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Review of 'Colonial Marines: Elite Force - Chapter 1' On August 6th, 2003, I was browsing through the front page of Planet AvP, and I noticed when Matt Pruitt wrote a news report announcing the release of the first chapter of "Colonial Marines: Elite Force." Well, I downloaded it, and honestly -- the level of detail and smooth animation amazed me. Having taken classes in 3D animation, I know firsthand that this level of detail and any fluidity in the animation is extremely hard to accomplish. I’ll get back to animation in a second. First, I must mention that the story behind the animation is completely original. The story involves a platoon-size group of Colonial Marines descending upon a planet named LV-498 -- which, we later learn, is infested by an Alien hive. The platoon makes it way through an operations complex on the planet, and is soon attacked by group of Aliens. The platoon quickly tears down their attackers, with casualties of their own, but now must confront a greater enemy. The Predator. Unfortunately, the first chapter of the story ends there. And while the story behind this film may not seem to be an original idea from the outside, however, once watching this film it becomes apparent that the story itself is a very original idea and, surprisingly, does not draw directly from the Aliens movie. Put simply, this story is uniquely original, and the dialogue is not full of Vietnam-era slang and smart-a** phrases that we’re so used to hearing from the marines in a lot of Aliens fan-films. This different approach impressed me because it was able to portray the Colonial Marines as humans with emotions, yet, allow them to be professionals at their jobs. Now, about the animation. The animation in this film has its good points and its bad points. First, the good: The environment models and the character models were done with extreme care and patience. The vehicle models are realistically portrayed, and moveable parts of the vehicles move exactly as they do in the in the Aliens films. I’m sure the designers who worked on the Aliens films would be proud with the work in this fan-film. Now, for the bad: The animation of the marines when they run is slightly blocky, and tends to stutter on occasion. Also, when a pulse rifle fires, there is a muzzle flash, but the rifle itself does not kick back when it's fired, like it would in reality -- science fiction really, that is. I know that kind of thing sounds very ridiculous, but it's just one of those things that can bring down the rating of a fan-film. Altogether, this production could easily be the best-animated Aliens or Predator fan-film to date. I would strongly recommend that anyone who is interested in seeing an extremely well done fan-film check out this project. By Johner Comments? Flames? Praise? Mail feedback!