Of all the games in Sony’s impressive stable of exclusives, Heavenly Sword makes complete sense as one of the first to be adapted into a full-length animated film. The PlayStation 3 action-adventure game already plays like an interactive movie, featuring noteworthy voice acting talent, high production value and dramatic directorship provided by the voice and motion capture star behind Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, Andy Serkis, who also voiced the game’s lead villain, King Bohan. It’s a bit strange that it took seven years since the game’s release for its movie counterpart to come out — a full console generation has passed and a new one has begun — without any sign of the sequel PlayStation gamers and Ninja Theory fans crave to bring the Heavenly Sword name back to relevance (although Hellblade does look like it’ll be a worthy spiritual successor). But here we are, on the day of the straight to DVD/Blu-ray/Sony Entertainment Network digital download release of the Heavenly Sword movie. I don’t know if it was worth such a long wait, but it is a fun watch nonetheless.
For the most part, the 85-minute Heavenly Sword movie holds true to the storyline of Heavenly Sword the game. In fact, snippets from the cel animated prequel mini-series released online in five episodes prior to the game’s launch are weaved in with the CG animation early on in the story to authentically establish the foundational lore. Nariko, the graceful yet fiery red-haired heroine of this tale who also just so happens to be a kickass swordswoman, was born in the year when prophecy foretold that the divine warrior would be reborn to claim the legendary Heavenly Sword and bring peace to the land once more. However, as a female in a male world, her birth, which caused the death of her mother, was seen as a curse, as she could not possibly be the “Chosen One” protector of the mythical blade that drains the life force of anyone who wields it in battle, and thus growing up she became shunned by not only her clan, but even her own father. However, with the tyrannical King Bohan seeking the sword at all costs in servitude of the dark Raven Lord, Nariko must make her own choices, against the will of her father and clan, in order to protect them.
All of the villains and “boss battle” scenes from the game are represented here, including Whiptail, Roach, Flying Fox and the ultimate showdown with Bohan. The narrative flow is pretty much the same as the game as well, except for a few liberties taken and a couple new, completely bland and unnecessary characters that were added to the script for reasons I don’t understand. One of these characters, Kyo, who is voiced by Nolan North, is introduced early on and plays a role in an inconsequential twist late in the movie, but overall he’s a nothing character who looks out of place in this setting with a design that is more like some emo character from Final Fantasy or some other Square Enix JRPG. And then there is Loki, the son of Master Shen, brother to Nariko and Kai, and the true “Chosen One.” Yes, Nariko has a brother, contrary to the game’s storyline. Loki’s introduction serves as a plot device to propel Nariko and Kai’s journey to find the brother they never knew they had and give him the sword to fulfill the prophecy, but his presence in the film is a throwaway. It’s as if the producers only added him so they could get a Hollywood actor — in this case Thomas Jane — to voice the role and highlight his name on the cover for more star power appeal. It sure doesn’t help that Jane’s performance is lazy and disengaged, as if he dropped into the voice-over booth for a couple hours one afternoon without any knowledge of the game and recorded a few lines just to earn a quick paycheck.
Fortunately, these tangents from the game don’t have as much impact on the core storyline as you might think. Actually, the changes to the story arc give more screen time to building the relationship between Nariko and Kai, the odd, seemingly harmless, sort of Gollum-esque girl who talks like a child but is a deadly markswoman with her crossbow and, as she puts it, likes to make things bleed. In the game, Nariko and Kai had their own playable missions, but the movie is almost like a buddy fantasy adventure as the two travel and fight together. For a lot of fans, Kai was as much of a star from the game as her big sis, so seeing her have a more constant presence here is only a plus.
Jane’s sleepy performance as Loki aside, the voice acting is solid. Anna Torv reprises her role as Nariko, and while her performance here isn’t as fiery as the game (it’s probably hard to rekindle the passion for an old video game character after seven years growing as an actress in larger TV roles), there is an attachment to the character that ultimately shines through. Beyond Torv, a lot of the voice cast has changed. Nolan North puts his diverse range on show as the new voice of numerous characters, including Roach, Master Shen and Kyo. Kai’s original actress, Lydia Baksh, has been replaced by Ashleigh Ball, but there isn’t much of a difference. The one major change is Alfred Molina as the new voice of Bohan. Due to scheduling conflicts, Andy Serkis wasn’t available to reprise his role. Fortunately, Molina fills in admirably as the maniacal villain, even if his voice doesn’t quite have the psychotic flair that Serkis brought to the role.
