Poem at the beginning?

[Cakewalk]

Anyone know the title and/or author of the poem narrarated during the opening movie? I like the way it's presented.:D

[Arrowhead2k1]

Sounds like Shakespeare to me. But I'm not entirely sure.

[mookiemookie]

"On Time" by John Milton: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/on_time/index.shtml

Strange choice for a submarine game, but whatever! :shifty:

[Cakewalk]

Heh, awesome, thanks!:)

It does make me feel like reading shakespeare, actually. :rotfl:

[irishred]

Anyone know the title and/or author of the poem narrarated during the opening movie? I like the way it's presented.:D

It is called "On Time" by John Milton.

EDIT: Opps, see it's already been posted.

[Charos]

I thought the opening CutScene was EXCELLENT.:up:

Its so good - I always let it run to completion on fireing up the game.

[Iron Budokan]

Just goes to show you diversity makes the world go 'round...and that's a good thing. You liked the film and I consider it a pretentious piece of garbage. :lol:

[stabiz]

I loved it. Much better than pompous band music and deep voices saying "We are at war ..."

[ccruner13]

lol its so emo but yet so amazing.

[mookiemookie]

I was disappointed that it was just an ingame video that was sped up. At least SH3 had a FMV of a convoy attack. That was neat. This...not so much.

[spinkick]

I think its one of my favorite opening intros that I've seen. Its very original and I think the poem makes sense in the context that it is uses. War is useless

[Beery]

I think it's odd that it's a US submarine game and the narration is by an English guy. Not that I'm prejudiced against English narrators (I'm English myself), but I just felt that it would have been more in keeping with the theme if it had been read by an American.

[Ducimus]

I thoguht it was a bit melodramatic, but given the presentation of the opening movie, oddly appropriate, and very cool. I have to admit though i think "galloping ghost of the japanese coast" would have been cooler.

[ccruner13]

my guess is they wanted it to sound like milton reading it?

[CybrSlydr]

I rather enjoyed the opening.

Gives the game more dramatic... weight.

I admit it's odd for an intro, but it really struck me as very cool.

:up::rock:

[Cakewalk]

It gives a nice level of depth and meaning to the sim, something which I always like in games.:)

[P_Funk]

Well the theme of the poem is an address to Time personified. You could then likley compare this to John Donne's Death Be Not Proud, where he addressed a death personified speaking of how death is a slave and that he is not mighty and how that when all men have died (the rapture) death will himself die as there will be no more people for death to take.

'On Time' has a similar feeling to it. It talks in a similar mode about how we all fear age and death that come with time but that we will all triumph and survive forever in heaven.
When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall clime,
Then all this Earthy grosnes quit, [ 20 ]
Attir'd with Stars (http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Emilton/reading_room/on_time/notes.shtml#Stars), we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.
This is similar to the end of Donne's poem:
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
Wee shall wake eternally obviously meaning all people going to heaven.

In other parts Donne also mentions how Death is subject to the randomness of people's lives ending and that he is a slave to the chance of how death comes about. This is alluded as well in the final line of 'On Time'.

So here the choice of 'On Time' seems appropriate because it can be seen as referencing how this game is associated with the memory of those that fought in WW2, particularly for the US, and how we shant forget them as a result.

[JackChen]

I would prefer if they depict the Pacific side of things, like the dawn raid of Pearl to start the it rolling, the simultaneous invasion of Malaya & Philippines. Then they can cut to things they did with US Subs in the war like showing the marines being put ashore, attacks on Convoys and enemy ships.

the poem is nice but very artsy for a war sim.

[Grell]

I like the poem myself, the inrto is well done.

Regards,

Grell

[Henchman]

It's a wonderful intro IMO - Very original and very touching. I find the poem "On Time" very suitable despite not having anything specifically to do with subs. It is a homage to time/history - a very appropriate subject for a serious WWII simulation. It makes me ponder and appreciate the lives of the real protagonists of the Pacific war.

