We Are the Strange (2007) User Reviews

Tough To Stay With, But I Give It Points For Originalty

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 23 March 2008]

The man responsible for this film is called "M. Dot Strange."

That kind of gives you a hint of what you are going to see - something very "strange."

Listen: you'll either think this is super cool and love this film, or you'll get so disgusted you'll yank it off your screen within minutes. Actually, I was somewhere toward the latter, but I lasted longer than a half hour before losing interest. I really tried to like this.

The good aspect of this film is the clever animation done on a low budget. This is an original film, that's for sure. The visuals and the sound are different and mostly interesting. You also have the option of hearing various soundtracks - now that's unique!

The bad part of the movie is that it's hard to watch much of it in one sitting. It gets to be too much and is weak in the area of getting the viewer involved with the characters and story. Very little of the story is explained, so you can get lost in a hurry and never recover. After a while, I found myself not caring what was happening and just attempted to enjoy the strange visuals and sound- effects.

The visuals are a combination of computer-generated, stop motion and bluescreen effects. It is also a combination, according to its writer-director- producer-etc, of 8-bit and anime. I'm not versed enough in all of this to explain it. I'm just trying to give you an idea how different this film is from other animated movies you've seen.

Also, it was first released on the Internet instead of movie theaters, I think, but did play in the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 and the following year put out on DVD.

For the average movie viewer, this film would be torture to sit through. It would be a long hour-and-a-half. For someone who enjoys something different visually, this is a unique film that deserves a look and might prove to be fascinating, especially for some young person interested in becoming a filmmaker. I'm sure one could learn a lot of techniques and be inspired.

Really Bad Acid

[danman87 · 5/10 · 13 February 2008]

This movie is surreal; this movie is disturbing; this movie is fascinating. As a piece of cinema, it's terrible. Most audiences simply could not sit through something like this in a dark room with a big screen.

As art, I'd say this film is a success. It is extremely unique, and in it's own low-budget way very well done. I have never seen a film before this that combines such diverse graphic art into a visual whole. The visual and audio effects are rather hypnotizing, though not in a good way.

"We Are the Strange" is aptly named, and very hard to like. It is largely incohesive, though there is some semblance of plot. The images and sounds are fairly unpleasant, and after about ten minutes you get the first urges to turn it off. I appreciate this as a unique and powerful art film, but I don't find it entertaining.

Amazing piece of art, but poor entertainment.

[mechanism8 · 5/10 · 20 April 2008]

Someone here said not to watch this movie for the plot, but to watch it for the visuals. Follow that advice! This movie is is an amazing, beautiful, stunning, _painting with audio_. This is an amazing piece of art, but this is far from a "movie". This is a series of beautiful paintings set to great video game style audio and sound effects. This movie belongs in a gallery, not a theater.

I'm not a huge art fan so I didn't really enjoy this movie past the first 10 minutes. Actually, I gave up after 35 minutes and just turned off the laptop. The movie lacks a plot (at least one I could detect), and between the visuals I was left wondering "is this what people see when they're on acid?". It an amazing piece of art, but not something I would call entertainment.

Very Original

[migcoyula · 26 August 2008]

"We are the Strange" is a work of sheer originality, a rare gem in the microcinema movement, not only because of its technical audacity but also the complete freedom attained in it's narrative. The two main characters are a young girl with big blue eyes (visually reminiscent of anime) who escapes her pimp and a sad and scared little boy. More about the story I won't describe because words won't do justice.

It happens inside a video game.

This is very important. From the stylistical choices to the apparent lack of narrative, "We are the Strange" will most likely appeal to those born after 1970. There are direct references to multiple things, most notable I would describe as hybrid the 8-bit era of video gaming, stop motion, anime and 3D with a David Lynch logic. The end result is unlike anything I've seen. It's at times silly, beautiful, depressing, always imaginative and highly atmospheric. This is sensorial film-making. Yes there is a very simple story, but all that surrounds it, truly make the films. Now when so many independent filmmakers view Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Rodriguez as their heroes, its is refreshing to see a filmmaker using the digital tools not to emulate formulas and trends created by others, but to experiment all the way and successfully create something new.

