first Link, Zelda, and Ganon in the form of Demise, all of it was done well and was very interesting to me. I liked the gameplay too, I think the new sprinting and stamina system was revolutionary to the series and made movement a lot more improved from previous entries in the franchise. The final act with the boss battle with Ghirahim and eventually Demise were very cinematic and awesome, and with Zelda’s life on the line during the whole thing it made it just that much more intense.

Favorite part(s): THE STORY, I can not say enough how much I love the story but also I loved the boss battles, Demise,Ghirahim,The Ancient Automaton, and all of them were fun to me.

Number 2:The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Developer and Release year: Nintendo, 2017 What it can be played on: Switch/Wii U

This game is a new staple in the Zelda series, the highest selling of all time, a new open world, a Game of the Year winner in almost all the awards shows, and even still people love to pick on this game a little bit, with all the weapon-breaking criticisms, and I know that can get annoying, but it does add a new layer of difficulty to an already difficult game, anyway Breath of the Wild was first known as Zelda for the Wii U, and it was revealed with a trailer at E3 2014 and was slated for release in 2015, of course it got pushed back and with Nintendo now finished with the switch they announced Breath of the Wild as a launch title, March 3rd, 2017 will always be one of my favorite days of all time, as I got my switch and had the first mainline Zelda game release as a fan of the series, and I did NOT stop playing it that night until about 1 AM (thats a rookie number now i mean c’mon I tweeted at 3 AM last night then went ahead and watched a movie) which was super late for me at the time though and I went to bed ecstatic about the game, I had gotten to a part where the story was starting to go forward and I couldn’t wait to finish it, about 6 or 7 days later I did and BOI let me tell ya I loved every second of that week, the gameplay is smooth and fun with combat being re-invented and then the Guardians were really fun because up until the end i didnt know about the shield thing so I would just bash them with all the brute force i had, the final boss fight was incredible (thats a common theme with my favorite Zelda games) and the Dark Beast Ganon fight was really atmospheric and entertaining as well and the ending with the re-uniting of Link and Zelda was so well done and just makes for a perfect ending.

Favorite Part(s): I loved the massive open world and all the secrets and new enemies and shrines to discover, it just made my time playing the game very enjoyable! Plus everything else like the story and the combat.

Number 1:The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Developer and Release year: Nintendo 2002 JP/2003/ 2013 HD What it can be played on: Gamecube/Wii U

The Wind Waker. My unwavering favorite game for who knows how long now, the first Zelda game I ever finished and my introduction to great single player games as a whole really. The Wind Waker released in December in Japan and followed up the next year World Wide, the art style of the cell-shaded characters had never been seen before in a Zelda game and people were skeptical about whether or not it would go down well. Well it released and the people of December in Japan and of March World wide were very pleased with the game and loved it for its gameplay, story, vast ocean and many islands to explore with many hours of gameplay to be put in discovering everything the game had to offer, as for me i wouldnt get to play it for a while longer considering i was VERY young at the time of its release, so I would get to play it when it re-released for the Wii U in 2013, about ten years after the release of the original, I didnt get it though until Christmas of 2015 (or 2014 Im not honestly sure) but it wasnt even my gift, as I’ve said before it was my brother’s and i just watched him play it for a bit and tried it myself after being intrigued, and I dont know if I stopped very much over the course of the time I played it, I was challenged by the puzzles, and from the very opening at Outset Island I loved the art style and loved the characters in the story, with the new unique take on Zelda as Tetra, having Link sailing instead of walking, heck even having Hyrule not even the setting (for most of the game anyway) was new to the series and as my first 3D Zelda game I was captivated by all of it, everything about my favorite franchise now was fresh and new and thats something I’ll never get to experience again which is probably why I remember and still play the Wind Waker which such a fondness today, because of how new everything was to me and how much I enjoyed all of it, not to mention the final boss fight (here we go again) was and is still my favorite, with the world being submerged around you and you and Zelda enclosed with no way out other than through Ganondorf, the games story as always (I hate how repetitive I am) ended very well and to this day it remains one of my favorite stories ever told, and I don’t know if anything will be able to top this game just because of the time in my life in which I got to experience it and with how solid the game as a whole is.

Favorite Part(s): The Wide-open sea and the islands are all so cool and creative, plus the Final boss fight still stands as my favorite to this day.

