'Gaming at the movies' is a weekly movie review feature which brings you the latest, the greatest and other combinations of gaming movies to stream or download every week.

The box office for this edition brings the heat as we get a unique representation of Cooller's play, an unexpectedly good DeFrag movie and a nice fragfest featuring ic-Reptile. As all good boys and girls know every show ends with a classic pick from the past.

(Note: if the embedded movies do not display for you then disable adblock or click the "Go to video" link below them, the latter also being how they can be viewed fullscreen)


Name: Break The Rules
Editor: RavenTL
Runtime: 3m07s
Released: 2009
Game: CS

Description:
A minimovie from the creator of the excellent Pink panther series.

Review:

This is a minimovie that has more in common with a music video than it does a frag movie. Think of it more in the vein of something like eve by cRZYFST. There are a lot of effects used and typically these would annoy me but they are worked in in such a manner as to help enhance the movie. The pacing and synching of the music in particular is well done. If you enjoy the drum and bass music soundtrack, which I do, then this is a pleasant audio-visual experience.

It's not without flaws: some of the frags are fairly humdrum and sometimes the slow-mo aspect can get annoying. Those aside it's a solid movie.

Thorin Rating: 6/10

Download: MegaUpload, csmovies.se
Stream:


Name: dennis & hyvlarn - the animals
Editor: Granis
Runtime: 5m52s
Released: 2009
Game: CS

Description:

A compilation movie starring frags from former PlayZone.se players hyvlarn, currently of a2g, and dennis, currently of SK Gaming. Created by the man behind 'Granis - The exterminator'.

Review:

Back when this movie came out these two players were significantly less well known than they are today so naturally the main attraction of the movie is to see them in action. In some respects this is a buy the numbers movie and doesn't feel particular noteworthy, but has redeeming qualities. The editing is actually pretty nice when you take a closer look and makes good use of different techniques to save time in certain spots and keep the viewer in the flow of the action. The kills are quite good overall, though there is a little too much eco killing for my tastes.

Musically initially I was quite put off because this really isn't at all my kind of soundtrack, but after sticking with it I have to admit it's really not as bad as it might first appear and works well enough with the actual action to be acceptable. Not a legitimately really good movie, but a likeable enough novelty to be worth a watch.

Thorin Rating: 6.5/10

Download: MegaUpload
Stream: own3d.tv


Name: f0rest the myth
Editor: cass
Runtime: 3m58s
Released: 2011
Game: CS

Description:

A minimovie starring SK Gaming, and former fnatic, superstar f0rest.

Review:

Despite the overwhelming amount of minimovies starring f0rest it's sadly the case that very few have been genuinely enjoyable viewing experiences. That makes this movie a welcome edition to that seemingly overcrowded pack. While I wouldn't call this movie anything special it does successfully show you a bunch of f0rest kills in a clean fashion and without annoying effects. In that respect it's a success and worth a watch.

The problems of this movie are largely ones which hold it back from being a better movie all in all. The music is very overplayed from other frag movies. The frags are fairly good but there are too many pointless eco killing scenes. The inclusion of the SCU scene in particular just baffles me. Why is f0rest killing three USP wielding players with his galil one at a time worth immortalising in a movie? The slow-mo scenes are also too drawn out and slow the pace of the movie a little too much.

Thorin Rating: 5.5/10

Download: MegaUpload
Stream:


Name: H^N tEh movie
Editor: qaxx
Runtime: 5m02s
Released: 2011
Game: CS

Description:

A highlight movie starring former OK.fi player H^N, who recently departed for the army.

Review:

This is a strange movie in that I had reasonably high expectations for it going in only to find it fairly mundane the vast majority of the running time. It also should be better with what is there on the screen. The kills are good to really good throughout the movie but I just wasn't feeling them at all, which is a major flaw of the movie. The screen felt flattened, like a TV set to the wrong aspect ratio, and I felt detactched from the kills I was seeing displayed. So even though some of them did seem pretty good I didn't get any kind of visceral thrill from them.

