Customer Reviews

Dead Space: Downfall [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Dead Space: Downfall serves its purpose as being a decent animated prelude to EA's great space based survival horror video game, delivering the goods in terms of blood and gore. However, there's little else to be found than that here, and that may be absolutely fine with you. The story revolves around the uncovering of an ancient artifact, and the events that transpire afterwards that involve people going insane and murdering one another. Before you know it, there's mutated zombie beasts running amok, and no one is safe. What Dead Space: Downfall does manage to accomplish is explain some plot points from the video game, as well as set-up what to expect if you haven't played it yet. Other than provide ample amounts of bloody, gorey violence, the animation itself is pretty lackluster. Things aren't really helped much thanks to some atrocious dialogue and a cliche script from the comic book writing tandem of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray (whose work has ranged from great to awful) that becomes hard to follow in the midst of all the violence. Still, Dead Space: Downfall has a great music score, some genuinely creppy moments, and decent voice talent that includes Bruce Boxleitner and Kelly Hu. All in all, Dead Space: Downfall serves as being a decent animated prelude to EA's great game, and for fans who have played it already or are looking to, this animated dirge is worth a look.

"Dead Space: Downfall" is an animated film that serves as a prequel to the outstanding science-fiction survival horror video game, Dead Space. The story draws heavily upon previous masterpieces of film and game alike which most prominently include Aliens, Resident Evil (the games), 28 Days/Weeks Later and Halo. It makes for an entertaining stand-alone popcorn flick to people unfamiliar with the game and fleshes out the story for fans of the game somewhat by showing the events leading up to the nerve-wracking experience of the game in greater detail.

Whether or not you play video games, if you love animated violence then this is as brutal as it gets. The story involves a mining vessel sent by the fanatical Church of Unitology (Unitarian Scientologists?) to retrieve an artifact on a dead planet. The mining vessels subsist by "cracking" planets and selling the ore. Some say this is detrimental to the harmony of the Universe. I'd say that in this case, that's an understatement. The vessel unwittingly unleashes an alien race -named as "Necromorphs" in the game- that thrive on dead flesh; possessing, reanimating, molding, and mutating it into forms suitable for slaying even more living things to continually spread the race. The result is damn horrific by any standard. To make things worse something is affecting the minds of the crew and driving them mad, making them both eager to die and kill for the aliens. Mix this with an already fanatical religious sect and you've got trouble.

So other than a typical sci-fi alien/zombie invasion romp, some of the usual "organized religion will kill us all" gloom and doom, and a little extra story for gamers what does "Downfall" offer? Violence. Brutal, inhuman, senseless, bloody, evil, unrelenting, unflinching violence. Decapitation, dismemberment, jaws ripped off, folks sawed in half (both horizontally and vertically), eyeball socket abuse, gaping neck wounds, viscera aplenty, and a freakin' mutated dead baby biting a dude in the face. Now that is some hardcore sh!+. The inside of the ship is practically painted in blood, and there's even a bit o' animated full frontal male nudity if that sort of thing piques your interest. So yeah, you may want to send the kids into the next room for this one. The violence in this is awesome. Also be prepared for almost comically excessive profanity.

So with all the attention showered on the putrid piles of dung that are what usually passes for video game adaptations, why has nobody heard of this? The likes of Uwe Boll and Paul Anderson get notoriety and praise (respectively) for ruining unruinable concepts and franchises while a solid flick like this gets shoved to the back of the shelf? Double-you. Tea. Eff. To be fair, "Downfall" isn't exactly all it could have been either. The video game not only looks better visually, but is far more fleshed out storywise. This film does very little to offer insight into the Necromorphs and few varieties even make appearances. I was hoping for a lot more. Practically none of the game's weapons are present either which is odd considering how cool they are and that the game takes place on the exact same ship which has no shortage of said weapons. At least one character does manage to make their way to the video game, which picks up at the last scene of "Downfall".

Gorehounds, adult animation fanatics, sci-fi horror buffs, and video game aficionados are all going to want to see this. It doesn't offer much more than brutal death, but it offers a whole lot of that. I wish it had been done in CG to retain more of the game's amazing look and feel and that the story had encompassed more... well, story but this is definitely an entertaining hour and fifteen minutes. The special features are sparse. Hopefully more video game adaptations will stick to the animated format which has produced solid if not exceptional films like Street Fighter (compare that to the laughable live-action version) and Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children. My fingers are crossed for the upcoming CG flick Resident Evil: Degeneration.

