I only got around to watching it recently online and I am sad to say so because I was really keeping up with WATS before it was released.

I ordered the dvd at my local FYE after watching it online even though I didn't think it was "great". I should probably add that I'm a Film student and so there were a couple of things that were iffy for me, but I won't go into a big schpeel and bore you all.

Down to the basics, I thought that the animation was so bizarre and creative. Animation wise WATS was a real treat to watch and its trippy colors and style will definitely emerse you in the atmosphere of the film. The music was also enjoyable both in its uniqueness and how well it works together with the scenes.

Some of the dialogue and the overall plot of the story was lacking, however I know MDot's intentions were to visually illustrate things rather than verbally do so. Still, I would've liked a little more elaboration in the story.

Overall the film was impressive and a great accomplishment for MDot. I enjoyed the film and have already watched it multiple times. I RARELY ever go out and buy a dvd and I ordered a copy of this film, so that goes to show how much I appreciate it.

I think "We are the strange" is the first film dvd i've ever bought. It goes to show that there is some advantage in piracy. I saw the film originally on my cousins computer. He did not really enjoy it as much (although my other cousin worships Emmm like i do now).
I would never have seen it if not for piracy... therefore never have bought it. The first movie i felt worthy of being purchased (after seeing about 2000 films).
I really want the Emmm doll (copy).. i'd pay 100s for it.. honestly. For the authentic (original) doll i'd sell my soul.

It was a LOT less than I expected. I haven't seen anything of this movie since the trailer that was like, God, 300 years ago. To be honest, I was just wondering about whatever happened to it when I saw the movie on the featured list. The trailer was freaking AMAZING when I first saw it, and I clicked the link to see the movie with anticipation of "MEGA HELLA AWESOME". It was an... okay movie overall, but again, it turned out to be FAR less than what I expected.

Anyway, for the first half of the movie, other than the initial exposition, it was kind of... boring. I know it might be because I watched the YouTube tiny version, but somehow I really think that wasn't the reason for this complaint: the environments and everything were hard to make out, due to the abstract style. However, you insisted on showing them a great deal, from what I can tell. The first half is mostly characters staring, slowly wandering around, slowly looking around, or just... not really doing too much.

I enjoyed the action bits, and Rain, despite his voice sounding a bit odd in places (his cries of "OOOORIIIIIII!" sounded awesome enough to completely excuse any voice mishaps, though), is by far my favorite character. It would have been Blue, but... Emmmm and Blue have roughly no information on very important things about them. Emmmm suddenly goes out of the arcade into the... was it rain? He starts dancing, and everything gets all trippy, and then the black goo showed up. Then some pink monster shows up, and then Emmmm is suddenly gone. It implies that the monster got him, but I have no idea what actually happened. Then there's that little cult that worships Emmmm for some reason, and they have no explanation either. Weirder yet is they some how know a lot about Emmmm and what he's supposed to do, despite Emmmm being taken into the forest to live on his own since he was, uh, 1 day old. It's rather awkward.

Then Blue has some disease that makes her skin scaly if she opens her mouth, so she's supposed to be really ugly when she opens her mouth, and that's the reason for her to hide and be so shy? I don't know, she seemed to be pretty attractive to me, and whenever she opened her mouth, it just looked like the lighting changed on her a bit. Then at the end she suddenly transforms into Superman, with NO explanation on how, why, or the disease or whatever else there is. Also, apparently Him knows the disease and what it can do? Considering Him couldn't beat Blue even though he had a giant robot, I don't think he could have witnessed this kind of event before. He would have gotten his ass whooped if he had. How did he know about Blue?

Then, the black goo plays a huge part in the story, but it, as well, gets NO EXPLANATION. What is it? What does it do? Where does it come from? Where did it come from originally? Such, uh, rather important things aren't important enough for the audience to know, evidently.

What was that big blue heart that suddenly appeared in Emmmm's giant robot's chest a little while after Him stabbed him? Did the fact that Blue flew through it have anything to do with how she punched straight through Him, or did she do it with her own strength and the fact that she flew through the heart was just a coincidence?

How did Blue suddenly freeze that monster (I believe it was right after Emmmm disappeared)? Why were the lines from Sinistar used so much (other than the fact that it's a REALLY fun game)?

