It is sort of baffling that this franchise never found success as a film or a TV show (I haven't watched this personally but from all that I've read I have not missed much). Admittedly, I have...
It is sort of baffling that this franchise never found success as a film or a TV show (I haven't watched this personally but from all that I've read I have not missed much).
Admittedly, I have fallen off the franchise in general since Halo 3, but in high school I loved the early books, especially The Fall of Reach novel. There must be some reason why this was not adapted into a screenplay, but I would be super curious as to what that reason is, because that book is endlessly cinematic. I think it's very compelling to see Master Chief become Master Chief, from snatched child to super soldier. It gives a ton of more depth to his character than the games do (for understandable reasons).
It came excruciatingly close in the mid-00s -- Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop helped produced a number of shorts (including a full-size working Warthog) and Neill Blomkamp was attached to direct,...
It came excruciatingly close in the mid-00s -- Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop helped produced a number of shorts (including a full-size working Warthog) and Neill Blomkamp was attached to direct, with a screenplay by Alex Garland. But studios weren't happy with the revenue-sharing and creative control Microsoft and Bungie were wanting, and the project fell through; the leftovers eventually found their way into Blomkamp's film District 9.
I was a big Halo fan in its hayday, even read the books, which were fun reads at the time and several of which lended themselves well to screen adaptation. I tried to give it an honest chance,...
I was a big Halo fan in its hayday, even read the books, which were fun reads at the time and several of which lended themselves well to screen adaptation. I tried to give it an honest chance, even tried ignoring the Halo name and just looked at it as a sci fi show (I forget if this was yet another adaptation where they proudly stated their disdain for the source or not, but they clearly do based on their changes). I dropped it after episode 2 or 3. It's bad. And this is coming from someone that dragged themselves through all of Caprica.
It warms my heart to find another SGU fan! What an underappreciated series. Given the (decent) ending, I almost wish they'd pick it up again with a significant time jump, eliminating most of the...
It warms my heart to find another SGU fan! What an underappreciated series. Given the (decent) ending, I almost wish they'd pick it up again with a significant time jump, eliminating most of the Earth storyline in the process. Carlyle was so excellent in that series, easily my favorite role he's ever done.
Fellow SGU fan, checking in. I was heartbroken when it got cancelled. And 100% agreed, Robert Carlyle was so fucking good in it, and Ming-Na Wen and Louis Ferreira were great too. As much as I...
Fellow SGU fan, checking in. I was heartbroken when it got cancelled. And 100% agreed, Robert Carlyle was so fucking good in it, and Ming-Na Wen and Louis Ferreira were great too.
As much as I love all the Stargate shows, SG-1 and SGA (❤️Ronan Dex) are pretty cheesy, so SGU was my favorite. It was basically Stargate for adults, and I really wish it has stuck around. :(
After the last of us, this series really frustrates me, knowing how much we got snubbed out of having a really great series. There's so much really good source material in the books to build off.
After the last of us, this series really frustrates me, knowing how much we got snubbed out of having a really great series. There's so much really good source material in the books to build off.
:( God I hate region locking. The show isn't available in Canada anywhere other than Paramount+, so why do Americans get to watch it for free on YouTube but not us Canadians? It's not like a...
9 unavailable videos are hidden
:( God I hate region locking. The show isn't available in Canada anywhere other than Paramount+, so why do Americans get to watch it for free on YouTube but not us Canadians? It's not like a network up here bought exclusive Canadian distribution rights to it or anything. Ah well... Thankfully, connecting to my US VPN worked so I can actually watch it though. So thanks for sharing, moocow.
While I do also hate region locking stuff like this it's actually a blessing in this case as this show is absolutely not worth watching, especially if you're even remotely interested in the Halo...
While I do also hate region locking stuff like this it's actually a blessing in this case as this show is absolutely not worth watching, especially if you're even remotely interested in the Halo games as this show shits all over the established story/lore.
I've only ever played the Halo games that came with Master Chief Collection when that came out for PC, so TBH I don't really care about the established story/lore, or how accurate the show is to...
I've only ever played the Halo games that came with Master Chief Collection when that came out for PC, so TBH I don't really care about the established story/lore, or how accurate the show is to it. Even so, I only made it about halfway through the second episode... not because the show contradicted the games, but simply because it was kinda bad (IMO).
The costumes and sets were well done (although the vault-like ship door visibly wobbling as it slid open in the first episode made me genuinely laugh out loud). The environment and background CGI was decent looking too, as were most of the CGI characters when static and shown in close-ups. But as soon as any CGI character moved the illusion was totally shattered, since the animation was truly terrible, made all their movements look extremely unnatural, and as if they were all totally weightless. And the transitions between the costumed actors playing Spartans and the CGI versions of the same characters was incredibly obvious and jarring as a result.
