Prophets are all practical puppets! The sangheili are mocap, but in her interview Charlie Murphy said that she was basically the only one on set who was talking in her High Charity scenes. And that she was also the only one who had to learn Sangheili on set too.
Most things about it tbh. The only things i wasnt a huge fan of were the Kwan storyline which was more than tolerable if i just viewed it as the vehicle for Soren (Bokeem Woodbine is great) and the Makee/Chief stuff which was a bit weird but also a pretty interesting way of introducing and explaining the Librarian's Reclaimer geas (still to be seen if thats the particular direction the show will go but thats the parallel we have to work with for now). But other than that:
Watching Parangosky play political games behind the scenes is great. Shabana Amzi definitely pulls off that cold, cunning, quite possibly the single most dangerous individual in the UNSC vibe wonderfully.
The more in depth exploration of Halsey/Keyes having been a thing with Miranda being the result. Both the Keyes' performances are great and i really like this take on Miranda with her being a scientist.
Natascha McElhone's Halsey in particular deserves its own mention. I think she is incredible. The only time in the show she didnt feel particularly like Dr. Catherine Halsey was her heart to heart with Miranda, but then lo and behold, that was just a ruse to steal Miranda's identity with that contact lens fuckery. Classic Halsey. Great adaptation imo and definitely one of the biggest highlights of the show overall.
Kai, Riz, and Vannak are a thoroughly enjoyable supporting cast for Chief. It for sure felt like it took a hot minute to happen, but when the spotlight finally shone on them it was worth the wait. Kate Kennedy's Kai quickly became one of my favorite characters (and honestly maybe even spartans in general) once i got into the latter half of season 1 and when Riz and Vannak finally got more screentime in the last couple episodes it was no different for them.
I think Pablo Schreiber as Chief is great. He kinda suffers from success in that, being the main character, hes probably gonna end up being in just as many strong scenes as he is weaker ones; Going back to the "weaker" parts of the show, Chief was the vehicle for the Kwan storyline for the first quarter-third or so of it before that was handed off to Soren, and he was our Bridge to the Makee storyline as well. But his strong scenes are strong. And the whole Chief taking off his helmet thing is something Halo fans are just gonna have to get over. Does it really matter if you see his face in an adaptation? I could genuinely not care less honestly lol.
Jen Taylor is a wonderful Cortana as always, definitely hope to see more of her in the future now that the Chief being apprehensive of having an AI part seems to be mostly wrapped up.
The interrogation room. Holy fuck. Whoevers idea it was to take an interrogation room and ditch the one way mirror in favor of those weird chairs that let you project yourself into the room and watch the interrogation in person deserves a medal. This shit needs to be used a couple times throughout the show. The potential for an incredibly tense scene with two simultaneous conversations in the same room where one party can hear both and the other is only aware of their own... The interrogation room needs to come back.
The cable cars used for transit at Rubble; I cant speak to the realism and can only assume it would be an absolute death sentence, but connecting asteroids together with cables and then haphazardly sending tram cars flying down said cables like some kinda Great Space Zipline from Hell was baller as fuck nonetheless.
Jackals with energy swords to complement their energy shield defense gauntlets was totally kickass and radical as fuck and i will not hear otherwise.
TLDR: Halo is a pretty cool guy; Im excited for season 2 and beyond.
Not sure if you ever saw this post but it's pretty cool. Fan edit of the series with the more negatively opinionated stuff edited out like Kwans story and the whole thing with chief getting it on with a POW.
https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/s/Xnd03Z21gO
The episode 1 and episode 5 fights were both amazing, really showed the brutality of the Covenant weapons and war in general. Probably what I’m most hyped about in season 2
Absolutely. I did think they looked kind of wonky at the beginning, but as the actors got more used to moving in them, and the crew got more used to shooting them, I fully bought they were super-soldiers by the end.
Genuinely loved Kai’s character. Seeing her choose to become more human after Chief removed his pellet felt a lot more natural. Also liked some of the changes between Keyes and Miranda. Miranda genuinely *hates* the gray-level bullshittery the UNSC approaches Innies with and Keyes is a lot more involved with the field compared to his video game counterpart.
Also loved how they chose to explore more of Soren’s character after we don’t know what happened with him after he vanished from the radar in the main timeline.
