You know, I'm not even going to scroll through the 250-some-odd comments to make sure no one else raised this issue already. I am irritated enough to just skip that part of the process and go right to expressing my opinion (which I intend to forward directly to you as well as posting here in the forums).
Bob, when- exactly- did you get to decide what I should like and dislike?
I'm asking that question because you seemed to have stepped over the boundary of informing me- the consumer- about the pros and cons about the execution of the work in question, and subjecting me to your personal biases and opinions regarding the subject matter of the work in question!
Listen, fuckhead: YOU ARE A CRITIC, NOT GOD. That means you critique the style and the execution. That DOES NOT MEAN you get to determine whether or not something is fit for my viewing--- well, you know, the exception being that you are suddenly transported to Nazi Germany and took a position in Goebbel's propoganda department.
And before you write me off as some sort of rabid Halo fanboy? I played through Halo once. Just ONCE. I played about two hours of Halo 2. Other than that, I have not played any other Halo-related game. (Don't even own an XBox 360; just FYI.)
But all the same, I am filled with rage after watching this video, because- dating from the Book of Eli review until now- I can see you interjecting your own personal beliefs and biases into your reviews, rather than serving as an objective lens, which I believe is the goal of the critic. After all, would you really presume to speak for the preferences of everyone who watches your review??? Are you THAT arrogant? I would hope not. I would hope that you would limit your critique to those elements of movie-making that affect everyone (your review of 2012 comes to mind, where you contrasted it with the dreck that Michael Bay dishes out), rather than trying to dictate what the viewer prefers.
But apparently, you've recently decided that you should be telling us what is worth watching and what isn't. And in this review, your distain for the Halo franchise hangs heavy over the whole matter, and clearly leeches out any useful information about whether or not this video might interest me- someone who has neither a positive nor a negative attitude towards the franchise.
Thanks, Bob, for completely wasting my time. As if I couldn't find a myriad of other people to do that.
What it would come down to, I imagine, as the main difference between us here would be a matter of philosophical disagreement.
For my part - and I'm speaking ONLY for myself here - I don't know that the type of objectivity you're talking about is actually possible in a critique of a film (or book, or painting for that matter.) From my vantage point, a film/art critic isn't precisely the same "job" as a product tester; i.e. someone who writes about (for example) new cars for Car & Driver. In that arena, you're mainly critiquing things that have near-universal elements of either success or failure: Are the brakes responsive? Does it steer properly? Are the seats comfortable? Is the dashboard-setup sensible and/or intiutive? These are yes-or-no areas of critique, either they "work" or they don't. There's not much about an automobile that "depends on how you look at it."
A film/art/whatever critic doesn't really, aside from a handful of technical concepts, have that kind of space to work in. EVERYTHING about a purely-creative work is of subjective value - it's all "eye-of-the-beholder" at the end of the day. As much as the words themselves might get tossed around to make a point, there is NO "right" or "wrong" when it comes to this stuff. So, as far as I'm concerned, EVERY episode of this show is "nothing but" my opinion - which, by it's nature, includes and is informed by my biases, preferences, prejudices and psychological hangups - because that's all any of us really have in regards to purely-creative work.
Now, IN THEORY, a "professional" critic's opinion may be assumed to "count for more" because he/she is (again, IN THEORY) better-informed on the subject by virtue of making they're living being so. But really, it's ALL just opinion - my opinion of the movies and the audiences opinion OF my opinion. I don't presume to be "god" or to have the last word on anything. I watch a movie, I give my opinion of it... and then add jokes and edit funny pictures in-time with the audio.
Really, I promise: I'm not here to "tell" you anything other than "here's-what-I-thought-(plus-jokes)-about-X."
Watched Babysitter on Waypoint when Waypoint first came out. I plan to watch the rest of them at some point.
Based off that particular one, I'm not impressed. The surrounding theme was all to common or overused or cliche or something because I wasn't shocked by any of it, the way I imagine I was supposed to be.
The theme is a common one in Japan, often seen in romances. Often "I hate [insert thing here]" is a sign of the content ending in "True Love" or, like in this case, her "sacrifice ingrained deep respect". The fact she was female didn't surprise me either.
