Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (TV Mini Series 2012) - Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (TV Mini Series 2012) - User Reviews

10/10

After watching new halo tv series this feels like a masterpiece.

dikarmick1 April 2022

They captured the actual essence of master chief.

Wish this team got the budget of the current series.

Holds true to the fans. Doesn't lack basic logic.

And even has better looking CGI.

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10/10

This Is How The Halo Movie Should Be Made

zack_wall5 October 2012

A few months ago when the first trailer came out for the web series, "Forward Unto Dawn", I was beside myself with excitement. I watched the trailer an easy 5-10 times, and then periodically checked back to view it again, in case I missed something the first time around. I've been a fan of the Halo series since day one of Halo C.E., and it's been really disappointing to not have a Halo movie I can feel proud of. Since high school, I've followed the hype surrounding the script writing and screenplay mock-ups of a potential Halo film, but they never panned out into anything real. Then, Microsoft and 343 Industries teamed up to create Forward Unto Dawn, and the hype surrounding a Halo movie returned. Only this time it wasn't going to be a movie, but a web series instead. And when it debuted on October 5th, I was one of the few to see it when it was only at 5k views(hipster moment). It was everything I expected and more. Superb acting, gorgeous visuals, a beautiful soundtrack, and the promise to deliver more and more in future episodes. Friday has always been my favorite day of the week, but now I have a reason to love it. Each episode debuts on a Friday, which means all my calls will be held, pizza will be delivered to my couch, and nothing is more important than those 20 minutes of Halo action. No feature length movie just yet? Well, this is the next best thing. If you call yourself a fan of the game, you...will...watch...this. Oh, and before I forget...Axios!!

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8/10

Surprisingly decent production

RogerBorg11 June 2022

To confound those mind-reading reviewers, I'm someone who's never played any Halo game, ever, and yet still enjoyed the amalgamated "feature" cut of this miniseries on its own merits.

It's not perfect, but it's committed and competent. The sets, costumes and props are surprisingly decent for what is effectively a promotional advert, and the actors give it their absolute all. The effects, once they get going, are decent enough and the budget is very well used.

Sure, it's never going to win awards for originality, and the boot camp concept has been done many times before. But it's strongly conceived and written, the young actors are actually age appropriate, and they perform it compellingly.

Once the CGI bugs and that guy from Doom show up, it actually gets weaker for me as a non-player, but it never drops below the level of credible and competent, and that's high praise for one-off limited series.

I got the impression that the cast and crew had a great time making this, and it shows on screen. Not life-changing, but a great lesson in why you shouldn't lower your expectations of what talented creatives are capable of making when given free reign.

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10/10

Where did you come from?!

meestabeck-586-16973320 January 2013

Okay, I consider myself a pretty good Halo fan. I have played through all of the games numerous times, and read every Halo book that has been released. I was walking through Walmart's electronics department about a month ago, and I see a Halo movie. What? A Halo movie? Let me take a closer look. Oh great, its a live action Halo movie that I have never heard of, this is going to be terrible.......but its only $14 on BluRay so what the heck. Then I get home (with the kids at daycare) and start watching it on my 42" TV. OH MY GOD. The movie is brimming with great character development, and morality themes regarding the human rebellions before the covenant attack. The main characters (which are cadets at a UNSC Military Acadamy) are all new faces, except the lead female who is the girl from Narnia. They all do a great job convincing me that they are the children of the highest echelon of the UNSC elite, who are trying to make their parents proud. Some people claim that them movie is a little slow at first, or that it parallels Starship Troopers. I do not agree with those claims. The movie thoroughly develops and introduces the characters, so when the covenant (and Master Chief) arrive, you are vested in them, and don't want them to die. By the way, the Covenant were done fantastically, and Master Chief is NOT CGI, but instead the most realistic and amazing armor outfit every constructed. Bottome line, if you like anything about Halo, or if you plan on playing Halo 4, see this movie. Thank you 343 studios for coming out of left field and blowing me away with this movie. I just wish I could have seen it in the theater!!!

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9/10

Very Impressed

thedarkknight-8920 June 2013

I'm aware enough of the Halo Universe to pick up on most of the references in the series, but beyond the fact that it provides an excellent live action piece of an excellent game series, it's simply a great piece of storytelling all it's own.

The people reviewing this saying it's 'boring for the first 55 minutes' or 'cheap and generic' must be expecting heavy action and constant explosions. And those people will never be satisfied with character pieces, which this most certainly relies heavily upon.

The arc of the characters is phenomenal, and their trepidations about becoming soldiers are real and extremely pertinent to the teens of today.

