In this installment of my little video blog I talk a little about that new Halo 3 commercial that just came out. A lot of people have the opinion that this commercial means a Halo movie is ready to go and a good idea. I disagree, just as I would disagree that a BAD Halo 3 commercial would mean a Halo movie would be a bad idea.
Before watching the video, you should watch the commercial we’re talking about here.
Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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I understand what you mean when you say “its just a comercial”, and i understand this trailer (if u will) was only made to promote the upcoming game, but a Halo movie will be great, considering the great story and beautiful fantasy/sci-fi. As this trailer proves little, i think the first step to a great movie is a great trailer. Marketing is important in the sucess of the movie. Is this commercial a message saying that we are finally ready for a halo movie, maybe not. but it is surely a good starting point. (Sorry for my bad english, im not from N.A)
I never have and never will get the hype around Halo.
Why don’t they just make a gears of war movie with Mad World playing through the whole thing.
I am a die hard halo fan, and would kill someone to get a halo movie, but this commercial really doesn’t say anything, it just a commercial for ODST.
I just hope that they make a Halo movie now. Because to tease people with any sort of live action Halo stuff and not plan to follow through on the movie is brutal.
What I liked about the commercial it shows the stages of a young recruit turning into a hardned veteran of the war. The visual effects are ok, not high budget blockbuster movie quality but hey, it was for a commericial. As a gamer and fanboy I would much rather see Halo turned into a live action series than a movie. I think if they have it as a series it gives the ability to expand more on the characters of the Halo Universe and doesn’t really need to focus on the more popular characters.
I feel that the commercial shows that ability for Halo to be a series with lots of ability of expansion of the Halo-Verse.
I had the same exact thought after seeing this commercial. I personally think that a TV series in the realm of BSG would be phenominal. And as you stated, the story could focus more on the minor characters in the story. As someone who has read all of the novels I can say that while reading The Flood (the book that adapts the first game) I found myself skipping through to the portions that focussed on the characters that we had never heard of.
A HALO MOVIE WOULD BE A LOT LIKE ANOTHER STARSHIP TROOPER’S MOVIE. AND THIS COMMERCIAL CONFIRMS THAT
John,
Agreed. I think it’s a move in the right direction and seemingly represents what is at the very least possible, but my main concern for a Halo movie, is the story. Show me a great/good script and I’m there. When it comes to film, outside of the die hard fans, will it be nearly as successful to follow a main character who rarely speaks, never reveals his face and for the most part just shoots at things? As a fan of the games and movies in general, this is one I don’t want to see screwed up.
I see the commercial more as a proof of concept with regard to the feel of it and the visuals. Some of the cgi needs work, but after all it is just a commercial….a commercial that I thought was pretty cool.
I think they (movie makers of Hollywood) are more than ready to make a Halo film. I mean Sci-Fi FX are really insane now days, but it doesn’t need a commercial or anything like that to prove that they are able to make one. why do we need a commercial for proof when theres movies like Star Wars|Transformers|Avatar already showcasing the mighty SFX that Hollywood are capable of? I’m a big fan of Sci-Fi, i love Halo too, and i’m excited about it getting made, and if a commercial like this can give us a glimpse of what is to come, imagine with a full length movie. That being said, as i always say, SFX or no, “the story” needs to be solid, above everything else. I have seen too much SFX that i don’t really bother about it anymore, but what always keeps me watching a film again from time to time is the story. stories are timeless, SFX can get old really quick.
Yes, the Halo commercial looked nice. But if you really must know, I find that upside down cell phone commercial funny as hell. That does not mean there will be a movie about those characters. I seen the American Godzilla from 1997 eat a bag of Doritos. That does not mean I wish for a sequel to that junkheap from 12 years ago.
So here’s a commercial that advertises a video game. That could mean the game is good. That does not say anything about a live action film.
Actually, I’d hope for a Halo along the likes of Rob Zemeckis’ Beowulf. But I’m not holding out much hopes for this.
Yes, one day there will be a VG that translates into a film well- and there have been close calls, nothing much of a slam dunk.
