Customer Reviews

F8 (Special Edition)

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What can I say about this film/this short/very short film. I enjoyed it but just as I thought it may of been getting good... it was over!

Now, before I bought this movie I quickly glanced at the back to see how long it was and saw "-APPROX. 75MIN.," so I said, kinda short but I really liked "The Mind's Eye" series, which was produced by the same guy, so for $10 I bought it.

I HAVE NEVER FELT SO GYPED OUT OF MY MONEY! - (I came close
however, when I bought "Anime: from concept to reality" which wasn't anime at all.)

About the "kinda short" thing, I stupidly had failed to look before the dash where it read "+ f8-APPROX. 13MIN/BONUS FEATURES-APPROX. 75MIN."

The film is only 13MINUITES! And the only way that the special features are 75min is because it has 5 different commentary tracks.

I'm an artist and it is a very detailed movie, but the characters are detailed-cartoons. I tried to appreciate it for its detail and artistic beauty, but I couldn't see past the cartoon-like characters who killed the realisticness of the film.

And unless you watch the commentaries you have no idea of what the story is.

I did however enjoy the music which was the main audio for the movie, accompanied only by a few sound fx.

Something else I noticed was that the frames per second was rather slow. Things didn't move ultra smoothly like in most CG movies/scenes or even video game FMV sequences, instead you could see it change from one frame to the next.

At its' best it's a visual feast of "fish tank-like" colors and alien worlds, but I have seen better examples in video games.

Do you have an insatiable desire to explore every "nook & Cranny" of the genre? Are you a person who (luckily) is immune to the major production companies programming that a "movie" has to run 86 minutes to 2.5 hours. Can you enjoy something for the sheer unique imagination of its creation?

Then I highly recommend this 13-minute computer generated experience. I had seen this "short" when it first came out, loved it, forgot about it, and was pleasantly reacquainted with it recently by pure chance.

I have heard the complaints about its short time length. Don't allow yourself to be brain-washed and boxed in. If you really enjoy Science Fiction you may remember that the French film "Le Voyage Dans La Lune"... ("A Trip to the Moon")...which was created in 1902 by George Melies, and is considered by most to be the first film to embrace science fiction, was only 16 minutes in duration.

To me the "bottom line" on this brief entrée is that it is a must experience for the fervent fan. It's not the best & brightest avatar out there, but through its imaginative uniqueness it definitely demands a place in the history of the genre. It is wonderfully creative with its emphasis on music, lighting, and subtlety of body/facial movements to convey, without speech, its mood and message.

Personally I was blessed by being born a half century ago. I was raised on those fantastic B&W paranoid cold-war inspired "science gone wrong"/"I married a dorky b-ball player from outerspace for 72 days just to expand my image" films of the 1940's and 50's.

I remember the local 4-hour Saturday Cinema Movie-thon and how it would mercifully be interrupted by a black screen saying "INTERMISSION" allowing me to scramble to the rest room, hit the concession stand, reload on orange soda, popcorn and candy AND not miss a moment of the features.

How could I go wrong from there, every decade the cinema just keeps getting more exhilarating, ever-inspiring me to delve further into the early years (and other obscure areas) to satisfy my passion? You may want to expand upon your passion with something truly unique and check out this 13 minutes gem.

Note: It was while watching the recently released 2012 version of this French film "Le Voyage" that I remembered "f8". You may want to give this 1903 silent film a try, now that it has been so meticulously restored. The soundtrack has been replaced by the French band "Air", which I haven't decided yet if I like, but it's still a great piece of the genre that lays waiting for you to discover.

This has only been reviewed by one other person, so I will give you my spin on this beautiful little gem of a 'Short' movie. I, like the other person that reviewed this movie felt as soon as you are getting into this movie, it was over. I did however know this when I bought this DVD, that it was only 13 minutes long. So when it was over I wasn't surprised. I'm a proud owner of this DVD, along with 4,000 other movies. I felt this was amazing, to be honest. I own/have watched quite a bit of anime and CGI. I've seen a little better, and to be honest this is right up there with the best. To back my words up, let me list off some of the awards this little puppy has won.

F8 was Featured at The 2001 Siggraph Computer Animation Conference, where it won 'The Jury Award'. It also earned 'Best Animated Film Short' from the 2001 Hollywood Film Festival'. F8 garnered acclaim from other Computer Graphics Industry and film competitions throughout the world, including 'The Animago Award', 'The Arcipetago Festival', 'Ars Electronica Festival', 'Kudzu Film Festival', and the 'Japanese Digital Animation Festival'.

So you see here, it isn't just me that thought this was amazing. Why does everything have to be 'Long' or 'Movie Like' to be considered amazing? This is considered a 'Short Film'. It kinda reminds me of a Linkin' Park video. As far as extras goes, this again is an amazing DVD. It has a few deleted shots and expanded sequences and a soundtrack sample (These have to be viewed on the computer only). It has a lot of director and production commentaries (It shows how this started, all the way up to the production of F8). The director tells the storyboard & animatics, CG Animatics, city layout of the feature, the probe that F8 flew in and a few clips from inside the commando transport. It has some real cool 3-D rotating models also. These are pretty cool and show full rotation views of each of these objects. The Alien Hybrid, Blimp, Commando, Slot Machine, Escape Ship, F8 (My Favorite One), Newborn Carrier, Probebot and The Police Transport. I'm telling you the extras are amazing (You get more extras on this DVD, than on many movies and all for around $10.00). This is a bargain folks. You also get a F8 teaser or trailer that's pretty cool. I think the best part of this DVD, is that you get complete commentaries by the director (Jason Wen), the writer (Howard Wen), the conceptual artist (Andrew Jones) and the music composer (Casey Hess). By going through the commentaries, you get the complete understanding of what F8, is all about. You also get interviews with Jason Wen, Howard Wen, Andrew Jones and Casey Hess.

F8 as an alien who wants a face basically. He finds an police officer like alien who seems to be dead and steals his finger to be able to break into the face vault. Once he breaks into a face vault he looks for the perfect face, once he finds it, he has to escape from the alien hybrid. F8 is trying to get a face to have an identity in a world that won't allow you to have an identity. When F8 finds his face, it actually responds to F8 since he doesn't have a face. When you see the amount of graphics that went into the face, you will understand how much time went into this Masterpiece. It's not just the amount of detail graphics in the face either. This Short Film is like an amazing futuristic video (For lack of a better term). F8 does a good job of trying to escape. On the way he sets off a sonic bomb and kills two police guards (That are trying to find him) and later on a Probebot. But in the end, F8 is caught and they remove his face and F8 is no more.

If you are still reading this folks, stop and click on the 'Purchase ASAP' button. For around $10, this is a must own DVD.