Cryin' over Cryo. (Corny twists) Right at the end of the film, we ripple dissolve to white... then replay the scene where the Chief is brought out of cryogenic storage.
Marine Ensemble (Characters) Any movie with space marines is a cliche waiting to happen.
The movie definitely needs the marines and ODSTs to be able to compare with the MC.
But they also need to avoid the standard
cliched character ensemble of:
religious guy (dies first),
black guy (gets a minigun and goes nuts),
tough as nails latin-american woman (i.e Michelle Rodriguez - dies last),
nervous newbie (saves the hero's life),
smart-arse who turns out to be a chicken (or vice versa)
CGI (Computer Graphics) Everyone I speak to seems to be against the whole 'Entirely Computer Generated Halo Movie' idea, I can't understand why. Making the movie live-action would take away what Halo really is... It is a video-game, everything we have ever seen from the Halo Universe has been rendered by a computer or drawn by a person; it does not NEED (I'm not saying it cannot) to be portrayed 'in the real world'. WETA did an unbelievable job with live-action in LOTR, (although I am aware that a lot of shots were CGI) but LOTR was a book, not a video-game and by shooting live-action I feel it takes away what Halo really is. I don't want to see some actor try and pretend to be Sarge, or act like Chief; I want to SEE Chief and Sarge on screen, not someone who is imitating their character.
Jealousy Loves the Silver Screen (Romance) An overcast sky looms above a torn battlefield. Corpses and jagged pieces of metal tell a story of just another battle. The sky opens up, as if heaven were lamenting, and heavy drops fall fast. Under an overhang, the Spartans stand as a rain falls without mercy.
Linda watches the landscape through her sniper scope. We see John walk amongst the ranks. Kelly is looking towards the distance, lost in thought. John walks over and she puts her armored hand on his chest and he pulls her close. They stand in the embrace and we can only tell what they mean through body language. Oh but Linda loved John and she still does. She watches in steady, soaring rage. In a desperate, jealous act she picks up her sniper rifle, ready to catch his head in the crosshairs. A resolute finger squeezes the trigger. Kelly jumps in the way, taking the bullet. Time slows to a crawl as her limp body falls, birds fly off in the background, feathers scatter in the air, raindrops splash against her helmet. She lays at John?s feet in the rain. He bends down and takes off her helmet, she?s dying. Blood trickles down her lips, rain falls on her pale face and runs down onto her lips and they mouth ?I love you? and cease.
And the heavens continue to lament as Linda?s power cell explodes in the distance.
grunt family values (Oral Fixations) Speaking from personal experience, Grunt work is thirsty stuff. I'm sure all the rubber suit wearing extras will need plenty of hydration, so...to help them stay in character between shots why not make a fully-functional, Grunt Queen, food-nipple beverage dispenser? If WETA does it I'm sure it?ll be good enough to use as an onscreen prop. But, in typical, PG-13 rating rabid Hollywood fashion, the producers will undoubtedly cover the nipple with a post-effect digital pastie. Ever since Lucas caved and put a sarong on Sy Snootles, alien anatomical prudery has become SUCH a Hollywood cliche.
- Joseph
P.S. I can?t wait to see what?s in the box! :-)
Oh, what do you know? :)
- free3bme
Now I'm seeing a full-size, latex representation of a Grunt Queen, for those wishing a quick thirst quench. Next to each nipple is a container of alcohol swabs, so that you can maintain a certain level of sanitation for the next "participant."
Sparta Rappa (Characters) Don't make Sergeant Johnson it to a Hollywood-ed stereotypical black guy.
If they get rid of the military attitude and make him bling, I will be angry.
MC vs Commando/Sword Elite duel aboard a starship (Scenes) I don't know if it's been posted before since i haven't read the whole listing, but MC probably will get into a fancy duel with the sword elite who's on the raised platform on T and R, and after that, a rifle and grenade duel with a black elite commander on Pillar of Autumn, with the fusion reactors ticking away and rampaging flood nearby.
Departures (Corny twists) The Chief is 'the last Spartan' and he goes around kicking ass but then right at the end when you think the flood will get him before he gets to the Longsword fighter, he's saved!
By his old squad who aren't KIA. They give him a thumbs up and off they fly into my barf bag and finally to the nearest dustbin.
Fear the pen of the writer, it could be the only thing that saves you...