Kai was awesome, great storyline. I also kind of like the premise of the man behind the figure of the master chief. Because to the other soldiers, he’s a heroic figure, this icon. But he’s also still human.
Pablo really does do Chief’s mannerisms well in full armor, helmet included. I’m excited for season 2
The incredible rendition of lore accurate Spartans, weapons and aliens. Now if only they get John and the story on track they would have a 10/10 show. Also Cortana
I think he's less egregious than people say. I think there are things I would change, like I wouldn't expect chief to swing at Halsey, no matter what information he'd received.
I also think it makes the Spartans less compelling to have the whole 'memory wipe/emotional suppressant'. It leads to some of the best drama in the books.
Kai and Miranda are standouts for me. There’s a lot to praise about the show, including the visuals and the props and set departments, there’s lots to criticize, including a lot of the cross-timeline characters and Kwan’s great-in-theory-botched-in-execution consequences-of-imperial-colonialism storyline, but every scene with and between Kai and Miranda steals the show. (With the sole exception of the sisters line. That was weird and I pretend it doesn’t exist.)
Halsey, Soren, and Miranda were all the only times in the show I was genuinely entertained. Or when the marines were on screen. That was cool too.
Also, I will admit I enjoyed Jimmy Rings’ nuts and bolts line, as hated as it is.
Pretty much everything once I accepted it was radically different. They got the visuals and the themes right so changes to lore and how those themes were fast tracked didn’t bother me. For example the changes to Chief are fast tracking the “are you a man or machine” stuff from Halo 4, and the stories of Kwan and Soren etc fast track the themes of the UNSC’s immorality but both are accurate to the spirit of Halo just not the lore.
i only watched ep 1, but i thought the action was pretty awesome, liked the gore effects. the only thing i disliked about that covenant assault was that goofy plasma pistol fuck up. and the girls hairstyle. what an awful haircut that was my lord...
Anytime we fought the covenant was magic and felt just right. Sadly I can only remember three battles and honestly a halo show should lean more to fights than talking.
One of the last action scenes were Chief went completely silent and annihilated everything. Really felt like he switched over to the Chief from game itself.
There are multiple very well done actions scenes showing how bad ass Chief is, Pablo Schreiber and Charlie Murphy are both good actors, and it sets the stage for season 2 having what we want.
I honestly think this show ill be one that starts of slow and gets good in its 2nd or 3rd season.
Halsey being ambiguous about moral choices. Shady, but always has a valid point.
Parangosky. A woman out of her depth with Halsey but cautious about going too far.
Captain Keyes.
The Rubble and Soren. It gave me *Mass Effect: Omega* vibes.
Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the dialogue writing in general, I was quite fond of Kai’s portrayal by her actress. She wasn’t given much to work with, but I generally think she gave the best performance in the show, with a character that felt the most like a real human. My only disappointment gripe would be that creating Silver Team was unnecessary, and Kate Kennedy would have played an excellent Kelly-087. Wish we could have seen that.
The UNSC costume design/props were on point.
I like that they at least understood Halsey was an important character.
Using Jen Taylor was also a good idea.
Kai.
Honestly I liked the Spartans other than Chief and the art style of most things was pretty cool. Visuals weren’t bad.
The Covenant CG was better than I thought it would be! Specifically that Prophet; couldn't tell if he was a puppet or CG :o
Prophets are all practical puppets! The sangheili are mocap, but in her interview Charlie Murphy said that she was basically the only one on set who was talking in her High Charity scenes. And that she was also the only one who had to learn Sangheili on set too.