The fact that they recognize that a Spartan actually died was the biggest shock. Spartans are supposedly spun to be "immortal" by the program heads; so normally Spartans will be listed as MIA. Master Chief makes a big deal of this in one of the books, He lists a comrade as MIA as a standard practice because Spartans "don't die". I'd like to have seen someone approach the survivors of the team telling them they aren't allowed to ever talk about that mission. Instead the one ODST (if I recall) blatantly shouts something to the effect of "She died to save us! Show her some damn respect!" at a cocky marine.
That being said I genuinely wonder which Spartan that was. I only remember ever reading about 3 female Spartans, two of them in MC's squad (linda, the sniper, and ... kelly? the quick one), both were around at Reach.
And this some rusty knowledge from someone who read the books years ago and generally doesn't like the Halo Universe, mostly because Master Chief is the focus.
I sincerely think Space Marines [http://www.getprice.com.au/images/uploadimg/1336/350_2263062-2.jpg] ODSTs are great however.
Huh, and here when I heard about Halo Legends, I thought it was just gonna be a full length movie. Didn't expect to see "Halo Does Animatrix". Still, was hoping to see a review on The Crazies.
Edit: As for the expect FPS defense, I'll just say that I'm not gonna do much to defend Halo. While it isn't a bad FPS title, I can most certainly agree that it isn't anything too note-worthy. It didn't really do anything new that hadn't been done already, or at least the few things that it did do that were new weren't really things I'd have listed as "good points" for the game. If anything I would argue that the Halo series stagnated the FPS genre by starting a number of trends that every wannabe FPS title insisted on copying from that point forth. Some of managed to make decent games of those mechanics, while others just used the mechanics to make a ho-hum game into just another "Halo clone" with a different skin.
Very few of the best FPS titles of the past 10 years or so (about when the first Halo was released) didn't use any Halo-based ideas, meanwhile nearly every "Meh" or worse FPS of the past 10 years borrowed heavily from Halo. So what does that tell you?
Gotta love moviebob's belief that if it wasn't for Halo, there wouldn't be interest in the 360, cause it is kinda true. One of the reasons I like the franchise, apart from teabagging grunts, is that it gave birth to the 360 and thus, to Mass Effect 2.
Umm, I am pretty sure that this is the whole point of a review. Suggest whether something is worth spending time upon. What would you expect from a movie review? It doesn't say 'DON'T GET THIS' or anything like that. And hey, Yahtzee is biased too. That doesn't make his videos less enjoyable or watchable.
Gotta love moviebob's belief that if it wasn't for Halo, there wouldn't be interest in the 360, cause it is kinda true. One of the reasons I like the franchise, apart from teabagging grunts, is that it gave birth to the 360 and thus, to Mass Effect 2.
I guess you could call it a case of the ends justifying the means. Though I wouldn't praise the 360 for the birth of Mass Effect. That was made by Bioware which is owned by EA. If they didn't make Mass Effect for the 360, they'd have made it for something else (heck, it had a PC release if nothing else).
I guess you could call it a case of the ends justifying the means. Though I wouldn't praise the 360 for the birth of Mass Effect. That was made by Bioware which is owned by EA. If they didn't make Mass Effect for the 360, they'd have made it for something else (heck, it had a PC release if nothing else).
True, true, but I love me more a controller than a keyboard. Matter of taste. I should get me a better video card for ME2 though. I have an incredible itch.
I guess i dont understand the obsession with halo bashing. I myself am a proud halo fan, sure the backstory is nothing spectacular, but one must remember that japan is privy to its share of awful video game rhetoric in the form of woefully jingoistic, horribly stereotyped, juvenile, unimaginative, and angst ridden video games, movies etc. Even a fan favorite, eveangellion, was mediocre at best, succumbing to many of the aforementioned problems. That is not to say i do not enjoy anime, manga and all things japanese, i just think some perspective is nice. The best storytelling and writing for video games in recent years has come from bioware a distinctly american studio. Saying something is better because it is japanese or worse because it is american is a grave injustice for any critic. For the most part i respect your reviews, but i must take offense at your blanket statements; american game designers have long held to one hard, fast rule; the game MUST be fun to play. the japanese prefer to design games around the concept that games are first and foremost a storytelling experience, and even that is not always true, some japanese staples have near incomprehensible stories and poor game mechanics (see the metal gear series). ok... i am done with my rant, but i wish a more fair review was given; i have lost a degree of respect for your reviews mr chipman.
oh ho? what excatly are your problems with the country from which half of my family comes from? awfully chauvinistic statement you're making there buddy
I think using chauvinistic is the wrong, a chauvinistic statement is one that is usually defined as male superiority rhetoric, though i understand the broader definition you are using there, jingoistic is a more appropriate word in that context. i would also like to note the irony of using jingoistic (and by extension chauvinistic) to describe ones attitude toward Japan because they have a woeful track record in terms of open-mindedness toward other cultures. Further, the Japanese have traditionally (and still to a large extent) believe that the world is divided into the Japanese and Gaijin.
