Happy 10th anniversary, Bionicle: The Legend Reborn! :)

[Lenny7092]

Hi, guys! Today is the 15th anniversary of Bionicle: The Legend Reborn, the fourth and final direct-to-video Bionicle movie! To celebrate, let me tell you the summary of it: 

It is about a good-hearted ruler, Mata Nui (played by a Star Trek actor named Michael Dorn) being overthrown by an evil tyrant, Makuta Teridax, who banished him to a planet called Bara Magna, where it is a complete, decayed desert. In there, there are tribes and warriors called Glatorian fighting each other in arena matches to survive in the desert planet as they struggle to do so. The tribes also face threats from evil warriors called the Skrall and Bone Hunters. It is up to Mata Nui to help the tribes battle and defeat these villains in order for him to go back home and defeat the tyrant. 

Basically, it primarily is about the second half of the 2009 storyline, and it’s a loose continuation of Bionicle: Mask of Light in 2003. Unlike the first three films in 2003-2005, this film is made by Threshold Studios, the company who later made the Hero Factory TV show in 2010-2013. Plus, the set of voice actors is changed to a new set of more popular voice actors, and the animation makes the character look almost exactly like the sets while covering up some empty part rather than having muscles showing on some body parts. The movie’s DVD includes a music video called Bye Bye Babylon by Cryoshell and a short called Metus’ Revenge, which takes place after the events of the film. 

Now, about my opinion, I watched and loved the film. It’s epic! It’s quite relatable because it reminds me of a fact that when I went from a school to a different one, I miss my old friends, but I can make some new ones. Trust me, I graduated a school in early 2009 and then went to a new school in late 2009. It feels crazy, but I got used to it gradually. Anyway, I also love the funny and action parts. The short is funny and fun to watch, too. Lol. My favorite scenes are the Skopio fight, Tuma fight, and the Glatorian and Mata Nui combining their powers to defeat the evil army. I love Michael Dorn’s portrayal. It’s very interesting that Mata Nui learns to defend himself as a warrior rather than just a ruler that he once was. The animation is good, as it gives actual mouths with teeth and makes characters almost exactly like their sets while the muscles are fitted inside the armor, as you can see them through the holes. It’s interesting that the Mask of Life and Glatorian’s helmets have mouth guards that flip to open or close, like Transformers in the Transformers movies.:) 

Anyway, those are the positives. Here are some negatives. The movie should have included the end of the 2008 storyline for a good prologue. The island of Mata Nui should have looked destroyed because it is destroyed. There should have been more action scenes rather than talking most of the time. I wish that all 2009 storyline characters could have been in the movie, like Malum wanted to have revenge on Mata Nui for breaking a Vorox’s stinger tail because that Vorox could be a part of Malum’s pack of Vorox, and Gelu having Ice powers. The animation makes the heads kind of hard to tell whether the characters are smiling or frowning when the heads look like Iron Man’s helmet from Marvel. It’s like they are skulls. What’s up with the spinning axles that happen sometimes? Why some characters’ armor pieces get misplaced sometimes? Why not show all weapons from the sets? Why Mata Nui have his sword in his set? I mean, some of the characters, including Mata Nui, don’t have Thornax Launchers for some reason. What the movie did with the Skopio’s design is silly and lazy. I mean, why make it look like Telluris being fused to his own vehicle? That’s disgusting. The script felt kind of short while the the first three movies have a bit more serious tones. Low budget, perhaps? That’s the same problem with the Hero Factory TV show.:( 

Well, I remember fondly that when it was announced in February, I was so hyped for it, and when I got the DVD and watched. It was mostly worth the wait. Happy 10th anniversary, movie! Man, it’s so long ago!:D

There’s also a novelization of the movie. 

Originally, the movie was going to be the start of a new trilogy where Mata Nui finds his way back home and save it from Teridax, but the sequels in 2010 and 2011 were sadly cancelled when Bionicle was announced to be cancelled in November 2009. That was shocking and depressing. I was looking forward to them, and I wanted The Legend Reborn’s cliffhanger to be resolved. That’s where my depression happened, and the cliffhanger seemed traumatic (but I know that Mata Nui’s quest is completed in 2010, though).:( However, Greg Farshtey was kind enough to show us a draft of the script for the fifth movie. We would presume that the sixth movie would be about Mata Nui and his gang on Bota Magna and probably completing his quest, judging for the end of the fifth movie’s script. The 2010 storyline is about something else where Mata Nui completes his quest earlier, which is kind of rushed. Along the way, in early 2010, there was a web series called Mata Nui Saga, where Michael Dorn voiced Mata Nui, who narrates the 2010 storyline. 