Now the music is unlike anything I've heard on film. It usually instruments from 8-bit game consoles. It's a bizarre eerie, feeling.

No doubt we are witnessing a personal film in all respects, a voice that hasn't been modified, muted, toned down to suit a specific kind of audience. It is a scream of the senses, with no attempt whatsoever at logic. You'll be missing the point. You could say that it is style over substance. But what many people fail to acknowledge is that sometimes style itself can be substance.

Thinking out of the box?

[fac20 · 1/10 · 14 January 2008]

Being a fan of unusual movies, I decided to go and watch We Are the Strange when it was shown at Leeds Film Festival. Unfortunately, this movie is not strange in a good or interesting way. The plot is pretty much non-existent and if it wasn't for the lengthly character description at the beginning of the movie, it would be nothing more than complete confusion in cinematic form. Although the random mismatch of animation styles used in this movie creates a sense of chaos which is fitting to the world in which the film is based, this does not make for good watching and becomes repetitive very quickly.

Some people praise the mixture of animation styles and lack of a plot as 'thinking out of the box'. However, thinking out of the box is not always a good thing. For instance, if I decided to cook myself something new by combining elements of different world cuisines, the result might be: a fish, beef and pasta pie seasoned with typical Indian spices and topped off with a rich chocolate and Weetabix sauce. This would be thinking out of the box, but would anyone want to eat it?

All this movie achieves, is to portray its creator's (M dot Strange) self-indulgence. M dot Strange would have saved a lot of time, both for himself and others, if he had simply made the visuals for a five minute music video. There is an obvious reason why most people don't make whole movies by themselves - the results will be unwatchable!

1.5 hours of torture

[movieoooo · 1/10 · 24 January 2007]

would be better than this movie. This is unequivocally the biggest POS I have ever seen (and I've seen some really terrible movies, "the saddest music in the world" was my previous #1)

This film defies description, but in a bad way. Anything, and I mean anything, I write in this review about the movie will make it seem better than it actually is. It is that bad.

Someone said this is the future of film. If true, I guess I won't be watching any movies in the future.

There is absolutely no story. (accept the last 10 minutes when it turns into a very basic and predictable story) It is not beautiful. It is too random to be meaningful. It evokes no emotion except rage at having wasted over an hour watching the film.

M. Strange was at the screening and he has this whole act about how he is different and interesting. Please. He may think he is being edgy or cool, but it just comes of pathetic. Much like this movie. I am appalled anyone wasted all that time making it.

More irritating than the visuals is the music and soundtrack. Grating and dissonant, it just sounds bad.

Technically Amazing

[ElijahCSkuggs · 7/10 · 25 November 2007]

Finally I get to see We Are The Strange. I don't remember in the slightest how I came to know about M. Dot Strange's work, but overall I'm glad I did. What we have here is a technical achievement on a pretty high level. The story itself is simple, but at the same time, it's really hard to understand. I urge everyone thinking about seeing this movie to read up about what the movie is about first. If I didn't know the plot beforehand, I would have been completely and utterly bewildered right up until the end of the flick. But the plot isn't the reason to watch this film. It's the visuals and the sound. It's really like nothing I've ever seen, and most likely nothing you've seen as well. I enjoyed We Are The Strange due to it's imaginative art, music and style, but I still felt lost quite a bit...too much so. This is a movie for people who are artistic, imaginative and adventurous with their movie watching, everyone else should stay put.

Never have i seen anything so awful!

[bisiker · 1/10 · 18 November 2007]

Luckily i saw this film at a film festival from a pass i bought to watch as many films as i wanted. So at least when i left this film feeling angry and annoyed at how terrible it was, i could at least gain some satisfaction by knowing i hadn't wasted my money completely.