Thanks a TON for reading through all of this, I had started work on it some time last year and got super busy doing other things during all this time but it really means a ton to me that people would actually care enough to read what I write, or even just skim it,

Thanks -Ben :)

#the wind waker #legend of zelda #zelda #breath of the wild #minish cap #Sonic Adventure 2 #skyward sword

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viralhottopics · 8 years ago

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Why the Halo Movie Failed to Launch

The Master Chiefs left the offices of Creative Artists Agency around midday on June 6, 2005, in a fleet of limo vans. In their green, red and blue Spartan armour the cybernetically-enhanced super soldiers made quite a spectacle. Each stood six-foot-three tall, visored helmets obscuring their faces. Each carried a red bound document folder stamped with the CAA logo that contained two things: a copy of the Halo screenplay commissioned by Microsoft and written by Alex Garland and a terms sheet. None of them spoke a word.

The security guards on the gates of the major motion picture studios are used to seeing many things. Still, a hulking soldier from the future striding towards them and demanding access to the studios top brass was inevitably going to end in some kind of shooting incident — whether involving a United Nations Space Command BR55 Battle Rifle or a security guards arguably more deadly .38 revolver.

Fortunately Larry Shapiros team at CAA had called ahead and warned the studios security heads what was going on. The Master Chiefs were allowed onto the lots at Universal, Fox, New Line, DreamWorks and others without firing a single shot. If this was the videogame industry literally invading Hollywood, it was remarkably bloodless. They delivered their scripts and waited outside the meetings rooms in silent character, flicking through the pages of Variety. Everyone knew the clock was ticking: Studio executives only had a couple of hours to read the Halo screenplay and decide whether or not to make an offer before the Master Chiefs returned to CAA with the screenplay. It was the deal of the century, and a fantastic piece of showmanship.

The Master Chief suits were Shapiros idea and they ensured that the Halo deal made headlines even before the trade papers learned how rich the demands were. It was a spectacular attempt to turn Microsofts first foray into Hollywood filmmaking into a theatrical event and it very almost worked. Master Chief, the hero of Microsoft and Bungies bestselling Halo games, made his debut in Hollywood. Sadly, though, his Tinsel Town ascension was short-lived.

Microsoft was aggressive in pursuing the idea of taking Halo to the big screen. Its easy to understand why. The games, developed by Bungie Studios, were perfect blockbuster material: high-octane, intense sci-fi shoot em ups with a dense mythology and storyline and a dedicated fan-base of millions. Combined sales of the first two Halo games grossed in excess of $600 million over four years, selling north of 13 million units. The movie biz looked on in envy.

When Microsoft approached CAA about their movie ambitions, Shapiro told them about the Day After Tomorrow auction set up by CAA agent Michael Wimer and director Roland Emmerich. With a script for the apocalyptic eco-movie in hand, Wimer called the major studios and invited them to bid for it. The process was unusual: Every studio would send a messenger to CAA at an allotted time, pick up the script and then have 24 hours to read it and make an offer. Each script was despatched with a terms sheet: Heres how much we want; heres how much we want for the director, and it has to be a go movie (in other words, a picture with a guaranteed start date for production). Each studio responded by trying to negotiate terms. The only exception was Fox, who simply wrote on the term sheet: Yes.

Microsoft, unaccustomed to Hollywoods culture, was impressed by that story. It wanted to be able to dictate the terms even though it was a newcomer in the movie biz. Halo was its prize property and they wanted to protect it.

Microsoft was entering into negotiations brandishing a very big stick.

Microsoft also wanted to make a bundle of money from its sale. For Shapiro, it was typical of the gulf between the two industries. Games creators are, by their nature, engineers who deal in absolutes. For them the subtleties of Hollywood production, with its ebb-and-flow of egos and power plays, were often alien. To sell a movie into a studio and actually get it made is a lot of work, he says. It takes a lot of conversations and a lot of pixie dust being thrown about while youre getting the deals done. In the games industry, theyre technologists and theyre data driven. Theyre looking at data points and saying: We need the movie to be made, its got to be this, this and this. If you get A, B and C to be part of the movie, then great well sell you the rights. You cant do that. But, if thats what Microsoft wanted, CAA was willing to try.

To set up that kind of deal, Microsoft needed to be ready. Most importantly it needed to have a screenplay so it paid Alex Garland (28 Days Later, The Beach) $1 million to pen a spec script. The screenplay was supervised by Microsoft, which meant it was — for good or ill — heavily steeped in the games mythology. Still, the project now had a blockbuster screenwriter and was based on a high-profile videogame franchise.