There are so many questions thrown in our face, yet all of the answers are left out. I think some of them might be hidden in the trippy context, but I don't think that many are.

Don't think I'm the kind of person that needs to know the explanation for every little thing, though. Ori and Rain? Nothing wrong about them. Rain's an awesome badass with freaky claws/chains, and Ori is a paper thing with a slightly annoying voice that can transform into different shapes, eat lasers, and transform into a cloak for Rain. That's what they are; no questions about them. They just are what they are.

Also, while I respect the art style, it was... too crowded. As someone else said, you tried to make most explanation visual rather than verbal, which is a very good idea. However, the crowded visuals made it hard to see. At times, I couldn't tell what was going on at ALL.

Thus, overall, while it was a pretty okay movie and a mildly enjoyable watch, it was just... thoroughly disappointing compared to what I expected. It's late at night here, so I'll finish this post here, but I hope I didn't offend anyone. This movie obviously had a lot of work put into it, and I respect that. It just... was a letdown in a lot of areas to me.

No worries man. You expressed your thoughts in a very well thought out manner. Your opinions are yours and yours alone. No Film is Without It's Flaws.


*edit*

Also I suggest watching it again, a lot of the things you have pointed out as being missing are indeed in the movie, you probably didn't catch them the first time since there is so much stuff going on (like the reason blue suddenly froze the woo monster, for example).

WATS is NOT a movie that you only watch once. It's a movie that you watch over and over again and notice more and more little nuances that bring the story out to you.  

--Last edited by dauragon88 on 2008-04-21 08:49:14 --

Exploding head syndrome is a condition that causes the sufferer to occasionally experience a tremendously loud noise as if from within his or her own head, usually described as an explosion, roar or a ringing noise. This usually occurs within an hour or two of falling asleep, but is not the result of a dream and can happen during the day as well. Although perceived as tremendously loud, the noise is usually not accompanied by pain. Attacks appear to increase and decrease in frequency over time, with several attacks occurring in a space of days or weeks followed by months of remission. Sufferers often feel a sense of fear and anxiety after an attack, accompanied by elevated heart rate. Attacks are also often accompanied by perceived flashes of light (when perceived on their own, known as a "visual sleep start") or difficulty in breathing. The condition is also known as "auditory sleep starts." It is not thought to be dangerous, although it is sometimes distressing to experience.

The cause of exploding head syndrome is not known, though some physicians have reported a correlation with stress or extreme fatigue. The condition may develop at any time during life and women are slightly more likely to suffer from it than men. Attacks can be one-time events, or can recur.

The mechanism is also not known, though possibilities have been suggested; one is that it may be the result of a sudden movement of a middle ear component or of the eustachian tube, another is that it may be the result of a form of minor seizure in the temporal lobe where the nerve cells for hearing are located. Electroencephalograms recorded during actual attacks show unusual activity only in some sufferers, and have ruled out epileptic seizures as a cause.

A report by a British physician in 1988 might be the first descrïption of exploding head syndrome.

Symptoms may be resolved spontaneously over time. It may be helpful to reassure the patient that this symptom is harmless. Clomipramine has been used in three patients, who experienced immediate relief from this condition.

 

--Last edited by Mailman on 2008-04-22 06:41:15 --

WATS was so amazing my head asploded to the point that it took five months to find all the pieces and lots of duct tape...
WATS inspired me to make my own movie titled Game Over Robot, details will be given when I start production which will be in 2009, for anyone interested just e-mail me at divisionbell123@yahoo.com
its gonna be grand!!!!

I'll admit...
Some pints utterly had me..eh..confused as all get go.
certain sequences had to be explained later, which turned it down for me.
But the pure oamount of love and effort put into the film showed through in the end, over-ending the confusion and bringing out the great that this movie is.
It's as if someone had a dream, a dream to say, "Hey, Let's make a movie...for those weirdos.  those freaks.  those guys you see 'playin them stupid games'  I mean..they're people too..right?"
I found the long pauses..annoying.  but needed.  it allowed your eyes to refocus because of the highly distracting beautiful scenery.
Also, i find the multitude of references to deep, highly debatable and controversial subject enlightening.  I dig that stuff.
Now to plot getting a copy of the dvd before supplies dry up in a flash...
Oh wait.  my Head A'splode.  Darn.  No thinking for me for awhile.

I came, I saw... I came.