The music was decent enough early on, going for the standard epic soundtrack music, but then I was forced to listen to 'Celldweller - Switchback' again. Firstly this is from one of the most famous frag movies ever so not only do you not want the viewer comparing your movie to that movie but you can rest assured the viewer has heard that track more times than he would have liked to, and that's before he ever sees your movie.

What is with CS moviemakers and banal soundtracks which lack any originality? In a field which should be all about creativity these guys just copy each other over and over ad infinitum. Apparently these guys can spend a million hours in an editing suite but not a couple of days searching for the best frags or a few moments of their lives finding an unused track.

Thorin Rating: 6/10

Download: MegaUpload
Stream:


Name: Cooller 2010/2011
Editor: Subtitled
Runtime: 8m15s
Released: 2011
Game: QL

Description:

A highlight movie starring the legendary two time ESWC champion and recent IEM European champion Cooller.

Review:

To say I was eagerly anticipating the release of the movie would be an understatement. Initially when I'd heard Cooller wanted a movie made I didn't hold much hope for it being good since Cypher's movie really was underwhelming in nearly every regard. When Cooller said it was being handled by the people behind the DaHanG movie I was a little more reassured since that was a solid movie, though not incredible. In fact it turns out this is not the DaHanG movie creator directly, but rather someone from the same production group.

The moment which kicked me into high gear in terms of my excitement at the prospect of this movie was a conversation I had with Cooller where we discussed the aforementioned Cypher movie and the crucial problem that it didn't feature good enough frags and that the moviemaker should have put in more time finding the very best that player had done. When I saw that Cooller understood this point, and agreed, I became convinced this movie would be good, especially since he was paying for it to be made.

In some respects this is one of the best Quake movies ever made. What makes it really good, and especially in the context of who it stars, is that it is carefully designed to highlight Cooller's unique style of play and his strengths as a player. As a result this movie, much like Cooller, is like no other. The use of commentary overlayed on top of scenes is the best I've seen by far since it allows slower scenes to work without becoming boring or too abstract to fully appreciate for people who didn't see those games. With a player who is so well known for his mindgames, dodging, traps and intuitive play this movie does a really nice job of showing off that aspect of Cooller's game.

In terms of the actual kills this movie is really good but it's not necessarily out of this world in this regard. When I say that I don't mean the kills lack anything, some of them are very good and most are really good, but more than since the pace of the movie is slower and features mainly single kills it is never going to match a movie which is nonstop multi-kills at a very high pace in terms of pure adrenaline or fragging action. This isn't a movie which relies only on the kills though, it's a very much a complete package.

The soundtrack for this movie is very well implemented. As a standalone track is fine but the way it is used in the movie to anchor everything and move the action along is very impressive. From the slow-mo LG scenes to the buildup at the beginning which really pumps you up and builds your excitement level this is a movie which plays with the audience's emotional state in a positive manner. I can remember a number of moments which felt outright euphoric while watching this. The music also transition so well that I didn't even notice there was more than one track until I saw the credits.

The editing is slick enough and clean throughout so you see high quality kills. A few of the recams in particular stood out as excellent uses of third person POV footage, such as the zsx ztn kill in the plasma room. One flaw I would like to mention is that on the dm6 scene where Cooller is near the mega and av3k attacks from the shotgun room this scene would greatly have benefited from having the health overlay included since from memory Cooller had very low health at crucial times so it would have really helped show off his dodging and the importance of that kill.

When reviewing this movie I had to separate my, seemingly limitless, appreciation of Cooller's play from the actual movie itself so I didn't get carried away overrate it purely due to the fact it's a very good movie of a player I love to watch. I think this rating is fair enough when you consider all the elements of the movie. By the nature of what the moviemaker set out to accomplish I'm not sure it could have been rated much higher by me, unless perhaps it had a bunch of insane multi-kills, so all in all a highly recommended effort for Quake fans.