3 1/2 stars, rounded up for being BRUTAL!

Downfall is supposed to be the prequel to the Dead Space video game that was released prior to the video. There was a series of preview comics that were downloadable off the XBox marketplace that, and I assumed that the movie was going to be a base for the movie. However, this was not the case.

Ther movie primarily follows the Chief of Security of the Ishimura, who tries to contain the outbreak of violence and the necromorphs on the mining ship. The sequence follows a predictable path of disbelief, followed by a dug-in resistance. Several scenes are badly handled. Namely, a officer sees his own wife decapitate herself, and reacts as if she dropped a carton of eggs on the carpet. The ending is very dark and in line with the games tone. That was probably the only scene that reminded me of the Dead Space game.

Downfall was written and produced by someone who was told the plot of the video game, and maybe saw it played, but had no opportunity to play it themselves, and also had only cliff notes on the backstory. None of the scenes from the movie that appeared in game are remotely similar, and were well done in the video game, so it was disappointing to see them mess with it. None of the weapons of equipment from the game even makes an appearance, though one that does show up prominently, I wish had been in the game.

If the movie had had another title, it would've crawled up to 3 stars, as I wasn't a fan of the srtwork, but the name Dead Space raised expectations, which weren't met on almost every front.

I was a huge fan of the Dead Space video game and thought the story line was drawn very well. The graphics were intense along with the creepy suspense that followed you throughout the entire game, which can be very difficult to do with a video game. The prequel on the other hand was a different story. ///SPOILER\\\............It explains that the whole crew is dead but I ALREADY KNEW THAT. It never went off any of the auido logs or the written logs, didn't explain anything and was very poorly drawn. The characters were unbelievable and where were the weapons that were used in the game. I was expecting the prequel also to give background on clarke's girl. That was a very interesting story and would have been great if they included it.///END SPOILER\\\

Summation: Get the game, not the movie.

For those of you who aren't aware, there's significant story arcs precluding the Dead Space game. They come in the form of animated comics released an "issue" at a time on both XBL and PSN. These are free downloads and even if you don't purchase Downfall, I strongly recommend downloading the comic series.

Downfall takes place in the space between the animated comics and the game. It's a decent story about how a seemingly routine "planet crack" goes awry when a "marker" is found on the planet being excavated. There's a nice story here but I don't think it's absolutely necessary to watch to fully enjoy the game. I feel that although the animation was well done and the gore was on par with the game, the story just wasn't creepy or deep enough to really make it a hit.

The creepiness in the animated comics was largely lost in the feature film. Don't get me wrong, it's no Disney movie, I just don't think it was quite on par with its predecessor. Unfortunately, it seemed like one of the major climax/action sequences exists only in the deleted scenes and even then it only exists as an animatic (meaning a series of uncolored rough sketches displayed in succession with audio tracks overlayed, for those unfamiliar with the term.)

Finally I wasn't really impressed with the quality of the blu-ray format. There's some extras in the BluRay live section that I imagine don't exist in DVD form, but I still don't think that the Blu-Ray version is worth the extra $5. The promised cheat codes exist as easter eggs within the movie. Not a big deal for me, but just wanted to give a heads up to those who expect a card with codes listed on it when they open their case.

Honestly, it's not a bad movie by any means. I just think they could've pushed the creepiness a little more as well as putting higher highs and lower lows in the story arc. If you're really psyched about the franchise it's worth getting (again, I'd grab the DVD version and save your five dollars.) If you're on the fence, you may want to rent or borrow it first. If you have no intention of playing the game and are just looking for a good horror anime, I would look elsewhere.

Here's a fairly entertaining but also relatively minor sci-fi & horror direct-to-DVD feature. This film is not computer animation (or CGI) like the game, but rather traditional animation. The film story (like the game) mostly consists of scenes of the uninfected crew members of a spacecraft fighting the zombified former crew, who are infected by some sort of alien life form after they die. There is not much of a plot beyond this mild "Alien" ripoff, and that's one of my main problems with this DVD. There are many story elements that are introduced briefly but never explained, such as the nature of the "Unitology" religion and an associated conspiracy back on Earth, or the fact that the alien artifact is one of three "markers," the other two previously found. More importantly, what is the connection between the humans who go homicidally crazy (caused by the artifact?) and those who change to alien zombies after infection? Ultimately these plot limitations prevent the movie from achieving anything more than game tie-in status. One other note: the parental warnings on this DVD are well earned, with a lot of cussing and some graphic violence (albeit cartoon violence).