So, what are your memories and favorite parts of the movie? How you feel about it? What things does the movie remind you of? For me, the things that remind me are: 

1. The Marvel Cinematic Universe - How Mata Nui ended up on another world is sort of like how Captain Marvel arrived in Earth in the Captain Marvel movie. In the first Thor movie, Thor got banished to Earth. In the third Thor movie called Thor: Ragnarok, Thor unintentionally crash landed onto another world, where there are gladiator matches and he finds some familiar things, like Korg’s species and the Hulk. Thor’s fight with the Hulk in the arena kind of reminds me of Mata Nui’s fight with Tuma. How T’Challa from the Black Panther movie is overthrown by his evil relative is like how Mata Nui got banished while there are these scheduled man-to-man fights. 

2. DC Comics - How Mata Nui crash landed on Bara Magna is sort of like Superman’s arrival on Earth, as both learn about their origins eventually. Plus, in The Dark Knight Rises movie in 2012, how Bane banished Batman in a desert place while harassing Batman’s home place kind of reminds me of The Legend Reborn. Also, in the Shazam movie in this year, how Shazam shares his powers with his friends reminds me of Mata Nui giving his Glatorian friends elemental powers. 

3. Transformers - Bionicle characters using mouth guards remind me of the Transformers movies, where the Transformers use mouth guards. Plus, the Revenge of the Fallen movie in 2009 is sort of like The Legend Reborn. 

4. Prince of Persia movie in 2010 - How there are fights in the desert in that movie reminds me of the fights in The Legend Reborn. 

5. Disney’s Aladdin - The desert parts remind me of The Legend Reborn, kind of. 

6. Disney’s Hercules - How Hercules got sent to another place reminds me of how Mata Nui got forced to get stuck on Bara Magna. 

7. The Lion King - How Scar banished Simba and then Simba going to the wastelands reminds me of The Legend Reborn 

8. The Emperor’s New Groove - How Ezma threw Kusco out of his kingdom and Kusco ended up on another place kind of reminds me of The Legend Reborn. 

9. Hero Factory - There is a TV episode where a gold beetle is crawling around the desert before encountering something strange from outer space, which is how The Legend Reborn started. 

10. Ninjago’s Seasons 8 and 9 in 2018 - How Garmadon caused most of the Ninja to be banished into another world, which is a desert, while he takes over their home realm, and then how the Ninja struggle in the new desert realm reminds me of The Legend Reborn.

Edited September 15, 2019 by Lenny7092

[Mukaukau Nuva]

I was actually doing a Bionicle film re-watch, but I ended up stopping before The Legend Reborn. Mainly because I always (inevitably) skip Mask of Light. Really the only Bionicle film I really like is Legends of Metru Nui, with Web of Shadows included as a (fraught) extension of that film. The Legend Reborn isn't bad by Bionicle standards anyway, but I need to be in the mood for it. I can't just re-watch it with the others, since it really goes for a different tone.

The Legend Reborn really had the potential to tap into something mythic, IMO. De facto gods taking human form always lead to that. Yet I never got that from The Legend Reborn.

That being said, The Legend Reborn did tap into the (then-)new trope of having the villain be an unexpected minor character instead of the presumed antagonist. Disney and Pixar had been doing that for years by then, of course (like with Monsters Inc.) and continued to do it for years afterwards (Frozen, Zootopia) but this is the first time I remember Bionicle going down that route. Usually the villains in Bionicle were pretty clear cut. Even if Makuta was in the shadows, we saw who he was and knew that he was bad news, even if the specific characters we followed didn't. 

[Lenny7092]

1 hour ago, Mukaukau Nuva said:

I was actually doing a Bionicle film re-watch, but I ended up stopping before The Legend Reborn. Mainly because I always (inevitably) skip Mask of Light. Really the only Bionicle film I really like is Legends of Metru Nui, with Web of Shadows included as a (fraught) extension of that film. The Legend Reborn isn't bad by Bionicle standards anyway, but I need to be in the mood for it. I can't just re-watch it with the others, since it really goes for a different tone.

The Legend Reborn really had the potential to tap into something mythic, IMO. De facto gods taking human form always lead to that. Yet I never got that from The Legend Reborn.

