MYTHICA - GOOD LOW BUDGET FANTASY MOVIES?
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Ryujin
Legend
It's definitely a story arc, rather than a series of stand-alone works.
cmad1977
Hero
Price point?
Ryujin
Legend
They say that it's available today but don't mention a price, nor can I find it on the Wal-Mart website. I can't imagine it would be much more than perhaps US$60, given that the individual disks were originally going in the $15 range.
Ryujin
Legend
Holy crap! The DVD set is half the price I expected:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mill-Creek-Studios-Mythica-The-Complete-Collect-Dvd-Mp-Ws/240320922
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mill-Creek-Studios-Mythica-The-Complete-Collect-Dvd-Mp-Ws/240320922
I just watched the first movie, they are all available for streaming on Amazon Prime (at least in the U.S.A.). I'm not terribly impressed. While it is kind of in the vein of the generic 80's fantasy films of yesteryear, I feel the genre--even the low budget fantasy genre--has moved a bit beyond that. Also, those movies of yesteryear seemed to have more of their own story that, albeit somewhat generic and cliche, seemed to rely less on what happened in the producer's RPG game the night before.
The bad:
1) It puts most other movies of this ilk to shame for generic RPG tropes and paint by numbers world building. You could almost see the Hit Point bar above the protagonist's head counting down, and phrases like "I/we need a thief", while not a death knell, are kind of telling. Not to mention the proverbial rough and rowdy tavern where 'adventurers' go to get 'jobs' or 'quests' for treasure/money, complete with gruff dwarf-like innkeeper who maintains order with an iron fist and 'tough love' for adventurers. While these may be tropes in RPGS, and some here may like the familiar callbacks, it really hinders the storytelling and just serves to point out that the world building is here as a backdrop to service the game/plot of the moment. At least Hawk the Slayer and such tried to put a reasonable effort into establishing why and who the characters were doing what and why; I half expected a diminutive, red-robe clad 'Dungeon Master' to pop up and start giving out quests.
2) The CGI was not Avengers quality, nor should one expect it to be for such a low budget affair, but it was really telling trying to see the characters interact with it on screen. The only scene were this worked, imho, is when the Wizard conjured a flame snake Illusion from the campfire to distract the orcs while she freed the thief. The fight choreography was also somewhat lacking here, but once again, I guess not too bad for a low budget movie. It does seem wildly various on how skilled/hurt/injured a character is at any given moment, largely dictated by the dramatic needs of the script. This may seem natural to Role Players used to it, but to general movie goers, the whole "I'm knocked out and need tending/no I'm fine back in the thick of things" needs a little more explanation (This aside from the explicit clerical healing on several occasions).
The Good:
1) The main protagonist is not only a woman, but a slave. Not only that, though she is treated poorly due to her status as a slave, it is not used as an excuse to sexualize her either through skimpy costuming or constant threat of sexual abuse/rape (though there is one scene where she is set upon by those who want to sell her to a brothel, and the inn keeper initially wants to send her to work with the prostitutes, so not so much I guess). The fact that this society has slaves, and she must be back before curfew was enough of a twist and world building element that, if followed up on, could have done much to counteract the "generic fantasy setting" vibe.
2) I'm not sure that this point should not be in the first position, the main protagonist is not only a woman and a slave, but also has a disability: a club foot/twisted leg that makes her limp and have to use a brace made for her by a friendly person in her master's household. This is a fascinating trait for a protagonist to have, and does much to set it apart from other movies of the same ilk and add depth, though I think there is more to it than that, as the "good goddess" of the setting will not heal her affliction and she too, like the seeming BBEG behind everything, can practice "necromancy" (basically drawing energy from those around her to fuel her magic, though she can only do it in times of great stress). I'm suspecting a Baulder's Gate like plot reason for this in future movies.
In short, for a movie written and made by gamers, it's not terrible considering the resources and budget available, but I would hope that RPGers would realize that when making a movie, as opposed to an RPG, that there are fantasy cliches (Save the princess, stop the ritual/close the portal, lost prince/princess) and RPG cliches(Inn/HQ quest depot, need to fill out a party, World building that only makes sense as a game, etc). Efforts need be made to mitigate and present the former in an interesting way, while the latter should be avoided or at least disguised and seasoned much better to make a palatable story.
The bad:
1) It puts most other movies of this ilk to shame for generic RPG tropes and paint by numbers world building. You could almost see the Hit Point bar above the protagonist's head counting down, and phrases like "I/we need a thief", while not a death knell, are kind of telling. Not to mention the proverbial rough and rowdy tavern where 'adventurers' go to get 'jobs' or 'quests' for treasure/money, complete with gruff dwarf-like innkeeper who maintains order with an iron fist and 'tough love' for adventurers. While these may be tropes in RPGS, and some here may like the familiar callbacks, it really hinders the storytelling and just serves to point out that the world building is here as a backdrop to service the game/plot of the moment. At least Hawk the Slayer and such tried to put a reasonable effort into establishing why and who the characters were doing what and why; I half expected a diminutive, red-robe clad 'Dungeon Master' to pop up and start giving out quests.
2) The CGI was not Avengers quality, nor should one expect it to be for such a low budget affair, but it was really telling trying to see the characters interact with it on screen. The only scene were this worked, imho, is when the Wizard conjured a flame snake Illusion from the campfire to distract the orcs while she freed the thief. The fight choreography was also somewhat lacking here, but once again, I guess not too bad for a low budget movie. It does seem wildly various on how skilled/hurt/injured a character is at any given moment, largely dictated by the dramatic needs of the script. This may seem natural to Role Players used to it, but to general movie goers, the whole "I'm knocked out and need tending/no I'm fine back in the thick of things" needs a little more explanation (This aside from the explicit clerical healing on several occasions).
The Good:
1) The main protagonist is not only a woman, but a slave. Not only that, though she is treated poorly due to her status as a slave, it is not used as an excuse to sexualize her either through skimpy costuming or constant threat of sexual abuse/rape (though there is one scene where she is set upon by those who want to sell her to a brothel, and the inn keeper initially wants to send her to work with the prostitutes, so not so much I guess). The fact that this society has slaves, and she must be back before curfew was enough of a twist and world building element that, if followed up on, could have done much to counteract the "generic fantasy setting" vibe.
2) I'm not sure that this point should not be in the first position, the main protagonist is not only a woman and a slave, but also has a disability: a club foot/twisted leg that makes her limp and have to use a brace made for her by a friendly person in her master's household. This is a fascinating trait for a protagonist to have, and does much to set it apart from other movies of the same ilk and add depth, though I think there is more to it than that, as the "good goddess" of the setting will not heal her affliction and she too, like the seeming BBEG behind everything, can practice "necromancy" (basically drawing energy from those around her to fuel her magic, though she can only do it in times of great stress). I'm suspecting a Baulder's Gate like plot reason for this in future movies.
In short, for a movie written and made by gamers, it's not terrible considering the resources and budget available, but I would hope that RPGers would realize that when making a movie, as opposed to an RPG, that there are fantasy cliches (Save the princess, stop the ritual/close the portal, lost prince/princess) and RPG cliches(Inn/HQ quest depot, need to fill out a party, World building that only makes sense as a game, etc). Efforts need be made to mitigate and present the former in an interesting way, while the latter should be avoided or at least disguised and seasoned much better to make a palatable story.
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