Sintel (2010) User Reviews

Dark, but stunning fantasy-short

[menschmachine · 8/10 · 3 October 2010]

Third short film by the Amsterdam-based Blender Foundation. Sintel is partly meant to promote the open source animation software Blender and to be used for demo-purposes (3d, 4k)by it's sponsors.

But it's far more than a very crafty demo. Script and storyline are clearly worked out on a elaborate scale, comprising three different levels. One might see it as a fantasy-action movie, but it also packs a coming-of-age sideline and a sobering life-lesson.

Loner Sintel (Dutch for Cinder)befriends a baby dragon an nurtures it, until it's snatched from her in a dramatic scene. The quest to find the dragon is somewhat rushed in a montage and throughout the movie some movement seems unnatural, but the amount of detail in props and background is amazing. Double so, because this was made by just 14 animators, script editor, technician and director (and numerous members of the Blender community who made props and scenes online) in just over a year, at a total cost of 400.000 euro.

Remarkable!

[mjlpress · 8/10 · 11 April 2011]

To imagine that all of this was created from scratch is remarkable.

The score was very well done as was the foley.

Halina really came through and I was so impressed, I had to find out who she was. Amazing to shine as an actor through a 3D animation. She did it!

For the filmmakers and artist to take this on and to get it done for future artist is admirable. It gives hope to other artist and filmmakers.

I would not recommend the film to children but maybe the filmmakers will do another film just for them. I hope they do.

The director's attention to detail was also noted.

Great job!

It is both impressive and heartbreaking

[Rectangular_businessman · 8/10 · 27 July 2012]

"Sintel" impressed me.

Not only for the amazing quality of the animation (With a high level of realism in what concerns to the textures and effects, not to mention the expressiveness of the characters and the outstanding level of detail) but also for the way in which it deconstruct several common clichés and archetypes from several fantasy and adventure histories, giving a very tragic turn to the classical plot of the hero's "Journey". In many ways, the main character is the classic archetype of a "hero" in a fantasy history, being fiery and determined to don't give up; the fact that her intentions are pretty good and understandable made the twist at the ending something even more tragic, but I do think that this short has a valid point, even if it is very harsh: Having a noble intention and being brave (at least in the traditional sense of the word in fantasy stories) is not always a guarantee of good results or success.

However, even when the ending is incredibly sad and heartbreaking (With only a very little glimpse of hope) the overall experience of "Sintel"is something very rewarding and enjoyable, being exciting and entertaining to watch.

I highly recommend this short to anyone who enjoys fantasy and adventure epics.

A Powerful and Tragic Masterpiece

[jbanet · 10/10 · 3 October 2010]

This is a beautifully animated and skillfully executed tragic story. It hits all the key points of a classic tragedy in a way worthy of history's greatest playwrights. It has the "hero" who is good and decent but is brought down by her ambition and human frailty. It has the "reversal" when the fortune of finding her companion and overcoming the attacking dragon becomes the realization that the two are the same. This turns into the "recognition" that she has wasted her life on a quest with a flawed premise. At that moment, many things come together. She realizes how much time has passed. She finally understands the true relationship between Scales and herself. Scales moved on long ago, and what was left, what was driving her search, was her own obsession and delusion. She now sees herself for the battle-scarred killer she has become. Her quest has stolen her innocence and now, by her own hand, taken the life of the one she treasured most.

The fact that the movie hits all these elements so potently in only 12 minutes is amazing. The more I watch it, the more I appreciate how well everything fits together. The foreshadowing, symbolism, and other elements throughout the movie give it a depth much greater than its length. Things that might not seem significant at first play important roles in the story. For example, Sintel appears to be an orphan, which could be seen as arbitrary back-story. However, this helps explain why she becomes so blinded to reality once Scales is taken. Scales is the only friend she has ever known, and the loss tears her apart.

