Delgo

Wow. It's like Lord of the Rings never happened at the start of the decade.

Even the opening credits sequence with those bloated flying things just made me cringe.

It appears to have been written and animated by middle-schoolers, and yes they were probably high too. They had to bring in all that big-name talent to do the voices, or the handful of people who did go see this film wouldn't have even gone.

However, I do credit the animators with at least making a handful of nice images in the film. But really, a film like this should be beautiful to look at from start to finish, not just a few brief instants.

There are not-so-subtly racist overtones, and the use of the slur "pansies" renders it even unfit for viewing by children, although infants are probably the only age group likely to be able to enjoy it.

Watching this, I feel insulted as a viewer. It's geared towards infants, as far as I can tell. Of course, so was Toy Story, but the difference is that Toy Story is a masterpiece, and this is ... not.

And the thing was about 30 minutes too long.

If I had been associated with this project, I would have wanted it to disappear quickly and be permanently "lost". I would not be alleging that a more competent team "stole" it. But, these days, it seems the courts are the refuge of the incompetent, when it comes to content creation. Avatar is such a superior work that obviously required far more effort, that there is just no way that the Delgo team could ever hope to claim to have contributed to it. Rather, it seems more likely to me as a viewer that Delgo was ripped off from Avatar, and rushed out the door to beat it to market. An inside job.

We went and saw this opening weekend for the last show of the evening. We were the only ones in the theater. This disappointed me, since Delgo was really a fun film to watch. There were no surprises and there were a few moments that had me rolling my eyes. But over all we had a great time. My two year kept getting the alien races confused with real animals as they made the same sounds (ribbits and moos). This film was well animated, well voiced, and well scripted. I would have enjoyed this movie without having a child with me. Go see this film. It deserves to at least earn back the cost of making this film. Delgo was very promising. I'd like to see more from this production company.

I recall very, very well when this film was released, and its immediate, astonishing failure. I remember just as well all the talk surrounding it, and to read more about the production in hindsight is very revealing. 'Delgo' was incredibly ambitious: an enormous cast of many big-name stars, an ensemble so great that the very list of credits threatened to distract from the content; a more serious, adult-oriented story, developed over a period when its intended medium was still finding its legs; a medium that still now, and even more so in 2008, was seen as belonging squarely in the realm of family-friendly fare - and all this, outside the major studio system of Hollywood that as of yet still held overwhelming sway in the industry. The filmmakers, writers and directors alike, had very lofty goals, matched only by the passion and sincerity with which they pursued the project. With all this in mind: even recognizing the staggeringly poor reception and reputation, how can one not be curious, and want to check out the feature for themselves? The skill and care of all involved is plain as day, and I admire the effort. I can honestly say, too, that I actually do like this. However, I also see why, even setting aside problems of marketing, the title was a memorable misfire.

The animation sits somewhere between the level of 'Toy Story' or 'Shrek,' on par with the best of what digital artists could generally whip up in the 2000s, and still earlier attempts at computer animation - the sort we may have seen in the mid-90s with forward-thinking kids' TV shows. The designs of the world of the movie, and all within it, are mostly fantastic: the wardrobe, weapons and armor, creatures, landscapes and dwellings, and so on. I'm a little bit divided on the appearance of the Lokni and Nohrin, simply on account of the "uncanny valley" effect, but even these two predominant races I appreciate more than not. Some environments and materials are very noticeably rendered with more detail or texture than others, but so it goes. One way or another, no matter how cynical one wishes to be, the animators did good work, certainly including action sequences. In much the same way, I think 'Delgo' is very well made from the standpoint of any technical considerations, or conventional "behind the scenes" work: direction, cinematography, editing, sound design, and so on. I like the sound effects, and the fundamental quality of the audiovisual presentation is swell. Geoff Zanelli's score is pretty fun.

Beyond the bedazzlement that follows from observing the actors assembled for the voice cast, I think each makes fine contributions, with some standing out more than others. Chris Kattan's shrill timbre and wild exclamations as spirited supporting character Filo are surely some of the top highlights of the film; much the same is true of Eric Idle as henchman Spig, though he's less prominent. For the time that she has, Anne Bancroft clearly was living up the opportunity to voice wicked villain Sedessa. All this is well and good - there's much to enjoy in 'Delgo.'

