Halo Movie Back in Production?

[AI Blue Fox]

Hm. Touche,

I think that a possible Speilberg-Halo Movie should focus on Red Team, and more inadvertently, the Fall of Reach. And, if it satisfies the faction of Halo Lore Fans, integrate and meld the story of Jun and Halsey, the return to CASTLE Base, and maybe throw in a cameo by John-117.

Nah, they should do it of green team or Grey team, because I'm righting a book called Halo: Red Team. that would ruin my hard work if they did red. I want them to do one with at least an HD MK V so that people like me who LOVE the little ol thing can make a new nice suit based of it

 

[koshima07]

maybe, a Series?
Like Firefly.

Just a suggestion, but it would include Noble and the teams during the evacuation of New Alexandria.

 

[BEN B023]

This has already been discussed. The audience can't connect to a faceless character very well, so there have to be scenes without the helmet so the audience actually cares whether MC lives or dies. Someone mentioned that this is why Tony Stark is constantly lifting his faceplate in the Iron Man movies. The suit looks cool, but it has no heart.
At this point, you need to either cut MC altogether or have him remove his helmet from time to time. And face it, a Halo movie without MC as a significant character would be a letdown. This is why I don't see Steve Downes doing the part. There is NO WAY he can do anything more than voice acting for 117 (has anyone actually seen a picture of him?). I personally want Kiefer Sutherland in the role, as I mentioned before, but I digress.

Clever writers can write a story as to WHY we can't see MC's face. First we can't see his face because of camera angles...next we COULD if he removed his helmet which he wont anymore because XXXXX....

it can be done. They just need good story writers/tellers, which quite frankly hollywood seems to be lacking nowadays.

 

[Lord Talon]

Last thing I heard on G4 was that the Speilberg film(s) are supposed to be based on the prequel novels...and it was said that we won't see MC at all. Peter Jackson has also stated that he was still very interested in making a Halo film w/MC, and I think his group still has the rights to a film based on the games themselves. As for Michael Bay...I loved Transformers when I was growing up, and I like the movies as well. I just look at it as two seperate universes...kinda like the Star Trek stuff going on now.

 

[PhantomSG13]

This has already been discussed. The audience can't connect to a faceless character very well, so there have to be scenes without the helmet so the audience actually cares whether MC lives or dies. Someone mentioned that this is why Tony Stark is constantly lifting his faceplate in the Iron Man movies. The suit looks cool, but it has no heart.
At this point, you need to either cut MC altogether or have him remove his helmet from time to time. And face it, a Halo movie without MC as a significant character would be a letdown. This is why I don't see Steve Downes doing the part. There is NO WAY he can do anything more than voice acting for 117 (has anyone actually seen a picture of him?). I personally want Kiefer Sutherland in the role, as I mentioned before, but I digress.

I entirely disagree. I think it is safe to say that good voice acting coupled with (And this is a big big one) the proper soundtrack you can become very invested in a character. In the games we never saw MC's face but I bet more players then not felt a connection or were able to relate to him. I think it is pretty safe to say that far before Darth Vader took off his helmet in the end of RotJ that people had some strong connections or repulsions to him.

And while I think BEN-BO23 has a good point, I don't even think it needs to be that elaborate with the writing and what not. Just follow the same techniques that the games did with angles or like star wars did with teases.

One of my biggest movie disappointments ever was when they made the Spawn movie and 99% of the time he was Mr. burned face rather than the iconic Spawn mask (Entirely killed the mood of the movie for me personally)

Fact of the matter is, I can not picture anyone playing MC (Voice aside because that one belongs to Steve Downes no matter what). And I also think that if you gave MC a face and facial expressions, he would become a weaker character for it. After all, if you really want to tell a Halo story with MC then you have to stay somewhat true to his character, and if you do that facial expressions and emotions would only muddle up the character you're trying to portray.

 

[Lord Talon]

I can definately see doing a movie with MC as a faceless character with a great voice actor( Steve Downs or even Steve Blum). That is how everyone sees him anyway...Like Vader used to be before the end of RoTJ and the 3 prequels. It never took any of the power Vader radiated throughout the first series of films....until you saw the pale, messed-up figure under the helm. THAT took much of the chaacters power from him. My biggest problem now is watching episodes 4-6 without seeing Vader as Anakin..be it the little scared slave boy or the Jedi who just wanted to protect his wife. There is nothing wrong with showing his background...but the Vader I got to know as a child was both expanded and destroyed. Halo has a built in audience...us and the millions of other out there who love the game, the stories, and the characters.

The argument that Stark kept showing off his face so that everyone knows that he was a man and not a machine is irrelevent to this arguement. Most folks that saw Iron Man used to read the comics and know what Tony Stark looks like ( and RDJ did a fine job portraying him!), and it was expected to see the actor's face. Thank Goodness RDJ actually WORE a suit...it made it much more realistic, rather than total CGI. With John-117, everyone has their OWN opinion on what he looks like, and just casting someone in that role just so we can have a face would be a let down to many gamers/moviegoers.