This powerful storytelling is then backed by animation that suits it wonderfully. There are imperfections, but the many things that are done incredibly well far outweigh any flaws. From the sense of wonder in racing up the temple, to the epic scale of Sintel's journey, to the expressions in Scales' face... it all works beautifully to magnify the story. The climax in particular pulls together story, visuals, sound and timing in a way that even the best feature films rarely achieve. I'm tempted to expound on every finely crafted detail, but it is best to just let you watch it and appreciate it yourself.

To top everything off, this film is released freely under the Creative Commons license by the Blender Foundation, which also freely releases the open-source 3D modeling tool Blender used to make the movie. This means everything-- the movie, the models, the textures, the software-- EVERYTHING is freely available for anyone to use or change. That's a far cry from most movie releases that want it to be a crime to even rip your own DVD onto your computer/phone/etc.

The Blender Foundation creates this and other short films to prove and improve the quality of their free 3D software, but they have done so much more here. This movie is a gift and a masterpiece.

A magnificent short animation

[artaddicted04 · 10/10 · 16 March 2011]

I have to admit this short animation is really great, i do enjoy from the first second till last, everything is perfect, great plot & great music ( well there is of course imperfection with some movement of character if you compare it to a high budge 3d animation movie, but i will still call this perfect ) especially the last song of their soundtrack "I move on", i would like to see the movie version of this because 15 minutes is to short i want to see some more!!! Moving on, bravery and friendship is the main morality message in the movie, they try to give you a lesson with an usual way to help you to let go your past, i found this movie is very motivating also,if you need quick boosting to be inspired or when you feel down then this could be a great remedies. Also this short movie is great for every age, children to adult i guarantee you will enjoy it.

Stands for a great principle but is also a very strong and emotional short film in its own right

[bob the moo · 6 April 2014]

I watched this film for the first time today and it was not by chance. I knew of this film as I have seen some other films made using the open source Blender software and I was aware that this film was not only made using that tool but that the whole film is open to be used and changed by anyone who wishes to do so. The irony of this is that currently the film has been removed by YouTube due to a copyright claim by Sony that the film somehow violates their property, a situation that tells me Sony used part of the film (music or otherwise) and are now claiming it as their own, thus entirely missing the point of what this film and others like it are trying to do.

Hopefully this will be resolved although it is depressing to see that even the suggestion of infraction from a corporation sees the project removed. Anyway, in terms of the film itself, away from such controversy, the narrative sees a young woman travelling alone deep into the mountain and into danger. An encounter with a bandit leaves her injured but rescued by an old man, to whom she relates the reason for her journey – a journey which begins with her finding an injured baby dragon some time before.

The headlines all relate to the technical aspects of this film so it is worth saying that the narrative engages too. It is a solid tale that draws you in but is built on darkness. It is a combination that doesn't totally work and although I applaud the ending for going in the direction it did, it is brutally harsh just to drop that on a viewer. Technically the film is very well made, the animation is great and it is hard to believe that it was made outside of a large studio – not only is this cheering but it actually works and looks great throughout.

Sintel represents another step forward in the idea of the creative commons being a positive and collaborative idea and Blender in particular being something about moving forward; however this is not to say that this is where its value comes from because really the short stands up on its own, looking great and having a brutal but memorably brave narrative too. If there was ever a greater example of the need to support such projects, it is the fact that Sony have challenged it for taking their property.

An excellent short animation

[tommaguzzi · 7/10 · 3 February 2021]

This is a top quality animated film and i don't want to leave any spoilers. Just watch it and you won't be disappointed. If I had to make one small criticism it would be that the girl didn't appear to get any older, if they had made her age gradually through the quest maybe added the tattoos as she gets older changed her features and body shape slightly, hair colour ect it would have made the ending much more poinient.

Beautiful

[seshimaroo · 10/10 · 30 June 2013]

This film was beautiful in almost every way. The animation, the music, and the story was well. This short film shows how powerful the Blender application is with hard work and determination. With more work, more workers, and more money, this could have been a feature-length production. I was pretty surprised that the actual making of the film (modeling, lighting, and animating) was done by not that large of a crew. That is because it isn't feature length, but th quality is on par with that of animations by Disney and pixar. This film should have won an Oscar for best animated short. I hope the Blender foundation continues to work on amazing films like these.

