Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsWoW Moviewatch: Illegal Danish - Escape from Orgrimmar
by Moo Money 
Jan 2nd 2008 at 11:15AM
One of the longest running jokes in Machinima history finally came to a close today with the release of the long-awaited sequel to Illegal Danish: Super Snacks. Illegal Danish: Escape from Orgrimmar was originally announced right after the premiere of IDSS, with a scheduled release date about 6 months later. However, it had been pushed back for over a year, leading many to compare it to Duke Nukem Forever, which, coincidentally, debuted a brand new trailer several weeks ago.
Around the same time that 3D Realms was releasing their DNF trailer, Myndflame made an announcement that IDEFO had a scheduled release date of December 31st, at 6pm EST. It would coincide with a real life wrap party to ring in the New Year. However, fans flooded the site, literally and figuratively. Not only were 75,000 people trying to access the site, but someone was also attacking it at the same time. Given the holiday, it would take some time to fix, thus not appearing until 2008.
Previously on Moviewatch...
Read on after the jump to see the full assessment ..
Before I go into reviewing Illegal Danish 2, I'd like to mention that I am a full-time Machinima creator, promoter, and critic. IDEFO has had over 29,000 views and 7,000 downloads in just a few hours, but I'm actually shocked and appalled at some of the comments that have been made. I'm going to give this movie the review it deserves, constructively, instead of trolling. I know this won't win me any love, but until you've made something as epic as this, there is no way to fully appreciate the effort that was made.
With that said, I'm not a grinder in World of Warcraft. I can't tell you a single thing about lore. When I look for Moviewatch material, I base it on certain criteria, such as an engaging storyline, video and audio quality, and editing style. It is a rare day that I find a gem such as this one. It's easy to be on the other side, judging the work instead of doing it. However, this is, at the heart of it, free entertainment being provided to you.
Before you go writing me off as a rabid fangirl, hear me out. From a non-WoW viewpoint, I loved it. There are certain things that I'll get into shortly that I wish were different, but overall, it was excellent. As a casual player, I was still able to enjoy it and recognize many of the references made. If the WoW audience doesn't like it, the regular viewers will.
For those of you not familiar with Illegal Danish: Super Snacks, I have provided a brief summary. The "Illegal Danish" guild's purpose is to protect it's namesake, a tart of a pastry dating back many years. When the sinister Van Kraken seeks the illegal danish for a special elixir, a plan is set into motion. Guild members split off to investigate a portal disruption, while Floivan's joyride brings an unexpected visitor. The fate of the guild is left hanging at the end.
Coming in at 24 minutes, Illegal Danish: Escape from Orgrimmar picks up where IDSS left off. It's a murloc-driving, tank-powered, ass-kicking adventure of a comedy. The illegal danish has been stolen, Floivan and Dirti get separated in Stranglethorn Vale, and Basutei finds himself imprisoned in Orgrimmar. What's left to do? Why, break into song, of course!
If you're still with me, great! I loved the fact that, despite it taking so long to produce, they were able to see the humor in it and mock themselves. Clint Hackleman provided a great soundtrack for the film, while his brother, D.W., nailed the editing. It was visually stunning, with a lot of post-production work put into it. The voice actors fit their roles and they used the right characters for the scenes.
However, the credits really seemed rushed. I know they set a deadline and fully intended to keep it, but I fear that the last few minutes may have suffered as a result. They used an eight month old music video as the backdrop, and to compensate, they scrunched the text. In addition, the movie jumped frantically at points, but that can be expected in a situational comedy such as this one. It does end quite abruptly, though, leaving you to wonder when the final episode of the story arc will be completed.
The bottom line is, there seems to be a petty grudge holding people back from truly enjoying what is one of the best Machinimas I've seen come out of WoW. It is a marked improvement from IDSS and it shows. If you sit back and watch it without any pre-conceived notion in your head, it's quite good.
Considering the fact that, due to Blizzard's Fair-Use Guide, they were unable to profit much from their work, it's amazing that a two-person team had the time to do it. Real life happens, and while the film has its faults, I can't even imagine devoting such a large amount of time to one project. That's an accomplishment in itself, and they've done it several times.
If you'd like to watch the film, you can visit Myndflame.com, or to rate/comment on it, visit Warcraftmovies.com.
Filed under: Machinima, Humor, WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
onetrueping Jan 3rd 2008 12:02PM
I'm going to start out by lauding TotalBiscuit for his post. Unlike many of the comments you see on these things, he posted an intelligent, thought out piece that consisted of more than a string of abbreviations with a hint of insulting banter, and thus invited intelligent debate. It's a shame that so many people felt the need to put "Too Long Didn't Read" in their replies, because it shows how degraded comments have become. Rather than being a haven for intellectual discussion and true ideas, modern comments are largely little more than flamebait. So bravo, TotalBiscuit, bravo.
With that said, I would like to place a small rebuttal. I have not seen EFO yet, though I probably will in the future. As a part of a full review, I appreciate your placing the clip in the context of the creators and their past work, and your opinion that they could have done better, and that others have. With that said, I think I will enjoy it anyway. While EFO might not be ground-breaking work, or even anywhere near as good as the rest of their work, it does not mean that we cannot enjoy it for what it is, largely independent of the real-world context. I'm not paying for the clip, after all, and if it's decently entertaining, I will have considered it a decent use of a half an hour's watching.
For future reference, to keep the short attention-span and/or intellectually challenged crowd pleased, I recommend a little blurb at the end of your post, along the lines of the following: "Overall, the clip is mildly entertaining, but the disappointment that the studio could have provided a clip of much greater quality than it has has hampered my enjoyment." Or something to that extent.
In closing, I reiterate that my hat is off to you for your comment. And for those who will inevitably post "TLDR," a translation: "you win one internets."
TotalBiscuit Jan 3rd 2008 12:15PM
I'm surprised you could even deign to lift your dainty fingers in order to post that then. I swear, kids these days, their attention spans get shorter by the day.
TotalBiscuit Jan 3rd 2008 12:25PM
Incidently this comment tree is getting very difficult to read now, it's all over the place. My above comment was aimed at Wyrd, and all those that seem to wear laziness like a badge of honour, your comment are worthless, and they are the ones filled with crap, and not worth reading.
@onetrueping - I've watched the movie several times now, and tried to watch it, and analyze it without preconceptions. Even if you pretend the entire series didn't exist, and neither did machinima, it's still a mess when it comes to story-telling and very light on the comedy, while the editing and music are of course, high quality and impressive. The thing is, even if you took it as an independent film, with no preconceptions, you wouldn't actually understand a good chunk of the jokes, since they're in-jokes and self-produced memes from the previous two movies.
The creator of The Grind reviewed it himself, and came to the same conclusions I did, an amazing showpiece of audio and editing, but the story staggers around like a drunk, randomly bumping into different pieces of furniture, and eventually collapsing flat on it's face, having not actually gone anywhere at all. You can find that review here - http://forums.reebosak.net/showthread.php?t=7283
So if you won't listen to me, how about listening to someone who's made movies which are arguably better than Myndflame's work, and are even in their affiliate program?
onetrueping Jan 6th 2008 12:44AM
Like I said, I hadn't, and still haven't, actually seen the flick, I was just suggesting a way to circumvent all the stupid "TLDR" posts. Hat's still off to yah.
TotalBiscuit Jan 6th 2008 1:52AM
@onetrueping - Completely understandable.
Feel free to take my comments as they are, merely comments, and one man's informed opinion. I've seen murmouring on some.. lesser sites, that I am simply out to get Myndflame, that I have a grudge against them, or that I just criticize everything I see simply to get attention. The irony being those murmourings often come from the very people that do just that, and merely attack me for the sake of it, rather than taking my comments at face value.
WoW's spawned all this great creativity, some of it's good, some of it isn't, but it's all creativity. However, if a great chef were to create a dish that wasn't tasty, would it be better to pretend it was great, or tell that chef what was wrong with it, so he could improve his craft in future? Constructive criticism is the key to future innovation and I'd challenge any of my detractors to prove to me that what I said wasn't true, or was simply slander and misinformation.
Take the movie on it's own merits and judge for yourself, I simply think that the review posted on this site in the first place was gravely misplaced, and not properly informed, and wanted to offer a counterpoint. If you enjoy the film, I'm happy for you, I'd love to have enjoyed it myself. Whoever says I'm a Myndflame hater clearly doesn't know the first thing about me, I'm a huge fan, and married to a huge fan, how could I possibly hate the company that produced my all-time favourite Machinima, in the form of Zinwrath? That's just plain stupid.
Swarfy Jan 2nd 2008 2:11PM
@ TB Too Long Didn't Read.
I rarely if ever watch Machinima. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. i enjoyed EFO. Sure I would have liked to see more. But the fact that it's even out at all is what I'm pleased with.
They did do some jumps that I wish they wouldn't have. Or done some stuff that isn't possible in WoW (WTB Flight form in Ironforge) But if they did that then there wouldn't be the giant robots, OR the danish.
I have to agree with Velaegis. Out of a 12 paragraph post you did 1 1/2 paragraphs on EFO, I skipped the stuff about myndflame and just read your EFO 'review'. I don't care if they didn't some 'questionable' stuff. I ENJOY there movies. It's all I care about.
TotalBiscuit Jan 2nd 2008 2:23PM
I'm not honestly concerned if people don't have the necessary attention span to read what I have to say about the whole thing, and can't see that the context of EFO's development and history is rather important in judging it.
Those who don't listen to much music, may believe that Britney Spears as a fantastic artist. Does that make her a fantastic artist?
I somebody released a movie with a few fancy effects and 'borrowed' jokes, and didn't tie up any of the plot-elements, simply sliding clumsily from one unrelated scene to the next, would you praise it? That's what this movie is, just because it's a machinima doesn't mean you can be merciful to it and treat it as if it didn't know any better and needs to be petted and positively reinforced like some errant child.
I'd challenge anyone in this thread, to name some meaningful things that IDEFO did better than either Super Snacks or Zinwrath. I'd also like you to watch the movie again, and count the number of plot-threads that end in no resolution what so ever. There's a lot of them, so it could take you a while.
I'll admit to getting a few laughs out of it, and I have to admire some of the production work, but that's not what a review is about, it's about pointing out what it does right, and what it does wrong. Whether you personally like it, really has nothing to do with it at all.
ILYAS Jan 2nd 2008 2:19PM
EFO is much worse than expected. It failed.
Balasan Jan 2nd 2008 2:57PM
Right, now that I've watched the whole 24 mintues of the movie I can say a few things:
The movie, graphically is nothing amazing. Then again I've been watching Baron Soodson, and no movie is going to beat that (for now). You really can't compare it with that.
What I truly love about it, however is the comedy it's showing. I truly love the idiocy of it all, the concept of the illegal danish, the foiled escape, the silly jokes. That's what myndflame brings to the wow machinima table.
I'm not defending Myndflame, and admittedly comparing some aspects of ID2 with its predecesors it falls flat in places, but overall, especially if you're taking the movie on it's own, is a great piece of work, and worth all the hype it's been given.
Markymark Jan 10th 2008 2:34PM
@20 IDEFO did not fail... it just fell short of peoples expectations. It still pretty good but me myself was not expectiong the best WoW machinima ever.... besides people assume its so easy to make one but in acuality it takes months to produce a couple scenes.
bonusfeat Jan 2nd 2008 3:58PM
Man, I felt like I needed Attention Deficit Disorder to fully enjoy ID:EFO. It was pretty, shot well in places, and all over the place. It was funny in parts too, but thats not enough for me.
If I hadn't seen BaronSoosdon's Work, The Grind, The Bull Gnome, and Among Fables And Men - then I probably would have enjoyed this movie a lot more.
I'm sorry but WoW Machinima isn't in baby steps anymore. Maybe it's not fair to judge it against the rest of the medium but I can't go back and "un-watch" the amazing things that other Machinima makers have done since Zinwrath and ID:SS put it's foot in the door.
TB said it better but whatever *shrug*
dbowie Jan 2nd 2008 4:13PM
I agree, TB. Many people are going to defend this movie because they WANT to like it so bad, and have such great memories of Zinwrath and Supersnacks. And it's true that they had a lot to live up to in making this, and fans are jaded by the wait-but even with that considered it was still a disspointment, if we're being totally honest. I don't hate Mindflayme, but as a casual fan, I think I'm done with supporting or looking forward to their future projects. Their greatest moments are past and that's clear now. I'm fine with it. The movie had a very few brief, funny moments, but nothing memorable or meme-worthy. I can't say I would watch it again.
TotalBiscuit Jan 2nd 2008 6:09PM
Hell, I want to like this movie, because I love the rest of the stuff they've put out (with the exception of the Clefthoof Brigade and Learn2Play, I don't even know what they were thinking with Clefthoof, and Learn2Play is nothing short of dumb, when we know that Gobbler composes some of the most amazing music there is). I can't like it, because no matter what way you look at it, it's not very good. I went back today and watched ID:SS and Zinwrath and remembered what made them great. Border-line insanity, somehow drafted together into a coherent story, comic timing, editing that was funny, though not perfect, or deliberately cheesy in order to get a laugh (facial composition in Zinwrath anyone? Snacky cakes in ID:SS?), the music (which was thankfully still there) and the off-the-wall, but not entirely nonsensical humour, the great characters.
IDEFO was lacking in almost all of those areas. Way too much focus on Basutei goofing around, which is funny, but generally only if he's in a situation with other people. Would anyone deny how great the dialogue between Basutei and Rossi was in SS? Spawning such immortal lines as 'Come on baby, I got blessing of protection?), or the Goblin Cakes scene? And what about the wise-cracking duel between Basutei and Kiljoy? Those were funny. Basutei wise-cracking to... some random undead? Thrall? These are not established characters in the series, we don't care about the interaction between them. It seems to me they went about setting up a loveable, crazy and often obnoxious cast, and then tore them apart and put them in completely different storylines, and resolved none of them.
That's what really gets me more than anything, *SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT STOP READING NOW*. Dirti get's the Master Sword, in a scene ripped largely from the Linkin Quest Text, taking up a good chunk of the movie and what happens? Nothing, zip, natta. Floiven (spelling?) is approached by the Steam Tank covered in angry murloc. What happens? Nothing. The entire guild go off in search of The Asstoucher, taking a ship to a mildly amusing but none the less derivative HMS Pinafore parody song? What happens? Nothing. Basutei is finally rescued by Kiljoy in some kind of mech thing, what happens? Nothing.
How many plotholes and unresolved situations? It's not even a case of the movie being too short, it's a case of it stretched itself so thinly and haphazardly, that the story-telling doesn't go anywhere. The editing is up to snuff, but that's to be expected, but where's the story, and for that matter who ran off with the comedy?
Applaud them for their previous works, sure, but personally, I'm going to be a lot more sceptical when approaching their next work, it'll save a lot of disappointment.
Nati Jan 2nd 2008 4:28PM
It wasn't really that funny. It made me smile in some places, but it was nothing compared to the original. In fact, the entire experience left me blinking and going "was that all? meh."
I have no room to complain cause I got to watch it for free, but if I'd joined their donation program thingy I would've been very disappointed.
Kryptonls Jan 2nd 2008 4:45PM
Nice to see TB still on this place. :)
Given the length of time it took and the endless delays that were brought about with the time it took to actually release this film, it was a letdown to a degree.
It's still not a bad piece of machinima, but there are some good things in it and also some bad, and others which were probably rushed, I reckon.
The machinima scene is indeed evolving as TB states, and a group as well-known as Myndflame will have to work extra hard next time to build on the flaws and successes of this work to earn their keep and name in the machinima world.
Cetha Jan 2nd 2008 7:37PM
as someone who has never heard of myndflame or zan-whatever or even TB before ( actually that's not true i do know TB from every single other snarky blog post he/she has made) I have to say I enjoyed the film very much. It was funny and clever, and not at all of the style of that BaronSoosdon (sp?) makes and so it doesn't seem to make any sense at all to compare them as they are too different genres. It's like comparing theatre and film....or even an art house film with a summer blockboster comedy...though they are working in essentially the same medium they are clearly not at all after the same results.
my guess is they just wanted to have a good time and then hope some other people had a good time too...
I had a good time
TotalBiscuit Jan 2nd 2008 7:45PM
Your guess is far from accurate. Myndflame bill themselves as 'Professional Machinima', and have for a while. They are award-winners (and rightly so for their previous works). They solicited thousands of dollars in donations as well as a rendering rig to continue to their project, and it's taken around a year and a half.
If you think that was 'just to have a good time', when Gobbler himself has said this film has driven him to the point of insanity in it's production cycle, then you're living in a dream land.
Machinima, serious business, incidently what's a snarky, can I eat it?
Spiritwolf Jan 2nd 2008 7:57PM
Is it too late to see TB whip it out?
TotalBiscuit Jan 2nd 2008 9:10PM
I'd whip it out for you anytime Spiritwolf, you know that :>
Walterion Jan 2nd 2008 8:31PM
Well, your pictures were good Spiritwolf...and the credits were good. So yeah, it was entirely done by spiritwolfs comics (and his copyrighted large jaws :D).