Red Faction: Origins

First off it is important to note that this is a fairly low budget production - a made for TV-movie (Wikipedia info: feature-length science fiction television movie pilot produced by Universal Media Studios and UFO Films debuting on SyFy, it is the first film based on the Red Faction series of video games.)

When you know this, you are aware that the CGI effects might not be avatar crisp, and they aren't! However - they are far above what i had expected, and the story is surprisingly believable. There are a few lose ends, like the reasoning behind some decisions made by various people throughout the movie, but never the less, i have seen plenty of A-list movies where the storyline are way more scrambled and nonsensical than this one.

The general level of the acting is quite good. Especially Brian J. Smith - whom you might know as Lieutenant Matthew Scott from the TV series SG Universe, and Danielle Nicolet has a very solid performance.

The best way to describe this movie, IMO, is a mix between Dune, Star Wars and the feeling you get when playing the game. (And Fallout 3 / new Vegas) Gritty feel, good vs. evil and sci-fi elements... good stuff :-D

I would tell everyone who likes the game, enjoys sci-fi, or likes a good adventure story with a classic "one man and his struggle to make everything right"-frame, to give this movie a chance.

The good: Solid acting Good story A Game-to-movie attempt above the normal standard It's a sci-fi....! :-D

The bad: Sub par CGI compared to A-list movies - but not horrible at all! A few actors who "feels like" B-actors A few plot holes, non to major though

I came into this movie thinking it was another Uwe Boll experience, but i was presently by what Michael Nankin had done with this movie and it's limited budget. It only gets a 7/10 from me, because it does have some of the "made for TV" characteristics, but for what it is, it is one of the best ever!

I have never wrote a review on a movie and I am not going to start. So this is more of a warning. A warning to warn folks of the horrible story and pure boredom you will experience in this time waster. You could find better fan created movies on youtube.

If you have ever watched one of Uwe Boll's flicks and dogged him for their creation, watching Red Faction:origins will make you think twice before calling another one of Boll's movies crap. Red Factions: Origins, makes Uwe Boll's films look like block buster hits that deserve a Oscar.

You may think that this movie is free to watch, but its not..you will never get the time you spent watching it back. Spend your time washing your dog or something else that will be more exciting.

While they got the set pieces correct and the outfits as well as props where lovingly detailed, the plot line seems to completely deviate from what is already established in the Red Faction series. Anyone who's played the games and is a fan of the series will soon be What The at this movie. Characters have been seriously changed, factions have been seriously altered, and some of the canon established history has been completely rewritten in a very Uwe Boll fashion.

Bring your Suspenders of Disbelief for this one, and make sure they're titanium laced to withstand the strain. If you're a fan, don't watch it, you'll just go into nerd-rage territory.

For a movie called Red Faction: Origins, I'd expect this to be Parker's story, not Post Alex Mason. How is getting very close to the FOURTH GAME in the series an "origins" story?

I wanted to like this film but it just would not let me. I find it excessively annoying that other reviewers compared it to games that I have never played or ever will. I wanted the movie to stand on its own merits. Battling the forces of nature on Mars is intriguing but battling the same old bad guys is not. The only recognizable actor was an aged and bloated Robert Patrick (Terminator 2). The rest were a bunch of strangers. This is a futuristic tale about a young brother and sister separated during a raid but the grown up brother finally finds grown up sister in the clutches of a maniac (with the requisite black eye patch). Brother gets sister back and patches up the conflict between the factions. Snore!

While not strictly faithful to the game its still close enough to be relevant(think Dune movies vs. Books) and captures the theme of the games pretty well. And its not as if the games have such a fantastic story to begin with, at least not the newer titles.

This movie has some great actors from US and UK sci-fi shows and they all do a pretty good job. Certainly you will have seen them all put on better performances but they are all capable actors. The story was pretty good although it would have been just as good a movie set during the time frame of the games and opened up a potential franchise of decent TV movies or miniseries.

Certainly worth watching for fans of the game and its a great example that just because its a game doesn't mean the movie has to suck. Yes I am talking to you Herr Boll. And as a standalone movie it is brilliant even better considering it is a TV movie. And its by far the best syfy movie I have seen in a long time if ever and if it had more budget it could certainly have had a successful theatre release.

A solid movie and an excellent watch, its pretty much a 6 but I gave it a 7 for being an example of a game adaptation done right and some favourite actors having good parts.