Next, it was a case of setting up the auction. Peter Schlessel, the former president of production at Columbia Pictures, was one of the main negotiators in the Halo movie deal and served as Microsofts Hollywood liaison. Together with Microsoft and its lawyers, Schlessel and the CAA team hammered out a term sheet. We were literally setting out to be the richest, most lucrative rights deal in history in Hollywood, says Shapiro. You have to remember that no property, not even Harry Potter, was getting [what we were asking for]. Microsoft, a global software giant used to getting its own way, wasnt about to kowtow to Hollywood. It knew Halo was the jewel of videogame movies, the one that could be a true blockbuster hit. According to Variety, Microsoft wanted $10 million against 15% of the box office gross, in addition to a $75 million below-the-line budget and fast-tracked production.

Those were big demands. Not least of all since, at the time, videogame movies were still floundering on the edge of respectability. Tomb Raider had made a pot of money and pushed towards the mainstream but its 2003 sequel, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life, suffered a disappointing opening weekend at the U.S. box office and limped by on its foreign grosses. The Lara Croft franchise was running out of steam early. And most other videogame movie outings werent even in the same neighbourhood as Lara. Paul W. S. Anderson, the director of Mortal Kombat, parlayed his success into the zombie-themed Resident Evil franchise distributed by Sony Screen Gems. The first movie based on Capcoms survival horror game series took $102 million worldwide and did gangbuster business on DVD selling over a million units. But it lacked the prestige and mainstream crossover potential of Tomb Raider.

Microsoft were aiming higher — much, much higher. CAAs deal-making matched the software giants aspirations. According to the New York Times, Microsoft were demanding creative approval over director and cast, plus 60 first-class plane tickets for Microsoft personnel and their guests to attend the premiere. It wouldnt be putting any money into the production itself beyond the fee paid to Garland, nor was it willing to sign over the merchandising rights. To add insult to injury, Microsoft wanted the winning studio to pay to fly one of its representatives from Seattle to LA. They would watch every cut of the movie during post-production. Clearly, Microsoft was entering into negotiations brandishing a very big stick.

With the screenplay written and the ink still drying on the terms sheet, the agents called up the major studios and advised them to be prepared. It was a bold, some might say arrogant, show of power. As Shapiro remembers it, We told them: You need to have all your decision makers in a room because were going to deliver the script for you to read together with a terms sheet. But theres a fuse on it. Youll only have a certain amount of time to make a deal.

Master Chief in the upcoming game Halo 4. Image: Microsoft

Because Hollywood is a town built on relationships, CAAs agents made sure they called all the major players. Even then there were some who felt snubbed; Miramax head honcho Harvey Weinstein called up to shout about being left off the list. Everyone had assumed Miramax wouldnt be interested in the property. Truth was they probably werent, but there was prestige to be had in being invited to the Halo party. The only major studio Microsoft refused to approach was Columbia, which was owned by Sony, its chief rival in the console war.

With his production background, Shapiro decided to add a little razzle dazzle to the proceedings. Remembering the Master Chief costumes hed seen at Comic-Con, he tracked down the one person in the U.S. who was fabricating the games official Spartan UNSC battle armour and hired seven suits: a Red, a Blue and several in Master Chief green. I had them shipped out to CAA, recalls Shapiro, they came in crates and had instructions about how to put them on. I hired character actors to wear the suits because, you know, you dont just put anyone in these suits. They had to feel like Master Chief.

For a few hours on June 6, 2005, Hollywood became Halowood. Everyone was buzzing about the Master Chiefs spotted walking through the studio lots and — more importantly — about the richness of the deal Microsoft was demanding. No one had ever seen anything like it before. Microsoft, the global corporation whose products sat on every desktop, had come to Hollywood and wasnt afraid of throwing its weight around. If showmanship and arrogance and Hollywood dont go together, I dont know what does, says Moore who was Microsofts go-between with Universal during the negotiations, reporting to the software companys point man Steve Schreck.

