gamespot.com/news/2005/06/10 … 27307.html
I can’t wait to see how it turns out. The Halo series features one of the most interesting worlds in an FPS, and it looks like Microsoft are serious about translating that world and timeline as accurately as possible to the big screen.
I really hope it turns out well, currently it seems they are trying to rush it. I don’t want Halo to turn into another Resident Evil type movie, or even (shudder) Alone in the Dark.
If it goes through I would love to see Ed Harris (Enemy At the Gates, The Rock, The Abyss) play captain Keyes, I think he would fit the role perfectly.
Unless it’s totally CGI I bet I’m not gonna like this movie.
And even so.
Why not? Surely having marines, Master Chief, etc played by real actors would make more sense than making them CG?
If I wanted a CGI I would just play the game. 
With real actors they can give the universe some life it was missing in the games that CGI couldn’t. All I have to say is that they better get a good director.
Yeah, it’s just a sci fi flick after all, if Aliens can have real actors why shouldn’t this oO.
Anyway, I can’t say I’m looking forward to it but if it’s (really) good I’ll go watch it since there haven’t been many sci fi movies lately…
I never have high hopes for videogame movies. That’s why I felt sick when there was a silent hill movie announced. But anyways did you know that Microsoft sent people dressed up as Master Chief to deliver the scripts and stand over whomever was reading it to take the script away the second they finished reading it? Lol, Attack of the Show always provides me with good info even though I did like the screen savers when they were on tech tv/early g4tech 
1-Today’s CGI is top notch and pretty realistic.When I say CGI I mean +Spirits Within CGI not stuff you can see in games.
2-Real actors never look like the virtual characters they protray.(unless we’re talking max payne here which we aren’t))That takes a lot from the experience.
Whoever they get to play Johnson won’t look/sound like him.Why do they need to do a movie anyways?I understand movies based on comics or books but videogames don’t need actors.That’s part of the coolness of videogames : they try to emulate things real life in motion.Halo/Halo 2 did that pretty well.
3-Sense?To me making a movie about a videogame doesn’t make much sense.
It does make money, though; that’s sense enough for the decision-makers.
As for the prospect of a Halo film: I don’t know, personally I’m not too excited. The Halo universe has always struck me as a fairly bland and clich?d military-sci-fi affair, but on the other hand, the games are cinematic enough that the story should translate into a film well.
[quote=“Gehpnaet”]2-Real actors never look like the virtual characters they protray.(unless we’re talking max payne here which we aren’t))That takes a lot from the experience.
Whoever they get to play Johnson won’t look/sound like him.Why do they need to do a movie anyways?I understand movies based on comics or books but videogames don’t need actors.That’s part of the coolness of videogames : they try to emulate things real life in motion.Halo/Halo 2 did that pretty well.[/quote]
That’s just the way movies are though. Are you telling me that all the recent book to movie translations such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were a waste of time? Movies are only meant to be an interpretation of the original story, not an emulation. You can’t change something from one medium to another and stuff keep it 100% true to the original, and still make it seem just as good. I don’t like major changes that mess up the original meaning of the story, but having someone played by a different looking actor is just something that comes with the change from game to film. I’m sure that if Johnson is in the movie they’d pick someone who looks similar so they we can easily recognize who he is.
No.Like I said it’s ok with books.I’m telling you every videogame movie out there sucked IMO.I’ll admit the franchises chosen so far were pretty shallow in the first place.But I still don’t understand the reason behind making movies based on videogames.
When I talked about emulation I dind’t mean storywise.And I was refering to videogames.Videogames tend to try and look realistic.They try to emulate human movements,lip movements (example),they try to convey character into these liveless 3D models.That’s part of the magic in cinematic videogames.Why simply forget all that was done and make a movie conversion?What’s the point?
I think Lance is right about the money.Even subconsciously I think that’s what creator’s want for their franchises - to be famous.I used the word subsconsciously because there is famous and then there is … famous you know?
I think Halo has a compelling enough world and story to make a great movie. From rumours going around, it sounds like the movie may be based on Halo 1 and 2 which could be interesting.
That’s like saying Peter Jackson forgot all the wonderful descriptions of locations that Tolkien dreamt up, because he went out and filmed them. The whole idea behind the Lord of the Rings movies were “to bring Middle Earth to life”. In the same way, maybe the people who are making the Halo movie have their own vision of bringing the Halo story to life in movie form? I’d certainly like to see what they can come up with… I don’t see why they can’t create an exciting and compelling movie based on the Halo universe, that stays true to the spirit of the games, even if it changes a few details here and there to make it flow better as a film.
