Red vs. Blue

Red vs Blue is a delightfully funny and witty (sometimes) machinima series that spans over 20 or so episodes, that has been combined into one movie. The RedvsBlue Season 1 DVD. Machinima is the type of filmography that uses video games or virtual reality to illustrate a story. Red vs Blue, or RvB, uses Halo to play out the story of the feud between the Red team (Simmons, Grif, Sarge, Donut, and Lopez)against the Blue team (Church, Caboose, Tucker, and Sheila). After the blues notice they are outnumbered, they call for re-inforcements from a freelancer (mercenary) named Tex. For more, you'll just have to buy Season one of RvB to figure out the story, and learn more about the characters that us RvB fans, have come to love.

I'm not fond of the XBox/PC game Halo by any means. I consider it a very average and unremarkable shooter, save for its use of vehicles. But even with that said, the satirical machinima series Red vs. Blue will always occupy a place in my heart.

The show is shot entirely using the XBox version of Halo, albeit with the game's HUD cropped out. (The aiming reticule is still there, and although it can be a bit distracting at first, you get used to it, and it's part of RVB's "independent film" appeal.) Other than some visual touch-ups, everything there is real and can be duplicated. Also, all of the characters look alike, so they are differentiated via the colors of their armor.

So what's it about? The series lampoons numerous things, including shooters, military life, sci-fi culture, and Halo itself (Church: "These arms aren't that flexible!"). It's set in the rather plain box canyon known as Blood Gulch (a multiplayer map in Halo) during the period between Halo and Halo 2. At one end is the base of the Blue Team; at the other, the Red Team base. Both sides are caught in a fierce deadlock during a capture-the-flag game. In reality, both teams are incredibly inept and would rather spend their time bickering, finding ways to kill time (such as tossing rocks through a teleporter), or just sort of spying on the other team.

On the Blue Team is Church, the sarcastic, impatient leader; Tucker, his somewhat serious-minded partner; and Caboose, the scatterbrained rookie who is often the origin of RVB's many famous quotes.

The Red Team is not much better, though. There's Sarge, a sergeant (duh) with an outlandish Southern American accent; Grif, the soldier who is the butt of most of Sarge's criticism; Simmons, a soldier who gets respect from Sarge and is accused by Grif of being a kiss-ass; Donut, a weird newbie in pink/lightish red armor (even though he's a guy); and Lopez, a robot whose speech unit shorts out later in the series, allowing him to only speak Spanish.

The teams don't stay put, though, and before long, all sorts of weird things happen. The Reds receive a Warthog-class jeep, leaving the Blues to compare it with their own tank in terms of attracting girls. Caboose inadvertently kills Church by blasting him with the tank. Church, now a ghost, possesses Sarge's body and makes him spit inside his own helmet. And that's just the first 19-episode season. But what really makes RVB shine is its great writing, scripting, and voice work.

I love it. These guys are hilarious, and even though a lot of it is basically dumb humor, that's what makes it so funny. Even if you've never played Halo, you'll enjoy these, since they often are playing off some of the elements in games that don't make the most sense - example- "A dry creek bed in a box canyon, no discernable way in or out" and the deal with the flags (capture the flag)...it's all great. The characters are all awesome, even the vehicles - the warthog and the tank, have character, believe it or not. And it's quotable, they have some great quotes...."That is not how you were trained to do that!"

RedVsBlue is great. I'm a mondo Halo fan, and this is the best short webshow I've seen in ages.

This show really made me feel something, and those people at the bottom that gave it 1 star are just people who don't know what humor is.

There is no reason not to watch this show. If you love halo, you'll laugh your ass off, if not, you'll probably laugh your ass off anyways. It's just that funny. The characters are great, and the series is surprisingly long for a web-based show. There are 2 teams in a box canyon, they are fighting each other... well fighting isn't exactly the word for it. They are more in the habit of doing whatever they can to make the other teams lives worse. Throughout the series, new characters are added and an incredibly deep plot is uncovered. All together it's something you can watch again and again and never be disappointed. If you can find something not to like about this show than you don't belong near a computer or out in public.