Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:28 pm Posts: 484 Location: San Diego, CA
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SPOILER ALERT
Thanks to it being released on iTunes yesterday, the movie site I'm on was able to have the 3rd movie up on the same day with fairly good quality. Just finished watching it. Here are my thoughts and observations.
Length: First I'd like to point out (and I know a lot of people had hoped this wouldn't happen) that the duration of the 3rd movie is the same as the second movie! The last 10 minutes of it is just the producers talking about the production of the series (the styles the characters were drawn in, the features of the characters, the animation, etc.) so unfortunately it losses the battle of "is it long enough?" like the second movie.
Soundtrack: Once again, they decide to use the same boring soundtrack instead of making a new one. This gets really annoying in some of the scenes because the scores they use just scream OVERLY DRAMATIC, especially when a score that would set a "suspenseful" mood is used during a scene that would be better suited for a "funny" or "playful" score. The soundtracks was the big thing that made me ponder what I was doing.
Animation: The animation is pretty much what everyone has said so far. It sucks. It's pretty much the same as the last movie and very likely could be even worse. And this is coming from someone that doesn't care much about animation. That's saying something.
There were even instances where the shades and colors of the characters seemed to magically change.
Storyline: Definitely an Olympic cash grab. It has the typical good sportsmen idea of "it's not if you win or lose, it's how you play the game" that we hear in pretty much every sports movie and at every after school sports game as the main moral lesson so there's nothing new there. Plus, there is no purpose whatsoever as to why the packs hold these games and they don't even gain anything out of them! They pretty much just do it for fun, and yet they all treat it like it's some kind of once in a lifetime event where the fate and reputation of those that compete will be decided. And from how it's described, you would think that it;s something that everyone can participate in, but it's pretty much something that only the pups do. Should I also mention that out of God knows how many wolves there are, only 10 characters actually compete in it? Yeah, these are obviously important games. And apparently, in order for someone to be able to compete in these games, they have to be a "junior," whatever the hell that means.
And if you want to get those butterfly feelings of "Aw, that's so adorable" then the producers have also included a potential love interest between two of the pups! Because every story that involves competition between rivals needs them!
Characters: Garth, Lilly, and Kate's parents are not even in this movie so if you really like them, you'll be pretty disappointed. Kate doesn't even show up until half-way through the movie and when she does, she doesn't even offer anything important to it. She's just there for support. Same goes from Marcel and Paddy. As the cover would imply, the main characters are Claudette and a pup from the northern pack named Fleet, who is pictured on the right on the cover for the movie (I mentioned a potential love interest right?) Stinky and Runt have pretty much become supporting characters and Humphrey is their team's "coach," which gives him more of a leadership role. Mooch, the fat wolf, makes a few cameo appearances and Shakey and Salty aren't even in this movie either, so that's another chance for us to learn more about them that has been thrown out the window. There are also 4 packs in the movie. The Eastern Pack, the Western Pack, the Northern Pack, and the Southern Pack. All of them are allowed to participate in these games, but for whatever reason, the only characters that are in the movie are characters from the Northern and Western Packs. Once again, these are obviously very important games.
Execution of the story: How the elements of the story were executed were pretty lame. There was no excitement or adventure, which made for a pretty bland story progression. Maybe that's why they had to hype it up with the soundtrack.
With all this in mind, I can easily say that the third movie was even worse than the second movie! If you hated the second movie or if you hate the series as a whole, don't watch the third movie. It will only fuel your hatred. Did I hate this movie? I would say I'm on the fence about it. My advice, the only ones that will be able to watch this movie and really like it are children under the age of 10 and die-hard fans. If you do not fit either of those categories, stay away.
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WolfTrain4014 wrote:
SPOILER ALERT
Thanks to it being released on iTunes yesterday, the movie site I'm on was able to have the 3rd movie up on the same day with fairly good quality. Just finished watching it. Here are my thoughts and observations.