I can usually look past mediocre CGI if everything else in a show is good, but IMO the story was super slow, bland, and uninteresting, and the majority of the acting was so bad I couldn't keep going. It felt more like a fan film than a Paramount produced show. It's truly hard to believe it supposedly cost them $10M an episode, which is similar to GoT and The Last of Us' per episode budget.
In this day and age, I take region blocking like this as an invite to sail the high seas. It's not my fault they struck a stupid deal for distribution in Canada, so I'm not going to pay that...
In this day and age, I take region blocking like this as an invite to sail the high seas. It's not my fault they struck a stupid deal for distribution in Canada, so I'm not going to pay that (high) price.
It started with HBO inking a deal to only distribute through a platform that first charged a separate entry fee to even begin to pay for an HBO subscription, and then still only delivered content in very low quality since that was the most they were capable of (the antithesis of "home box office").
That's on them. They should have planned it better.
I think I could have really liked this show, if they didn't name it "Halo". I appreciated the action scenes, and the use of classic sound bytes and effects, but that was largely it. Such a...
I think I could have really liked this show, if they didn't name it "Halo". I appreciated the action scenes, and the use of classic sound bytes and effects, but that was largely it. Such a disservice to the games that played such an iconic role in my childhood.
It's odd to see companies throwing very large amounts of cash at a franchise and also being proud that they don't understand why people like it. The Witcher was potentially great, but having...
It's odd to see companies throwing very large amounts of cash at a franchise and also being proud that they don't understand why people like it. The Witcher was potentially great, but having writers and runner shitting on the fanbase was obvious.
Apple does great Sf content. They appear to understand it in a way that other streamers don't.
Amazon has variable quality product. They've got some genuinely interesting shows, but they're also throwing money at some obvious IP franchises and not necessarily understanding why those franchises are popular.
Netflix - oh boy. Love Death and Robots is excellent, and we need more experimental short form content. It's great to see diversity of animation on TV. They didn't ruin Black Mirror either, even though I do mostly prefer earlier episodes. But they're taking some weird Japanese Home Video approach of just tossing content into the void and seeing what works, and then making more of that. In theory that could be good for creators -- "We made this thing, people who liked it really liked it, ut it wasn't super popular so it dropped of Netflix". But I'd prefer to see Netflix commit to 3 seasons, even if only short seasons, to give characters and plots time to breath and get bedded in.
Nothing to say at all about Disney. That Andor show was good, but mostly because it wasn't a Star Wars show.
It's really weird that there's so much great sf written content that could be converted, but th companies just don't seem to understand it well enough to do a decent job.
My conspiracy theory: whoever is in charge of content at Apple is a giant SF nerd who actually picks showrunners who understand the source material. Whereas Netflix and Amazon seem to pick...
My conspiracy theory: whoever is in charge of content at Apple is a giant SF nerd who actually picks showrunners who understand the source material. Whereas Netflix and Amazon seem to pick showrunners with active disdain for the source material (sigh, Wheel of Time...)
Severance Invasion Monarch Foundation For All Mankind Hello Tomorrow Silo The Big Door Prize was good but not my cup of tea really, but yeah - just about any Apple sci-fi is great. There’s an...
Severance
Invasion
Monarch
Foundation
For All Mankind
Hello Tomorrow
Silo
The Big Door Prize was good but not my cup of tea really, but yeah - just about any Apple sci-fi is great. There’s an emphasis on the storytelling that a lot of others lack.
Apple does the best sci-fi at this point. I agree with that. And I agree with Netflix doing a bad job with sci-fi, generally. But I didn’t mind Halo and I’m looking forward to Season 2. And I...
Apple does the best sci-fi at this point. I agree with that. And I agree with Netflix doing a bad job with sci-fi, generally.
But I didn’t mind Halo and I’m looking forward to Season 2. And I played far, far more Halo 2 and Halo 3 than was healthy. These medal announcements will live in my mind forever.
To me Halo is generic sci-fi that I can watch with my partner - who didn’t play Halo - and we can both enjoy it. I think it being relatively generic is forgivable, because other than that it isn’t bad.
Sure, it could’ve done without the weird shaman episode, but, that final scene when Master Cheeks Chief goes off? It hit the nostalgia center of my brain. Same with the jokes, like “I know how the game is played.” It’s good enough, and that’s all I could ask for.
Would I love to see a streaming service grab rights to A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace? Of course, and hopefully the third whenever Arkady Martine publishes it.