This film lacks everything that makes a good film, it has no structure, no plot, no characterisation, no nothing. The only good point i could give this film is the fact that it was done by one man, that is an achievement i'll admit, but still not worthy enough to make this film any better. For it felt that M dot Strange had just tried to make as many cool animation scenes as he could, and thought i'll whack this in because it looks cool, when it was just painful. There was no story and the only bit of a story you got you knew what was going to happen, and by this point you don't care. For i couldn't care less whether any characters died in this film, because we never truly got to know them or really know what was going on, what were the rules to this world, why did this happen or anything else. M dot Strange spent too much time on his animation and completely forgot everything that is needed to make a good film.

Basically i say to anyone who wants to watch this film...don't! Never have i seen so many people walk out a film than i did with this one. The only reason i stayed until the end was because it was cold outside, and i'm fair in seeing a film to the end until i make my judgement. And here it is.

Never has there been a film like this.

[itchingpowder3 · 8/10 · 22 January 2007]

By far the weirdest movie I have ever seen. When M dot Strange was told to think outside the box, he overshot a little. He stepped out of the box, and punted it into the sea. At the screening at Sundance, M dot Strange said that he pretty much locked himself in his room with a bunch of broken toys, and nine computers. He stayed there for more than a year with only his frighteningly twisted imagination, and came out with this animation that is a mix between Stop-motion, Computer animation, 8 bit video game animation, and Japanese Anime. He calls it "Str8nime". The visuals are absolutely stunning. An electric-techno roller-coaster of a movie, with a soundtrack equally colorful. The imagination of M dot Strange is truly dark and wild.

enjoy, and hide your soul, because this film might try to take it.

CL

interesting

[balthazar13 · 7/10 · 7 January 2008]

as you can no doubt tell by looking at the rating and comments on "we are the strange", the film has a distinctly polarizing effect about it. it is very easy to level negative criticism at a film of this nature. i will not necessarily disagree with some of their comments. to the casual viewer, the film may seem a disjointed mess without a single cohesive idea. in fact, most people will probably not like this film, though this film was not created to be liked. it is what it is. to some, it will seem inflated with its own sense of self-importance. and the very notion of adapting cg and stop-motion animation into one medium is hardly as revolutionary as the hype surrounding it. these are all fair criticisms.

though, to look at a film such as "we are the strange" in terms like this is a disservice. it is not so much a movie as much as it is an abstract painting or a collage and should be watched thusly. in fact, the inclusion of typical movie structuring is almost to the detriment of the work - though, the plot is simple, to the point of it being unnecessary. we are to sit back and engage the film just as the film is attempting to engage us. it is ANTI, yet, it is so human. we can find themes of pathos, desire, and fear if we choose. the room for interpretation is endless.

"we are the strange" is a vibrant piece of art, but it's not for everyone. undeniably, however, it is something to behold and a grand statement from a writer/director who has yet to realize his full potential.

don't watch it...

[jingagogo · 1/10 · 6 May 2009]

...unless you are happy with a severely lacking plot and are a big fan of different types of animation being randomly merged together. I couldn't even watch it the whole way through and had to walk out of the cinema.

I imagine it would appeal to nobody but a small minority of film students who might appreciate Mr Strange's use of different media in a 'unique' way. However, I would like to point out that just because it has never been done before, it doesn't make it creative in the good sense of the word.

in conclusion: it is the worst movie i have seen and I disliked it soo much that when i saw its ridiculously inflated rating on this site, I had to join up especially to save people from wasting their time.

assaulting but amazing piece of art. love/hate

[gwendlicious · 10/10 · 24 May 2007]

This film is a brilliant combination of different forms of art and digital media.

I, for one, am not at all connected to any genre or sub-culture that might relate to this film. I never play video games, do not like 8-bit music, do not particularly like any kind of animation, and have watched virtually no anime. I actually walked into the movie at Sundance about 10 minutes late and had a hard time getting to my seat because of the visual and audio onslaught coming at me from the screen. I was completely confused for about 3/4 of the movie yet I could not stop watching. The plot was developed almost entirely outside the realm of dialog and I suggest you read about the story before you begin watching.