Length: First I'd like to point out (and I know a lot of people had hoped this wouldn't happen) that the duration of the 3rd movie is the same as the second movie! The last 10 minutes of it is just the producers talking about the production of the series (the styles the characters were drawn in, the features of the characters, the animation, etc.) so unfortunately it losses the battle of "is it long enough?" like the second movie.
Soundtrack: Once again, they decide to use the same boring soundtrack instead of making a new one. This gets really annoying in some of the scenes because the scores they use just scream OVERLY DRAMATIC, especially when a score that would set a "suspenseful" mood is used during a scene that would be better suited for a "funny" or "playful" score. The soundtracks was the big thing that made me ponder what I was doing.
Animation: The animation is pretty much what everyone has said so far. It sucks. It's pretty much the same as the last movie and very likely could be even worse. And this is coming from someone that doesn't care much about animation. That's saying something.
There were even instances where the shades and colors of the characters seemed to magically change.
Storyline: Definitely an Olympic cash grab. It has the typical good sportsmen idea of "it's not if you win or lose, it's how you play the game" that we hear in pretty much every sports movie and at every after school sports game as the main moral lesson so there's nothing new there. Plus, there is no purpose whatsoever as to why the packs hold these games and they don't even gain anything out of them! They pretty much just do it for fun, and yet they all treat it like it's some kind of once in a lifetime event where the fate and reputation of those that compete will be decided. And from how it's described, you would think that it;s something that everyone can participate in, but it's pretty much something that only the pups do. Should I also mention that out of God knows how many wolves there are, only 10 characters actually compete in it? Yeah, these are obviously important games. And apparently, in order for someone to be able to compete in these games, they have to be a "junior," whatever the hell that means.
And if you want to get those butterfly feelings of "Aw, that's so adorable" then the producers have also included a potential love interest between two of the pups! Because every story that involves competition between rivals needs them!
Characters: Garth, Lilly, and Kate's parents are not even in this movie so if you really like them, you'll be pretty disappointed. Kate doesn't even show up until half-way through the movie and when she does, she doesn't even offer anything important to it. She's just there for support. Same goes from Marcel and Paddy. As the cover would imply, the main characters are Claudette and a pup from the northern pack named Fleet, who is pictured on the right on the cover for the movie (I mentioned a potential love interest right?) Stinky and Runt have pretty much become supporting characters and Humphrey is their team's "coach," which gives him more of a leadership role. Mooch, the fat wolf, makes a few cameo appearances and Shakey and Salty aren't even in this movie either, so that's another chance for us to learn more about them that has been thrown out the window. There are also 4 packs in the movie. The Eastern Pack, the Western Pack, the Northern Pack, and the Southern Pack. All of them are allowed to participate in these games, but for whatever reason, the only characters that are in the movie are characters from the Northern and Western Packs. Once again, these are obviously very important games.
Execution of the story: How the elements of the story were executed were pretty lame. There was no excitement or adventure, which made for a pretty bland story progression. Maybe that's why they had to hype it up with the soundtrack.
With all this in mind, I can easily say that the third movie was even worse than the second movie! If you hated the second movie or if you hate the series as a whole, don't watch the third movie. It will only fuel your hatred. Did I hate this movie? I would say I'm on the fence about it. My advice, the only ones that will be able to watch this movie and really like it are children under the age of 10 and die-hard fans. If you do not fit either of those categories, stay away.
Ew... Just Eww! Why can't people just make good sequels anymore?
_________________ Who says you can't be a fan of Non- Animated movies? Twister fan since 2001 and proud.
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WolfTrain: Wow... that's really disappointing to hear! One would think that with such a BIG title as "The Great Wolf Games", there would be lots more characters and action in it. ARGH, can't people write good sequels anymore? Apparently not.
