Halo: Nightfall

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.

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.

It's the 26th century. There is a tenuous treaty between humans and the alien alliance called Covenant. Despite the peace, the Covenant is still sending operatives in a dangerous secret war. On an outer planet called Sedra, Commander Jameson Locke (Mike Colter) leads a squad hunting a Zealot Elite warrior with a suspected bomb.

I saw this as a ninety min Showtime movie. It has a lot less shooting than I expected. Actually I expected a lot less of everything from this movie. The acting is pretty good led by a capable Mike Colter. The characters are mostly one dimensional but that's fine for this type of movie. I like their conflicts once they get to the ring. The first part isn't as compelling and is limited by its production. Overall, I'm relief that it doesn't suck. It's not bad.

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!

While Nightfall is a step above most other video game televisions or film adaptations, it is still unfortunately delivers less than what is expected from a modern drama and quite honestly less than what fans of the long running game series deserve. Halo obviously had an incredible series of video game entries but also was really the first game series to pioneer a literary universe alongside it with many award winning sci-fi novels that routinely place in the New York times best seller list. Television and film is an arena Halo has yet to conquer as successfully and Nightfall is, sadly, not going to change that.

My biggest complaint would be that at the end of the day the story really has very little to do with Halo. That's a benefit for those watching who have never played Halo, but a letdown for those fans looking for that kind of story, and honestly considering the scope and quality of what is available for sci-fi why would you watch this if you were not a Halo fan? Most elements here, if you had simply swapped the names to non-Halo terms, would not change the context or value of the plot at all. It is a sci-fi film with Halo paint essentially.

The CGI is absolutely laughable, but the costumes are quite exceptional and really the CGI turns out to be very limited as this turns into more of a character drama than anything else which I enjoyed. Most of the characters are fleshed out with unique motivations and it creates a lot of loaded, tense conflicts between then as they decide what they have to do and what choices need to be made. If I can say one thing is that this is the realest Halo had ever felt in terms of characters and motivations. Everyone has clear reasons for what they do and say and how they act towards each other and it pays off in a lot of tense interactions between them.

Maybe someday we will get the Halo show we have been asking for, and this certainly isn't it, but it still was enjoyable for me and honestly a lot better than what I expected from a low budget video game adaption.