Moviebob, let me call your 'no counting Half-Life' rule and raise you a 'Half-Life isn't, either' rule.
If anyone can explain to my why Gordan Freemon is any more interesting than the Doom Marine or why his pack of self-defeating cheerleaders make his particular dystopian fascist future state any more interesting or unique than the thousands of other tired genre money-spinners that pulled it off without relying on ass-pulls and deus ex machinas for every major plot point, then in return for the completion of your impossible task I will reveal the secrets of the Time Cube to you and you can join me in my secret deep-sea trench lair to view the arrival of The Mangled Ones from their great crystalline bathysphere of nightmares.
Ok maybe not the worst FPS, but definitely the worst AAA title, and especially annoying considering the hype. Just to clarify I like halo, but 1-3; they where fun and 3 wrapped up the storey once and for all! Halo ODST ripped the game up from its roots with really bad animations, depressingly bad voice acting, buggy vehicle systems despite the vehicles in 3 being fine, and a storey unbelievably shallow and unfulfilling.. When you pay £40 for a game you don't want to finish it within 5 hours, and do so with no sense of satisfaction. OFC there are worse FPS games, but I still put ODST alongside Two-Worlds(which smashed nicely tnx for asking) at the top of my least faverate games.... Also every1 knows Quake Live is better than Halo online!
You know, I'm not even going to scroll through the 250-some-odd comments to make sure no one else raised this issue already. I am irritated enough to just skip that part of the process and go right to expressing my opinion (which I intend to forward directly to you as well as posting here in the forums).
Bob, when- exactly- did you get to decide what I should like and dislike?
I'm asking that question because you seemed to have stepped over the boundary of informing me- the consumer- about the pros and cons about the execution of the work in question, and subjecting me to your personal biases and opinions regarding the subject matter of the work in question!
Listen, fuckhead: YOU ARE A CRITIC, NOT GOD. That means you critique the style and the execution. That DOES NOT MEAN you get to determine whether or not something is fit for my viewing--- well, you know, the exception being that you are suddenly transported to Nazi Germany and took a position in Goebbel's propoganda department.
And before you write me off as some sort of rabid Halo fanboy? I played through Halo once. Just ONCE. I played about two hours of Halo 2. Other than that, I have not played any other Halo-related game. (Don't even own an XBox 360; just FYI.)
But all the same, I am filled with rage after watching this video, because- dating from the Book of Eli review until now- I can see you interjecting your own personal beliefs and biases into your reviews, rather than serving as an objective lens, which I believe is the goal of the critic. After all, would you really presume to speak for the preferences of everyone who watches your review??? Are you THAT arrogant? I would hope not. I would hope that you would limit your critique to those elements of movie-making that affect everyone (your review of 2012 comes to mind, where you contrasted it with the dreck that Michael Bay dishes out), rather than trying to dictate what the viewer prefers.
But apparently, you've recently decided that you should be telling us what is worth watching and what isn't. And in this review, your distain for the Halo franchise hangs heavy over the whole matter, and clearly leeches out any useful information about whether or not this video might interest me- someone who has neither a positive nor a negative attitude towards the franchise.
Thanks, Bob, for completely wasting my time. As if I couldn't find a myriad of other people to do that.
What it would come down to, I imagine, as the main difference between us here would be a matter of philosophical disagreement.
For my part - and I'm speaking ONLY for myself here - I don't know that the type of objectivity you're talking about is actually possible in a critique of a film (or book, or painting for that matter.) From my vantage point, a film/art critic isn't precisely the same "job" as a product tester; i.e. someone who writes about (for example) new cars for Car & Driver. In that arena, you're mainly critiquing things that have near-universal elements of either success or failure: Are the brakes responsive? Does it steer properly? Are the seats comfortable? Is the dashboard-setup sensible and/or intiutive? These are yes-or-no areas of critique, either they "work" or they don't. There's not much about an automobile that "depends on how you look at it."