It's a wonderful way to set the mood for the game - it makes it feel more like an experience than just a game.

[daft]

I love the game, but that intro was shockingly bad to be honest. Cheezy in the extrem and a bit too pretentious to hit the right emotional spots. Good thought, poor execution. :)

[P_Funk]

Holy crap!:o

I just watched the intro on youtube for the first time (don't own SH4) and damn I gotta say that was brilliant. It felt very sad and heavy. I think that it was a brilliant choice. With the sped up visuals (TC eh?) it felt very sad and poignant.

I think it was outstanding. But I actually like that kind of poetry. If you don't get the poem then you don't get it at all.

EDIT. For anyone interested thats not yet initiated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSTRSqsm1VY

[Beery]

I love the game, but that intro was shockingly bad to be honest. Cheezy in the extrem and a bit too pretentious to hit the right emotional spots. Good thought, poor execution. :)

Never thought I'd see Milton described as 'cheesy and pretentious' LOL.

I thought it was a good intro for a hardcore sub simulation, although clearly it won't go over well with the arcade crowd.

[Safe-Keeper]

I loved it simply because it had some depth, unlike all the other action/deep male Rambo voice cutscenes out there. I've grown to dislike them more and more. Silent Hunter III's opening film wasn't that bad, but it wasn't creative, either. It was just that typical "idyll shifting to army movement shifting to battle shifting to game logo" thing 99% of games make use of.

Another example of a good atmosphere-inducer is the credits song of Rome: Total War. No macho or cliché Rambo-ish nonsense - just a girlfriend worrying about her boy who's been sent to fight with the Roman horde.

[Antrodemus]

I agree with Safe-keeper... it makes a great change from the usual fanfare-embellished gung-ho BS that precedes almost every other war-based game out there. If you actually listen to what is being said, it's really very poignant, especially the "Kiss". I applaud their daring, in trying to be different, and presenting the whole thing in a distinctly darker hue.

[ParaB]

I thought the intro was excellent, although the narrator IMO sucked. I would've preferred a much older voice.

[SharpShin]

I'm not too "cool" to admit I liked it.

[TriskettheKid]

I really liked the opening, too.

While I would have preferred a poem that dealt more directly with the sea or naval warfare, the Milton poem fit in pretty well.

But what's really interesting to note is, unless I am mistaken, the sub we saw in the beginning was sunk. Much better opening than watching a U-boat make a surface attack against a convoy without ever seeing the aftermath.

One of the better non-hype openings to a game, in my opinion. Right up there with some of my favorite openings.

[Aimbot]

I didn't like the cliched TC clouds and the like, and I wanted to take a swipe at the narrator, but the poem itself was a good fit.

[daft]

Never thought I'd see Milton described as 'cheesy and pretentious' LOL.

I thought it was a good intro for a hardcore sub simulation, although clearly it won't go over well with the arcade crowd.

I'm not calling Milton cheesy or pretentious, I'm calling the intro cheesy and pretentious. There's a difference. :) And I'm neither among the arcade or cool crowd, it simply didn't go down very well with me, that's all. Most probably because of the narrator. A good thought in that they tried something other than the usual "blow sh*t up 'cause it looks teh cool"-approach. I prefer it a bit more subliminal, but that's just me. :)

[deamyont]

After 10 years wasted in front of new games, Ive never seen an intro like this. Amazing.

[joea]

Wow I'm glad I'm not the only one who liked it...after I read some negative comments I though I was a pretentious b******. Great stuff.

[Banquet]

I really like the poem and thought it was brave of the devs (or publishers) to put it out. Whoever had the idea I have much respect for. I often let it play which is more than I do for other game's intro's.. it feels very different to the norm.

The video footage is great but I'm not sure I'd have done it in quite that way.. the sped up parts felt a bit too 'horror film' to me.. but it grows on me everytime I see it and certainly puts me in the mood for some submarination.