Whilst admittedly film renditions of computer games don’t precisely have a burnished pedigree (Strret Fighter? Mortal Kombat? And - oh Christ - Resident Evil Apocalypse?), the Halo world will probably enjoy a less traumatic translation to cinema because it has a fairly straightforward storyline - cyborg superhuman saves the human race from alien menace using secret ancient weapons - that suits the money-spinning standard popcorn-chomping “high concept” blockbuster. However, it still has opportunity for subtlety and strong characterisation (for instance, this film could present an opportunity to flesh out Covenant theology) which will hopefully give it the potential for the film to transcend that definition and be appreciated by academia as well as the hoi pollioi.
However, the problem with making films out of existing franchises is because they just tend to be lazily dashed-off cash cows - the producers know that the fans of the series will always go to see it, regardless of its quality, and so they have a guaranteed return regardless of the amount of effort they input. As such, there’s a genuine risk of sloppiness in the conversion to celluloid. Hopefully though, with such high-profile backers like Microsoft, that won’t be the case.
Preferably, I’d like to see a new original story in the Halo film, and not just an adaptation of one of the games - the film should give the series an opportunity to expand, not just tread water. Perhaps a tale of the Fall of Reach, with the personnel of the naval base preparing themselves for the incoming Covenant Armada in a psychologically tense environment, perhaps having to subdue rebellions by people who want to flee rather than fight and ferret out Covenant spies, followed by a gargantuan battle scene in which The Pillar of Autumn heroically blockade-runs her way out of the immolated world in a blaze of glory. Or perhaps a slightly more sedate tale of the events between the two games, with some misadventures the Master Chief suffered before getting home?
Positively, we all have to remember that the film cannot go wrong if there’s a gunfight set to Martin O’Donnel’s glorious Truth and Reconciliation battle theme. DAH-dahdahdah-dah-dahdahdahdahhhhhhh-dahrrrrrrrDAH-dah-dah-DAH-Dahhhhhhh…
[quote=“Solo Wing Dragon”]
That’s like saying Peter Jackson forgot all the wonderful descriptions of locations that Tolkien dreamt up, because he went out and filmed them. The whole idea behind the Lord of the Rings movies were “to bring Middle Earth to life”. In the same way, maybe the people who are making the Halo movie have their own vision of bringing the Halo story to life in movie form? I’d certainly like to see what they can come up with… I don’t see why they can’t create an exciting and compelling movie based on the Halo universe, that stays true to the spirit of the games, even if it changes a few details here and there to make it flow better as a film.[/quote]
I don’t think you are paying much attention to what I’ms aying Solo.It’s ok with books.I understand people like to see images of what’s going on in their heads when the read books.That happens with me too.
But with videogames you already get dialogues,movies,sounds etc.
Mortal Kombat, the first movie, is so far the only decent game -> movie transfer I’ve seen.
[quote=“Gehpnaet”]I don’t think you are paying much attention to what I’ms aying Solo.It’s ok with books.I understand people like to see images of what’s going on in their heads when the read books.That happens with me too.
But with videogames you already get dialogues,movies,sounds etc.[/quote]
I’m paying attention to what you’re saying. In a book, a certain amount is left up to the imagination. The same this is true for a game, but in a different kind of way… instead of something being left up to your imagination, it’s left up to what you, as the player, do in the game. Books, movies, and games are all very different mediums, but I do think stories designed for one can be successfully transferred to another.
Put it this way: was there a certain character in the Lord of the Rings that appeared in the movies differently to how you imagined him in the book? If so, which one did you regard as the “true” version of that character? Probably the one in book. I don’t think that makes the movie version harder to relate to; it’s simply a different interpretation based on the move from one medium to another. The same thing could apply to game to movie transitions. Just because we have a preconceived idea of something doesn’t mean that it is always feasible to make it look exactly the same as in the original, try as they may. So long as they choose actors who suit their roles, I don’t see how relating to characters from the Halo story will be difficult.
I’m no trying to give the whole “don’t taint my videoagme speech” since altho I like Halo it isn’t really special to me.
What I’m saying is that in a videogame to movie transfer there is no room for interpretation because they (the character) can implay irony for example.There is really not mcuh that could be done in a videogame movie than couldn’t simply be done in the videogame in the fist place.
Like you said the actual part where you are playing is the only thing remotely worth puting in the movie.But even that; you don’t need to picture it in your head since you actual do it at home.
The other thing about movies is that often, the writers will make a small change to make the film more exciting, at the loss of overall accuracy.
E.g. In the new Batman film, Dr Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) works at Arkham Asylum instead of his university.
Batman has another critical change like Bruce’s parents beeing killed by Joker which they weren’t.
That is true, although they’ve changed it back to Joe Chill in the new movie.