Wow...this immediately gave me an impression of Obi-Wan and Yoda in the last scene of Return of the Jedi, when they come and celebrate with Luke. Perhaps he makes it, and while escaping, before cryo-sleep, he's visited by his old squad for a Star Wars moment.
Guilty but no spark... (Characters) Guilty Spark, he's a key player, powerful, a little crazy but doesn't actually intervene himself, nor can he as a robotic eye that floats.
However what if the film allows him to slot into a 'body' and go stomping around like some deranged Forerunner ABC warrior or worse, like a Ripley mechanical loader.
He tries to kill the Chief only for Cortana to say:
'Get away from him you b*tch!'
Aliens for a new generation, ahhhh the fetid, decaying smell of a remake with a face lift.
Hudson's Lament (Characters) A lot of entries seem to complain about possible "space marine" clich?s. How quickly you all forget that the marines in Halo are supposed to be spoofs of these clich?s! We've got characters named Jenkins and Mendoza, two of the most clich?d soldier names, and Michelle Rodriguez does in fact play a hardass soldier babe. I'd be disappointed if she wasn't in the movie!
No, the biggest mistake the Halo movie could make is if it took itself too seriously. The marines are there for comic relief more than anything. That they're so effective in ground engagements while being a bunch of goofballs is part of their charm. There will be plenty of time for MC to play the stoic hero in the midst of alien zealots and flesh-chomping zombies. Let the marines have their fun.
I think there's a subtle difference though... in the game, the marines do indeed act bad-ass, with their poses, their attention to the objective, etc. The comic relief comes from their interaction with the MC as well as each other and the enemy, and of course their various funny deaths.
The problem is that if done poorly, they could indeed look like over-the-top caricatures. There has to be the right balance between buffoonery and the grim reality of war to make it entertaining and not such a groan-fest.
Some kind of comedic relief... (Comic Relief) ...that won't be funny. I can't say for sure but I get the bad feeling that sometime during the movie a grunt or marine voiced by Adam Sandler or Rob Schnieder will jump up and go "You can do it MC! Shoot his frekin' head off"
The serious choice needs to be made between campy comedy and comedic elements that lend benefit to the scene and overall story. Most of the truly, laugh your ass-off moments, in the game were beneficial and had a tendency to flow with the show. Everyone loves hearing a "Bob" talking back after MC dies, or points a sniper at a friendly head, but making that connection with movie watchers is a stretch at best.
'innovative' use of scenery as a weapon (Scenes) The master chief has been disarmed and is in dire straits against a more powerful enemy. FEAR YOU NOT! For a precariously placed heavy object or other scenery plot hole allows him to barely escape the brink of death...because it's not like the Chief can fight hand to hand or has grenades with him or anything.
Hmmm...
As long as we don't see Nicole-ish moves that were discussed in books, but never seen in the game.
Cry Me a River (Weepy melodrama) You all remember the day when you were playing Halo 1 and you saw what they did to Keyes? Well imagine this... As the scene starts we can hear Keyes groaning like he did in the game. MAster Cheif then yells "Hold on Keyes I'm coming!" Keyes then responds with the "Leave me" or soething along those lines. When the cheif eventually gets to Keyes and sees him infected we hear him utter a short "I'm sorry Keyes, I just wasn't fast enough" He thens yells "NOOO!!!" and punches Keyes chip out. Then we see Cheifs shoulders bob and he emit a short sob.
Minigun musings (Weapons) A horrible cliche all on its own would be a character, any character, using a handheld Gatling gun. In reality, those things have a recoil that will knock you off your feet, and the amount of ammo needed to fire one even just 20 seconds be far too heavy and volumous to carry around, even or the Cheif. The warthogs minigun is fine, it's mounted onto a 3-4 ton vehicle, and has an ammo drum under it, but a scene where MC rips it from its bracing and runs around with it would be truly unrealistic.
Spartan 101 (Scenes from Hell) The Chief has a hugely grueling battle, and bleeding badly, has a half-hour long stare into his remaining enemy's (who is lying,bleeding on the floor. He sees convieniently emotional scenes of his life. Finally he stamps down on the enemies face, killing him. He stands for a while, silent tears dripping down his face. Then he tears of the helmet, turning out to be the Microsoft Paperclip! The ending credits are of him and Cortana riding of into the binary sunset.