Nice short film, could of been expanded

[Ciminero85-929-666492 · 8/10 · 3 January 2012]

Sintel is an impressive animated film for being built on an open source engine with a crew of less than 100 people. You won't find the same graphical detail seen in mainstream animated movies but you will experience emotion for these characters. Emotion for characters is a hard thing to achieve when dealing in animation. It takes perfect execution of story and animated facial expressions, something which I give the team at Blender Foundation a standing ovation. The story on the other hand seems to be condensed, leaving some questions unanswered.

The following section below is a spoiler and is meant for people who have seen the film.

**Spoiler Warning** As I said above, the story left some questions unanswered which could of been solved with character development in additional scenes. In the beginning, Sentil is attacked by some random guy. Who is this antagonist and why is he motivated to kill her? Perhaps he was a dragon hunter who wounded Scales in the beginning and spends the rest of the story trying to reclaim the baby dragon as a prize? Or how about Sentil's background, why is she alone and rely on the emotional support of a dragon? These questions could be answered through some story expansion. Other than that, the movie's 15 minute runtime is worth sitting through, although I hope you like bittersweet endings.

Impressive animation from the Netherlands

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 17 September 2013]

A ginger girl makes her way through a snow mountain pass when she is suddenly attacked by a stranger. She manages to kill him with her spear, but collapses shortly afterward from exhaustion. We see her wake up in a shack where she tells the old man who found her the story of her special connection to a dragon baby she found with an injured wing and managed to heal it. However, when she was about to release it into freedom, it got caught by a fully-grown dragon and abducted. Since then, she was on the lookout traveling places everywhere to find and free her little dragon.

This flashback is finished around the seven-minute mark, when half of the film is over. Sintel recovers in the stranger's shack and moves on with her destination shortly afterward. Finally, she enters a cave where she finds the large and the small dragon. But things are not what they appear to be. I quite enjoyed this short film. The animation is very video game-like and the highlight of the film. The story is sweet and sad at the same time. My favorite scene was when she found the baby dragon for the first time and how she got it to trust her until they finally built a strong bond. I'd love to see Lodewijk and Levy reunite one day for a full feature, maybe even starring Sintel. Very much recommended. One of the best animated short films of the 21st century.

Had the makings of a great fantasy film until the ending

[thejetsonian · 2/10 · 10 April 2019]

Ending spoiler:

I had really enjoy watching it, and loved how loving the little dragon was with her, like cuddling with her as they slept. I was watching her journey in finding her lost pet and loving friend, fully expecting her to find him and be happily reunited.

In finally locating the dragon's lair, she didn't realize her beloved little friend was fully grown and attacked him. The dragon had pinned down his attacker, but upon sniffing her he recognized her scent, and began showing affection for his long ago friend. Seizing this moment, she then jumps up and instantly fatally stabs him in the heart, as he still lovingly watches her as he dies, probably wondering why his childhood friend whom he loved and trusted had betrayed him.

I don't know why the writers had to make such a terribly sad ending. She missed her little loving companion and fought hard to find him. Then upon finding him rashly mistaking him, fights him then fatally stabs him to death instead of saving him. The poor dragon would have been better off if she never found him. This short video had the makings of a great family film to show the kids, but that sad tragic ending would only bring them to tears.

Because of the tragic sad ending, I wouldn't recommend this video to anyone who is compassionate for the loss of a loving pet and companion, and don't show it to the kids. If they redid the ending where they are happily reunited, then it would have been a great film that can be watched over and over.

admirable work

[Kirpianuscus · 5 November 2017]

maybe, it is more than a masterpiece. for refined construction of levels of story. for the hard work of a great team. for message. and for memories. for the end. and for the deep poetry of story. a story of love. not ordinary. full of dramatic situations. and convincing. like a parable. or, just like a trip across memories. a film remembering , for me, the Petre Ispirescu fairy tale "Youth everlasting and life without end ". sure, not same end. but the same essence.

A breath of fresh air.