But I don’t understand why Halo gets dunked on by the community for not being “loyal” to the material, Witcher gets dunked on by the community for not being “loyal” to the material, yet Foundation gets celebrated when it is not loyal to the Foundation trilogy.
ETA: Same with Silo, it wasn’t that far off from source material but it wasn’t a 1:1 format conversion.
ETA #2: And everyone cancels sci-fi early and on cliffhangers. BBC chopped Outcasts, Syfy cancelled Alphas, Showcase hit eject on Travelers. Netflix is bad about it across the board but it’s always been a thing with sci-fi series.
I don't know. To me, Halo is in a territory similar to Uncharted. In video games, it's a "serious" narrative that serves its purposes in-game. On film or TV, it becomes clear that it is way too...
I don't know. To me, Halo is in a territory similar to Uncharted. In video games, it's a "serious" narrative that serves its purposes in-game. On film or TV, it becomes clear that it is way too derivative to justify the licensing costs or draw a large audience of non-gamers.
It is sort of baffling that this franchise never found success as a film or a TV show (I haven't watched this personally but from all that I've read I have not missed much).
Admittedly, I have fallen off the franchise in general since Halo 3, but in high school I loved the early books, especially The Fall of Reach novel. There must be some reason why this was not adapted into a screenplay, but I would be super curious as to what that reason is, because that book is endlessly cinematic. I think it's very compelling to see Master Chief become Master Chief, from snatched child to super soldier. It gives a ton of more depth to his character than the games do (for understandable reasons).
It came excruciatingly close in the mid-00s -- Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop helped produced a number of shorts (including a full-size working Warthog) and Neill Blomkamp was attached to direct, with a screenplay by Alex Garland. But studios weren't happy with the revenue-sharing and creative control Microsoft and Bungie were wanting, and the project fell through; the leftovers eventually found their way into Blomkamp's film District 9.
I was a big Halo fan in its hayday, even read the books, which were fun reads at the time and several of which lended themselves well to screen adaptation. I tried to give it an honest chance, even tried ignoring the Halo name and just looked at it as a sci fi show (I forget if this was yet another adaptation where they proudly stated their disdain for the source or not, but they clearly do based on their changes). I dropped it after episode 2 or 3. It's bad. And this is coming from someone that dragged themselves through all of Caprica.
I remember reading some interview shortly before release, and the showrunner was proudly claiming that he hasn't played any of the games.
It warms my heart to find another SGU fan! What an underappreciated series. Given the (decent) ending, I almost wish they'd pick it up again with a significant time jump, eliminating most of the Earth storyline in the process. Carlyle was so excellent in that series, easily my favorite role he's ever done.
Maybe I'm ripe for an SG1 and Atlantis rewatch...
Fellow SGU fan, checking in. I was heartbroken when it got cancelled. And 100% agreed, Robert Carlyle was so fucking good in it, and Ming-Na Wen and Louis Ferreira were great too.
As much as I love all the Stargate shows, SG-1 and SGA (❤️Ronan Dex) are pretty cheesy, so SGU was my favorite. It was basically Stargate for adults, and I really wish it has stuck around. :(
I loved SGU and thought Caprica was decent, at least at the beginning.
An admirable effort - I made it about 20 minutes!
After the last of us, this series really frustrates me, knowing how much we got snubbed out of having a really great series. There's so much really good source material in the books to build off.
Not only did they ruin the story, they delayed it having being done correctly by at least a decade.
:( God I hate region locking. The show isn't available in Canada anywhere other than Paramount+, so why do Americans get to watch it for free on YouTube but not us Canadians? It's not like a network up here bought exclusive Canadian distribution rights to it or anything. Ah well... Thankfully, connecting to my US VPN worked so I can actually watch it though. So thanks for sharing, moocow.
While I do also hate region locking stuff like this it's actually a blessing in this case as this show is absolutely not worth watching, especially if you're even remotely interested in the Halo games as this show shits all over the established story/lore.
I've only ever played the Halo games that came with Master Chief Collection when that came out for PC, so TBH I don't really care about the established story/lore, or how accurate the show is to it. Even so, I only made it about halfway through the second episode... not because the show contradicted the games, but simply because it was kinda bad (IMO).
The costumes and sets were well done (although the vault-like ship door visibly wobbling as it slid open in the first episode made me genuinely laugh out loud). The environment and background CGI was decent looking too, as were most of the CGI characters when static and shown in close-ups. But as soon as any CGI character moved the illusion was totally shattered, since the animation was truly terrible, made all their movements look extremely unnatural, and as if they were all totally weightless. And the transitions between the costumed actors playing Spartans and the CGI versions of the same characters was incredibly obvious and jarring as a result.
