Showing posts with label Tabletop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tabletop. Show all posts

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40K Movie (2010)


Recently watched the 2010 film Ultramarines and, especially for a game turned movie, it was quite good. And I am not just saying next to these piles of crap it is good, I would say it is at least an average film and I very much enjoyed it.

They [The Space Marines] are more than mortal, they are steel and they are doom. They are the champions of mankind and the greatest of them all are the Ultramarines.


Warhammer 40,000, for anyone who does not already know, is primarily a scifi tabletop wargame in the same vein as DnD. But it could also be said that it is primarily a universe, as the creators has put in a huge amount of backstory into it and numerous books, two video games, and other assorted spin-offs have been created.

Everything has a purpose, the Emperor ordains it so.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war.

The basic story, at least what I know of it, is there are the protagonists the good, but totalitarian, genetically engineered Space Marines who fight for the humans and their nemesis, Chaos, primarily seen as Chaos Marines and Demons. Add to this a hoard of militaristic alien races and picture them all locked in a never ending struggle and you might have an idea of what this is all about.

Chaos breaks mens souls. Chaos brings the pestilence of daemons. Every time we march from our beloved fortress home on Macragge, we march to face down Chaos, and banish it.
(Macragge is the home world of the Ultramarines)


So back to the film. My favourite part of the film was the awesome quotes in the dialogue, some of which I have included in this article, but overall their were more things that could really do with improvement then impressive features. For one, the graphics were nothing special, not bad but nothing more then that. Secondly, no interesting tactical manoeuvres were shown, which is a mainstay of the tabletop game, so I was looking forward to their being some. And their was not even any particularly great action sequences.

I am steel! I am doom! I march for Macragge! And I shall know no fear!!