For the Blu-ray release, the extras menu is disappointingly light on content. In addition to some trailers, the only bonus footage is a 15-minute “Making of…” featurette. The behind-the-scenes doc does offer some interesting insight into the film’s production, in particular how the movie was originally going to be a 6-episode TV mini-series on the Syfy channel. But it’s a shame more bonus content wasn’t added to tie the movie back to its video game roots. The extras menu was begging for things like the full prequel animated series, motion capture footage, voice-over sessions, maybe even a cutscene viewer from the game. It seems like such a missed opportunity to not include bonus content like this.
While not as much of a cutting edge visual feast as a video game movie like Final Fantasy VII: Adventure Children, Heavenly Sword looks marvelous and is far richer in detail and lighting than the game’s CG cutscenes. (It certainly has a more coherent storyline and far better acting performances.) The battle scenes are exciting, surprisingly bloody, and smoothly animated, fully capturing the graceful sense of motion and fight choreography that made the game a delight to play. Just watching Nariko’s flowing red hair whip around adds dimension and personality to every scene. Viewed by someone who never played the game, the movie will probably lack enough context and momentum to make it a memorable experience. Fans of the game who formed an interactive bond with the characters and have a deeper connection to the world should enjoy reliving Nariko’s tale of redemption and revenge, even if certain changes to the cast and story lessen some of the impact. A short but sweet mid-credits teaser scene is worth watching for as well.
Heavenly Sword is available now for $15-20 on DVD/Blu-ray
Starring Anna Torv, Alfred Molina and Thomas Jane, the Heavenly Sword animated feature film by Cinedigm, TriCoast Worldwide, Blockade Entertainment and Film Financial Services is set to release September 2nd on Blu-ray ($20), DVD ($15) and the PlayStation Network digital storefront. The disc versions will contain bonus features, including behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew.
Written by Todd Farmer, the original writer of the Heavenly Sword video game, the 85 minute CG fantasy action movie adaptation will tell the legendary revenge tale of Nariko, the red-headed beauty wielding the titular life force draining blade, and her fight to protect the sword from the tyrannical ruler King Bohan.
From the new trailer (look below), the storyline appears to be sticking fairly close to the plot of the game, with some alterations and additions (I sure don’t remember Nariko having a brother in the game). The look of the film also seems to be on par with the quality of a cutscene from a PS3 game, which is a bit disappointing but still plenty watchable.
The voice cast certainly doesn’t disappoint though. Anna Torv is reprising her role as Nariko, Thomas Jane is playing a new character named Loki (is that the brother?), and Alfred Molina has taken on the role of King Bohan. (Andy Serkis was amazing as Bohan in the game, but sadly he was unavailable to reprise the role for the movie.) Kai does sound the same as I remember from the game, but I can’t find any confirmation that original voice actress Lydia Baksh has been brought back for the movie.
Barry Dennen and the omnipresent Nolan North are also said to have parts in the film.
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If you missed the three previous Assassin’s Creed games or want to relive the life and times of master assassin Ezio Auditore on a single disc, Ubisoft has just the bundle you need.
The newly announced Assassin’s Creed: Ezio Trilogy compilation features the full versions of Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, with DLC and multiplayer modes intact. All three games will be stuffed onto one Blu-ray disc for added convenience and less game shelf clutter. Obviously that also means the Ezio Trilogy will be exclusive to PS3. The Xbox 360 still doesn’t have a Blu-ray drive, last I checked.
Assassin’s Creed: Ezio Trilogy is scheduled to ship on November 13th for $39.99. That’ll give you two weeks to polish off Assassin’s Creed III.
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It’s not uncommon for Sony to hype a game, a system, or some form of new technology and then proceed to not support it very well, but the way the expansive storage capacity of the Blu-ray medium has gone largely untapped has been particularly perplexing. Sure, some PS3 games come with additional bonus content like HD behind-the-scenes videos and XMB themes and demos that likely wouldn’t fit on a single DVD on other platforms, but where have the crossovers been with Blu-ray movies and games? (Disney did a nice combo deal with Phineas and Ferb, but I can’t think of any others.) Sony and third-party publishers have really missed an opportunity to promote the two in unison and further demonstrate the Blu-ray advantage.