A film/art/whatever critic doesn't really, aside from a handful of technical concepts, have that kind of space to work in. EVERYTHING about a purely-creative work is of subjective value - it's all "eye-of-the-beholder" at the end of the day. As much as the words themselves might get tossed around to make a point, there is NO "right" or "wrong" when it comes to this stuff. So, as far as I'm concerned, EVERY episode of this show is "nothing but" my opinion - which, by it's nature, includes and is informed by my biases, preferences, prejudices and psychological hangups - because that's all any of us really have in regards to purely-creative work.
Now, IN THEORY, a "professional" critic's opinion may be assumed to "count for more" because he/she is (again, IN THEORY) better-informed on the subject by virtue of making they're living being so. But really, it's ALL just opinion - my opinion of the movies and the audiences opinion OF my opinion. I don't presume to be "god" or to have the last word on anything. I watch a movie, I give my opinion of it... and then add jokes and edit funny pictures in-time with the audio.
Really, I promise: I'm not here to "tell" you anything other than "here's-what-I-thought-(plus-jokes)-about-X."
Okay, okay. Legitimate counter-argument. That said, I expect you to at least address non-subjective aspects of the films you critique (production values, continuity, logic, acting, etc.), to provide those who may not agree with your subjective reasoning but would be interested in your critical opinion of the craft involved.
I'm dead serious Bob. I respect the Hell out of your knowledge of the cinema (I still remember your discussion of the framing of the shot of LA sliding into the ocean in '2012', and that is exactly the kind of thing I'm speaking about), and I would love to apply that knowledge to the movies that I am considering seeing. However, all I have gleaned from several recent reviews is: "omgdidnotlike". Either brief or no discussion of artistic and directorial merit. This is actually, in my mind, a drastic deviation from reviews where you at least acknowledged meritorious aspects of production values or whatnot, even if it was but a mention. THAT is the information I feel comfortable taking with me to the box office, even if we don't see eye-to-eye in regards to the subject matter.
TL;DR synopsis: slam if you gotta, but please. PLEASE... give at least a 15 second take on the objective values of movies, so that those people (like me) can apply your knowledge of theater- which I am more than willing to admit vastly outstrips mine- to our decisions, regardless as to whether or not we agree with you in the 'taste' department.
Excuse me... did you say something? Because I think- "Anonymous Source"- that you haven't earned the right to be an... arbiter of right and wrong here; at least not yet.
Last time I checked, it was a reviewer's responsibility to discuss all aspects of a film, not just those that he didn't care for... which is exactly what I was trying to take MovieBob to task for... a review focused on his distain for the subject matter, while neglecting to mention anything that might be useful to a person who would think "Gosh, he clearly doesn't like Halo, but I do, so I wonder if the continuity (or whatever) was good..."
Pressing the play button doesn't mean absolute acceptance of the product revealed, fool. And you can't call me a moron until you prove yourself to be an intelligent and thoughtful member of the community. I don't care that your (likely) teenaged brain may tell you differently.
Gotta love moviebob's belief that if it wasn't for Halo, there wouldn't be interest in the 360, cause it is kinda true. One of the reasons I like the franchise, apart from teabagging grunts, is that it gave birth to the 360 and thus, to Mass Effect 2.
solidstatemind said:
But apparently, you've recently decided that you should be telling us what is worth watching and what isn't.
Umm, I am pretty sure that this is the whole point of a review. Suggest whether something is worth spending time upon. What would you expect from a movie review? It doesn't say 'DON'T GET THIS' or anything like that. And hey, Yahtzee is biased too. That doesn't make his videos less enjoyable or watchable.
As I pointed out in the two replies above this, I really DON'T think that the sole mission of a 'critic' is to tell us what to like and what to dislike. I can figure that out on my own, thank you very much. I rely on critique to illuminate me on those aspects of filmmaking (or game production) that I am either ignorant of, or not likely to consider.
I will admit: I am far more familiar with games than I am with films, so perhaps I place a larger burden on (and expect more from) MovieBob than I do Yahtzee, but I don't think that I'm out of line here--
The whole reason I laid into Bob was because his entire "review" really came off as a tirade against the subject matter, and left out any commentary about aspects which would be relevant to someone who didn't necessarily agree with his perspective about that subject matter. To me, that is when it ceases to be a review and becomes evangelism against the movie in question.