Personally John, I disagree and agree with your thoughts. NO it does not mean “Let’s make a Halo movie because of this commercial”….But it does show how awesome one would look like..making us more thirsty for a Halo film. It was shot greatly (for a commercial). So what I’m saying is no it doesn’t say let’s make one now, but it does show how awesome Halo could look…
I’m excited.
About shaky camera:
The shaky camera is a good way to express the feel of war, it not like training- its faster, rougher, and feelings (fear) take over. The shay camera is not bad in war scenes. And hey where okay in Gamer (IMHO)
What I think is, they released this commercial PORPUSELY to see how the public will react, to see if well accept a Halo movie or not. Ive got the script and its great, its a rough draft…but its phenomenal. If anyone wants it you can ask me for it (Thank you Aaron). Its the first draft but its fucking insane, and it feels JUST LIKE THIS COMMERCIAL FELT. Youll know what I mean if you read it. Its great.
I just dont see why they would make a live action video game commercial if not to see how fans react to the idea of a movie. And sure, this isnt the first videogame that made a live action commercial…but this one FELT like a movie trailer
I REALLY dont see how someone cant be out the door psyched about Halo after watching this commercial, its freaking glorious. Im sure it will get made, the fan base is way too big to be left without the movie.
If movies is all about making money (a cashgrab) then this will inevitably get made. Soon.
The trailer isn’t all that good. It’s ok… but it’s nothing special.
Wow, I type like a 3 year old.
Pardon the grammatical errors please =]
Your welcome, hah :)
If they do a Halo movie, I’d like it to be all CGI. Like the Final Fantasy movie. Sure, the movie was crap, but the CGI was great. Then, they could get all the voice actors from the games, instead some douche like Vin Diesel getting the part of Master Chief….
FF was crap?
Maybe in your opinion but last time I checked it was very fresh over at RT with critics!
Well, it’s not. It’s at 44%.
Plus, it was my opinion that is sucked. Why do people think RT’s word is law?
Which FF movie are we talking about? Because Advent Children was NOT half bad, considering what they had to work with. And I heard to the new edition was much more story oriented. Not to mention that it’s got the very best action in any CG flick to date.
It was built by videogame makers as a direct-to-dvd tribute to their game. And I’d say they did a pretty darn good job.
I was referencing the one in theaters in 2001. I don’t anything about any other FF movies.
FF was awesome.
@ Vito
I agree, the FF movie from 2001 (Spirits Within) wasn’t very good. Pretty confusing, I thought. Then again, I was around 11 when I saw it.
But Final Fantasy: Advent Children (the only other FF movie that I personally know about) was pretty amazing.
In my opinion, even though I see your point of why a commercial doesn’t mean a movie can be made, I can see why so many have the other opinion.
In the commercial,we see a real outfit for Halo. You look at other movies that are modeled after something else, and costumes and how the people look like are a big deal. For example, the Dragon Ball movie which recently had many non believers the moment it began because people knew the characters were impossible to even look like the ones in the cartoon and the costumes were unrealistic. Here, it’s showing the public that it is indeed possible to make a believable unvierse for Halo.
2nd, we see that a story could be told. I know it’s a 30 second commericial, but we also see a war story. Something that had been a risk to do lately, and the one that have been made may have had good reviews, but not done so well in the box office. The people who are saying this is a good idea are showing that they are ready to see a high budget war movie again. So it will be something fresh to see, compared to all the superhero genre movies we have been seeing lately.
Finally, the commercial shows the feel of what people will want on this film and any director who gets this film will be able to see that. It has that dark erie and realism feel. This is huge! It shows to keep away from making it feel so sci-fi. It shows that don’t show the origins of how they have this high-tech gear, but make it as if it was already part of this world.
I’m not saying this movie will be good. But this commercial does give an example of what people want to see from this movie. It will help anyone making this movie have a better understanding of what is needed to be done, and hopefully make this into production quicker. .
In my opinion, even though I see your point of why a commercial doesn’t mean a movie can be made, I can see why so many have the other opinion.