Tekken Hybrid, a three-in-one Blu-ray bundle containing a movie, a game, and a demo, all on a single disc, is a rare example of the potential there is for developers to compile unique home entertainment experiences only possible on the PS3. Fortunately, it’s a pretty decent collection of content too, albeit one only Tekken diehards will be able to fully appreciate.
The main attraction in the Tekken Hybrid set is Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D, a full-length CGI film overflowing with unfathomably cool fight scenes and stomach-turning anime melodrama that will have many a viewer cringing in agony. There’s some kind of a story going on here — mostly a buddy chick drama between pigtailed martial artist school girl Ling Xiaoyu and Alisa Bosconovitch, the android killing machine introduced in Tekken 6’s campaign mode — but the dialogue is so wonky and stiffly delivered it becomes too much of an effort to pay attention to what any of the characters are saying. Switching to the Japanese language track at least makes the experience bearable, but then you still have to read the subtitles, which, again, requires more viewer effort than the convoluted story deserves.
Blood Vengeance isn’t completely without merit, though. Like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the detail and quality of the animation, produced by Digital Frontier, is impeccable, and the outlandish fight scenes prevent the 90-minute flick from falling flat on its face. The movie certainly opens and closes with a bang, the mostly dull minutes in between book-ended by a rousing nighttime street duel between sister rivals Nina and Anna and an epic three-way bout between Jin, Kazuya and Heihachi. Xiaoyu’s fight with Alisa – before they become BFFs – is quite the spectacle too. Other than those three sequences, though, this flick is a snoozer. But that’s what scene selection (or the fast-forward button) is for!
Once the credits have rolled on Blood Vengeance, the included prologue sampler for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 pulls Xiaoyu, Alisa, Devil Jin and Devil Kazuya away from the theatrical drama and pairs them up for a quick and dirty slugfest. Fightin’ is what they do best, after all.
Disregard the whole ‘Prologue’ thing, because this bite-sized preview of TTT2 isn’t nearly on the scale of the prologue Gran Turismo 5 Sony released years back. The four playable characters can be taken through an arcade mode of four fights, and, surprisingly for a demo, there is an actual trophy list on par with the average PSN title. Toss in a simple 3D character model viewer, and TTT2 Prologue is what you get.
Barebones as it may be, it is nice being able to look ahead to what’s next in the Tekken franchise. From the prologue, you’re at least able to get a feel for the refined and expanded tag-team mechanics and the layered maps with destructible barriers — padding your trophy level in the process. I’m just not sure it adds much value to a retail product.
After providing a fleeting glimpse into Tekken’s console future, Namco Bandai lands a Lightning Screw Uppercut of nostalgia with its HD remastered version of fighting classic Tekken Tag Tournament. 12 years have passed since Tekken Tag graced the PS2 with its tag-team brawling, and remarkably the gameplay and gussied-up graphics hold up pretty darn well against modern rivals. The fighting is fast, the frame rate is smooth, and picking up on the classic move sets, no matter how many years you’ve been away, is like slipping back into a favorite pair of raggedy jeans. Tekken has become outclassed by other fighters in recent years, but there’s something about its characters and gameplay feel that never goes out of style.
Namco didn’t fuss with adding online multiplayer, which is a definite bummer. However, the remainder of Tag’s content suite still is deeper than many modern fighting games. Everything is unlocked from the moment you pop in the disc, too, so you can view movies and ending scenes, choose from all fighters, and play the excellent ‘Tekken Bowl’ mini-game (bowling with Tekken characters, go figure) without ever having to throw a punch. When you are ready to throw down, the game covers the bases with arcade, vs. battle, team battle, time attack, survival, and practice modes. Not to mention a full trophy list, Platinum included.
The one thing that really bugs me about the package as a whole is its lack of unity. When you put the Blu-ray into your PS3, the movie shows up in the video section of the XMB (or begins to play if auto-start is active) and both Tekken Tag and TTT2 Prologue require individual installs onto the hard drive like titles downloaded from the PSN (though the disc is still required when it comes time to play). I’m sure there’s probably a technical reason behind this setup, but it feels disjointed and eats up a good chunk of HD space (both are over 1GB in size).
