Halo ODST

[Jon Starr]

No I'm not talking about the movie. I'm talking about the recent commercial that caught my attention. It's a 30 sec spot on TV, they have a 90 second version, and a 2:30 version. To be honest, something about it really catches my attention. What do you guys think?

The commercial is directed by Rupert Sanders, a big time commercial director who had also made the "Believe" Halo 3 spots.

Checking out his other stuff, some great stuff there.

ODST 90 second spot + article: http://www.planetxbox360.com/article_7716/Halo_3_ODST_90_Second_Live-Action_Commercial_Online

ODST short film/spot: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=63056181

"Believe" Halo 3 spot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKG1nvV1Wnc

 

[Nektonic]

As a Halo fan, this commercial spot looked really excellent. I think this is the closest we've seen to what a Halo feature film should look and feel like (sorry Neill Blomkamp, but this is more along the lines of what a feature Halo flick should be).

Of course, Blomkamp would also be a good choice for director if he made it more along the lines of how he tackled District 9.

 

[Jon Starr]

I agree. I think in terms of visual style, both directors bring something interesting. The main question is, does Rupert Sanders know how to put together a narrative film? I suppose a lot of it would be the writing, but I feel the director should have a lot of say in the writing and needs to know how to put it together.

Not to say he wouldn't be a good fit for it though.

 

[Nektonic]

Yeah, I guess Blomkamp has the advantage of already having proved his abilities with a feature. Plus he has Peter Jackson's support, who Microsoft initially approached about the Halo film adaptation in the first place. Thing is that it seems Jackson is awfully busy now with The Hobbit films, so would he have time to produce Halo? Add to that the fact that Blomkamp has said he would turn down another offer to direct a feature film version of Halo.

I agree on what you say about the script though. That is really the key. Would they be better off going with a more human focus (Fall of Reach, or ODST troopers)? Or would they focus on the Master Chief and do some sort of adaptation of the first game?

If they went with a film focusing on Fall or Reach, the audience doesn't really get to see much if anything on a "halo" world. But then the whole thing is called Halo and there is no "halo" in it. Kinda seems like a big problem to me. The flip side is can they make it compelling and not just a bunch of big action scenes with a film that had a focus on Master Chief?

Then again, Microsoft recently stated that they have no plans to co-produce a live action Halo feature in the near future, instead saying that they are going to focus on the games and other forms of media for the series. I'm guessing that with PJ busy and Blomkamp saying he's out, Microsoft is probably going to just bury the whole notion of a film for a few years at least.