The video quality of the preview is not representative of the VOD's video quality. The VOD is of much higher quality.
It’s “Atomic Rulers of the World!” Or at least that’s one of the titles this film is known as because just one title isn’t enough to contain the action-packed excitement! This movie is one of the many chronicling the adventures of the incredible Japanese super-hero “Starman.” Starman is the slower, much gayer cousin of “Prince of Space.” With his amazing powers of changing clothes quickly and very slowly bending objects he hopes to save the universe’s “atmosphere” by stopping nuclear pollution given off by us here on Earth with nasty nuclear bombs. Lord knows why the Japanese are so stuck on the evils of nuclear weaponry and radiation but it certainly has provided us with some great B-reel material. And this film has it all; fight scenes clearly choreographed by toddlers, political intrigue on par with films like “Doom” or “Aeon Flux” and romance…well, there really isn’t much romance unless you count the endless fondling of young boys and chained prisoners. It’s short, it’s sweet, and it has a grown man running around in tights with see-through clothes and an antenna on his head. What more do you need? Runtime: 1:14. This product includes a VOD in MP4 format as well as a seperate zip file containing just the MP3 audio Rifftrack and text file.
Comments
This riffer took an interesting direction, and picked a movie that is part of the "Nightmare Worlds 50-movie collection" dvd pack. That pack includes 50 public-domain movies in a collection that you can pick up for somewhere between $15 and $30. That is a bit much for one or two movies, but as a collection of 50 movies it could provide plenty of fodder for a whole series of riff tracks. Since the movie is public domain at this point, I assume it's also available from a variety of other sources. ___p___
And for the most part, Mr. B Natural does quite a good job at riffing this somewhat silly sci-fi movie. He has a lot of riffs, with a good variety of types of riff-lines. There's a lot of riffs, but very little talking over lines in the movie. And it's nice to have a riff which is longer than "a short", but not a full 2-hour movie. ___p___
The main thing missing from this track is *any* hint of how to sync it up! He starts out sounding like he's just chatting and saying a standard introduction, and after a few minutes you realize that he's riffing and he never told you went to start the movie. I came pretty close to being in sync by simply starting the movie at the same time I started the riff track. After a few riffs I realized I was off by about six seconds, but after that correction in seemed to stay pretty much in sync. And for some of the riffs, the exact timing is important because he'll have a riff which is just exactly the right length for a short break in the dialog. ___p___
I came away from this thinking that I was surprised at how good it was -- which then had me wondering *why* I'd be surprised. I think that the lack of a standard introduction and sync-ing instructions caused me to immediately assume he had no idea how to do a riff track, but the rest of the track was perfectly fine. I'll give it a weak 5-stars, because it's a fine job (and an interesting choice of movie), but it really should provide some helpful clues wrt sync-ing.
I'll be honest, I had no idea what I was doing and there simply wasn't enough beginning credits to do a big intro but if you check the text file entitled "Read First!" I included sync-up instructions which state that the easiest way is to simply start the film seven seconds after starting the Rifftrack. Though after some testing I'd say you were closer with your six seconds. I felt like that would be easier than complicated starting and pausing verbal instructions. I will do better in the future, if I have a future as a riffer that is. Thank you for the comment and the rating. I wish more people were as active within the riffsphere as you. If I can ever find a public domain copy of this movie I will create a VOD for it.
Well, if you get a chance to do more riff tracks, I'll certainly be interested. ___p___ Note that instructions in the README file don't really work out well. I have a few dozen riffs, and most of them start out with the standard intro and instructions on how to riff. Now that you mention it, I'm chagrined to admit that I do remember reading those instructions, but I read them one day and played the iRiff a few days later. By the time I was ready to watch the movie+riff, I had forgotten all about the README. This is going to happen even more as time goes on. I suspect that if people go to re-play this riff track six months from now, no one is going to go back to read the text file which came with it. I realize that's extra work, but it's very helpful to do that.
In my opinion Mr. B. did a great job. The sound was good, the riffs funny and spot-on. I also have one little caveat: "Atomic Rulers of the World" is so insipid, that perhaps...just perhaps...women who are pregnant or nursing, people fleeing the ravages of a global-warming induced natural disaster, or those using a oxygen/carbon exchange respiratory system for maintaining a semblance of life should avoid this movie. But, Mr. B does make taking such a risk a delightful ride.
Hard to believe this is a first effort. I do hope there are more to come. But, please no more Starman! Unless there is one in which the callow hero gets his comeuppance for leaving behind so many widows and orphans.
Great job and highly recommended.
Well I've finally managed to create a VOD for my iriff of Atomic Rulers! The original zip file with the MP3 audio is also available with this product. Just so I'm sure everyone understands a VOD has the full movie and rifftrack already synced together into a single movie file that can be watched immediately. There is no user syncing! The movie IS included with the Rifftrack already on it. Pretty cool huh? Enjoy! And remember to rate!
Need less to say this isnt really my kind of movie, but despite that I enjoyed this anyway. I'd say its a lot better then most of the stuff Ive watched on here. For a first timer its a good start and worth buying to anyone interested. I'm goign to assume the sync instructions have been updated since previous comments left by DL, I didnt have any problems that were mentioned.
With a VOD no syncing is required. That's why you didn't have any trouble. There is still the MP3 audio of the iriff available in the zip file for those interested in creating their own DVDs or video files of higher quality then the VOD. If someone did try to sync-up the iriff with the DVD or something I would say start the Rifftrack then after seven seconds start the movie. If memory serves.
great job. i enjoyed it thoroughly. i'm off to buy your other riff. keep on doin' it!
Well thank you very much. I do try. I believe I will "keep on doin' it!"
Fun riff on some pretty cheesy sci-fi material. Great job as usual. Keep up the good work!