I saw the potential love interest thing from a mile away, by the way. Why else would Claudette and an obvious male pup be front and center on the cover art? Also, it seems that Kate is quickly becoming the Jenna of the Alpha & Omega series. Oh joy... this is completely terrible.
Even after all of the bad things I hear about it, I'm still going to watch it... just to give my two cents on it. I wish I could pay for it, but why should I bother to pay for something that honestly had no real effort put into it? This makes my hopes for the future sequels of this series fall straight to rock-bottom, obviously. I'm guessing that the real wolf movie sequels are definitely the Balto ones, paws down.
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:28 pm Posts: 484 Location: San Diego, CA
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Juuchan17 wrote:
One would think that with such a BIG title as "The Great Wolf Games", there would be lots more characters and action in it.
Oh and I forgot to mention that there's pretty much NO audience at these games! The coaches of the teams and those that helped train them are essentially the only ones that observe what's happening!
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Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:40 pm Posts: 1650 Location: Back at home in VA
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WolfTrain4014 wrote:
Juuchan17 wrote:
One would think that with such a BIG title as "The Great Wolf Games", there would be lots more characters and action in it.
Oh and I forgot to mention that there's pretty much NO audience at these games! The coaches of the teams and those that helped train them are essentially the only ones that observe what's happening!
Well... that really does seem like an even more pointless movie - if we can really call it a movie to begin with. So much for a real post-Olympics cash grab - at least a true cash grab would have HAD an audience see the future of the wolf packs in action, you know? Shoot, the title needs to be changed to "The Gym Class Wolf Competition" or something.
Clearly, this shows that the artists and writers in charge really weren't thinking in between the story concept until the final piece was finished. The title is a COMPLETE LIE, and Crest Animation should be ashamed of pulling out a half-done sequel that makes the worse Disney sequel look... decent, at least from a writing or story development perspective.
*sigh* I think knowing this about the film a couple of weeks before its official release makes me not want to see it even more. 'Tis a complete miss.
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:40 pm Posts: 1650 Location: Back at home in VA
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Sorry for the double-post, but I'm too lazy to edit the last one.
SO... I just watched the 3rd movie. I'm not even sure whether to call this an improvement, but I'll at least say that it's much better than "Howl-iday Adventure".
[MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! I put them in spoiler tags, just to be safe, but you have been warned!]
STORY: Hidden text : click to show
So basically, there's something called the Great Wolf Games amongst the wolf packs... and the Western Pack doesn't have a team to compete. Of course, like all sports flicks, there's a band of misfits and underdogs against the super-tough hot-shots, training montages, cheaters, uncalled fouls, and then the big darn moral about the most important rule of competitions in general. It's a predictable plot, but there wasn't anything important at stake... which was lame. However, having the parents with the pups was a better story than the actual games itself. It was more at stake with that side of the story than anything... and it surprisingly worked. Well done, A&O... but that doesn't make up for the cop-out ending of the first sequel.
CHARACTERS: Hidden text : click to show
There's some new characters that were interesting through a bear named Brent, a porcupine named Agnes and a love interest for Claudette named Fleet. Plus, I thought the antagonist [Nars, Fleet's father] actually wasn't too bad and actually had a reason to act like he did. Also, it was good to see some characters develop throughout the little film... and it was done better than the previous movie! Another plus for this movie. However, Brent and Agnes seemed only in the movie to fill in the missing spots on Claudette's team and sorta faded into the background once the plot with Fleet and Nars came into play midway in.
The connection with Nars was a nice touch, though I wish there was more to it. Nars seemed a lot like Princess from the last movie, but with more reason to do what he did and more character [at least for the little bits that we get to know from him anyway]. He's the dad that always believes that winning is everything, so he's almost overprotective and the one that tells his children to win, no matter what they have to do to get the first place. The least that he wanted was for his pups to beat Kate's, as he'd suffered an embarrassing loss to her when they had competed in the Games as pups. He was a great bad guy with a decent backstory from what we get, so I'd call him the biggest stand-out character in my opinion.