[Spaxspore]

Just goes to show you diversity makes the world go 'round...and that's a good thing. You liked the film and I consider it a pretentious piece of garbage. :lol:
Agreed, its a nice POEM, would have been better if it went with some nice animation rather then ingame reused to death footage

[badaboom]

The first time I watched it I didn't like it at all,but after watching it now for the umpteenth time I think it's growing on me!:D

I'm sure the MODS are working on a new one......maybe somthing from ":up: Run Silent Run Deep"

[Triad773]

Hey- upfront I don't consider myself much of a necromancer to Silent Hunter 4, but I really liked the intro film/poem and scratched my head trying to figure out who it was. Like others I thought maybe Shakespear; but after consulting some associates whom I'd considered who'd know I found that it reawakened an interest in me as I do feel that it relates to a certain 'timelessness.' I did a search and found this, and rather than repost redundant info, have added to what was before.

Reprinted on the consideration of a kind freind who thought as much as to send me this trascribed from an analogue copy by his own hand: ( proprietor of www.lightquarterly.com (http://www.lightquarterly.com))

ON TIME by John Milton
c. 1632
Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;
And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,
Which is no more then what is false and vain,
And meerly mortal dross;
So little is our loss,
So little is thy gain.
For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb’d,
And last of all, thy greedy self consum’d,
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;
And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
When every thing that is sincerely good
And perfectly divine,
With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine
About the supreme Throne
Of him, t’ whose happy-making sight alone,
When once our heav’nly-guided soul shall clime,
Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,
Attir’d with Stars, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.
THE END

Best of all, he thought it a decent reading of the matter, and I may in future time, have a fresh convert to computer-based submarine simulation :sunny:

Cheers all

Triad

[Scurvy]

It's not that the poem, itself is bad, it's the person who recites it.

I've let it play through, only two or three times, electing to bypass it, every time, now.

To me, it only echos some modern-day hippy, who leisurly sits back and smokes his dope, while bad-mouthing his country.

Just sayin'.

[Beery]

Yeah I agree. I'm English myself (as is the fella doing the voice) but I'd have preferred an American voice. The English guy just doesn't seem to go with the game's theme if you ask me.

As for bad-mouthing a country - I'm all for that. No nation ever improved without someone bad-mouthing it. Sycophancy and petty nationalism can only make a nation worse.

[DaveCrom01]

Well, as another re-located Englishman (Hi Beery.. i' thi feelin' alreet in thi sen?) I thought I'd throw in my 2 pence.

I think my take is that its quite poignant. And like all the better emotions experienced by man-kind, poignancy is in the eye of the beholder.

For me, I skip past it everytime. Why? Because I think it crass, or over blown?

Not at all.

For me, it's impossible to hear the reading of the poem and then go on to play a computer game. It was read as a eulogy at an old friends funeral. He was killed during the Falkland's War between Britain and Argentina in 1982, when the helicoper he and his troop were using to transfer between ships crashed into choppy seas. They drowned and were lost without chance of recovery.

Needless to say there wasn't a dry eye in the house, mine included.

:-)

Dave

[Triad773]

Well when I first cranked up SH IV, I was surprised by such a reading. For a 'computer game,' or submarine warfare simulator, a life and death struggle to juxtaposition it against with obviously a deep and contemplative work I at first found incomprehensible.

But then after hearing it a few times, and finding out who the author was has given me the opportunity to re-explore poetry.

Cheers

Triad

[Takeda Shingen]

To me, it is the finest intro movie to any simulation or game that I have ever seen. For the record, I am not a tremendous fan of Milton's work.

[Cakewalk]

I think a great deal of its impact also lies in the way its told by the narrator... sort of slow and meaningful. The impact sticks with you.:|\\

[DavyJonesFootlocker]

I hate the recital of that poem. Whoever voiced that should be shot by a firing squad made up of English Lit teachers! I'm glad someone did an alternative movie to replace it.:up: