The Rangers

The average rating for this "film" is way over what it should be. I think all the "actors" in this must have come on here and voted. Paul Haakonsen's review sums it up perfectly and I think his vote was generous. Avoid like the Black Death.

This is what happens when you have a nerd with a bright idea of bringing a digital videocamera with him to their weekly LARP (live action role-playing) game sessions in the forest.

While this project definitely had the heart in the right place, and was made by geeks with a passion for LARP, then it hardly constitutes being a properly entertaining movie. It was weighed down by a very low budget feel and atmosphere to it, and it really felt like it was just a videotaped LARP session by adult geeks running around in costumes.

Even the costumes felt low budget and were clearly something that you can buy in any gaming store that sell LARP items. And for a movie that was supposed to be set in a fantasy setting in a medieval fantasy realm, then people were surprisingly well-groomed, and the clothing was freshly washed and spotless. It just reeked to high heaven of being a LARP project and people not wanting to damage and weather their LARP equipment bought with hard-earned money. It just didn't pass as being believable. And some of the orc masks were so fake that you could see it was latex masks being worn. And I loved the scene with Kulta, where you could see that they hadn't even bothered with covering his shoulders with that dark make-up, so you could see his regular Caucasian skin so clearly. It was just idiotic. And also some of the wigs that the shadow elves were wearing were so fake that even a blind man would point them out as being wigs.

As for the storyline, well that part, at least, they got working for them, because it definitely felt like something taken out of a fantasy role-playing game session. But again, something that translated well to the screen? No, not so much. Especially because it was weighed down by an overwhelming sense of it all being fake props and less than mediocre acting performances.

The acting performances weren't something you'd write back home to your friends and brag about. Some were fair, albeit not memorable, while some were just downright painful to witness.

I am sure that the LARPers whom participated in acting out the story and the characters in this movie had fun. And I, as a role-player (but not LARP) myself, really wanted to enjoy this movie. But I just couldn't. It was slow paced, it had pointless and shallow characters often portrayed by inadequate actors and actresses, and the whole movie was just lacking the grit and grime that you'd see on people, clothing and the environment of a medieval fantasy world.

Clearly an amateurish project with the heart and spirit in the right place. But perhaps next time don't bring a camera to your LARP sessions.

WOW! I'll bet all you couch critics have a REAL Hard Time finding ANYTHING to watch! My god, how critical can ya BE? It's just a movie man! And it's really NOT that bad! GREAT? .. No! But watchable? Absolutely!

Stop being so critical people... Allow yourself a little enjoyment!

Once again, I was duped by the IMDB ratings. Sadly, reviews can't be trusted anymore either, as there are so many armchair "directors" out there who obviously know what makes a good movie - that was sarcasm. Alas, in this case, the reviews were right and the ratings were not.

Initially - as in, within the first 5 minutes - I thought I might not understand what this was. Was it made as a class project? Was it made as an episode for a forth coming series? It turned out to be a passion-project by fantasy fans with funding coming from crowdfunding sources. Normally that would yield major points for me, as I've seen plenty of decent fanmade productions, especially in the fantasy realm, as there are not enough good fantasy movies made. But this is just not good. For context, first let me state that I don't trust many reviews that say "this is the worst movie in the history of all movies," which seems prevalent on IMDb, especially with B movies or independent films. This is not the worst thing ever made, but it was not entertaining, and in some ways actually ticked me off. I won't offer a synopsis, as the one given is plenty, but I'll offer my opinion of why this is so bad.

• SCRIPT

The script for this is the largest contributor to what ticked me off. There are lines taken almost verbatim from the Lord Of The Rings, Hellboy Pt.2, Gladiator, Time Bandits, and a couple others I couldn't recall, but remember the lines. Recycling content is one thing, as it's difficult to come up with fresh content, especially in the fantasy realm. But taking lines verbatim, then swapping a word or two is just wrong...even in fanmade movies. The script is heavily steeped in all the biggest clichés taken from many of the best fantasy films and brought together in the oddest of ways. This disjointed nature is actually BECAUSE the writers lifted the lines from other movies. They've taken parts of movies that worked within the same writing style and combined them, forming one piece made from all those styles. It didn't work. It would be like taking the front end of a Volkswagen, the back end of a Toyota, the sides from a Honda, and the top from a Hyundai. Sure...it's still a vehicle, but not a good one. And not even close to a good looking one. That's what this is.

• COSTUME & DESIGN

So, most fantasy(ish) type movies take place pre 13th century, which means medieval and prior. People back then were often dirty, with ill-fitting clothes, unkempt hair, etc. To put it bluntly, the orcs in this movie are cleaner than most people you meet today. Not just their skin, but their clothing. Everything looks brand new, and like it just walked off the clothing rack. This is not nitpicking, but illustrates the lack of creativity the writers brought to the table. They couldn't pull off a unique script, and they certainly couldn't pull of costuming, and those two facets of any movie are two of the biggest characteristics that meet the viewer. That, and every character (including the orcs) look like they are clean out of the shower. Even those who live in the forest day in and day out.

• ACTING & DIRECTION

I don't usually get too caught up in acting, unless it's REALLY bad, but sadly, it is. The lead character (a Ranger) isn't as bad as most in the film, but that can't carry a movie with numerous characters. The acting is wooden and screened, as if characters had just memorized lines and had yet to put emotion or life to the lines. Similarly, those who did have animated characters out-preached their lines so poorly that there was no taking them seriously. Conversely, for a film made about warring factions of elves, orcs, and man, the fight sequences were terrible. There are a couple scenes where you can see weapons being dropped, but having the film edited instead of it being reshot. Really bad.

• SETS & SCENERY

Most of the film takes place outside. My guess is that it was the cheapest way to avoid building scenery...ie it was so low budget that instead of making bad sets, they moved it all outside and used bad sets for fewer set-demanding scenes. Again, I don't mind poorly made scenery in some low budget films, it's a given that we won't be presented with Titanic styled sets, but this felt lazy more than it did low budget. Really a drag. Cheaply made scenery can be made to look believable, and they chose not to follow that route.

Overall, this is just a poorly made movie. I SOOOO wanted this not to be true, as there simply aren't a lot of fantasy movies made, let alone good ones. This time, however, the bad reviews were right. If it not been for the fantasy theme, I would have given it a '1' but it got a full point just for being a fantasy.

Sorry to burst your bubble on this, but there is nothing redeeming to me. Nothing.

This is one of the movies that make you realize why you can´t trust the IMDB ratings. It´s rated over 8 and every actor is not even up to C standard. Pure disaster and probably high voted by the actors/actresses closest family.