What I love about this film is that it makes you think. As much as I disliked (pretty much hated) parts of it, I was completely drawn in. It really made me re-evaluate why I watch movies and what I get from them. Sundance was a great forum for this film because it definitely is an INDIE film.

I HIGHLY recommend seeing this film if you want something different than anything you have ever seen. *Give it a chance - it is really something that needs to be watched in its entirety before judgment is made*. Even if you hate the movie, it is still worth watching if you like to expand your perception of what film is. I walked away from this movie with a much greater appreciation for different kinds of art and the amount of work that went into blending all the mediums used.

disappointment

[samnewman89 · 7/10 · 18 March 2008]

though not an avid follower of the film, i saw the trailer a year or so back and was looking forward to it, i do feel quite let down i must admit, production value is top notch. i couldn't have expected anything better; the mixture of animation styles and unusual soundtrack create a very original and unique experience.

Despite this, every film needs a plot and this film was in serious lacking. Character development was non-existent; story very basic and predictable. Dialogue was almost non-existent and some parts are very hard to understand.

Nevertheless if you watch this with an open mind i think you'll enjoy it. It's quite amazing for a film made by one man.

Well...it's very...unique

[dino_saur333 · 7/10 · 7 February 2010]

We Are The Strange.

What can I say about this movie. It's an experience, to say the least. I can almost guarantee you that within the first ten minutes of the movie your first comment will be "What the ****?!" Looking at the title you'd think this movie was, well, strange. But 'strange' alone in a gross understatement. Saying this movie is "strange" is like saying the surface of the sun is "toasty." You might try to compare this to other strange movies like, say, Labyrinth, or Corpse Bride, but really you can't. You just can't.

More than anything else, this movie is a statement in visual art. The combination of stop-motion animation, 8-bit graphics, and CGI animation is both innovative and crazy to look at. The dark world that is StopMo city (get the name?) has almost no cohesive structure to it whatsoever. The fight scenes (if you can call them that) which were most definitely inspired by old school anime, is like watching a kid play with action figures. Actually the whole movie feels like it come from the deep dark recesses of some ten-year-old's abandoned toy chest.

The character designs are...innovative. The first Characters we meet Blue and HIM are probably the closest to normal anybody's gonna get in this film but that's not saying much. eMMM, Rain, and Ori look like they came from nightmares of Tim Burton. Despite the crazy designs however, each character's design, better than any other movie I've seen, reflects that character's personality, purpose, and even background almost perfectly. You take one look and you can easily say "Oh, this is the bad guy" or "Oh, definitely a tragic heroine" and so on.

The dialog (there's dialog in this movie?!) is few and far between. There's probably less than five minutes of speech throughout the entire movie...for all characters combined. Like I said, this is more on visuals. What dialog does exists is short and straight to the point. There are no pointlessly long exchanges between characters even for humor's sake. Each sentence spoken has heavy significance to the plot so when someone talks you'll know you should listen.

As for the plot (yes, boys and girls, there is a plot in here somewhere) it's hard to find at first, mainly because of the movie trying to visually rape your mind. But if you concentrate really hard (I mean reeeeeeally hard) there is a coherent plot about two lost tragic characters trying to find their way.

eMMM and Blue are the classic tragic heroes, both starting out at the bottom of the dumps then slowly but surely finding their courage within each other. the vigilante pair Rain and Ori, though feeling like a really bad ripoff of Batman and Robin, presented an exciting view of a wrongfully accused man and a misunderstood weirdo, fighting for justice. HIM is the stereotypical villain of the piece who thinks of only himself and thinks nothing of plunging the city into darkness if for nothing more than his own pleasure.

All of these character elements come together in a straight-forward plot line typical of most epic stories. The characters and their motivations are easy to understand once you get into the movie and it's easy cheer for the good guys and hate the bad guys (though HIM's low droning voice make it kinda hard to take him seriously) Watch this movie once to get a hang of the visuals. Watch it again to truly appreciate the story.

