I genuinely love Natascha McElhone as Halsey, but not much else in this trailer is doing much for me.

I genuinely love Natascha McElhone as Halsey, but not much else in this trailer is doing much for me.

I'm glad Jen Taylor got the gig.

https://youtu.be/ROhH8yBVrns

I genuinely love Natascha McElhone as Halsey, but not much else in this trailer is doing much for me.

Thoughts & Things: Irrationally Hot and off the press!

• The entire time I was watching this, I was saying to myself - "Don't be a superhero, Don't be a superhero, Don't be a superhero*..."

• This was made by a committee.
  • I hate it.

• This looks like New Star Trek
  • I hate it.

• I'm so happy for Jen Taylor.

• Even without watching this, I feel as if already know what this entire story is going to be without having any real idea of what the context shall be.
  • I hate it.

• Korny hasn't even posted, and somehow I feel like I might agree!
  • What have I done?
    • Oh no.
      • Oh no no no.

*(Which is NOT me hating on superhero movies.)

It looks incredibly expensive, and somehow also like it was made on a tiny budget.

I think most of the costume design looks pretty good. That Spartan armor looks as good as could realistically be expected, I think, but it still looks fake and cheap. The CGI is the same way. It looks fine, but undoubtedly like a TV show. This was always going to be difficult, but it seems like they could have made smarter decisions while filming or something to not make it so in your face.

What the hell do I know about film making, I guess?

It looks incredibly expensive, and somehow also like it was made on a tiny budget.

I think most of the costume design looks pretty good. That Spartan armor looks as good as could realistically be expected, I think, but it still looks fake and cheap. The CGI is the same way. It looks fine, but undoubtedly like a TV show. This was always going to be difficult, but it seems like they could have made smarter decisions while filming or something to not make it so in your face.

Well, yes, but my mental gag reflex is more due to the perception of its substance than the actual look. Honestly, I don't really care if it looks like a sci-fi tv movie (not saying it is! just an example). I'm not asking for Lord Of the Rings, just don't be the Hobbit (movie). But right now, and I had this dread when this was announced, risks can not be taken, even for the things that are being made. And... as a person whom tends to enjoy the variety, long time halo fan, it just makes me sad to see everything so different look so the same.

Is there even anything to say in this Halo series? Or is it just, hur dur strong man do flip and make explosion. Another soulless corpse doing the same technicolor dance we can find without searching for it at this point. Plus, the memberberrie fan service, presented without understanding WHY. Just a big ol' dad joke placed upon nostalgia.

...

...but... I'm ranting. I'll shut up now.

Is there even anything to say in this Halo series?

With the Master Chief, probably not. His avenues for storytelling generally involve running and shooting and stuff. Great for a video game, but you can't base an entire show on that.

But without him? Sure. Hunt the Truth was pretty dope. Imagine stories like that set in the universe.

It will probably bite me in the ass, but my perception of the trailer is that it has massive The Fall of Reach vibes, lore-wise. Halsey not being played by Jen herself took me by surprise, especially because the actress they picked looks a lot like her.

Anyway, pretty much everything in this trailer got me the series into the "will definitely watch" list.

Except for Covenant girl. Covenant "fleshed-out CGI villains didn't quite fit in our budget" girl was way too much wtf for my mind to handle.

It outlines 343i's overall philosophies and intentions for the series. A great read and I honestly agree with everything they said. All that remains is the execution.

Seems like I'm making a lot of "write your story for the medium" posts this week but…yeah.

This isn't for me. I don't mean its not to my taste. I mean it was designed for someone else who is not someone like me. Not someone who does not need a introduction to who Master Chief is, or what a Spartan is. Not me who already had a moral journey about Halsey and what she did. Someone for whom every one point one seen in the world triggers memories.

So all that's left for me to ask is "will it succeed at what it wants to be?" Based on that trailer, it seems like their reach exceeds their grasp, and yet simultaneously, They don't want it to be a spectacular. It's trope after trope so familiarity is important for them, but also it's Clearly not designed to feel be Halo from the setting to the time to the character and volume of the Chiefs dialog.

I can't help but know for a fact that this would have been better if they set it in the world of Halo but not centered on the Master Chief. That they didn't;t is going to make it hard for me to see this as anything other then them following the safe money even when that leads to bad decisions creatively and in terms of quality.

It's just a trailer, so who knows. Shame they could not launch it while a lot of people will be trying to figure out how to use the rest of a Paramount+ subscription month after the NFL playoffs. Shrug.

Is he NOT voicing Chief??

Not everyone knows the depth of the Halo story like we do around here. In the real world, I'm the only person I know of in my life that has played, or knows anything about Halo, in regards to the story and how good it is. I'm excited that people will get to see the story unfold. People have been texting me in regard to this show. It's cool that they are starting to be intrigued by it.

This show is not "for us." It's for everyone else. Try to watch the trailer from the PoV of someone who knows Halo exists, but knows nothing about the story.

I think it looks badass.

I'm willing to give it a shot. There are a lot of nit-picks I could make, but ultimately, this is a chance for them to play around in the universe (or Silver Universe) and tell new interesting stories. I hope they do it. Maybe like The Book of Boba Fett I'll feel like it wasn't for me, and that's OK too.

What I will say is that it's a shame the Halo Community has mostly convinced 343 that The Master Chief and Cortana are the only characters worth anchoring big budget storytelling around. I think a ODST show could rock, but I doubt they'd be willing to risk the budget (unless Nathan Fillon was on board perhaps).

This show is not "for us." It's for everyone else. Try to watch the trailer from the PoV of someone who knows Halo exists, but knows nothing about the story.