The old characters were pretty bland. It was nice to see Mooch again, but his appearance was pointless. Humphrey was okay, but was the obvious "good coach" for his children and team against the "bad coach" of Nars. The movie needed more Kate... and the other wolves. You'd think they'd show up on the big finale and cheer on Claudette, right? If only the writers had enough common sense to do just that, it would have been great. Also, Claudette was the stand-out pup. She really shined as a leader here, and I like how she is like a girl!Humphrey with Kate's looks and potential for being a leader. I hope the other pups get more development in the future sequels, though I hope her possible love interest with Fleet just stays as a good friendship.
PACING/ANIMATION: It felt rushed. There were little scenes during the training montages, but eh... the pacing wasn't too bad by the midway point. Animation-wise, it was the same quality as the last movie. The texturing for the animals and backgrounds weren't bad, but the movements were... UGH. If you didn't like the last movie's animation, you won't like this one either.
VOICES: No real stand-outs, but it's the same small batch of VAs, I think. Runt sounds more feminine this time around, but other than that, I don't really have any other complaints.
PROS: Hidden text : click to show
- I liked the connections between the parents and pups [mainly Kate/Humphrey with Claudette and Nars with Fleet]. It was nice to relate to how they learned and played off of each other, as well as how Claudette looked up to her mom and how Nars wanted Fleet to basically win like he should have won at his age. Plus, seeing an athletic-crazed dad as a wolf in the form of Nars... was pretty cool.
- Better ending than the last movie. MUCH BETTER... and I liked it.
CONS: - Still 45 minutes long. WAT. - The last 8 minutes actually belonged with the original movie, focusing on the development and styles of the Alpha and Omega movie. At least we see some Lilly, Garth and some other unseen characters [mainly mostly all of the other main wolves from the original and first sequel] in this. Yay. - ...But it's still a major con because the last 2 minutes were the same previews for the 3rd and 4th movies that were shown in the last movie. Fail. - Rushed pacing at first and not enough information about this big games competition. - Where exactly was the audience? If it was such a big event, you'd think more animals would show up to see it or even be in the competition. Argh.
So, what can I say about it?
It wasn't bad. Maybe watch it if you're tired of hearing "Frozen" songs in your DVD/Bluray player, but it's not bad. Not as good as the Balto sequels or the original A&O, but it's paws better than A&O2.
Okay.. So I actually ended up watching the 3rd movie tonight.
While there are the typical aspects of the bad animation and sound effects and such, I must admit that Claudette and Flint are SO adorable in this. <3 I actually really like the movie's storyline and outcome with these two.
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:40 pm Posts: 1650 Location: Back at home in VA
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WolfTrain4014 wrote:
Starlioness wrote:
so the franchise movies.. on..
so do I need to watch A&O 2 to understand the 3rd movie?..
or maybe I should get the dvd 45-min specials.. ( yeah that's a better word) don't exist..
There isn't anything that directly ties the two movies together so no you don't.
The only thing that connects 2 and 3 together are the pups... which aren't really given any good personality development prior to movie 3.
Paxis: Claudette and Fleet are quite cute together, I'll agree with that. I wish they'd give them some more growth... as well as the other pups. I'd like to see them become interesting, but I'm highly doubting that.
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:40 pm Posts: 1650 Location: Back at home in VA
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...I apparently enjoy the fail in these movies [or maybe it's just the fact that most of the characters are wolves], so I've learned about the third sequel to the "Alpha and Omega" series: "The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave".
Oh Aniu, that cover... Runt just needs to stop looking like a girl-pup... because he does look like one whenever he's close-up. But, really... this is the final cover art. I do like the "green Nava-ish wolf" thing in the background, so it does have a spooky sort of air to it. It's not bad overall.