In conclusion, I loved this movie. I really did. It was weird yes, but refreshing in a way that it provided an escape from the usual canned mainstream coming out of Hollywood. It was an experience to savor. It's not boring. It never gets boring. Sure you'll feel like a weirdo for appreciating it, but maybe that's a good thing.

Just for chuckles, you should also watch the 1337 version.

We Are The Strange: A Movie Review.

[solidgameboy12-1 · 9/10 · 12 October 2007]

About this time in October last year, M. Dot Strange (His stage name from when he used to do music) came up with an independent masterpiece that appeared on Youtube, an animated film called "We Are The Strange", which was merely only a trailer, but an intriguing trailer, indeed.

So, for almost a full year and a half, those that sat at their computers waited for the movie to go through Sundance. Fans (I, myself, included) among many others, were glued to the intriguing persona of M. Dot Strange, as he commented on those people who were looking at this movie, criticizing it good, criticizing it badly. Some people left within 15 minutes. Some stayed and watched the madness. For those who left, I feel very sorry for you. You missed an amazing piece of art.

We Are The Strange is a movie with a very simple plot, but presents itself in such a dazzling way that you have to seek to finish it, just to see the art. No matter how you criticize the film, you cannot deny that the art form, Str8nime, a new style of animation created by Strange himself, combines 8 bit animation (Like the old Mario Games on Nintendo) Anime (This stuff is nothing like what you see on TV. It's human in it's animated style) and Strangeness, and this movie provides plenty of it.

The story revolves around two main characters, Blue and Emm. Blue is an anime girl who worked, who lived in a bordello, whilst under the ownership of HIM (The voice of the Director), who tells her she is ugly, and will never be anything to him or anyone. She is banished to a lonely forest, where the other character, Emm, a doll boy (A doll's body with a voice that squeaks and squeals for speech) lives alone in the forest. He does not know why he's there, or how he got there, but ponders it.

Under specific detail, Emm highlights he wants Ice Cream, and wants to go the big city to get it. Fear and torment plague his mind, as the idea of being an outcast is something he recognizes. Blue, too, feels this way.

As the two go to Stopmo City, they find that evil lurks everywhere, and only a strange fighter named Rain appears to fight the darkness around the city.

This movie is brilliant. It's not for everybody, but it is fantastic. The art is just dazzling, the visuals are what tell the story, and it's not just a fan's review that's saying this, as a movie goer, it's nothing Pixar has ever done. Shrek cannot compete to what this movie tries to say.

If you need to see a movie that is brimming with genius, has an intelligent way of story telling (This does not have much dialog, and that's good, because instead of clouding your mind with meaningless George Lucas-esquire lingo, you can focus on a bitter and at the same time, sweet movie.

I give this movie a 9/10.

Meaning Through Simplicity

[smack_munky · 10/10 · 29 October 2007]

Although the plot-line is fairly simple. We Are The Strange's sub textual meaning coherent and easily identified through M Dot's use of archetypal characterization.M Dots use of mixed animation styles was perplexing and jaw dropping at the same time, all the while being strengthened by an exceptional soundtrack.

I was thoroughly spellbound by the whole film from beginning to end. It stimulated my own imagination so much that it inspired me to use the freedom of animation for telling stories from the deep recesses of my own brain.

I raise my goblet to you M Dot Strange. A film worthy of maniacal fandom indeed.

A very important film which throws off the shackles of conformity

[tomwebb3432 · 10/10 · 27 December 2007]

First off, orthodox people who follow mainstream trends in thinking and who digest politically correct thought with glee will most likely HATE this film.

This is a film which is truly free in itself. It is not a calculation designed to conform with and satisfy any expectation. This film is not swayed towards any preconceived notion of how a film should be done, or even what a film should in any any be about.

The film is an abstract, highly creative masterpiece of expression. Its genius is in how it rejects so many subtle preconceived "rules". In fact it is obvious the creator is indeed very aware with the general patterns of how things are done, but has decided to go his own direction in almost every single way. The connection the viewer has the potential to make with this film is so different that they may find themselves questioning many hidden assumptions about what they are looking for in a film, or even in life in general.