Not everyone was impressed. Movie executive Alex Young, who by the time of Halo had moved from Paramount to Fox, recalls reading the screenplay under Master Chiefs watchful eye. It was one of those gimmicky Hollywood things: hey, force everybody to be in a room, make it feel urgent, have a guy show up in costume and Oh my God! This feels like a big deal. It probably served Microsoft and CAA well at the time, but ultimately it seemed like a bit of manufactured theatre to me. Another problem was that the Halo property was so well-known by that point that everyone knew what to expect. You either loved the idea of making a Halo movie or you did not, suggests Young. Having a guy in costume deliver the screenplay wasnt going to convince you one way or the other.

In the end, though, it wasnt the Master Chiefs fault that the deal stumbled. Nor was it CAAs. The failure of the Halo movie remains a potent illustration of the gulf that still lies between Hollywood and the videogame business. It should have been the tent-pole movie to die for, instead it became the one that got away. Millions of Halo fans around the world wanted a movie, yet it failed to launch. Partly, it stemmed from the on-going inability of both sides of the deal to understand each others culture, needs and language.

“When the videogame industry talks to people they do it open-kimono and they expect the same transparency back. Hollywood doesnt function that way.”

Most of the studios who read the Halo screenplay passed immediately. Microsofts terms were simply too demanding. By the end of Master Chief Monday there were only two horses in the race: Fox and Universal. Microsoft hoped to use each to leverage off the other but hadnt banked on the studios very different approach to doing business. What the games industry doesnt understand is that this town is all about lunch, explains Shapiro. It doesnt happen like that in the games industry. If there was a movie studio going out to the games publishers to license Avatar or something like that, theyd say Ok were licensing Avatar, send us your best deal. But none of the games publishers would talk to each other and say Hey, what are you going to offer them?

The studios werent so reticent in sounding each other out. What happened was Universal called Fox and asked them what they were going to offer, continues Shapiro, who watched events unfold close-up. They decided to partner on it. Lets offer the same deal and offer to partner. So now we lost our leverage. Universal agreed to take U.S. domestic, Fox would take foreign. In the blink of an eye Microsofts bargaining position had been pole-axed.

The immensely powerful Microsoft had wandered into the deal navely expecting everyone to play by its rules and the resulting culture shock put immense strain on the Halo deal. For Moore, then corporate vice-president of the Interactive Entertainment Business division at Microsoft, there was clearly culture clash during the negotiations: You work for a company like Microsoft, where you do what you say, you say what you do; you think you have an agreement, youre ready to go, and then… [the deal falls apart].

It was something that talent agents working at the intersection between the two industries have experienced many times. When the videogame industry talks to people they do it open-kimono and they expect the same transparency back, says Blindlights Lev Chapelsky. Hollywood doesnt function that way, they dance and they sing and they play games and go through their ritual haggling. To somebody whos not accustomed to that, it can be insulting.

Microsoft clearly werent accustomed to it. They were used to being the strongest contender in any negotiation they entered into. But this time they were far out of their comfort zone. We dont understand Hollywood, Microsoft Games Studios general manager Stuart Mulder confessed to the trade papers in 2002 as the company inked in its deal with Shapiro at CAA. It was a throwaway comment that would turn out to be disturbingly prophetic.

What was apparent during the Halo deal-making was that Microsoft was far from home, perhaps even surrounded in enemy territory. In the middle of the Halo negotiations, as all parties sat around the table, Shapiro recalls the discussion between Microsofts Hollywood liaison Peter Schlessel and Jimmy Horowitz, Universals co-president of production, taking an aggressive turn. Schlessel was getting really tough on some of the terms with Horowitz: Come on, dont be a jerk, blah, blah, blah…. It was getting really heated. The guy from Microsoft [Steve Schrek] was like, Wow, this is really good. Then we took a break and Schlessel goes to Horowitz, Are you coming over for Passover? Because they know each other. You dont have those kinds of relationships in videogames. In Hollywood you can be getting at each other but then youre playing golf together the next day.

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Even after the deal was struck, the misunderstanding over how the movie business operated continued to be a problem. Microsoft wanted a big-name director, but Peter Jackson, helmer on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, decided to sign on as a co-producer alongside Peter Schlessel, Mary Parent and Scott Stuber. Jackson wanted his new protg, an up-and-coming commercials whiz kid called Neill Blomkamp, to direct. With Jacksons fee running to several million dollars the studios knew there was an advantage in hiring a cheaper, less well-known talent to sit in the directors chair. Microsoft was reputedly not happy with the decision.