In the end, Tekken Hybrid is neither a great movie nor a great game. So what it is? Well, it’s a collection of Tekken stuff dedicated to true Tekken enthusiasts. If you love you some Tekken, dive in head first without regret. $40 (some places already have it discounted to $30) isn’t unreasonable for what Namco Bandai burned onto this hybrid Blu-ray. But for most of us, the only worthwhile piece of this compilation – Tekken Tag Tournament HD – isn’t quite strong enough on its own to carry the dead weight around it and instead deserves to be a standalone PSN game. This time with online multiplayer. Make it happen, Namco.
Pros:
+ Tekken Tag Tournament HD can stand toe-to-toe with many modern fighters
+ A few spectacular fight scenes and gorgeous visuals make Blood Vengeance worth the watch
+ Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue shows just enough to build excitement for the full game
+ Two words: Tekken Bowl!
Cons:
– Blood Vengeance’s story and dialogue is tough to stomach
– No added online multiplayer in Tekken Tag Tournament HD
– Tekken Tag Tournament 2 demo doesn’t add much value overall
– No unified menu structure; seperate installs chew up prime HD space
Affiliate Links:
Buy from Amazon
Game Info:
Platform: PS3 / Blu-ray
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Namco Bandai
Release Date: 11/22/2011
Genre: Animated Movie / Fighting Game
ESRB Rating: Teen
Players: 1-4
Source: Review copy provided by publisher
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LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 is coming up next week from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and veteran LEGO “insert licensed franchise name here” developer TT Games, and if you’re planning to pick up a copy, Target is probably the retailer to choose.
When you buy LEGO Harry Potter at your local Target starting on June 29th, you’ll get a free DVD or Blu-ray copy of the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie packaged in with the game. The Wii and Xbox 360 versions will come with the movie on DVD, while the PS3 version will obviously come with the Blu-ray copy.
Unfortunately, the deal does not apply to the DS, PC or PSP versions, so you’re out of luck on this one unless you own one of the “big three” consoles.
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The God of War Collection just got even more epic. Now, in addition to featuring remastered versions of PS2 classics God of War and God of War II, the Blu-ray disc compilation will also come packed with the playable God of War III demo Sony showcased on its summer press tour through E3, Comic-Con and PAX. I find it odd that the demo won’t actually be included on the Blu-ray disc, though. Instead, a voucher will be bundled in with the collection enabling immediate download access of the demo via PSN.
God of War Collection is scheduled to ship in November.
God of War III E3 2009 Demo Included in God of War Collection [PlayStation.Blog]
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Remember that survey back in April in which Sony asked fans to rate possible bonus items for a God of War III Collector’s Edition? If you participated, rest assured, your voice was heard!
When the survey hit, many fans screamed at the top of their lungs from high atop Mount Olympus begging for a Blu-ray compilation of the first two God of War games from the PS2. Sony has listened, today announcing the God of War Collection.
With the God of War Collection — now a standalone compilation rather than a Collector’s Edition bonus — Sony is doing much more than just dumping the original PS2 versions onto a Blu-ray and calling it a day. Both games have been remastered in 720p HD 1280 x 720 resolution with anti-aliased graphics running at a constant 60 frames per second. Better still, PSN trophies will be supported as well, making the compilation even more attractive to returning fans of the originals.
“We are excited today to announce God of War Collection,” said Scott Rohde, vice president, Worldwide Studios America. “Our fans spoke and we listened; thanks to our partnership with Bluepoint Games, fans and newcomers to the series can experience the epic God of War and God of War II saga in stunning 720p on PS3. This Blu-ray Disc compilation brings Kratos to PS3 even earlier than expected.”
God of War Collection will be released this holiday season for $39.99.
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I love my PS3 and I love Blu-ray, but honestly, I haven’t found much use for my PS3 in the specific role of a Blu-ray movie player. For me the benefits of Blu-ray have been seen solely on the gaming front, in games like Metal Gear Solid 4 where the larger disc capacity enabled Hideo Kojima to stuff more content into the game than another form of media would allow. Another advantage of Blu-ray that doesn’t get talked about as much as it should is how much more resilient it is to scratching and general wear and tear.
