Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn

As a fan of all things sci-fi, I was really eager to see what a live- action representation of the hallowed game would look like. After seeing this, I am motivated to buy my first ever Halo game and start playing. I would have given it a 10/10 but for the constant slo-mo which I believe was used due to the brief nature of the series. Very good acting, conveying so much emotion and some pretty good action scenes for a 15- minute webisode. I was very impressed with this and as a Halo novice, I am now so intrigued by the series that I want to play it more than I ever wanted to plan any other game! I put this up there with some of my other favourite shows, Battlestar Galactica (the remake) and Stargate Universe. This was very well done.

A few months ago when the first trailer came out for the web series, "Forward Unto Dawn", I was beside myself with excitement. I watched the trailer an easy 5-10 times, and then periodically checked back to view it again, in case I missed something the first time around. I've been a fan of the Halo series since day one of Halo C.E., and it's been really disappointing to not have a Halo movie I can feel proud of. Since high school, I've followed the hype surrounding the script writing and screenplay mock-ups of a potential Halo film, but they never panned out into anything real. Then, Microsoft and 343 Industries teamed up to create Forward Unto Dawn, and the hype surrounding a Halo movie returned. Only this time it wasn't going to be a movie, but a web series instead. And when it debuted on October 5th, I was one of the few to see it when it was only at 5k views(hipster moment). It was everything I expected and more. Superb acting, gorgeous visuals, a beautiful soundtrack, and the promise to deliver more and more in future episodes. Friday has always been my favorite day of the week, but now I have a reason to love it. Each episode debuts on a Friday, which means all my calls will be held, pizza will be delivered to my couch, and nothing is more important than those 20 minutes of Halo action. No feature length movie just yet? Well, this is the next best thing. If you call yourself a fan of the game, you...will...watch...this. Oh, and before I forget...Axios!!

Okay, I consider myself a pretty good Halo fan. I have played through all of the games numerous times, and read every Halo book that has been released. I was walking through Walmart's electronics department about a month ago, and I see a Halo movie. What? A Halo movie? Let me take a closer look. Oh great, its a live action Halo movie that I have never heard of, this is going to be terrible.......but its only $14 on BluRay so what the heck. Then I get home (with the kids at daycare) and start watching it on my 42" TV. OH MY GOD. The movie is brimming with great character development, and morality themes regarding the human rebellions before the covenant attack. The main characters (which are cadets at a UNSC Military Acadamy) are all new faces, except the lead female who is the girl from Narnia. They all do a great job convincing me that they are the children of the highest echelon of the UNSC elite, who are trying to make their parents proud. Some people claim that them movie is a little slow at first, or that it parallels Starship Troopers. I do not agree with those claims. The movie thoroughly develops and introduces the characters, so when the covenant (and Master Chief) arrive, you are vested in them, and don't want them to die. By the way, the Covenant were done fantastically, and Master Chief is NOT CGI, but instead the most realistic and amazing armor outfit every constructed. Bottome line, if you like anything about Halo, or if you plan on playing Halo 4, see this movie. Thank you 343 studios for coming out of left field and blowing me away with this movie. I just wish I could have seen it in the theater!!!

They captured the actual essence of master chief.

Wish this team got the budget of the current series.

Holds true to the fans. Doesn't lack basic logic.

And even has better looking CGI.

To confound those mind-reading reviewers, I'm someone who's never played any Halo game, ever, and yet still enjoyed the amalgamated "feature" cut of this miniseries on its own merits.

It's not perfect, but it's committed and competent. The sets, costumes and props are surprisingly decent for what is effectively a promotional advert, and the actors give it their absolute all. The effects, once they get going, are decent enough and the budget is very well used.

Sure, it's never going to win awards for originality, and the boot camp concept has been done many times before. But it's strongly conceived and written, the young actors are actually age appropriate, and they perform it compellingly.

Once the CGI bugs and that guy from Doom show up, it actually gets weaker for me as a non-player, but it never drops below the level of credible and competent, and that's high praise for one-off limited series.

I got the impression that the cast and crew had a great time making this, and it shows on screen. Not life-changing, but a great lesson in why you shouldn't lower your expectations of what talented creatives are capable of making when given free reign.