Blomkamp, a South African director who had made his mark with commercials for Nike and had shot an intriguing short about alien apartheid called Alive in Joburg, was concerned about getting chewed up and spat out while making his first feature with these three enormous corporations and a budget north of $100 million. My instinct was that if I crawled into that hornets nest it would be not good, and it was a clusterfuck from day one, he admits. Theres no question that there was a clash of worlds, for sure. The two sides werent seeing eye-to-eye.

What lured him in, beyond the obvious kudos, was his love for the property: I told Tom Rothman [co-Chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment] that I was genetically created to direct Halo. However, Blomkamp quickly realised that the studio didnt share his artistic vision and was uncomfortable at the prospect of his gritty, post-cyberpunk aesthetic — all blurry video feeds and radio chatter – dominating a summer blockbuster. Rothman hated me, I think he would have gotten rid of me if he could have, says the director. The suits werent happy with the direction I was going. Thing was, though, Id played Halo and I play videogames. Im that generation more than they are and I know that my version of Halo would have been insanely cool. It was more fresh and potentially could have made more money than just a generic, boring film — something like G.I. Joe or some crap like that, that Hollywood produces.

Blomkamps relationship with Fox was particularly fraught. The way the deal was split between three major corporations and a handful of Hollywood producers caused several unusual imbalances in terms of power. The way Fox dealt with me was not cool. Right from the beginning, when Mary [Parent, Universals former president of production turned Halo producer] hired me up until the end when it collapsed, they treated me like shit; they were just a crappy studio. Ill never ever work with Fox ever again because of what happened to Halo – unless they pay me some ungodly amount of money and I have absolute fucking control.

He was also being pressured by Microsofts demands too. One of the biggest issues was creative control. Microsoft had paid Garland to pen the screenplay to their specifications in order to retain control over what was clearly a very valuable property to them. Halo was an Xbox exclusive title, a billion-dollar franchise, and its chief weapon in the console war against Sony. The problem was, though, that filmmaking was a collaborative exercise and total control simply wasnt possible.

If youre dealing with a company that doesnt understand the film industry, its sense of assurance comes with glossy names that have done a lot of big projects that have made a lot of money, says Blomkamp. I think the guys at Bungie liked what I was doing. Im fairly confident in saying they liked where I was going. Its highly possible that that artwork was getting back to Microsoft and Microsoft itself, the corporate entity, was not happy with it because it was too unconventional. I dont know if thats true or not, but it was entirely possible.

Against this fraught background, Universal funded $12 million of preliminary development on the movie. Some of the money was spent before Blomkamp came on-board by director Guillermo Del Toro, who was initially attached before going off to make Hellboy II: The Golden Army instead. The rest was spent on Blomkamps watch and included paying various screenwriters — Scott Frank, D.B. Weiss, Josh Olson — to redraft the original screenplay.

Meanwhile, Weta Workshop, the New Zealand physical effects company co-founded by Jackson, was fabricating real-life versions of the weapons, power armour and the Warthog assault vehicle from the game. Blomkamp would eventually use them to shoot a series of thrilling test shorts. The legacy of a movie never made, is how Moore describes the collected footage, which was later cut together under the title Halo: Landfall and used to promote the Halo 3 videogame release in 2007.

With development proving slow, Fox and Universal were beginning to get impatient. The gross heavy deal and costs increased the growing sense of unease. In October 2006, right before a payment was due to be made to the filmmakers and Microsoft, Universal demanded that the producers deals be cut. Jackson consulted with his co-producers and Blomkamp, as well as with Microsoft and Bungie, and refused. In a stroke, the Halo movie was pronounced dead in the water.

What ultimately killed the Halo movie was money. Microsofts unwillingness to reduce their deal killed the deal, says Shapiro. Their unwillingness to reduce their gross in the deal meant it got too top-heavy. That movie could have been Avatar.

Blomkamp agrees: One of the complicating factors with Halo was that Microsoft wasnt the normal party that youd go off and option the IP from and make your product. Because Microsoft is such an omnipresent, powerful corporation, they werent just going to sit back and not take a massive cut of the profits. When you have a corporation that potent and that large taking a percentage of the profits, then youve got Peter Jackson taking a percentage of the profits and you start adding all of that stuff up, mixed with the fact that you have two studios sharing the profits, suddenly the return on the investment starts to decline so that it becomes not worth making. Ultimately, thats essentially what killed the film.