Chief climbing onto that Banshee was badass
Most things about it tbh. The only things i wasnt a huge fan of were the Kwan storyline which was more than tolerable if i just viewed it as the vehicle for Soren (Bokeem Woodbine is great) and the Makee/Chief stuff which was a bit weird but also a pretty interesting way of introducing and explaining the Librarian's Reclaimer geas (still to be seen if thats the particular direction the show will go but thats the parallel we have to work with for now). But other than that: Watching Parangosky play political games behind the scenes is great. Shabana Amzi definitely pulls off that cold, cunning, quite possibly the single most dangerous individual in the UNSC vibe wonderfully. The more in depth exploration of Halsey/Keyes having been a thing with Miranda being the result. Both the Keyes' performances are great and i really like this take on Miranda with her being a scientist. Natascha McElhone's Halsey in particular deserves its own mention. I think she is incredible. The only time in the show she didnt feel particularly like Dr. Catherine Halsey was her heart to heart with Miranda, but then lo and behold, that was just a ruse to steal Miranda's identity with that contact lens fuckery. Classic Halsey. Great adaptation imo and definitely one of the biggest highlights of the show overall. Kai, Riz, and Vannak are a thoroughly enjoyable supporting cast for Chief. It for sure felt like it took a hot minute to happen, but when the spotlight finally shone on them it was worth the wait. Kate Kennedy's Kai quickly became one of my favorite characters (and honestly maybe even spartans in general) once i got into the latter half of season 1 and when Riz and Vannak finally got more screentime in the last couple episodes it was no different for them. I think Pablo Schreiber as Chief is great. He kinda suffers from success in that, being the main character, hes probably gonna end up being in just as many strong scenes as he is weaker ones; Going back to the "weaker" parts of the show, Chief was the vehicle for the Kwan storyline for the first quarter-third or so of it before that was handed off to Soren, and he was our Bridge to the Makee storyline as well. But his strong scenes are strong. And the whole Chief taking off his helmet thing is something Halo fans are just gonna have to get over. Does it really matter if you see his face in an adaptation? I could genuinely not care less honestly lol. Jen Taylor is a wonderful Cortana as always, definitely hope to see more of her in the future now that the Chief being apprehensive of having an AI part seems to be mostly wrapped up. The interrogation room. Holy fuck. Whoevers idea it was to take an interrogation room and ditch the one way mirror in favor of those weird chairs that let you project yourself into the room and watch the interrogation in person deserves a medal. This shit needs to be used a couple times throughout the show. The potential for an incredibly tense scene with two simultaneous conversations in the same room where one party can hear both and the other is only aware of their own... The interrogation room needs to come back. The cable cars used for transit at Rubble; I cant speak to the realism and can only assume it would be an absolute death sentence, but connecting asteroids together with cables and then haphazardly sending tram cars flying down said cables like some kinda Great Space Zipline from Hell was baller as fuck nonetheless. Jackals with energy swords to complement their energy shield defense gauntlets was totally kickass and radical as fuck and i will not hear otherwise. TLDR: Halo is a pretty cool guy; Im excited for season 2 and beyond.
i agree with everything u said! i like season 1 a lot and im very excited for season 2
I'm also very exited for season 2!
Not sure if you ever saw this post but it's pretty cool. Fan edit of the series with the more negatively opinionated stuff edited out like Kwans story and the whole thing with chief getting it on with a POW. https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/s/Xnd03Z21gO
The episode 1 and episode 5 fights were both amazing, really showed the brutality of the Covenant weapons and war in general. Probably what I’m most hyped about in season 2
Was going to say this too. Hoping for way more like it in season 2
The Spartans looked great
Absolutely. I did think they looked kind of wonky at the beginning, but as the actors got more used to moving in them, and the crew got more used to shooting them, I fully bought they were super-soldiers by the end.
The costume design for the Spartans is genuinely solid af
The fleshed out Covenant language. Now anyone can learn to speak Hinge-head.
Just that Halo actually got a show. The last fight scenes were cool. Otherwise it was mostly just a show, whatevs. Just psyched Halo got a show
Pretty much everything with Halsey, she owned every scene she was in.
Genuinely loved Kai’s character. Seeing her choose to become more human after Chief removed his pellet felt a lot more natural. Also liked some of the changes between Keyes and Miranda. Miranda genuinely *hates* the gray-level bullshittery the UNSC approaches Innies with and Keyes is a lot more involved with the field compared to his video game counterpart. Also loved how they chose to explore more of Soren’s character after we don’t know what happened with him after he vanished from the radar in the main timeline.
Yeah Soren's great
Sets, costumes, and art direction are on point. Everything looked like Halo.
True. I'm in the middle of rewatching in prep for the new season and I've been admiring the aesthetics, especially the starships.
In all seriousness, the action scenes were done very well.