That being said, The Legend Reborn did tap into the (then-)new trope of having the villain be an unexpected minor character instead of the presumed antagonist. Disney and Pixar had been doing that for years by then, of course (like with Monsters Inc.) and continued to do it for years afterwards (Frozen, Zootopia) but this is the first time I remember Bionicle going down that route. Usually the villains in Bionicle were pretty clear cut. Even if Makuta was in the shadows, we saw who he was and knew that he was bad news, even if the specific characters we followed didn't. 

Well, I think you are talking about Metus. Well, we have been encountering a lot of traitorous people who haven't reveal themselves some time until later on lately. Here's how that went: 

1. The Prospector from Toy Story 2 

2. Randall, Fungus, and Mr. Waternews from Monsters, Inc. 

3. Iron Monger from Iron Man movie in 2008 

4. Merlina from Sonic and the Black Knight 

5. Of course, Metus 

6. Lotso from Toy Story 3 

7. Loki from Thor movie in 2011  

8. Sentinel Prime and Gould guy from Transformers: Dark of the Moon 

9. Magolor from Kirby: Return to Dream Land in 2011 

10. King Candy/Turbo from Wreck-It Ralph 

11. Aldrich Killian from Iron Man 3 

12. Hans from Frozen 

13. Alexander Pierce from Captain America: The Winter Soldier 

14. That evil sheep lady from Zootopia 

15. Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 

16. Ares from Wonder Woman movie in 2017 

17. That guy from Star Wars: The Last Jedi who tricked Finn and his friends 

18. Harumi from Ninjago's Seasons 8 and 9 

19. Rex Dangervest from The Lego Movie 2 

20. Mysterio from Spider-Man: Far From Home 

 

Yep, lots of evil traitors for 20 years. It's becoming a new trend now. Me and my friend from one of my schools have been talking about it.

[Daler99]

Ah, the Legend Reborn.  I remember getting the movie (I think on the 18th) and buying Metus at the same time.  I have good memories of the hype for the movie, and then actually watching it with my brother after a soccer game the next day. :)  Happy 10th anniversary, TLR! :D

[TheSkeletonMan939]

I remember BZPower's hot topic at that time was "who is the traitor?" There were approximately zero clues to go off of so just about every character was a suspect. People were using things like this video to deduce the big mystery (someone thought it might be Ackar since he's the only character with the orange mark, as opposed to blue or red -- turns out that was just his eye color) since there were no hints given in the story. Just before the movie released, there was a video on Bionicle.com that had a half-second of Metus as a snake, and people figured out pretty quickly "okay, I think I know who the traitor is." That was a little disappointing to people.
I don't remember much about the movie itself; I think in the end people were a little underwhelmed by it. The hardest thing about these movies is balancing between making them accessible to the 6-year-old audience and also the teenage one and TLR definitely was leaning towards the former (whereas most people would probably say that the "original trilogy" was more tween-oriented). All the same it was an exciting time for BZPower and the movie was one last big hurrah for Bionicle before the line ended the next year.

[kcdreamer456]

Sorry I'm late, but I made this a day before it turned ten.

 

And yeah, I used what the voice actors of that said movie had acted just before being involved in this abomination of a movie... oh, and Godzilla (who provided his roar for Skopio)'s here too.

[Downfall]

Ah, now I know we're back to normal operations. Welcome back!

TLR is actually the only one of the Bionicle movies that I haven't seen, so I can't comment that much on the subject.

[Master Inika]

3 hours ago, Downfall said:

Ah, now I know we're back to normal operations. Welcome back!

TLR is actually the only one of the Bionicle movies that I haven't seen, so I can't comment that much on the subject.

You haven't missed much.

On 9/15/2019 at 7:32 PM, Lenny7092 said:

Well, I think you are talking about Metus. Well, we have been encountering a lot of traitorous people who haven't reveal themselves some time until later on lately. Here's how that went: 

Yep, lots of evil traitors for 20 years. It's becoming a new trend now. Me and my friend from one of my schools have been talking about it.

You just spoiled 20 different movies...