Thorin Rating: 8.5/10

Download: MegaUpload (60 FPS), MegaUpload (30 FPS)
Stream:



Name: Reptile wins!
Editor: OvO
Runtime: 3m38s
Released: 2011
Game: Q3

Description:

A minimovie starring iCE cLIMBERS member reptile.

Review:

Being as, to everyone but ESReality users, reptile is the least well known member of ic I didn't expect this movie to be as good as it was fragwise. The entirety is packed with great fragging action and the CTF quad run in the particular is spectacular. This is very much an old school type movie but it delivers with the frags and the music is a good choice to match the fast pace of the action. This movie is a shot in the arm.

Thorin Rating: 7.5/10

Download: MegaUpload, QuakeUnity
Stream:


Name: Heartbreak 2
Editor: Domino
Runtime: 12m52s
Released: 2010
Game: Q3 DeFrag

Description:
A defrag movie featuring loveless, lolograde, Lo, and HardcoreMazu.

Review:

Being as the runs in this movie are not by pro level DeFraggers I came into it without any kind of expectations at all. I leave having thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie, which turned out to be surprisingly good in many respects. The actual runs themselves aren't incredible relative to top DeFraggers but they are nice enough and the variety of spectacular maps and moments of intense speed make this a fun viewing experience which gets you a little high.

This movie has a killer soundtrack and really grew on me each time I came back to it. Good movie is very important to a DeFrag movie as it can amplify the tone and pace you of the movie. I imagine at some point in the future will watch this movie again in the future simply to listen to these tracks, listening to them on their own would not be as fun as having that feeling of speed to accompany them.

A sleeper hit which really delivers a very nice DeFrag movie experience out of nowhere.

Thorin Rating: 8/10

Download: maverick
Stream:


Classic movie magic

Name: Ruination
Editor: reflex
Runtime: 11m47s
Released: 2004
Game: CS

Description:

A compilation movie featuring frags from the likes of shaGuar, method and elemeNt, amongst others. Perhaps the most famous CS movie of all time.

Review:

When this movie came out it was perhaps the first CS movie since frag or die to truly go global and be seen by pretty much everyone who ever had any interest in CS frag movies, and even some who never. With its combination of cast, editing and music it quickly became hailed as one of the best CS movies of all time and I know I immediately pencilled it into my top 5. Sadly upon rewatching for this review this movie doesn't quite hold that stature for me anymore. It was never the perfect movie, despite what people may have thought, but in a few areas it has not held up as well as I thought it would have.

The frags in this movie are on the whole pretty good to really good. However, there are times when some sequences or kills which aren't at the same level as others get in there. While the scene with elemeNt killing ecoing terrorists in the B tunnels of dust2 might be a nice use of the wallhack effect it still remains a sequence of spraying into one spot against guys with glocks in not particularly spectacular fashion. There are great kills in here and they help carry the best parts of the movie. shaGuar's mouz noscoping is as good as anything you'll see in a CS movie and it's nice to see that some of the best kills are still fresh and exciting.

The editing is one of the best things about this movie. The way the soundtrack is synched to the action is still very good and creates instantly memorable moments such as the AWPing of Sally on dust2 against SK.swe at ESWC 2004. A lot of the techniques used in this movie have been copied endlessly, as has the soundtrack, but few have improved upon this outing. The player bar still seems a little gimmicky in how long it takes to load the player's name, which distracts the eye a little. Still, at the time this movie came out player bars were a new feature and it certainly was an improvement over simply seeing a different name in the obituaries.

The soundtrack is good there's no doubt. Even if it's been played to death now these tracks still get you pumped up to watch frags and are eternally linked to the scenes in this movie in the minds of many CS movie fans. Not the greatest CS movie ever, or even in the conversation anymore for me, but still a good CS movie which borders on being very good at times.

Thorin Rating: 8/10

Download: csmovies.se
Stream: own3d.tv


What rating would you give each movie? Leave your answers in the comments section.

'Gaming at the movies' will return next Wednesday with another batch of movies to excite, infuriate and entertain you.