"Oh lame, they're just copying that Tom Cruise movie."

I feel like I'd be even worse for people unfamiliar with the game.

This show is not "for us." It's for everyone else. Try to watch the trailer from the PoV of someone who knows Halo exists, but knows nothing about the story.

"Oh lame, they're just copying that Tom Cruise movie."

I feel like I'd be even worse for people unfamiliar with the game.

I don't know what you're talking about.

"Save the cheerleader, save the world."

http://halo.bungie.org/news.html?item=26896

Literally. Lol.

https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/silver-debrief-a-new-beginning

Basically, we want to use the existing Halo lore, history, canon, and characters wherever they make sense for a linear narrative, but also separate the two distinctly so that we don’t invalidate the core canon or do unnatural things to force a first-person video game into an ensemble TV show. The game canon and its extended lore in novels, comics, and other outlets is core, original, and will continue unbroken for as long as we make Halo games. To be clear: these will be two parallel, VERY similar, but ultimately separate timelines whose main events and characters will intersect and align throughout their very different cadences.

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http://halo.bungie.org/news.html?item=26896

lol - apparently that page is dead. :)

I suppose I should fix it...

Edit: fixed

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I added one not sure it went through.

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I added one not sure it went through.

Doesn't look like it did.

I've done a little more cleanup - new entries are now being added to the submitted table, but the interface that allows easy transfer to the live page is still busted. (All of this was written - by someone else, not me - for PHP 4.x, and tons of the commands used have been deprecated or removed in the last 15 years. Updating it is certainly possible... but will take some work. Which means time.)

I added one not sure it went through.

Doesn't look like it did.

I've done a little more cleanup - new entries are now being added to the submitted table, but the interface that allows easy transfer to the live page is still busted. (All of this was written - by someone else, not me - for PHP 4.x, and tons of the commands used have been deprecated or removed in the last 15 years. Updating it is certainly possible... but will take some work. Which means time.)

Season 1 better end with "Oh I think we're just getting started…"

I added one not sure it went through.

Doesn't look like it did.

I've done a little more cleanup - new entries are now being added to the submitted table, but the interface that allows easy transfer to the live page is still busted. (All of this was written - by someone else, not me - for PHP 4.x, and tons of the commands used have been deprecated or removed in the last 15 years. Updating it is certainly possible... but will take some work. Which means time.)

Dude that's really cool of you to do, keep everything updated and functional. But like, why? lol. Just for fun? I don't see this getting much use.

Again, super cool though to be clear.

I added one not sure it went through.

Doesn't look like it did.

I've done a little more cleanup - new entries are now being added to the submitted table, but the interface that allows easy transfer to the live page is still busted. (All of this was written - by someone else, not me - for PHP 4.x, and tons of the commands used have been deprecated or removed in the last 15 years. Updating it is certainly possible... but will take some work. Which means time.)

Dude that's really cool of you to do, keep everything updated and functional. But like, why? lol. Just for fun? I don't see this getting much use.

My version of Obsessive/Compulsive. I hate broken stuff (that I was responsible for in the first place).

You're absolutely right - it's not gonna get much use, if any. Still... it's broken. It didn't used to be broken. It broke on my watch. I wanna fix it.

Again, super cool though to be clear.

Dude that's really cool of you to do, keep everything updated and functional. But like, why? lol. Just for fun? I don't see this getting much use.

My version of Obsessive/Compulsive. I hate broken stuff (that I was responsible for in the first place).

You're absolutely right - it's not gonna get much use, if any. Still... it's broken. It didn't used to be broken. It broke on my watch. I wanna fix it.

How disgustingly honorable, even if the motivating intent is otherwise.
Monster /s.

My version of Obsessive/Compulsive. I hate broken stuff (that I was responsible for in the first place).

You know both DBO and HBO are broken in Netscape Communicator on Mac OS 9, right? HBO front page loads, but not the forums. DBO is broken everywhere. :-p

Think of the two people with an iBook.

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Also, Claude, the T-shirt order form on B.Org is busted.

You know, since you're fixing things.

Also, Claude, the T-shirt order form on B.Org is busted.

You know, since you're fixing things.

Now this might see some use.

Wait a second. How do you know that?

I guess he's the other person with an iBook?

Tange4Lyfe.

I guess he's the other person with an iBook?

Tange4Lyfe.

The white 500Mhz version. No toilet seat here.

Because there aren't any more t-shirts.

My version of Obsessive/Compulsive. I hate broken stuff (that I was responsible for in the first place).

You know both DBO and HBO are broken in Netscape Communicator on Mac OS 9, right? HBO front page loads, but not the forums. DBO is broken everywhere. :-p

Think of the two people with an iBook.

I'm pretty sure we've had this conversation before. And I'm pretty sure I told you that if it HADN'T been broken in Netscape, I'd break it.

and they're all cowards.

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Honestly, considering the reception for H4 and H5, and how they handled Halo Infinite's plot, it was only natural to reboot.

Is it current canon? No. However, they're establishing a second canon where things will be consistent within it, "The Silver Timeline." The question will be execution, but I think there's a lot of opportunity here. Halo's EU has established a solid handful of themes that have threaded through the entire canon, but Bungie barely integrated them in their games, and 343i tried to do so too quickly and so it became a muddied mess. This second timeline is an opportunity to tell the story using those themes from the beginning with a greater focus on them. That could also serve to make people more aware of them in the mainline canon, making them more obvious.

It's smart reasoning. Let's see if they can actually pull it off, though.

The screen is dead, however.