Halo: Nightfall

First, I have to say I am a huge fan of Halo series, I was not expecting a plot exactly as the original series but come on, this is simply horrible and I love sci-fi movies!

I've seen all 4 episodes wishing something well worth mentioning would occur but until today i have disappointments all the time.

I will be honest with you, the first episode was not that horrible, it make me curious for the second one even if did not impressed me at all.

The story is a mess, no interest and acting is really poor.

Please give back the viewers the 70 millions!?!?! spent in this movie,

From my point of view, the way things are, this series has no future!!!!

The worst thing about the pilot is that it is not that sci-fi. It starts promising, detailing the threat and "the mission", it shows the characters, then they all go to an isolated place where technology works against them. So basically, an entire setup for a medieval like quest, only on an alien world.

Other than that, the plot is predictable, but not terrible, the acting is good and it kept me watching it, even if I knew how it would end from the first half of the movie.

As I have not played the game, I have no quarrels with that aspect of the movie, however it did seem that it had nothing to do with how a specialized fighting force would behave in the 26th century. Also, it didn't really say anything about the Halo universe. As a complete noob, I had no idea who MasterChef (he he!) was and what a Halo was.

Bottom line: forgettable, but not that terrible. It did seem really low budget, though, and I have to ask myself what is the purpose of a low budget sci-fi series pilot which brings nothing in terms of story or characters? It only prepares an even less worked on series, right?

Update: didn't realize that "the pilot" was the whole first season. Heh!

This is the syfy special of Halo? There are 3 types of alien in thism ovie.? 2 only in the first episode? and a lot of bad choices. But the threats stay fairly limited and not ramping up.

luckily the human characters are 1 dimensional so you don't really care. And almost have 2 actors that do their job. i don't want to blame them. Scenery did a good job.

When attempting to watch Nightfall on the Halo Channel, which came equipped with The Master Chief Collection, I was unable to, the Channel experiencing, much like the game, one of many intolerable issues. Awaiting with much anticipation, I purchased Nightfall on BluRay, the question that is perhaps on reader's lips being: should I do the same? I won't respond to this, but after reading this review, maybe, dear reader, you will generate an answer of your own.

Locke (Mike Colter - who is quite possibly the single most handsome man alive), alongside his team, is operating on Sedra, an isolated backwater on the fringes of space, though this is just a smokescreen. Much like Williams on Horizon in Mass-Effect 2, Locke, an ONI Lieutenant, is spreading his employer's technological influence.

Tracking a smuggler across the planet, he and his team encounter a Covenant threat, one they are unable to suppress, a massive biological attack crippling the city. Investigating the alien technology which brought ruin upon them all, it's origins are uncovered: Alpha Halo, or, more aptly, a piece of the installation, destroyed by Master Chief. If Locke, his team, and members of the Sedran military want to stopper this threat, they are going to have to go to hell to do it - little do they realize, the real threat to their survival, has been with them all along.

Similar, occasionally, to Prometheus, Aliens and Red Planet, most of Nightfall takes place on the desolated ruin of Alpha, which is far from attractive. Though the opening of the feature shows lush, fertile wilderness on Sedra, Alpha is a distinct, unappealing contrast. Ridley Scott's influence as executive producer is visible in the camera work, the atmosphere, and the creepy imagery associated with the Covenant threat the joint ONI-Sedran team encounter. The effects are amazing, despite never been as grand as massive Hollywood productions, though it would have been superb to experience more, especially in the scenes when the team is being savagely attacked, the uniqueness of the alien menace being riveting, and the decision to inhibit it in the background is quite insulting.

Although Nightfall is designed to tell Locke's back-story, the series is narrated from the point-of-view of Aiken (Steven Waddington). We are, much like Aiken, on the outside looking in, and never do we truly comprehend the mystery that is Jameson Locke. Unlike Lasky in Forward Unto Dawn (FUD), whose family, friends and character were effectively delivered on screen, Locke remains very much an unknown quantity. Aiken too receives little depth, an issue that all characters in the series equally suffer. It's revealed that Aiken was once a Spartan, but it's never postulated why he left, though a visual representation plausibly hints an answer.

Honor, respect, sacrifice and the Godlike power of taking life are major themes explored in the series, Aiken and Locke exhibiting a willingness to do what must be done. At the same time though, the series conveys how fear and hostility can tear through the bonds of even the most loyal comrades, as everything goes terribly wrong. Nightfall efficiently blends together contemporary issues, likening the story to the world dynamics of today. ONI is representative of America: a massively powerful, dominating influence upon everyone else. Sedrans are much like America's allies: they receive guidance and protection, but are never given the same respect as ONI gives to its own people. The smugglers, who are later encountered, are similar to Middle-Eastern extremists (and not just because of their ethnicity), with their lackluster technology and oppression faced at the hands of ONI.

Although the opening of the series is positively brilliant, and easily captures the viewer's attention, the slower pace that begins to ensue, could be likened to a driver suddenly putting on the brakes for a majority of the feature, despite the well articulated suspense. A feeling of clichéd predictability begins to creep into the later portions of the series, while at the same time, action scenes are short lived, and many confrontations appear to be more verbal, than physical.

Nightfall is a decent stand alone feature, however, much like Battlestar Galactica Blood & Chrome, the Halo universe could have kept on spinning without its induction.

21 November 2017. This television series, edited into a movie version along with Ridley Scott getting an executive producer credit for the first episode possibly for marketing purposes and brings another big screen story of the sci fi video game franchise to life. The Alien (1979) inspired spacecraft and landscape design are decent. Some of the early futuristic features incorporated into the movie are even more compellingly fascinating, including a scene resembling the window view of Tyrell's office from Blade Runner (1982). The script was overly ambition trying to incorporate both a monster story, a survival story along with a supposedly divisive cultural class story which the last component wasn't well depicted in the movie. Credit is well deserved for the improved version of the sci fi monster motif used in the movie, a definite improvement on the run of the mill monsters. One weakness that comes up is the somewhat incongruent topography changes and the mountain or crevasse scenes that don't always line up, especially one of the ending shots. The movie becomes a bit mushy and typically predictable with its incorporation of evil intentions even though there is some aura of moral integrity depicted. In some ways, it even follows some of the same overly dramatic script points in Journey to the Center of the Earth of 55 years prior to the release of this Halo. The ending climax is also a bit of stretch as to the apparent allowance of the idiocy that leaves open the opportunity to actually be able to kill someone, such is the use of a distinctly irritable script manipulation for the sake of an intended ending. In sum, this sci fi action, mystery, thriller comes across as a watchable, somewhat enhanced version of typical space adventure movies, but nevertheless not quite reaching the ranks of superior, quality sci fi.