[thestorytaler · 8/10 · 26 May 2018]

This still is the best blender animation studio open movie I've ever seen so far. I was hooked onto it right from the moment Sintel found the baby dragon, took care of it, till the tragic end. Even with blender's basic computer graphics, the story's still emotional enough to grasp anyone's attention.

A Great Short Film

[KyleLicht · 9/10 · 12 June 2020]

Wonderfully animated and unfortunately snubbed for the Oscars best animated shorts. This film follows a great journey by Sintel to find her dragon Scales. It seems fairly generic throughout but has a surprisingly dark ending. I adore that she kills Scales, mistaking it for a different dragon.

This is a great learning lesson as it goes to show that killing everything in your path isn't always the best way to protect what you love. Also, death is permanent and while you think it may be correct at the time, the results cannot be changed. So, is permanent destruction really worth it? Also, it goes to show that when one thing dies, that love doesn't necessarily disappear, but can transform into something new, as in a new, young dragon.

Mindblowing

[angel-velazquezcpht · 8/10 · 25 December 2020]

Good story and great animation, I stumbled on to this and really enjoyed it.

Aimed for Pathos, Missed, and Landed in the Middle of Pathetic

[xaa · 1/10 · 6 February 2012]

***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Though the film is technically brilliant, particularly considering it was made entirely with free software, the ending simply did not work for me, emotionally. The ending is so senselessly, needlessly tragic, that it reduces the main character's entire life to a complete waste of time. More, the final few moments reveals this literally has been her entire life. She sees her reflection, and realizes she is no longer the teenage street-kid who went out on the quest. She is visibly aged with gray hair, scarred, gaunt and utterly beaten. This is exactly why the tragedy happens. The story doesn't cover a few months. She spent her entire life on this quest. And, because she spent her entire life on this quest, because she was a true hero and didn't quit, she failed. To me, they were aiming for pathos, missed, and just ended up with pathetic.

This is not to say that you can't write a story where the hero fails or dies. Many good stories have been written with downer endings. Romeo and Juliet has a totally downer ending - both the hero and the heroine die. But, there was a REASON they died. The original moral of the story is that vendettas are stupid, hateful and wrong, and lead only to tragedy. Their deaths serve that purpose. More, the story was one that was very well known in Shakespeare's day before anyone even went to the theater, and before the show begins, the chorus basically warns us these are "star-crossed lovers" - I.E. it's going to end badly for them, the fates are against them. Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" also has a downer ending. But there's a reason for it, too. The entire point of the novel is to show that a society that focuses only on self-gratification and relies on the government to insure their happiness can only lead to the destruction of the individual and mindless subservience to the state. Hemmingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is another one that ends tragically. But, there's a reason for that, too. When Francis dies, we are left with the question of whether it was murder or accident, and the overall story forms a statement on a particular economic caste of American culture as it existed at that time, quietly asking important questions about what it is to be a man.

In short, death and failure does not mean the story sucks if that death and failure serves the overall moral, theme or general point of the story.

However, with "Sintel", the only moral we can gain out of this story is "Don't be loyal, don't try to rescue friends, and don't try to succeed. You'll only spend your entire life trying, get right to the end, then fail spectacularly and have wasted your entire life."

Not showing this to the kids

[wilpa · 3/10 · 8 June 2012]

The film wasn't that bad, but could have easily been made into a longer film without missing out. It just felt like Finding Nemo without the middle bits.

My main grievance, however, was the fact that it could have easily been a great mini film to show my kids. The fact that she killed the dragon would have had my daughter in floods of tears. And the baby dragon following her at the end was supposed to be the hope of a good ending? Didn't feel that way to me.

Sorry. Great artistry and lovely action, but a waste of a good idea.

My 2 cents.

Animation: Amazing, Story: S***

[cathed · 1/10 · 24 February 2020]

Sucky dark story. Depressing as hell. SO sorry I bothered watching.

Trash

[mikeypetersen · 1/10 · 24 March 2021]

Utter garbage. This company needs to sink faster than the Titanic. Everyone giving this positive reviews works there. I guarantee it.