Many fans of the game might be inclined to watch this movie, simply because of their love for it but like Star Wars fans who watched the prequels, many watched more out of curiosity of how the story would develop, opposed to great movie making. The parallel between Star Wars and its prequels would be the same as playing Dead Space and watching this movie...prepare for disappointment.

It seems that the people who were inspired to make this movie saw a good money making opportunity but did so with as little amount of money as possible. I'm always captivated by new fresh ideas and genuine creativity and so I had much hope for this film. Even if a movie is poorly done, if it is a novel piece, I'll like it to some degree. Unfortunately, this movie wasn't as unique as you might think. Much of the movie parallels Event Horizon (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) and to a lesser degree John Carpenter's The Thing (Collector's Edition).

Event Horizon (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) wasn't a great film but compared to Dead Space: Downfall, Event Horizon (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) deserves an Oscar. The 4 trailers you see prior to your arrival to the main menu pretty much sets the tone for what you are about to see, a b movie but all drawn. A saving grace would have been high quality art work, along the lines of Ghost in the Shell and incorporating the techniques used in Family Guy - Blue Harvest Special Edition (w/ limited-edition collectibles) episode. Sadly though, it ranked up there with many of the Saturday morning cartoons, with the addition of gore. Its use of cgi didn't help, mainly because of the poor art work; the cgi didn't blend well where it complimented the movie.

When it comes to fear factor...there wasn't any. Maybe because it's a cartoon. I have yet to see a cartoon horror movie that is actually scary. Live action horror movies use lighting and mood, which can't be reproduced in a cartoon. At least not well. Despite the use of props, when you see a live action horror movie, you close your eyes because it looks real. It's the cheap, low budget movies where you can tell it's all props, which you want to either laugh or make fun of it. Going live action would have made this movie a little scarier.

Anyone concerned with nudity or looking for it, there isn't any other the scene in the showers, where people are being attacked. In that segment, you're only going to see nude men, one in particular where you see a guy's "equipment." There are no nude women scenes or sex scenes, which is common with the anime genera.

One pathetic aspect of the movie is that the person putting the story together and/or the director, took ideas from different movies and tries to make it work in this piece. Many times when a writer or director puts details here and there, it makes a symmetrical arch later in the movie. With Dead Space, you can see small elements from other horror movies but doesn't make those small elements work because they don't fully use the components to its full extent.

Take for example the end of the movie. Before it goes to credits, you hear a child's limerick. The child's limerick doesn't fit any where because you don't have any earlier segments where they utilize aspects of the child's limerick. You don't see any of the character's childhood where the song is sung, or even anyone communicating with a parent where it makes some sense to include that in this movie. Furthermore, having the limerick doesn't do anything to enhance fear.

There are portions of the movie where you see what's going on from the monster's point of view. That worked well for Predator (Widescreen Collector's Edition). The reason it did, you didn't know what was stalking the people. You had little glimpses here and there but it took a while before you really got a look. Doing so kept the suspense and mystery up. Try to have the same effect after you know what's coming after the characters, doesn't work because at that point, you already know. That's why Predator 2 (Two-Disc Special Edition) wasn't as hot as the first movie. In Dead Space, you only see things from the monster's point of view, long after you know what's attacking people.

Other aspects of the movie, you really don't connect with any of the characters so you really couldn't wrap yourself around what's going on and hope that the characters make it. The dialogue was also weak. It would have been interesting to see more about the historic background of the Dead Space universe. Granted fans of the game probably have read it already but for a movie, it would have been nice to have included it. Having scenes of life on Earth would have also been interesting.

In one part of the movie, the second in command has to step up to the plate. He actually reminds me of one of the characters on King of the Hill - Seasons 1 - 6. The similarity isn't just in the way he's drawn but at points, you hear the same voice as this particular character from King of the Hill. I wonder if it's the same actor.

