SAGA - Curse of the Shadow

A pretty well done fantasy film of mythical characters and magic powers. The actors played their roles nicely. With suiting effects and suiting costumes the movie introduces the viewer in that world of legend. I would say the movies was better than most Hollywood movies. The whole crew that done this movie did a very well job; The orcs looked vividly orc-ish and the elf girl has played her part well. And of course the human hero was no less impressive. The story was not amazing, but was good enough thanks the writers. I will give it a well deserved 7 out of 10. Despite the low budget the movie was surprisingly decent.

I saw this film accidentally, with zero warning, so to speak. It looked as if it was interesting enough, so after watching the trailer and a bit of pondering, I decided to go and check it out. (Besides, I tend to enjoy watching bad films - I saw Uwe Boll's "Alone in the Dark" after reading all the bad reviews - so nothing could go wrong, right?) And yes, nothing went wrong, I actually quite enjoyed the film. Yes, it was a bit cheap and the (sparingly used) CGI weren't top quality, but that's quite understandable given the film's limited budget. The music was very nice, and the costumes were spot-on, with the orcs looking quite good. (Fun fact: There were more fantastic races in this film than there were humans.) Speaking about the races though, the film certainly reminds more of WarCraft III than of Tolkien, but it only "reminds", nothing more. We didn't see a lot of dwarfs, unfortunately. The story was reasonably good and the action scenes were abundant. I'd have loved more character development and more introduction to the world (the first 10-15 minutes of the film were mostly swordfights), but it works as it is. The film is gripping and interesting enough, and worth a watch. Just don't expect something too amazing. It seems to be based on a video game and I've heard rumours about other films (or TV series? I'm not certain, sorry) in the same universe, which I'd certainly give a shot to as well.

A solid 6/10 from me, but it's very near to the 7.

NB: Note that there is some blood and a bit of gore in this film, which some viewers might find displeasing.

This movie was surprisingly good. The story is relatively simple, but the interesting characters (especially the orc, Kullimon, "ha ha ha") along with great music and pictures made it work.

It's not as "shiny" and overdone as Hollywood products and I think that's its biggest strength. Special effects (which are very good for a low budget production) were kept to the scenes where it makes sense and not used carelessly. The landscape and scenery are so much better than anything you're used to from big movies, because it's actually real and not 50% CGI. It doesn't look oversaturated and edited, but really natural, which adds a lot of immersion that most movies are lacking nowadays.

Overall it's a really nice movie and I can definitely recommend it to people who like the genre.

"Don't expect a blockbuster" ... that is the main comment I have read now in the last days about SAGA. That is true, but you should simply not care, if you like Fantasy and Independent Films like me. With the low budget (I would really like to know how much it was?) the producers did a great job. Arrowstorm Entertainment and Mainstay Productions are small companies: They are making movies for fans, all sorts of short movies in different genres and offer young talents a chance to contribute their ideas. Originally SAGA was considered as a Webseries and they did a short movie, which is now the first scene. That was a test for the concept, shot in one day with almost no budget in Snow Canyon State Park. It worked out and they collected enough money (also from fans via Kickstarter) to make this movie. And it is very entertaining with even some funny moments. The costumes are very good in my opinion, especially the ones for the orcs. I like the music and also the fighting scenes. I would really like to see a sequel with our heroes. So give it a try! You will like the ears of that blue-eyed sword swinging elf. For me it's a 8/10, including a bonus for the elf, the main orc :-) and for the fantastic evolution of this project.

Given the nature of the film, the content and the advertising - I admit I was inclined to watch it anyways. However reading some of the comments here I got the impression this was a film over-looked by the normal mass viewer.

Fortunately I did watch it and I agree with things expressed here so far. The film is so natural feeling, yet with a hint of amateur innocence. Great set pieces, costumes, scenery. The dialogue is acceptable, the pace is quick and the direction is clear.

I only wish it was longer or a part of a larger series.

If this is what 'Indie' can do on a budget, I'm hopeful for the future of B films.