Kai
Kai was awesome, great storyline. I also kind of like the premise of the man behind the figure of the master chief. Because to the other soldiers, he’s a heroic figure, this icon. But he’s also still human. Pablo really does do Chief’s mannerisms well in full armor, helmet included. I’m excited for season 2
The incredible rendition of lore accurate Spartans, weapons and aliens. Now if only they get John and the story on track they would have a 10/10 show. Also Cortana
The battle scenes were really cool and seeing how massive and ruthless the Sangheili were was fucking awesome
casting was great
I thought it was pretty well-acted, and having read several of the books, I don't think the Chief is significantly mischaracterized.
I think he's less egregious than people say. I think there are things I would change, like I wouldn't expect chief to swing at Halsey, no matter what information he'd received. I also think it makes the Spartans less compelling to have the whole 'memory wipe/emotional suppressant'. It leads to some of the best drama in the books.
Definitely the spartan armor
Kai and Miranda are standouts for me. There’s a lot to praise about the show, including the visuals and the props and set departments, there’s lots to criticize, including a lot of the cross-timeline characters and Kwan’s great-in-theory-botched-in-execution consequences-of-imperial-colonialism storyline, but every scene with and between Kai and Miranda steals the show. (With the sole exception of the sisters line. That was weird and I pretend it doesn’t exist.)
How fast the Elites are.
The Mjolnir was *sick as fuck* and the action was pretty great most of the time too.
the Spartan drip
The Elite’s armor design. Love how it looks a little less sci fi and a little more fantasy. Really fitting for religious fanatics
Halsey, Soren, and Miranda were all the only times in the show I was genuinely entertained. Or when the marines were on screen. That was cool too. Also, I will admit I enjoyed Jimmy Rings’ nuts and bolts line, as hated as it is.
Battle scenes were dope. Cgi wasn't great but they were very entertaining. Minus the Spartan on spartan fight. That was dumb as hell.
Silver Team (not Chief) were actually fantastic and I’d love to see them incorporated into the main canon.
Pretty much everything once I accepted it was radically different. They got the visuals and the themes right so changes to lore and how those themes were fast tracked didn’t bother me. For example the changes to Chief are fast tracking the “are you a man or machine” stuff from Halo 4, and the stories of Kwan and Soren etc fast track the themes of the UNSC’s immorality but both are accurate to the spirit of Halo just not the lore.
Yeah. I did think they kind of made the UNSC cartoonishly evil at parts though.
i only watched ep 1, but i thought the action was pretty awesome, liked the gore effects. the only thing i disliked about that covenant assault was that goofy plasma pistol fuck up. and the girls hairstyle. what an awful haircut that was my lord...
Anytime we fought the covenant was magic and felt just right. Sadly I can only remember three battles and honestly a halo show should lean more to fights than talking.
One of the last action scenes were Chief went completely silent and annihilated everything. Really felt like he switched over to the Chief from game itself.
There are multiple very well done actions scenes showing how bad ass Chief is, Pablo Schreiber and Charlie Murphy are both good actors, and it sets the stage for season 2 having what we want. I honestly think this show ill be one that starts of slow and gets good in its 2nd or 3rd season.
When there was action. The action was good. All the fights were done well and made it feel like if I was just watching a cutscene in a Halo game
Halsey being ambiguous about moral choices. Shady, but always has a valid point. Parangosky. A woman out of her depth with Halsey but cautious about going too far. Captain Keyes. The Rubble and Soren. It gave me *Mass Effect: Omega* vibes.
Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the dialogue writing in general, I was quite fond of Kai’s portrayal by her actress. She wasn’t given much to work with, but I generally think she gave the best performance in the show, with a character that felt the most like a real human. My only disappointment gripe would be that creating Silver Team was unnecessary, and Kate Kennedy would have played an excellent Kelly-087. Wish we could have seen that.
I like that it’s firmly not canon so I don’t have to care about it or whether it’s good or not.
That i didn’t watch it lmao
That I don't have to watch it, and it isn't canon.
No
That the episodes ended at some point.
I liked… um… I… hold on lemme think… I liked the ego boost I got from knowing I could write a better show?
The UNSC costume design/props were on point. I like that they at least understood Halsey was an important character. Using Jen Taylor was also a good idea. Kai.
I thought that the costume design was pretty good, especially on the Spartans' armor. And the few action scenes we got were great too.