Others say...

"okay"
This game is okay, it doesn't add in a lot of different new things into the game... If they do a new expansion pack I hope they reduce the stress level for all the actors since they get so stressed so easily.

"That hit the spot!"
Ahh yes... This is my new favorite game.

It definately adds a lot to the original. Great new scenes, Freecam (how did I live without this on the game?) overlays (also adds a lot, especially if you custom make your own) new backdrops, and the introduction of stuntmen, SFX sets, stunt facilities, and a few more things.

Ok, now it's time for...

THE GOOD

This adds so much to the game, if you have The Movies, you NEED Stunts and Effects. The quality of the movies you create greatly improve with this, and so does the amount of fun you have creating them, watching them, and even the fun you have while filming them.

THE BAD

Two problems with this version: Relationships and stuntmen.

Firstly, relationships.

To get to the highest star relationship level, you need to go from the bar, to the VIP bar, to the restaurant, to the VIP restaurant. In the end, you're almost guarenteed to recieve and addiction. That leads to Rehab, which can delay movies, and whatever else you may want to do.

Lastly, stuntmen.

Keeping it short: It takes pretty much the whole life of the stuntman to be able to do the really hard stunts.

~~~

"Fun, but gets boring after a while"
I agree with a lot of the reviews on this and the main game page. I think I spent more time playing it than most of the reviewers - long enough to figure out how to work around the various annoying quirks of the game play. My wish for future expansion packs or versions of the game would be to make the characters better looking and include year changes after the alien contact. I played the game well into the future and it got REALLY boring once the new outfits, radio, announcements, stars from other lots, etc stopped. It became a tedious routine of writing and making the movies, getting my stars to relax and interact, and releasing the flick in hopes that I'd get a high enough rating to get that last award and finish the game. Overall it's definitely worth the current price, and here's one reviewer patiently waiting for the next (and hopefully improved!) release.

"If you have the movies GET THIS EXPANSION"
THE MOVIES works best with this accompanying expansion pack STUNTS and EFFECTS. Do not buy THE MOVIES game without it. It makes ones life far easier in creating their own custom movies as it includes "free camera movement." This mode allows one to take a single "scene" and do many creative things with it. I'm not sure how many people are playing the game, but if the message board at LionHead are any indication, a large number got THE MOVIES primarily for "sandbox" mode prinrily setup to create films bypassing much of the tycoon mode.

The game includes a fair amount of canned scenes sets and costumes and it's not hard to come up with something western, science fiction, modern or something else entirely. The canned scenes, two actors conversing or a guy in a chair smoking or two people whaling the living daylights out of each other plus maybe some 50 more can be combined together with voiceovers, subtitles and music to form very interesting stories. Head over to [...] and one can see how marvelous and inventive some of these moviemakers actually are.

There are limits and some users complain endlessly about them For example: the actors in the stock scenes cannot be moved around on the stage and only follow preset paths. But fortunately the " freecam mode" allows a variety of shots to be created from that one scene and strung together in a variety of creative ways that allows deviation from the preset view to make that scene fresh and exciting. One should also invest in a three button scroll mouse to get the most out of the freecam. Freecam can be "emulated " via the keyboard, but in my opinion, a "poor" emulation.

I started the game in 1920, then switched to sandbox but was overwhelmed by the sheer amounts of choices. I decided to go back into the tycoon game and edit the "scripts" that the game automatically generated for the movie shoots. These generated movies tend to be small, 3 scenes or so but once the custom script facility is obtained, provide fertile ground to manipulate and learn the basics of THE MOVIES filmmaking style without being flooded by too many choices.

Finished films can be uploaded to LionHead's site for viewing by others or shared on other websites as they can be readily viewed in Microsoft's Media Player.

Mods, that is, user added content, can be also supplement the supplied stock art---a low end modder can take a picture, scanned it in and place it as a backdrop for a stage to set up a different location, currently not in THE MOVIES maybe Paris, London or one's own personal corner of their apartment. An artist might seize upon this to place their artwork in the game and use it as a commercial for an upcoming art show or explain their piece, as a backdrop is flat and projects on a wall surface. High end modders have gone so far as to create entire sets from retextures or scratch and added additional props and costumes to the game, all available for download.

I've had problems with the copy protection scheme of the game, and unfortunately, this did not go away with the expansion STUNTS and EFFECTS. When I tried to run the game, I got the perennial message that read something like "DVD emulation software in use. Please disable any DVD emulation software before proceeding." Unwilling to take up any of the typical tech suggestions offered for this sort of a problem -reinstall video drivers, cd Rom drivers, directx, Windows, get bios updates replace CD drive, processor, motherboard computer etc, I got a "no cd" file for the game from one of the "no CD" sites and the game ran fine without further problems. If it weren't for these sites, I could not play the game.

5 stars minus- 1 for the showstopping copy protection issues (I'd give it 0 stars if it weren't for the "no cd" sites)


"One of the Best Computer Games EVER"
If you haven't played The Movies yet, you should, and definately add in the Stunts&Effects pack. The game plays on two levels. First, there is the game itself, the simulation in which you are the head of your movie studio, from scriptwriting to stunts (with the pack), to watching the filming, to post production, PR and Marketing and release. Simply put, its one of the most addictive games ever... a cross between The Sims 2, and say, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3.

In addtion to that, though, with the Custom Script office, you have the chance to make your own incredibly detailed movies. A word of advice though, when you get to the point where you are making your own films, change the option to instantly make movies, as once you get started, you will make more "real" movies than the ones auto-generated for the game (those all have 9 scenes, yours will have 100+, and take for ever to film otherwise).

A great game that I can't reccommend enough