With a good actor, we won't need a face to convey MC's emtions and moods. Little body movements and inflections in the voice actor's tone can convey those quite well.

 

[deltaback]

This has already been discussed. The audience can't connect to a faceless character very well, so there have to be scenes without the helmet so the audience actually cares whether MC lives or dies. Someone mentioned that this is why Tony Stark is constantly lifting his faceplate in the Iron Man movies. The suit looks cool, but it has no heart.
At this point, you need to either cut MC altogether or have him remove his helmet from time to time. And face it, a Halo movie without MC as a significant character would be a letdown. This is why I don't see Steve Downes doing the part. There is NO WAY he can do anything more than voice acting for 117 (has anyone actually seen a picture of him?). I personally want Kiefer Sutherland in the role, as I mentioned before, but I digress.

I thought what they did with Kat in the Deliver hope trailer was quite good. You could have it so that only sections of the face were shown (like the inside-helmet shot after she is hit by a fuel rod blast) Her full face is never shown and I still felt sad and she only got her arm blown off (I mean the original noble 6 died!) The music was still a huge win though - really added to the scene.

 

[Sangheili811]

BEN-B023- I'm not big on the idea of using awkward camera angles to hide Chiefs face because the non-halo fans are gonna wonder why we can't see his face.
If you don't give them a reason, they will either have to buy into the faceless-warrior-thing in a couple minutes or be alienated from the character, and to me, the latter seems much more likely. Bungie took years building up the faceless legend, the movie would have to build the legend in a couple scenes, which I see ending badly. Much more likely the public would just disconnect with him.
The other option is to make up reason why he doesn't take off his helmet, and to me, that's a bad idea. Chief's not the type do something like that for a superstitious or ritualistic reason, and it would weaken the character to change that.

Lord Talon: The fact that everyone knows what Stark's face looks like already and they STILL kept lifting his helmet is telling. They're not revealing anything by doing that, they just recognize that no, they can't make the suit emote. Neither Iron Man nor 117's helmet has eyes that can remote, and I think without those, the character cannot have heart and cannot emote well at all. If you watch any of the extras on Pixar's movies, the animators convey subtle emotion through the eyebrows and eyes, and neither is an option on Spartan armor.

 

[BEN B023]

BEN-B023- I'm not big on the idea of using awkward camera angles to hide Chiefs face because the non-halo fans are gonna wonder why we can't see his face.
If you don't give them a reason, they will either have to buy into the faceless-warrior-thing in a couple minutes or be alienated from the character, and to me, the latter seems much more likely. Bungie took years building up the faceless legend, the movie would have to build the legend in a couple scenes, which I see ending badly. Much more likely the public would just disconnect with him.
The other option is to make up reason why he doesn't take off his helmet, and to me, that's a bad idea. Chief's not the type do something like that for a superstitious or ritualistic reason, and it would weaken the character to change that.



In one of the halo games there is a cut scene when he is in the pelican? and takes his helmet off...and right before you see his face...the angle of the camera from the ship is to great to see his face. In Halo Legends they do the same tricks..

Later..if he were to keep the helmet on for a "reason"..the best would be from a wound in battle to his face(perhaps when Sam dies since that is early on). He may even tell Kelly that the reason he doesn't want her or anyone to see his face again is because he knows his "legend" is growing. He understands his role as inspiration to other soldiers and his fellow spartans. If he never takes his helmet off, he is seen as invincible...an unknown hero. A mystery.

But I agree with others above, you can have it portrayed like Vader was and it gets the point across just as well.

 

[adam4472]

it wasn't a pelican it was a longsword at the end of halo ce and there is a moded ending were he takes his helmet off and there's another helmet under it

 

[koshima07]

Like simon's infinite shirts!
LOL it's fun to make fun of Pop Culture!

 

[Sangheili811]

it wasn't a pelican it was a longsword at the end of halo ce and there is a moded ending were he takes his helmet off and there's another helmet under it

Right, and at that point you've had the whole game to bond with him.

Also notice that in Reach, which was a more character driven story, the only Spartan who DOESN'T remove his helmet is Emile, and he's probably the shallowest and the one you care about least. He also won't shut up, so you never have to guess what's on his mind. John, on the other hand, hardly talks at all.

 

[Ehekky]

they can't make the suit emote.

I think that's not true, at the start of the Halo: Reach level "New Alexandria", you can clearly see that Noble 6 is weary, you can see that he doesn't feel like fighting any more aliens, but he does anyway, because that's his duty.

 

[koshima07]

I think that's not true, at the start of the Halo: Reach level "New Alexandria", you can clearly see that Noble 6 is weary, you can see that he doesn't feel like fighting any more aliens, but he does anyway, because that's his duty.

Exactly. Long have battles have ripped into the SIIIs. the SIIs were veterans, and yet you could still see the weariness in Jorge after he accepts what fate has in store for him.