In the commercial,we see a real outfit for Halo. You look at other movies that are modeled after something else, and costumes and how the people look like are a big deal. For example, the Dragon Ball movie which recently had many non believers the moment it began because people knew the characters were impossible to even look like the ones in the cartoon and the costumes were unrealistic. Here, it’s showing the public that it is indeed possible to make a believable unvierse for Halo.
2nd, we see that a story could be told. I know it’s a 30 second commericial, but we also see a war story. Something that had been a risk to do lately, and the one that have been made may have had good reviews, but not done so well in the box office. The people who are saying this is a good idea are showing that they are ready to see a high budget war movie again. So it will be something fresh to see, compared to all the superhero genre movies we have been seeing lately.
Finally, the commercial shows the feel of what people will want on this film and any director who gets this film will be able to see that. It has that dark erie and realism feel. This is huge! It shows to keep away from making it feel so sci-fi. It shows that don’t show the origins of how they have this high-tech gear, but make it as if it was already part of this world.
I’m not saying this movie will be good. But this commercial does give an example of what people want to see from this movie. It will help anyone making this movie have a better understanding of what is needed to be done, and hopefully make this into production quicker.
That commercial gives us an idea how a Halo movie could be done.
Maybe they should hire the guy who directed this commercial because the visuals were very cool.
The Halo movie can work if it was told from a different POV of a soldier who has witness all of the things that Master Chief has done.
A Halo movie would rock
But what about a Metroid Prime
Hell yea Dude I’ve been wanting them to make one for years!
Playing that game now, its awesome….as a game!
Not as good as halo for a movie imo as its story is nowhere near as good for that type of thing, I mean im like 2 hours into the game and theirs still been like ZERO dialouge! Just like a few sentences at the beginning of the game :/
I don’t know if they are 100% ready for it, but at the very least, the commercial made me pause and think “If they make the movie and it looks like this, I’d be interested in seeing it”. I’m interested, but I’m also a little wary because I know they’re going to take Master Chief’s helmet off, and I don’t want them to.
I think that the whole..”leave the helmet on” thing is good for the videogame
But its one of those things that needs to be changed for the movie.
Hey John,
I know you have said many many times that all video game movies suck. But do you think possibly that Halo will break that curse? Because, as you know, according to the law of averages, it eventually has to happen. And if this thing ever gets into production, who do you ultimately think should helm the project?
Considering the guy who wrote the script for the GI Joe movie is working on the Halo movie, I kinda doubt that this will break the “suckage” curse.
Is he Really!?
God! You’d think that they would try to find the right type of writer for certain movies.
It should be pointed out that this guy who’s attached to write the Halo movie not only wrote G.I.JOE, but also wrote the Pirates of the Carribbean movies and Collateral. Don’t worry too much.
Stuart Beattie has written or co-written other films than GI Joe; it should strongly be pointed out that when some writers are hired by studios and/or producers to write something for them, and they are paid to write some things some ways. In addition, if said writers don’t follow such protocol, or write something that don’t follow with ‘the vision’ of the studio, producers, director etc…
Another writer is brought in.
I think District 9 was the only proof I needed that they were ready to make a Halo movie.
Abso-freaking-lutely.
Storywise there may be some way to go, but the style of visuals from District 9 proved that a Halo Universe may not be too far away.
John, you are right, one 30 second commercial doesn’t mean we’re ready for a Halo movie. But you also can’t ignore the fact that the commercials that have been produced for the Halo series have been more then just the usual video game trailers.
I think at this stage, the commercials are a good way to portray the series on a cinematic level (Which is just a bit of a tease for every Halo fan out there, lol). I think that Halo fans have been ready for a Halo film since the first installment of the franchise. Studios have the technology, the casting pool, and the reasons to start this project, it just hasn’t gotten off the ground yet. I know Spielberg is attached, but it didn’t make much difference when Jackson joined Blomkamp.
Until we see a press release or something a little more concrete about an actual movie, I’ll keep enjoying these great Halo shorts they produce for the series.
Good point. It’s actually kind of self-explanatory, really.
It is what it is, a commercial.