Astartes

I will probably do myself no favours saying this but...I know very little about 40K. Yes I know about GW and the board games and miniatures, I've even played a Warhammer game over on the Xbox 360, it was pretty good, but I have no insight into any lore or the universe that the franchise occupies.

What I do know is that this showed up in my YouTube recommended and I preceded to watch. Wow. So glad I did because this was something else. It grabbed me from the off, there is something more going on here other than just great visuals. I'm not savvy in film/cinema speak but I'll say this then end my review, it gave me a vibe I very rarely get from films these days, short or no, and that vibe is mystery. It dripped with it. A touch of the Space Jockey if you will.

I'm off to read up on Warhammer things. To the creative behind this, don't pull a Prometheus.

I was astounded by the sophistication of the directors storytelling eye, his economy of coverage. For someone who has no other directing credits. It's really impressive work. Forget the IP itself, or the actual animation and art (which is obviously beautiful, but plenty of people can make beautiful CGI, all you need is money and time) Far more interesting is the true skill in DIRECTING. Particularly directing action and staging. And temporal finesse. The editing. What he's leaving OUT for the mind to fill in is as important as the shots he does include. This guy need to know he's got talent. Don't get stuck in a CGI job. Develop this talent. Who ever gave this 4 stars is a stone cold cringe loser.

I remember back around my 19th birthday when my friend showed me Astartes out of the blue, telling me it was a great Warhammer 40K animated fanfilm. I didn't know too much about the 40K IP, other than my friend being really into it, so I decided to take a look. Today, I have watched the Astartes series hundreds if not thousands of times, and it still brings tears to my eyes. It is not simply an amazing Warhammer 40K fanfilm. It is a truly phenomenal masterpiece of cinematography, CGI, and storytelling.

• Very little dialogue, still tells a very intriguing and in-depth story through subtle imagery.
• CGI, models, motion, and physics quality are second to none.
• Both the story's "protagonists" and "antagonists" are built extremely well, there is no one side overshadowing the other, no "heroes good because baddies are bad", everyone is highly skilled and intelligent.
• With CGI you can move the camera wherever and however you want, however the cinematography feels extremely realistic and grounded.
• The combat choreography and cinematography is outstanding and very cleverly thought-out.
• The suspense, mystery, and cliffhanger at the end leaves us yearning and begging for what comes next.

This is truly a perfect film and deserves so much more support. I thank this man so dearly for the passion-driven creation he has put forth.

This is how movies should and can be made, every fine detail, camera angle and visual effects are on point. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of the episodes besides how short they are. If this man hasn't already been hired by a big visual effects company they're all losing. I don't even like warhammer but man was this cool. It tells a story without even saying words. Mind blown.

This is a masterclass in cinematography, sound design and story telling. Without dialogue the mood is still clear and the fast cuts aren't there to hide shoddy choreography but to cram information into a tightly constructed scene.

Just spectacular.