After a debut at SXSW 2022, the long in the works (over a decade, I believe) series based on the video game Halo was then available to be viewed on Paramount+ and now in a visually stunning 4K Ultra HD version for you to own.
What can you expect, you ask? Well, exactly what you would from the video game itself – plenty of action, lack of emotion, and a whole lotta violence. So basically following the whole Mandalorian format which has been very successful for that Disney series.
It is the year 2552 on the planet Madrigal or Tier 4 Heavy Water Extraction Planet and the humans living there come under attack by what they at first believe are the genetically engineered super soldiers fighting on behalf of the United Nations Space Command. Many are killed without any thought.
After taking a pause to breathe, the humans realize that it was not the Spartans they were attacked by, but a new foe. The attackers are hybrid man-lizards that have spider-like jaws and spike-like arms that shoot lasers. They kill all they see – man, woman and child.
Now the Spartans come in to help in the battle against the aliens and to try and figure out why they have even come. It is revealed that there is some sort of artifact buried in the mountains on the planet that they are after.
There are some interesting moral quandaries found within the first season like whether is it too high a price to save another human if you are giving up your own humanity in doing so or who should make the decisions within a society – those doing the work or leaders who have no hands-on contact with the issues? On the surface, this seems like good stuff to base a series upon. Where the series seems to be tripping up is in the execution.
Doing a simple good vs. evil piece is usually too simplistic. To make something worthwhile of viewers’ time there has to be a few layers added in. That is if you want your series classified amongst the upper echelon of the science-fiction genre. As of the majority of the first season that has not been the case.
On the plus side, there are some promising signs that the ship could be righted. There are plenty of pulse-raising action scenes and, for the fans of Halo, those behind it have remained faithful to the source material so far.
Special Features:
-Declassified
-Creating the Costumes of Halo
-Weapons and Vehicles of Halo
-Dissecting the Battle of Madrigal
-Becoming Spartans
-The Lake of Eternal Life: A Song From Halo’s Score
-The World of Halo
-The Making of Cortana
-The Culture of the Covenant
-Adapting Halo