Also, I wonder if the title's referring to the real-life "Sawtooth" Wolf Pack in Idaho, an area mentioned in the original movie [where Kate and Humphrey were sent to after being knocked out by the tranquilizer darts] where a real-life pack of wolves had lived. It's a nice touch, so I think it deserves to be recognized. Bravo for remembering some of the inspiration.
It's set for a late September release, but I'm honestly not sure when it'll be released. Since it's a "Walmart exclusive" movie, their site is still saying 9/23/14 as the release date, but the Alpha and Omega Wiki says it's been unknowningly been pushed back for an October release. I don't know, and I'm not sure if I need to care.
First off, there's no number in the title this go around! I guess the studio learned that numbers are just pointless if they're no real connection/continuation to the first or second sequels. Hopefully this continues for the next installment, "Family Vacation", but I hope the series dies out soon.
Secondly, there's a decent trailer online for the movie, which I don't exactly hate. There's no real spoilers, but I like some of the dialogue with Runt, and it makes me think that he's really not supposed to be an Omega at all, given how he acts in little parts. It's making him a better character than what I saw in "Howl-iday Adventure". Strange how he almost always gets a main role in these sequels. I do like one specific returning character in the trailer, and it makes me hope for something good... maybe.
Also, the atmosphere's not too shabby. Very mysterious. The animation, however, is still not that good-looking at first glance.
Thirdly, we have a nice, slightly spoilery synopsis from Walmart's page for the movie, one that might surprise you: Hidden text : click to show
The Alphas and Omegas share a thrilling adventure filled with surprises, humor and heartwarming moments after Runt - Kate and Humphrey's Omega wolf cub - sneaks off to explore the haunted Saw Tooth Cave. When Runt finds a wolf who's been driven from her pack for being different, he musters all his courage to help her - and learns the joys of lending a paw to a friend in need. A pawsome adventure that will leave you howling for more.
...I don't know what to think about this anymore, so I'll definitely check it out. It's still going to be a 45 minute sequel, though I'm hoping THIS TIME it actually will cover all 45 minutes. They've got a good enough story to pull it off this time around.
We can only hope! So, anyone else thinking about checking this one out?
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The trailer didn't exactly leave the greatest impression on me because from what it shows it tells me that A) the animation still sucks, B) they STILL use the same soundtrack, and C) there will, once again, be an excess of overly dramatic scenes. (I mean that part with the truck coming at them at 0:44! How can you not roll your eyes at that!?) And since Kate was only seen in the trailer ONCE, I have the feeling she'll once again only have a supporting role and since many of the other major characters weren't even in it, they'll either only have small roles or not be in the movie at all. (I'd like to think I'd be wrong but.........) But since Lilly was seen actually going with Humphrey and the pups into the forest I assume she'll have a greater role in this movie so that's a good sign for those that like her.
The story line seems like a nice change of pace from the last movies, but it will probably end up having a cliche explanation for the occurrences of the "haunted cave" given what the series has done in the previous movies. The synopsis only adds to that suspicion. Speaking of which, can anyone else say "potential love interest?"
My overall expectations for this movie are low and I don't know if I should even check it out, but I'm optimistic and since I really liked the first movie and I thought the second one wasn't bad I'll check it out when I have the chance.
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WolfTrain4014 wrote:
The story line seems like a nice change of pace from the last movies, but it will probably end up having a cliche explanation for the occurrences of the "haunted cave" given what the series has done in the previous movies. The synopsis only adds to that suspicion. Speaking of which, can anyone else say "potential love interest?"
My overall expectations for this movie are low and I don't know if I should even check it out, but I'm optimistic and since I really liked the first movie and I thought the second one wasn't bad I'll check it out when I have the chance.
...Potential love interest? Do you mean for Runt maybe? *shudders* I think I'll have to say no on that. Then again, if the summary is correct, it might be... I'm still doubting it though.
