WARNING: A couple of spoilers ahead (not much of anything really, but for those of you who care)
An even longer time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Knights of the Old Republic - Episode I is an amazing piece of work. Kaydon Sentry sorted through the many story-lines of KOTOR and removed much unnecessary exposition to get to the heart of the story. There are things that I miss from the game that don't appear on this DVD, but when a 50+ hour game is adapted into a two hour movie, certain things are bound to be cut. Of course, this is only the first in a planned trilogy of movies based on this fantastic game; there is no guarantee that story-lines that are absent in the first movie may not show up in a later installment. Either way, Kaydon has done an impressive job of forming the first act in what should be a most enjoyable trilogy.
Technical Flaws:
All the small things…
There are a few things that detract from this presentation living up to its full potential. A few of them are things that Kaydon has already told you about. It seems that the aspect ratio is off on this DVD. I only have a 4:3 TV, but I had to set my DVD player to 16:9 display to watch this as letter-boxed. Just a minor annoyance really, but something to keep in mind if the screen looks squashed when you go to watch it.
There are also times during the film that the character voices are drowned out by the music/fx. This is more noticeable on a standard TV set with regular TV speakers. The flaw is still noticeable when listened to through a 5.1 sound system, but the effect seems less pronounced.
There are some color inconsistencies and the like, but to go into depth about them would be like making mountain out of a mole hill. Overall, the list of flaws is quite minor in relation to the stunning work put into this project.
Things I thought could be better:
The show must go on...
Even understanding that the movie will feel somewhat rushed due to time constraints not present while playing the game, it still seemed to move too fast in several places. When I first watched it, I had the feeling that Kaydon may have been trying to make a film-noir like story out of KOTOR. The way that he goes about his search--jumping from person to person sort of like a private-eye looking for information--I could have seen this being a 1940s crime-thriller set in space. All Logan needed was some extra monologue time. It depends on what you’re trying to achieve I suppose. The pacing is not what I would consider ideal, but it seems to get the point across well enough, and in the end that is what really matters.
Dead men tell no tales...
As the story unfolds, there are times when Logan makes reference to events or information that beg the question of how he came to know what he knows. Perhaps there were scenes cut that would help fill these gaps in the story. It is always a fine line between just how much the audience needs to be told, and how much the audience can be left to fill in on their own. The problem I have with these "gaps" is that if the main character is being dubbed, why not dub some other extraneous characters to give the audience some of the information that we're missing? There were a few scenes that dubbing or adding some extra subtitles to would have really helped explain away some of the questions that I had.
Is this thing on?
In a couple of places the new piece of music seemed to stand out a bit in relation to the context of the whole scene. A good example is in the Under City Cantina while Logan is talking to Mission. This cheery, upbeat music comes in right after Mission and her wookie pal star down a couple of thugs and plays out during her conversation with Logan. As Logan starts talking about Davick however, the music is still the same cheery, upbeat song it's been, and then shifts to a dark foreboding piece. The two don't flow well together. The cheery music just seems very out of place for the environment they're in, not to mention the situation. I understand that Kaydon was using to give this feeling of happiness at new friends/alliances being made, but I think it actually takes you out of the moment, rather than pulling you into it.
The only other thing I thought possibly could have been better is the application of filters Kaydon used on the character’s voices in a few scenes. There are only two instances on the effect that I can think of off-hand, and I only have a gripe about the first one. When the gang goes to see the Hidden Beks there are filters applied to all of the characters voices. The effect is meant to make it sound more realistic by making them echo in the big empty space that they find themselves in. To me, the filter seems too pronounced in this scene and again when they go back there. However, a more subtle instance of the filter is also used while the group is in the Sewers. Unlike before, I think it really helped sell the idea that characters were in such a dank, dark, dismal place.
The good stuff:
Fortune favors the bold...
I hope my personal gripes don’t give the impression that I am anything but impressed by Kaydon_Sentry’s amazing project. Having been watching and waiting for this DVD since Kaydon first announced it, I can only say that the wait was well worth it. If this first episode is an indication of what is to come, I only hope that it doesn’t take another two years to see the next installment.
Directing is a tricky business. Getting the kind of shots that a director wants is very difficult, especially in a video game where you’re options are very limited. There are only so many ways to exploit the in-game camera. Well, Kaydon has gone above and beyond what I thought was achievable by acquiring many various angles, pans, zooms, etc. to reflect not only the mood of a scene, but a characters reaction to a conversation or event. He also manages to get the camera to skim right over the ground. Many of the shots in this movie make me wonder how he got them.
Kaydon said before that one of the main reasons he started this project was to teach himself editing. I can definitively say that it was a lesson well learned. Whether it is for length reasons, or the quality of a performance, you can never show everything you’d like nor have the characters say everything you want them to say in a movie. This is movie is no exception. There are some scenes that look like they could have been trimmed a bit more or other scenes that could have benefited from a couple of extra seconds in my opinion, but overall the editing is sound. The juxtaposition of most scenes was simply genius. Kaydon has done an excellent job of stripping away what doesn't work and rearranging scenes to tell the story more quickly without sacrificing the strength of it.
The goodies:
Rain drops on Roses...
All of the Star Wars films are heavily laden with music and the new pieces Kaydon has inserted help really sell this as a new addition to the Star Wars mythos. A lot of new music has been added to this to give it more of a Star Wars feel and the feel of being an actual film. Kaydon excels at picking specific mood music to help tell this story.
One of my favorite scenes of new music is during the escape from Taris. I believe this piece of music came from Starship Troopers, but it fits very well in the scene.
Kaydon has also added a few new effects that look great. His voice-work is incredible. I've never heard someone dub a character in a fan-film of any sort that sounds as good as this. Lightsabers and footage from a few different games that have been added and rotoscoped in are just some of the things that separate this from any other fan-film project. Kaydon also has included a few details that may or may not hint at a future project. Time will tell.
Good night and good luck...
Kaydon Sentry has made something that will stand out from other projects. What started as a labor of love has become something that we would all be lucky to be see.
Cheers Kaydon.
- Rebel11_38