The end result of the experience of viewing this film is truly unique. Nothing is like this. This is the free, uninhibited imaginative expression of a masterful artist. Visually mind blowing, conceptually from another planet, with awesome (and often hilarious) sound and music this movie is simply on a different frequency from everything that has gone before it.

I am certain this represents a milestone. I see this film as opening a door, and a window of great opportunity. That a person from an "average" background with nonetheless great artistic talent, may with the modern wonders of computer technology compete with multi million dollar studios to capture the heart and imagination of the masses. To me I see this movie as a rebellion against the aristocracy that exists in the movie business and indeed perhaps a rebellion against capitalism and conventional thought altogether.

I know certain types of thinks will hate this, others won't get it at all, but this is without a doubt now one of my favorite films ever.

Amazing and Incredible new way of telling a story and animation

[jordantalk · 10/10 · 25 October 2007]

First things first- this was intelligent and crazy. The animation was the best I've ever seen. A blend of 3d, stop motion, and 8 bit (first type of video game).

The art: The 8 bit clouds were beautiful, the dark colors, and the anime girl Blue were simply amazing. The colors although some were yellows and stuff, they were all on the darker side.

The Story: Funny, hilarious, stupid, doesn't matter that much. Don't watch it for the plot watch it for its stunning visuals.

I have the 2 disc special edition and the second disc is hilarious with a bunch of mdotstrange extra features.

Watch it and have fun.

Best Independent film I've ever discovered.

[emasterslake · 8/10 · 12 October 2009]

I first saw a trailer of this movie while browsing on a independent movie/DVD website. I was fascinated by how it looked after reading that it had influences on Anime. The trailer said it was viewable on you-tube, so I went to the website to check it out.

The movie takes place inside a video game cartage, where the world is a grim dark video game world. There was a woman named Blue who was once a dancer for a vile man named Him. Him disowned Blue for not being attractive, and for having a strange condition that whenever she speaks she turns pix-elated, but if she remains silent she's not pix-elated. After being abused by Him, he tells her to get lost. Which Blue did as she ran away from the place that was considered home to her, but not anymore. She ran away from the city and ended up at a forest where she meets a lonely doll with the head of a baby doll. His name is eMMM and all he wants is Ice Cream and someone to be friends with. Blue wasn't too sure about eMMM, but eventually she gained his trust and they both decide to get ice cream. However their trip to get ice cream lead towards a dangerous adventure when they head for the city that's over run with monsters that were sent by Him himself.

After watching it, it became a new favorite of mine. Not only was it a well done independent animated film. It was also fascinating on how the director throw in various parodies of video games & anime. The main heroine Blue is one of the reasons I liked it a lot.

This movie is really strange, and it was created by a independent filmmaker who likes to do movies his own way. So it's not a movie made for everyone. In my opinion it's highly watchable if you like movies that have a Gothic/anime/video game theme to them.

You're able to watch the entire movie on Youtube, because the director wanted everyone to be able to watch the movie. If you like the movie, then there's a 2-dsic DVD which includes deleted scenes, alternate soundtracks, making of feature, & a commentary where you get to learn at least one new thing about the movie from the director himself.

It's not a well known movie to the public, but I'm sure within time, this movie will gain a large cult following like other movies do.

Strange Indeed

[stuffe-dk · 8/10 · 18 October 2008]

We are the Strange is a unique piece of animated art. The visuals are very strange but sometimes breathtakingly beautiful. The plot progresses extremely slow, especially if you are used to fast paced Hollywood action. Everything but the last 20 minutes is too slow and too strange for most people i guess. Also a lot of scenes in the movie seem to be completely random. This movie is best compared to a David Lynch movie, although I feel it is darker and stranger than even Mulholland Drive.

This is a cult movie. Love it or hate it, but either way it is very unique...

Trippy, but it works.

[Benjamin-M-Weilert · 8/10 · 19 May 2019]

Pretty trippy, but still cool. I liked the Megaman sprites that popped up in the arcade.