The Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Darkness (2008) User Reviews

Great fan film!

[sweetboyy_99 · 8/10 · 23 March 2013]

I'm a big Legend of Zelda fan, and i've played a lot of them games. The very few fan films that are available right now isn't so great, i've watched them all, and i didn't hate them but i didn't like it that much either. This, however, is a different story. I totally got sucked into it. It was like watching in an cinema. I could, of course, see that they had problems with color correction and efx due to the low budget they had, but thanks to a lot of the actors they managed to do they're best with CGI and visual fx, some of the actors worked for free voluntarily. Everyone was treated good under production, they ate food together and so on.

Now, to the movie it self. I loved it personally, and comparing it to another fan film : The Hero of Time, this one is much more well done. Of course, the budget in here is bigger than in Hero of Time and they also used a better camera in this movie. However, this movie has it's own little story while The hero of Time is based entirely on the original story. So it's nice to see that the writers went a little creative to create a story of their own and of course it's much nicer to see something new, otherwise you'll just get bored with the same old story.

The fx were pretty good, nothing really amazing but it's OK for a budget film like this and it's much better than Hero of Time's fx even though they had a tight budget, so for that, it's pretty OK.

Music were awesome, they picked great instrumentals and such that worked great in the movie. Loved it.

Acting was a little so-so, not everyone was very good at acting but also many of them tried they're best and they did a pretty good job, so it's OK.

Storyline is great, it keeps you glued to your computer screen the entire movie. I actually watched the whole movie directly without any pauses, toilet breaks what so ever. It's a pretty long movie, and that's great, i love long movies, the long movies usually has more stories to tell.

CGI were pretty good, there was a triforce scene entirely in CGI which was pretty okay, i mean it's not a Hollywood quality CGI, but it's good for being a fan film!

If you are a real Zelda fan, you should definitely NOT miss this one out, no zelda fan should miss this at all, it's an amazing addition to my Zelda collection, and i already made my own cover and printed it and burnt the movie on a DVD, it's awesome!

Take yourself time and watch it, i liked it, it's high quality. And as for Hero of Time, i hated that they needed to pair Zelda with Link, i don't know why i just didn't like that..... In Sage of Darkness they aren't. Which is great for me, i don't know about you guys but i say it's great!

hmm, hard one, i'll give it an 7 out of 10! Great fan film.

Great Story, Held Back By Wooden Acting

[jesusfreak102 · 7/10 · 23 August 2013]

A while ago I watched The Hero of Time, and I was severely disappointed by the film. It was obvious that The Hero of Time was a fan film, with its over use of green screen, CGI, poor acting and a story that took major liberties with the game it was based upon. However, one day, I stumbled upon this fan film directed by Josh Dixon and written by his friend Dan Hogan. To my surprise, it was actually quite good.

What set this movie apart from The Hero of Time is its story telling. Sage of Darkness decided to tell an original story, but at the same time reference the video game franchise of which it was based. Such as the use of lines, "It's dangerous to go alone, take this," or when Ganondorf welcomes Link to Hyrule castle, "Welcome to my castle." It was little things like that, that set this film apart.

Though the references were a nice touch, and nod to the franchise. The story is what keeps me coming back. The reason for Link to get involved initially is because he needs money, so he goes to the castle to see what the deal is. Which is great, because Link has something to lose. He is not in it because he is the chosen one, he is in it because of a family member, and when he loses that, it drives him even more to accomplish the task set before him.

Which brings me to the characters, despite the acting just being sub par, and actually pretty laughable at how over the top and bland they could be. To the films credit though these are high schoolers, at the time, acting these parts. Despite all that, the characters are quite good and a decent representation of the characters from the game. Link is noble and heroic, however he is human and vulnerable to human emotions, which is a great addition to the character and makes him that much easier to relate to. Zelda is wise and stays at the castle not because she has too, for the safety of her people.

Beyond that though, some characters are forgettable. The main antagonist is okay, he is just your standard antagonist. Ganondorf is in the movie for only the third act, so he doesn't leave that much of an impression. The trainer is the trainer, the village elder is the wise old man who guides Link, and Link's brother is just there to die so Link will continue to have motivation for the rest of the movie. It is worth mentioning though that the Sage of Darkness is a cool character, and his voice is awesome. That is until it is reveal of who he is, and then he becomes boring and almost fades into the background.

All this to say, if you are a huge Zelda fan, then check this movie out, you will most likely be pleasantly surprised at this little film. It has a good story, with pretty good characters, give or take a few. And if I was to choose between The Hero of Time and Sage of Darkness as to which movie I would want to be made into a big budget Hollywood film, it would be Sage of Darkness. As this movie shows that story should take priority over flashy effects and 2D characters. The Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Darkness is a step in the right direction for movies based off of video games, and if only Hollywood can manage to do what Josh Dixon and Dan Hogan did.

My review is at the link below

[no-afterlife-album · 10/10 · 24 May 2014]

One evening upon browsing the wonderful horrid web of youtube, I found a hidden gem: I was more than surprised I had not seen this before. Here is my review of what I delved myself into for 135 minutes.

Overall: This film I could not stop watching, despite its flaws and the airplane flying over at 56:07, which could have been cleverly hidden with drone and string sounds. This was a great rendition of a video game. The film stuck to the cannon and lore whilst giving it's own flair, though I will admit a lot was taken from ocarina of time (including a CGI sequence). Though the cheesy swordplay and silly expressions were not meant to be comical I'd say it worked for them. I'll say this; if you have 135 minutes and want to watch something entertaining, are fans of the Zelda lore and you don't mind independent fan made movies, then head over to youtube and watch this!

The Best Zelda Fan Film yet

[seshimaroo · 10/10 · 9 April 2013]

This movie was just excellent! I have been a fan of the Legend of Zelda series, so that was why I watched this movie. I had initially feared it would be like that other Fan Film, the Hero of Time (a film I'd like to forget, other than it's music). This film was about a zillion times better! The acting was top-notch for a High-School production, the CGI was outstanding (again, for a High-School film0 and the screenplay was awesome! The action sequences were very well done. The musical score was not original, but plucked from other film and Videogae soundtracks. This really keeps the movie together and the Director placed the music in the perfect spots when editing! I recommend this film to not Just Zelda-fans, but nearly anyone who wants to see what a bunch of High-School fan-boys really can create.

Amazing!

[TheBadGamingBoy · 10/10 · 18 January 2017]

If I could, I would've put 'Amazing' above ALL caps, but IMDb doesn't allow that. This movie is flippin' awesome!! The story is amazingly original! They even stuck to the Zelda tradition of Link waking up! I was expecting this movie to be god awful after watching the god awful movie Hero of Time! This movie has awesome acting and remarkable villains. Specifically the Sage of Darkness. I love it that he is a rogue Sheikah! The music they use is on SPOT for all scenes of the movie, especially when Urdigin becomes Ganon! I'd recommend this movie to ANYONE who is a Zelda fan! There are flaws here and there, like a few scenes you can see people wearing normal clothes and one scene you can see a little DVD player. But those are very minor setbacks! Again, 10/10 for this movie!!!