Where the feature is an especially mixed bag is in the writing. Some dialogue is too simple, communicating ideas in the language of a younger audience, while at large it could have just benefited from more development, and maybe another set of eyes (or ears) or two for perspective. Characters are okay I suppose, though nothing remarkable, and no few simply inhabit archetypal roles for an epic saga. The scene writing is perhaps one of the more definitively solid aspects here, filled with variety: lighthearted humor, adventure of lighter or darker tones, action, outright war, and more pointedly dramatic facets, all within a tale of grandiose fantasy. In turn, scenes successfully inculcate feelings of awe, majesty, excitement, and even inspire some small laughter. And that brings us to the narrative. It's not that there's anything specifically wrong with the story. It's compelling, if familiar, and a firm foundation for genre fare. Moreover, it plays with lots of Big Ideas as themes and beats that have served many a similar saga well. War, prejudice (and overcoming it), thirst for blood and power, corruption, ambition, finding courage, manipulation, distrust, histories of disagreement and conflict, making peace with the past and resolving long-standing enmities: all this, and more. It's a lot to weave into a very concise length of film, in addition to character moments, comedy, major action, and sufficient establishment of the realities of a fictional world no one has ever seen before. I think the filmmakers mostly do just fine in bringing it all together. Only - it feels, in this case, as though everything 'Delgo' tries to say, do, and be fits together inelegantly, squeezed into a ninety-minute runtime so as to become overfull. The treatment each notion should get is thereby reduced, subsequently diminishing the impact that it all could ideally have - and, ultimately, viewer engagement. As if to emphasize the point, the ending feels unexpectedly abrupt, and not at all satisfying as a result.

It's very noteworthy that those who wrote and directed this have not apparently made anything else since. I can't help but be sad at that - they poured so much heart and energy into this title, and heartfelt earnestness, and what they got in return was, well, a HUGE loss. What strikes me is that in addition to not very successfully advertising to its audience, the movie wasn't altogether clear on who it wanted its audience to be. It's a kids' movie more than not, but it even with humor peppered throughout it couldn't be called a comedy in the same way that 'Finding Nemo' or most any other animated picture. Its Big Ideas aren't so adult-oriented as to exclude younger viewers, but even with somewhat gawky dialogue I'm unsure if the material is simple enough to hold appeal or interest for children. Add in the difficulties of the storytelling in truly giving form to everything that it desired, and it's not particularly any wonder why 'Delgo' was released to deafening silence. To repeat: I do actually kind of like this. I don't think it's bad; above all, it's nowhere near as bad as its infamy portends. The hard work that went into it is clear, and appreciable. It's just so very unfortunate that the whole couldn't quite find its voice in any capacity, as for such lack all that labor was for nothing. I wish nothing but the best for Marc Adler, Jason Maurer, Scott Biear, Patrick Cowan, Carl Dream, Jennifer Jones, and everyone else who had a hand in the feature's creation. I hope they all have found success and happiness elsewhere. It's regrettable that the the chips fell in such a way that they couldn't find it with 'Delgo.'

As a scriptwriter and producer of, and all-round lover of all types of animation, no matter where in the world it is from, I rushed to see this movie as soon as possible. The trailer looked okay and the art seemed original. So how disappointed was I when it turned out to be this bad. I spent an hour with the deepening niggle that I had seen this all before and in the end realised that, of course, I had. The character and set designs are taken from old (admittedly high quality) adventure games a la 1985, the animation movement is just a little out in many scenes, the script is an awful cobbled hash of better films, and even the voices don't really fit. It may be her last film, but sadly Anne Bancroft simply sounds old and tired. So what was Delgo about? The bad guy secretly pushing peaceful neighbours to go to war, the boy and girl from each side of the divide, the awful, bad leader/general, the overwhelming odds... yadda yadda yadda. You've seen it all before, and the fact that it is from a "new independent" studio makes no difference to its quality, which is cynically derivative, rushed to the screen and generally inferior. Do yourself a favour and play the old adventure games instead. They still have an air of naive originality.

I LOVE movies. I LOVE computer animation. I LOVE sci-fi / fantasy. That is why I hated this film. It gives them all a bad name. Hate is a strong word I suppose. More like overwhelmed to suicidal levels with disappointment. The sarcastic term "REALLY?" popped in my mind constantly as scenes artificially set up to predictably (and very poorly) spoof classic moments from various hit movies. At no time did I connect with the characters. When they went to war I just didn't care. In fact, the only thing I found myself hoping for is that someone would kill (slowly and painfully) Delgo's mentally retarded and epileptic sidekick. That would have gotten cheers from the entire audience (which comprised of just me.) As a hobby I have been making a movie for years. writing and editing a script, creating music, and I'll soon start the CGI work on my home PC. I was really worried that my hobby movie would be worthless because the graphics and animation won't be Pixar quality but DELGO has proved to me that graphics don't make a film. The music was also dismal. My first impression of the art was positive. It looked original and unique but soon decided that nothing was particularly attractive to look at and many of the creatures had extra eyes or appendages just because... like a Jr. High school kid on crack spent too many hours in the SPORE creature creator. Overall the biggest downfall was just direction and delivery. Imagine going to see a stand up comedy show where two comedians had to deliver the same material and one is hilarious while the other is awkward, flat and has no sense of dramatic effect and timing. Delgo is the latter. If anyone from Fathom studios reads this and says, "Hey Mr. Negative Insult Guy, think you could do better?" The answer is YES. I really do. and I would jump at the chance to try.