As far as the DVD itself, in the special features section, you can hear a soundtrack. Now if you're thinking a song being sung, you'd be wrong. It's the background orchestra music that's played in the movie. I'd only recommend listening to it if you enjoy what you hear in the movie. When the music is played, your screen goes blank so there's nothing going on other then music. The DVD also has deleted scenes, which for a cartoon; it's not that interesting to watch since all you're seeing is sketches, with actors reading their lines. You also have the movie trailer for Dead Space: Downfall.

Surprisingly, the best part of the DVD is the art of Dead Space segment. A majority of the artwork is from the game and it is beautifully done. There are only about 4 pieces of work for the movie that is shown and that's set toward the end of the gallery. Another aspect of Dead Space, that happens to be good, is the trailer for the game. These two parts of the DVD are the only thing that's of any redeeming value. Everything else, from the trailers to soundtrack is worthless.

There's actually one trailer that looks to be a funny movie, Brutal Massacre: A Comedy. It's a spoof on the making of a horror movie but like many comedy movies, the best parts are probably shown in the trailers and the rest is snoresville.

This movie had so much potential of really good story telling but drops the ball. Unlike many movies that have either gone from books to movies or video games to movies, many of them are bombs but at least they try to make the movie work. When it comes to Dead Space, I think this movie is an insult to fans. A company produces a product that generates interest and obviously enough interest to make this film but instead of giving its fans something to talk about, they instead produce a cheap, hopefully money generating bone. I wouldn't recommend buying this product. First off, it isn't worthy the price they are selling it for. If you want to know how this story line goes, you are better off renting it. When you see this movie, you would understand why you wouldn't want to keep it in the house because all it will do is create dead space.

Leave it to Electronic Arts to find ways of making money. Recently, they've been doing grand things with new IPs, what with Mirror's Edge and Dead Space. But, even then, they're constantly thinking of the bottom dollar. Cross platform has been a buzz term recently, as a way of maximizing the profits of their newly crafted IPs. Which brings me to Dead Space. Dead Space is already, technically, a trilogy. Sure you have the game, but there's also a comic book detailing what happened on the mining colony where a mysterious artifact was found. Then there's Downfall, this animated movie that bridges the gap between the two stories.

Downfall begins with the discovery of The Marker, an artifact that the religious movement in Dead Space called Unitology, and its removal and transportation to the Ishimura. Very quickly things start to spiral out of control and, without getting into the details, the necromorphs that inhabited and destroyed the colony inadvertently end up on the Ishimura. From this moment on, it's up to head of security Alissa Vincent and her ragtag team of stereotypes to figure out what the hell is going on and...well, I guess it's not a spoiler to say they don't stop it since if they did, we wouldn't have Dead Space, the game.

Honestly, Downfall is about 90% action, 5% filler and 5% story which isn't a bad thing. It's actually a pretty entertaining romp, albeit a generic one that, like the game, steals a lot from other better films. One big problem I had, though, was that I was expecting a bit more connectivity between this and the game. I purposefully waited to watch the film for fear that it would ruin something from the game. Truthfully, though, there's not really much connection. The only link is that of Doctor Kyne and he, in fact, shares a scene in both the game and the movie. Unfortunately, it isn't the exact same scene, which completely ruins the continuity.

What I did enjoy is that, taken with both the game and the comic, it helps present a fuller picture of the events in the game. It's also pretty entertaining with some very nice animation and plenty of gore. People in Downfall are ripped to shreds, impaled, gored, disemboweled in ways I've never really seen on a film. So for those looking for an action-packed animated movie, Downfall is a good pick. Just don't expect too much.

Silly me, I thought it was a movie and not one long advertisement for a video game.

A bare ghost of an idea stretched to 74 minutes (it felt longer). Very little information was imparted; there was a lot of cartoon blood, no attempt to make it scary, characters that left no impression, meaning this failed on almost every level. It also brought up a very good question: when is a movie not a movie? Dead Space: Downfall.

This movie is supposed to take place before the first Dead Space game. I enjoyed it very well, but for some reason I couldn't stand the main character. I don't know why she was just freaking irritating to listen too. But the graphics are excellent and it kept me on the edge of my seat. Think of this as Resident Evil in SPACE!! haha