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22nd December 2023
12:27pm GMT
Viewers have been left in awe as the most expensive film of 2023 has finally arrived on Netflix, although the critics seem to have had a more lukewarm reaction to the film.
The film in question is Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire, which dropped on Netflix today (December 22).
The movie follows a solo soldier (Sofia Boutella) who is a long way from her former life fighting for a brutal interstellar royal empire - called the Imperium - aiming to take charge of the galaxy.
Whilst living with a community on the farming moon of Veldt, admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) hunts her down on the orders of the Imperium’s tyrannical regent, Balisarius (Fra Fee).
The star-studded cast also includes Anthony Hopkins and Charlie Hunnam (The Gentleman).
Snyder's project was so vast that it had to be split into two parts, with the first installment still clocking in at a length 2h14mins.
Netflix also invested a huge amount of cash into the production and design to fulfil Snyder's visio, with the two films having a reported budget of $166m (£130m).
This makes it Netflix's most expensive film of the year, and in its top five most expensive films of all time.
Snyder wanted to create real-world sets to bring the futuristic space worlds to life, instead of using CGI and special effects, so filming took place on locations such as the Santa Clarita canyon near LA.
Meanwhile, an entire Scandinavian-style village was built from scratch by the crew for another location, which included homes, shops, barns and even an entire river.
Some viewers were left in awe by the sheer scale of the film, with one person writing: "The world building is great, with an incredible cast. The action is top tier like every other one of his movies, and the visuals are beautiful. I loved Rebel Moon!"
Another said: "Rebel Moon exceeded my expectations. The technical aspects, sound, vfx, etc... They are outstanding. But I loved the story even more. Developed fluidly and creatively, it's a solid and promising start to Snyder's new universe on Netflix."
And a third said: "Yeaaaaaaaaaaa Zack honestly cooked with #RebelMoon, it's pure cinema."
Not everyone was on board with Rebel Moon though, with critics in particular not liking the film.
It has a dreadful critics score of 23 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, and a number of publications dishing out lowly scores to the film, including a rating of one star out of five from the Guardian.
The audience score stands at a much more respectable 73 per cent though for the film, so make of that what you will.
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire is available to stream now on Netflix, with Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver set to be released on April 19, 2024.
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