WoW Moviewatch: The Gnomeregan Revenge: Red Alert
by Natalie Mootz 
Oct 21st 2008 at 12:00PM
The Gnomeregan Revenge: Red Alert is an original tale told in pre-Arthas Azeroth, the first of a new trilogy by filmmaker Odessa. The Gnomish race is cast in the role of Soviet revolutionaries against the Alliance. In this episode they use their technological superiority to stage a surprise attack on Ironforge. The Gnomes even speak Russian, albeit with English subtitles.
The machinima is excellent and the handheld out-of-focus shots work superbly to convey the surprise and confusion of the first wave of copter attacks. Since I don't speak French or Russian, it's difficult to tell the quality of the voice acting but the other sound effects are deftly done. (The English subtitles need some work; there are a lot of typos.) Still, I think it's possible to follow the story just from the visuals. The cliffhanger at the end prepares us for the next two episodes which promise to show us the war and its outcome. From just this first episode, it's difficult to tell if the film will have an allegoric theme with a larger message or if this was merely a creative tangent invented by the filmmaker. The follow-up episodes should come before the end of the year, so I guess we'll find out soon enough.
[Via WarcraftMovies]
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
Filed under: WoW Moviewatch, Alliance, Gnomes, Machinima
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
icantspellgud Oct 21st 2008 12:21PM
nice video red alert was a amazing game and i have always hated the gnomes lore. I thought personally very well done
Crazyterran Oct 21st 2008 12:22PM
tbh, he has some of the Gnome lore wrong... the Alliance had nothing to do with the fall of Gnomergan, (which happened during the time Arthas was heading to Northrend...). Also, the Gnomes quietly refused to aid the effort, and where busy fighting the Troggs, without requesting aid themselves... They made their own choice.
And the fact the story really doesn't make sense, this really isn't that good of a machinima, imo...
alway Oct 21st 2008 12:31PM
Yes, it does not really fit to much with lore, I don't think its really supposed to. After all, we know gnomes arent communists... They wouldn't even notice if the person sitting next to them died, let alone care about anything but their current engineering project.
IMO its a really funny peice of machinima, looking forward to future episodes.
Sanol Oct 21st 2008 12:37PM
machinima doesn't have to fit in with the lore.
The visuals were very nice, better than most if you ask me.
The music was good but the voice acting not superb, although i couldn't understand a word of what they were saying :P
I'm looking forward to the next episode of this :D
Crazyterran Oct 21st 2008 12:40PM
"tells an original tale told in pre-Arthas Azeroth"
I was mostly slashing down this, since that's how i roll. =P
Njb Oct 22nd 2008 2:03AM
Are you stupid? ofc it has nothing to do with lore, i mean for a start gnomes dont go around in communist russia outfits, and they never rebbled against the alliance, god damn who cares about the lore dont be such a nerd and just enjoy the god damn vid.
I bet if i made a vid about aliens blowing azeroth up people would comment saying wait no that makes so sense becuase yada yada
Crazyterran Oct 22nd 2008 11:00AM
Not sure what's more funny, your lack of spelling abilities, or the fact you thought I said the movie sucks because the lack of lore.
The movie in itself is good; and I'll watch the sequels, I was more commenting on the lack of lore in totality of the overall piece, because in the main post, there was a comment saying it's set in "Pre Arthas" Azeroth. The fall of Gnomergan was after Arthas had reached Northrend; which was why they quietly closed their doors during the Third War - and fought their own battle.
Sigh, why do people assume insults over the internet?
Jolmer Oct 21st 2008 12:24PM
It was good. Sort of a parallel universe feel to it.
The music was EPIC!!!
codespace Oct 21st 2008 12:26PM
I thought it was well shot from a strictly video perspective, though the voice recordings could have been done a bit better than what sounded like a low-quality Ventrilo connection.
Enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable.
photini Oct 21st 2008 12:33PM
I don't speak Russian though I do speak some French, I think the voice acting could use some work. It was a bit flat.
photini Oct 21st 2008 12:35PM
That said I think the machinima was well done, didn't want to make it sound like I didn't enjoy it.
Cow Oct 21st 2008 12:39PM
The Russian voice acting was quite good.
The French was pretty flat, and the dwarven commander has a bizarre accent. Nice, though, I liked it!
Spacevixen Nov 13th 2008 10:45AM
At last, someone else thinks that the gnomes need to break away from the Alliance! Go Gnomes!!
kermittheorc Oct 21st 2008 1:05PM
Nice! That was actually the first WoW movie I've bothered watching. Impressive. I would love to know how these are made.
meow Oct 21st 2008 1:06PM
haha nice i like the hell march music in the end
Ancalimanarion Oct 21st 2008 3:30PM
Hahaha, yes!!
I really liked how the ending was pretty much the RA trailer converted to machinima.
Lomion Oct 21st 2008 10:30PM
Interesting concept. Hunt for Red October theme music was great though.
ajaxsirius Oct 21st 2008 1:41PM
Doesn't the intro come from the movie The Hunt for Red October (1990, Sean Connery)?
Oneron Oct 21st 2008 2:15PM
Yes, the first couple of minutes of music is from The Hunt for Red October... it serves as the opening in that movie as well.
Aceyalone Oct 23rd 2008 4:29PM
I thought it was great!
The voice acting although being of poor quality was relatively good! The Russian seemed natural from the amount I know and the French was perfect! The reason for the Dwarfs bizarre way of speaking French is because it is meant to portray someone speaking French with a Russian accent!