 

On 9/16/2019 at 9:37 AM, TheSkeletonMan939 said:

I remember BZPower's hot topic at that time was "who is the traitor?" There were approximately zero clues to go off of so just about every character was a suspect. People were using things like this video to deduce the big mystery (someone thought it might be Ackar since he's the only character with the orange mark, as opposed to blue or red -- turns out that was just his eye color) since there were no hints given in the story. Just before the movie released, there was a video on Bionicle.com that had a half-second of Metus as a snake, and people figured out pretty quickly "okay, I think I know who the traitor is." That was a little disappointing to people.
I don't remember much about the movie itself; I think in the end people were a little underwhelmed by it. The hardest thing about these movies is balancing between making them accessible to the 6-year-old audience and also the teenage one and TLR definitely was leaning towards the former (whereas most people would probably say that the "original trilogy" was more tween-oriented). All the same it was an exciting time for BZPower and the movie was one last big hurrah for Bionicle before the line ended the next year.

I thought the traitor was going to be Berix. I never knew about the one-second thing, that's pretty interesting.

 

I watched a 10-year anniversary podcast for TLR. It really does feel kind of weird to watch it again. It's all the bizarreness of BIONICLE without the nostalgia of the Miramax trilogy. (I consider the Miramax trilogy to actually be kind of poignant, with the "Toa transformation" being a metaphor for puberty.)

[Tahu_Stars]

I remember a moment when I went nearby the shop of non-licensed DVD and saw a TLR. I knew that it is a Bionicle movie (I had Lego catalogue with its advertisement) and that its licensed version will never come to my town so I bought that DVD. It was first (and only) Bio-movie I've seen, and despite the cliffhanger in the end of film I enjoyed it because I was young, maybe, and after that I got Ackar and was so happy.

[Lenny7092]

On 9/22/2019 at 10:54 PM, kcdreamer456 said:

Sorry I'm late, but I made this a day before it turned ten.

 

And yeah, I used what the voice actors of that said movie had acted just before being involved in this abomination of a movie... oh, and Godzilla (who provided his roar for Skopio)'s here too.

Well, you could also do The Lion King, the Thor movies, Black Panther, and the Transformers movies when you think about Bionicle: The Legend Reborn. Just saying.:)

[kcdreamer456]

On 9/26/2019 at 11:04 PM, Lenny7092 said:

you could also do The Lion King, the Thor movies, Black Panther, and the Transformers movies when you think about Bionicle: The Legend Reborn.

I have no comment.

Edited September 29, 2019 by kcdreamer456

[Lenny7092]

On 9/28/2019 at 10:04 PM, kcdreamer456 said:

I have no comment.

Basically, Mata Nui is like Thor, Black Panther, and Simba when he was overthrown and banished to a desolate place, and he goes on a quest to reclaim his kingdom while making some new friends. Plus, In Thor: Ragnarok, when Thor was fighting the Hulk in the arena, it's sort of like how Mata Nui fought Tuma. Tuma is a big green guy who boasts while Thor is the yellow-headed guy who has to fight him to survive while he is stuck in a harsh planet with a mean guy who organizes the fights. Plus, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Age of Extinction is sort of like The Legend Reborn for how there is the adventure on a desert in Revenge of the Fallen and Age of Extinction is a sort reboot that starts with the main hero being alone before making new friends. That's what I meant. I wish someone can make these kinds of memes.:)

[kcdreamer456]

4 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

Basically, Mata Nui is like Thor, Black Panther, and Simba when he was overthrown and banished to a desolate place, and he goes on a quest to reclaim his kingdom while making some new friends. Plus, In Thor: Ragnarok, when Thor was fighting the Hulk in the arena, it's sort of like how Mata Nui fought Tuma. Tuma is a big green guy who boasts while Thor is the yellow-headed guy who has to fight him to survive while he is stuck in a harsh planet with a mean guy who organizes the fights. Plus, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Age of Extinction is sort of like The Legend Reborn for how there is the adventure on a desert in Revenge of the Fallen and Age of Extinction is a sort reboot that starts with the main hero being alone before making new friends. That's what I meant. I wish someone can make these kinds of memes.:)

Oh... I get your point.

[Mukaukau Nuva]

I actually got around to re-watching this for the anniversary. 

Strangely, the first 30 minutes were actually better than I expected, at least as a serviceable family adventure film. Even after the Tarix/Vastus arena fight, I think the movie at least has a driving force. But that end tho... 

Everyone complains about that Tuma fight, but I think the problems actually really start to show after that. The fight with the army of Skrall isn't really fun, lacks tension, lasts too long, and doesn't know what it wants to do with itself; there's a 2 minute scene with Berix on a horse in the middle of battle that ruins whatever flow it could have had. And then the film just... ends.

I know the TTV people disparaged of the hack-and-slash fight choreography, but I thought it was rather charming; it reminds me of how kids actually played with their toys.