Though now that I think about it, the pups should not be as small as they are right now, if it's near autumn in their universe. Kate, Humphrey and Lilly all grew up into matured adults in the matter of a couple of seasons, so Runt, Stinky and Claudette should look "not-like-pups" in the remainder of these movies. Shoot, even Balto II made their pups grow up, so hopefully these ones will really soon.
Hopefully I'll give this movie a decent non-spoilery review when I get a chance too.
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Sorry for the double-post, but I've got a review!
Okay, so I just got finished watching the third sequel and... it was pleasantly surprising.
[FAIR WARNING: Plot Spoilers ahoy - they're under spoiler tags... just in case anyone wants to see it for themselves and not get spoiled.]
Story: Holy crap - this was interesting! Hidden text : click to show
There was some back story for Tony with the titular Saw-Tooth Cave, Kate being protective of her pups while the pups wish to have some freedom to explore on their own, and a mystery with the cave that Runt wishes to crack, even if it means defying his parents. Also, Daria's subplot... but I'll talk about her later.
Characters: I'll admit that I like Runt's growth in personality, and it's thanks mostly to the story. He's labeled an Omega, but he wants to do what the Alphas do and learn what they learn. I feel sorry for the society system that these wolves live in and that they're seemingly born and instantly branded into either the Alphas or the Omegas, and it's because of this that I really like Runt overall as a character in these sequels. This movie is almost all Runt's, and he does develop into - in my opinion - an Alpha amongst Omegas for his pack through this movie. If anything, he's more likeable that most of the other characters in the series.
Also, the young Alphas of Runt's litter are shown to be more fraidy-cat-ish... but that just makes Runt the best character here. Then again, the pups as a whole did get some fun moments, so I still can't hate them so much. I just wish they would grow bigger and larger or something!
Hidden text : click to show
The coolest character is the new wolf, Daria. She's a likeable yet blind she-wolf, her relationship with Runt is quite cute, and if anyone could befriend her, the best character to do so is Runt. She's friends with some rather nice porcupines that are quite odd in the forest, but she's got a backstory that is short but still quite sad. I'm glad she was added to the story and the A&O-verse, because I'd like to see what new adventures she might have.
There's other characters too - some male pack wolves that want to find the "ghost" at Saw-Tooth Cave and have a bit of a subplot, for example - but it's not something that annoyed me. They did mention some things about how they feel about an Alpha and an Omega being a couple, and it definitely was interesting to note.
Hidden text : click to show
Also, the opening scene shows us more pups in the pack! Not sure whose pups they are, but still, this is a nice sign!
All the returning characters weren't too bad:
Hidden text : click to show
Kate's dealing with the hard part of letting her kids go on their own to be exploring kids, Lilly introduces Runt to the forest [and does nothing else... Why, movie... WHY? ;__;], and Winston and Tony are just there to stir things up with the haunted story of the forest and Saw-Tooth Cave. It works. Even Humphrey's not bad here, starting to become the voice of reason to Kate's worrywort issues as a mom.
I like this. Good job, movie. Paddy and Marcel, however, had no place in this movie, but they got about a minute or two of pointless screentime and it was probably just to say they were in the movie [they have the models for these characters and by gosh, we're using them!].
Music, Animation, etc.: The music was still using the score from the original movie, but there were some variations made specially for the spooky feel of this new location near Saw-Tooth Cave. It was... nice. Animation-wise, it was standard A&O sequel-quality, so I didn't expect much improvement there. The effects for the ghost wolf [like the one on the cover] weren't too shabby, so I guess it's a positive note to mention. The voices aren't too bad still, though I'm not sure if it's an improvement or not. I think it's tolerable, given the small voice cast in these sequels.
Overall.... I would have to say this is the better of the sequel trilogy of Alpha and Omega movies. It's not scary at all for a Halloween movie, but it has more positives than negatives in my eyes. If you ever wanted to check out one of the Alpha and Omega sequels, "The Legend of Saw-Tooth Cave" is your best bet.
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