As for Emile, hey, He's a badass for a SIII. you have to admit that. I mean no other known person on Reach wouldve taken out those Squidlies even after being stabbed in the back, lifted off of the surface, and held high to die, let alone turn and quickly dispatch his enemy with one last sputter of acceptance.

I miss Kat... it was sad to see her sniped... however ironic it truely was... Keep your shields on, people, or the squidlies'll make quick work of your helmets and hard work, too.

 

[PhantomSG13]

Cinematic aside, in the games and books (I'm not counting reach and those half breeds ) the SIIs almost never take off their helmets period, they travel in stasis in them, they train in them, they live in those suits as if it were their own skin. Movie part aside, I think it would send the wrong message for them to constantly be taking off their helmets because it simply isn't in character (That's why they had the two finger smiley face thing anyways)

 

[koshima07]

Cinematic aside, in the games and books (I'm not counting reach and those half breeds ) the SIIs almost never take off their helmets period, they travel in stasis in them, they train in them, they live in those suits as if it were their own skin. Movie part aside, I think it would send the wrong message for them to constantly be taking off their helmets because it simply isn't in character (That's why they had the two finger smiley face thing anyways)

Right on the nail, Phantom!
SII's were trained to meld and become one with their MJOLNIR Systems, not to mention adapt and survive.
SIIIs just aren't as compassinoate, as can be seen in Carter-259. However, that's where fandom comes in. Just because you're writing a story about a team of Spartans doesn't mean they have to be INHUMAN...

On the contrary, allow them to be human. That's what Delta Squad is all about!

 

[Sepharih]

Right, and at that point you've had the whole game to bond with him.

Also notice that in Reach, which was a more character driven story, the only Spartan who DOESN'T remove his helmet is Emile, and he's probably the shallowest and the one you care about least. He also won't shut up, so you never have to guess what's on his mind. John, on the other hand, hardly talks at all.

Ironically, I think I would have liked Emile a LOT more if he had never talked. A lot of people complained about how his voice didn't really fit with the character's m.o., and I agree with them, but I was kind of hoping for Emile to be the silent badass of the group. He could have been a more silent warrior, lurking in the shadows, letting his actions do the talking for him. He could have been the Darth Maul of the Halo Universe.
Instead, he was noble's token black guy...and you can't beat Sergeant Johnson on that front.




For me, the trick to doing Chief as the central protagonist while preserving his lack of visage is to play up on the character's mystique, rather than attempting a character driven narrative with him.
The example I like to use a lot is Batman. Not the more recent Batman entries with Christian Bale where Batman recieves a much more in depth character study, but rather the Tim Burton era Michael Keaton films. In the first film, Batman is not really ever given any kind of complex characterization or, or deep introspection. Instead, for most of the film, the character's mystique is played up and he is treated more as a dark shadowy force. In fact, most of the film isn't from his or Bruce Wayne's perspective.
I would approach the chief similarly, as something primal, and powerful. Not big on character...but big on mystique.
Another interesting proposal came from the Halo screenplay that vociferous published on Ascendant Justice a while back (the one I'm making a fanfilm of), and one of the interesting things he did with it was to give the supreme commander of the covenant armada (the arbiter) the most complex characterization in the story.
As he put it, Chief could almost be approached as a slasher from a horror film like Jason, or Michael Myers. From the covenant perspective...he literally is a monster in fact. A demon, as they say.

 

[hollywood]

The problem with any epic story, especially one as epic as the Halo Universe, is that it has to be epic. One of the most reliable ways to keep something epic is mystery and Archetype, as Sepharih was saying. I would love to see a Tarentino style film (not the gore and cursing, but the interweaving of 3-4 storylines and jumping around the timeline.) Maybe having a team of marines playing a supporting role as in Landfall, a team of ODST's trying to pull off some insanely impossible feat, a group of civilians just trying to survive and escape the situation, the crew of a battle cruiser in orbit, and then see this epic green MC moving in and out of the seperate storylines. He wouldnt be the main character,but would be the lynch pin that brought all the stories together.

 

[taurus656]

Now if i say something here that happens in the books forgive me cause i havnt read them. Want to just havnt yet. But what if the halo movies showed cool parts of the story from the games that arnt mentioned in the games? Like in Jarhead where it shows the basic training but it could be of John at spartan training then him going off to whereever he goes first. Not being the whole story line, just a cool part to the beginning

 

[deltaback]

Now if i say something here that happens in the books forgive me cause i havnt read them. Want to just havnt yet. But what if the halo movies showed cool parts of the story from the games that arnt mentioned in the games? Like in Jarhead where it shows the basic training but it could be of John at spartan training then him going off to whereever he goes first. Not being the whole story line, just a cool part to the beginning

Interesting thought. Perhaps a way of making the audience care for the John could be through scenes of his childhood. I mean, in the books they're shown to be treated quite harshly - Doctor Halsey even becomes a kind of maternal figure for her Spartan II's - Maybe weaving sections of his younger life throughout the movie could be a way of ensuring and maintaining a connection between 117 and the viewer.