I thought it was pretty good, I find that the chapter entitled "The Duel" far out shines any of the others. The watercolor art is just beautiful, and the story is epic, it kinda reminds me of those old cheap samurai movies, which is weird since its Halo. Overall, I'd say buy it, I can see myself watching it multiple times, and I really didn't enjoy the games all that much. I've finished them all, but I don't own them.
The whole reason I laid into Bob was because his entire "review" really came off as a tirade against the subject matter, and left out any commentary about aspects which would be relevant to someone who didn't necessarily agree with his perspective about that subject matter. To me, that is when it ceases to be a review and becomes evangelism against the movie in question.
So? He did not like every bit of the movie but he praised the parts that according to him were considered a success. That's just HIS opinion. And again, I did not see any tirade. Just an opinion.
Hey Yelchor, you've become a bit of a Moviebob fan haven't you?
That aside, while I can't go point-by-point with you as I haven't actually played the Halo games beyond some co-op sessions (never had an Xbox), I somewhat agree with you on the depth of the series; maybe it's just because my experience with Halo was when I was 11 at a friends house, but for me it seemed to have an interesting sci-fi plot and backstory. Your bit about the Covenant's socio-political structure adds to this view.
As for Halo Legends, I'm pretty sure it is trying to reach new audiences, what with money and all, but in response to the "hack and slash settings" comment, I have to add that despite its backstory and universe it's still based on an FPS where a notable weapon is a beam-sword, and thus will contain a good bit of that. Also, you might have been referring to Toei's short, in which case it's supposed to be rather silly and Dragonball Z-esque.
Of course, I'd have to disagree with you on humanizing the Spartans. While they were taken away and raised to serve the military, they're still fundamentally human and would have human emotions; cybernetic modifications to their bodies would not change this. Personally I like that it makes them deeper than the 1-dimensional machismo-men Moviebob complained about, though it should be kept to side-stories and somewhat disconnected things like this as Halo's less about characters and more about the humans vs. aliens conflict and overall military/sci-fi things.
Eversince I first came in contact with the Moviebob reviews I got stuck. A very charming and humorous way to talk about visual media.
What I'd really want is for the Halo franchise to be something more then just a fun FPS serie, it can actually focus alot on immersion by having a setting and story that makes the audience ponder. A deterioating alien empire trying to keep itself together by claiming to have dangerous enemies, resulting in genocide of never-before recorded magnitude in human history. I'm surprised over that the atmosphere after Halo: CE didn't shift into a darker, more hopeless tone. As by that point only Earth itself remained populated by humans, all of the colonies had been turned into glass-covered ruins with billions after billions of people that had perished with it. Were the ones who did this sadistic monsters? No, they were mostly honor-focused minds that even had chivalarious ideals (reffering to Elites here.), or simply having no other choice but to obey. They allowed themselves to be blindly guided on a path of terrible destruction, certain of that they were working for the greater good.
There is potential for the Halo franchise to develop into a deep story. Things like what I mentioned above are what could make a Halo movie really, really good if you ask me.
Perhaps I used the wrong words to describe my interpretation of this anime collection. Of course it's alot of "Hack and Slash", but as I mentioned about my dislike for japanese animation culture, I can't see Halo and anime mixing together. It doesn't go with my taste. Infact I think this is what the Halo franchise needs the least if its universe is to be taken seriously (By me atleast.).
About the Spartans. Of course they still have the same intellectual capacity of any other human being, but I was reffering to their anatomy. The amount of hair on them is just impractical for combat, and wouldn't they be rather pale having spent their time in those suits for a rather long time? I can imagine the Spartan working scheduele to be nearly non-stop during the war against the Covenant. Sure, this might be an unimportant detail, but for me it becomes dumbed down. They're not what I'd imagine a Spartan looking like. Their skelleton was given metallic layering, muscle development was increased to an extensive level, tons of implants were placed all throughout their bodies. How could they avoid not looking like post-suit Darth Vader in some degree?
Curiously enough, the picture lordlee showed with Western RPGs on the right side and with Japanese RPGs on the left side on page 4 of this thread had me cringing when looking on the left side with the right side being a fine collection of quality games to my eyes.
My dislike for JRPGs are probably, at its core, that I don't see any intellectual value in it. Atleast Halo had me think about something, as my previous post and this one clearly demonstrates.
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