I can usually look past mediocre CGI if everything else in a show is good, but IMO the story was super slow, bland, and uninteresting, and the majority of the acting was so bad I couldn't keep going. It felt more like a fan film than a Paramount produced show. It's truly hard to believe it supposedly cost them $10M an episode, which is similar to GoT and The Last of Us' per episode budget.
In this day and age, I take region blocking like this as an invite to sail the high seas. It's not my fault they struck a stupid deal for distribution in Canada, so I'm not going to pay that (high) price.
It started with HBO inking a deal to only distribute through a platform that first charged a separate entry fee to even begin to pay for an HBO subscription, and then still only delivered content in very low quality since that was the most they were capable of (the antithesis of "home box office").
That's on them. They should have planned it better.
I think I could have really liked this show, if they didn't name it "Halo". I appreciated the action scenes, and the use of classic sound bytes and effects, but that was largely it. Such a disservice to the games that played such an iconic role in my childhood.
It's odd to see companies throwing very large amounts of cash at a franchise and also being proud that they don't understand why people like it. The Witcher was potentially great, but having writers and runner shitting on the fanbase was obvious.
Apple does great Sf content. They appear to understand it in a way that other streamers don't.
Amazon has variable quality product. They've got some genuinely interesting shows, but they're also throwing money at some obvious IP franchises and not necessarily understanding why those franchises are popular.
Netflix - oh boy. Love Death and Robots is excellent, and we need more experimental short form content. It's great to see diversity of animation on TV. They didn't ruin Black Mirror either, even though I do mostly prefer earlier episodes. But they're taking some weird Japanese Home Video approach of just tossing content into the void and seeing what works, and then making more of that. In theory that could be good for creators -- "We made this thing, people who liked it really liked it, ut it wasn't super popular so it dropped of Netflix". But I'd prefer to see Netflix commit to 3 seasons, even if only short seasons, to give characters and plots time to breath and get bedded in.
Nothing to say at all about Disney. That Andor show was good, but mostly because it wasn't a Star Wars show.
It's really weird that there's so much great sf written content that could be converted, but th companies just don't seem to understand it well enough to do a decent job.
My conspiracy theory: whoever is in charge of content at Apple is a giant SF nerd who actually picks showrunners who understand the source material. Whereas Netflix and Amazon seem to pick showrunners with active disdain for the source material (sigh, Wheel of Time...)
What Apple SF shows do you recommend? I've been looking for a new show to pick up
Severance
Invasion
Monarch
Foundation
For All Mankind
Hello Tomorrow
Silo
The Big Door Prize was good but not my cup of tea really, but yeah - just about any Apple sci-fi is great. There’s an emphasis on the storytelling that a lot of others lack.
I really liked Severance and am waiting for the second season, hopefully not terribly long from now
Apple does the best sci-fi at this point. I agree with that. And I agree with Netflix doing a bad job with sci-fi, generally.
But I didn’t mind Halo and I’m looking forward to Season 2. And I played far, far more Halo 2 and Halo 3 than was healthy. These medal announcements will live in my mind forever.
To me Halo is generic sci-fi that I can watch with my partner - who didn’t play Halo - and we can both enjoy it. I think it being relatively generic is forgivable, because other than that it isn’t bad.
Sure, it could’ve done without the weird shaman episode, but, that final scene when Master
CheeksChief goes off? It hit the nostalgia center of my brain. Same with the jokes, like “I know how the game is played.” It’s good enough, and that’s all I could ask for.Would I love to see a streaming service grab rights to A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace? Of course, and hopefully the third whenever Arkady Martine publishes it.
But I don’t understand why Halo gets dunked on by the community for not being “loyal” to the material, Witcher gets dunked on by the community for not being “loyal” to the material, yet Foundation gets celebrated when it is not loyal to the Foundation trilogy.
ETA: Same with Silo, it wasn’t that far off from source material but it wasn’t a 1:1 format conversion.
ETA #2: And everyone cancels sci-fi early and on cliffhangers. BBC chopped Outcasts, Syfy cancelled Alphas, Showcase hit eject on Travelers. Netflix is bad about it across the board but it’s always been a thing with sci-fi series.
I don't know. To me, Halo is in a territory similar to Uncharted. In video games, it's a "serious" narrative that serves its purposes in-game. On film or TV, it becomes clear that it is way too derivative to justify the licensing costs or draw a large audience of non-gamers.
Halo is generic sci-fi.