Maybe I just don’t have the eye of an HD purist, but for movies I haven’t seen enough of a difference in image quality and enhanced special features to justify paying higher prices for Blu-ray movies over DVD. Until now…
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete is the first movie to challenge my thinking in the “DVD vs. Blu-ray” debate. If all Blu-ray movies were of this quality I would invest more in the medium over DVD.
Advent Children Complete (ACC) is a Director’s Cut edition of the CG film sequel to Final Fantasy VII first released in Japan back in 2005 (it came to the US in 2006), and as such it comes packed with nearly 30 minutes of new footage and extended scenes, along with a host of additional special features not included with the original DVD release.
The special features are quite good too, although they aren’t likely to interest those who aren’t fans of the games. There are two story Final Fantasy VII story digests: the original “Reminiscence of FFVII” which retells the game’s story through a sequenced series of cut-scenes and CG videos from the game, and the new “Reminiscence of FFVII Compilation” which recaps the entire FFVII saga through scenes from Crisis Core, Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus. There’s also a new prequel anime short all about Denzel called “On the Way to a Smile – Episode Denzel,” plus all of the ACC trailers Square Enix released throughout its production, a brief “Legacy of Final Fantasy VII” featurette celebrating the game’s popularity, and a sneak peek at Final Fantasy XIII (it’s the 7-minute extended E3 trailer).
But ACC is much more than a simple Director’s Cut with added scenes and features. Over 1,000 scenes from the film have been touched up with even more stunning detail and re-recorded dialogue by the original voice cast. So in effect the movie has been completely remastered, and it shows. During fight scenes characters now show realistic wear and tear. Clothes become dirty and worn, combatants’ faces become bloodied, and vehicles become plastered with bullet holes. And overall, the film just looks brighter, sharper and crisper.
The 26 minutes of new footage, which puts the movie’s runtime just over two hours, largely centers on fleshing out certain side stories that didn’t get much play in the original film. Denzel, the orphaned boy infected with Geostigma, gets a lot more face time, as do Zack and the Turks.
But the most significant scene alteration/expansion comes during the final duel between Cloud and Sephiroth. [Spoiler Alert!!!] Previously, the battle wrapped up rather quickly. In the original cut, Sephiroth pins Cloud to a wall with a sword stab through the shoulder before Cloud eventually breaks free and takes Sephiroth down with his Limit Break finisher. But in ACC, the end of this battle has been completely changed. Rather than getting pinned against the wall, Cloud is thrown through the wall and comes charging out with a blue glowing aura around him like he’s powering up for his Limit Break. But as he lunges to attack, Sephiroth catches him out of the air with his absurdly long sword and proceeds to skewer Cloud multiple times – Cloud’s body and face show the cuts too, and there’s even a little bit of added blood dripping and spattering. Then Cloud has one of his flashback/dream sequences with Zack before launching into his final attack, which is even flashier and more elaborate than before.
This extended ending truly made the movie for me – it is the epic face-off finale Cloud and Sephiroth always deserved.
In no way do any of the new scenes make the original film any more narratively coherent, so the movie still comes across as more of a glorified sequence of CG cut-scenes pulled from a Final Fantasy game than a flowing feature film. But that’s OK because, for most viewers, the story isn’t the main draw here. You watch a movie like this to be wowed by the wizardry of the animators and the extravagant action sequences, and trust me, no CG flick will wow you like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete. It is the ultimate Blu-ray experience!
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Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, the long-awaited Blu-ray version of Square Enix’s amazing animated CG flick from 2005/2006, finally has a US ship date. Released last month in Japan, Advent Children Complete is set to make Final Fantasy fanboys across the country cream their pants (again) on June 2nd. It’ll cost a pretty penny, though, with an expected retail price of $38.96.
In case you haven’t been following along, Advent Children Complete is a Director’s Cut of the original movie completely re-rendered in high definition and enhanced with 1,000 “revised” scenes, 26 minutes of all-new footage, and plenty of new bonus features, including a 25-minute anime short titled “On the Way to a Smile – Episode: Denzel,” three featurettes — Legacy of FINAL FANTASY VII, Reminiscence of FINAL FANTASY VII, and Reminiscence of FINAL FANTASY VII COMPILATION — and all of the Advent Children Complete trailers. Sadly, the US version won’t include the Final Fantasy XIII playable demo Japan got. But a brand new trailer will be included on the disc in its place.
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