This series manages to fulfill Halo fans expectations of a glimpse into the universe they love, as well as provide new fans with relatable, intensely realistic characters that allow new viewers to experience this universe for themselves, along with the characters.

Definitely worth a watch. That is unless you're looking for non-stop action, explosions and witty one liners said by Master Chief. At which point, don't bother, because this is so much more than that.

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7/10

Far from a Shallow

view_and_review12 March 2014

I've never played Halo so I was going into this movie somewhat blind not knowing what to expect. It started out ordinary enough with young cadets in a military school introducing themselves and stating why they joined. Much to my surprise, the wide swath of kids (teens really) had varying reasons for joining that extended beyond blood lust or just seeing how cool it would be to kill. That, in itself, was a big notch of respectability in my eyes. I expected a lot of HOO RAH type speech and antics and I didn't see that.

Furthermore, I looked for the typical teen movie clichés, because these were teens after all. Although it wasn't a high school setting, I was looking for the ultra popular beauty queen, the muscle-headed jock, the dweeb and the supporting cast. Fortunately, those characters never appeared. Halo proved to be a deeper, layered, better thought out film than I expected. It could be considered slow, but I thought it was right on point. Very nicely done.

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If you don't play Halo, you should still watch this film.

joenasc20 December 2012

Warning: Spoilers

The year is 2525 and the UNSC is at war with terrorists know as Insurrectionists. Thomas Lasky, a freshman cadet, is unsure about this war and his combat capabilities, but when the Covenant invades, he learns what it takes to be a hero from spartan John-117 (aka Master Chief).

This was an awesome film/mini series. Pretty good cast of characters, the actors weren't people I've heard of, but they were still good, cool special effects, and of course the music was great.

I think anyone, whether they are Halo fans or not, will like or love this film/mini series. One more thing: as a lot of people know, most games that are turned into movies are bad, but after watching this, I have faith in an actual Halo movie being made and it being great. All they have to do is do what they did here.

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10/10

First two episodes are superb!

je264314 October 2012

Well, since I am another halo fan playing since CE on my pc many years ago, like all the other halo fans, i have been salivating at the prospect of a halo movie. Shows like Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe and Battlestar Galactica (the remake) have shown us that high caliber special effects and great acting can go hand in hand on the small screen. The first two eps of Halo 4: Forward unto Dawn live up to that expectation.

This web series is tight - even though each is the equivalent of a half hour of live TV (less the commercials) we already have excellent character development, and a sense of what is going on in the timeframe of the series. Acting is taught, tension is palpable, and the editing, sound and effects are crisp and clean. This is not a small budget web series, most of the actors have deep big screen and small screen resumes, and are highly recognizable. It's filmed in big screen movie quality film, and it shows.

The series gives an excellent indication of what direction a halo movie series can achieve, if ever undertaken. At the same time, one becomes aware that if the Halo books ever make it to the big screen, it would be best to avoid what they did with movies such as Master and Commander - where they tried to squeeze multiple books into one movie, with undesirable results. Halo will take several movies at a minimum, to depict its storyline, but as well done as this web series, the fans will rejoice and reward.

Obviously, most viewers will be halo fans, but if you need an intro to the halo universe, this web series is an excellent start.

So 10 out of 10 from me for exceeding my expectations on quality in all respects. Thank you for not doing a cheapy production, but going the full monty, and commencing some Halo precursors in high quality.

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3/10

I guess Halo fans like it - but fans of good movies won't

dalxray20 November 2012

Warning: Spoilers

I don't know why the Halo fans are giving this movie such great reviews - as a standalone movie it is (as another reviewer put it) a poor man's Starship Troopers - not that ST was a great movie itself. Mostly this movie is just plain boring. Nothing happens for the first 55 minutes - we are introduced to a group of cadets at a military academy. All the standard character clichés are here with typical tragic back-stories - the protagonist Lasky, who has a problem with authority (what's he doing at a military academy? - oh, his brother was the best cadet ever at same academy and was then killed in combat), the squad rival, the love interest, the computer hacker, the tough chick - you've seen it all before. They go through training, the protagonist nearly quits, the instructors see great potential in him if only he would realize it, etc, etc. Boring. At about the 55 min mark, the aliens attack, kill nearly everyone in a matter of minutes (apparently on the entire planet) except for said group of cadets, who mostly survive despite the fact they often stop and pause in the middle of firefights and explosions to look around dumbfounded at their fallen friends and instructors. Finally a super-soldier "MasterChief 117" - rescues the few remaining survivors. All this is presented as a flashback of the older Lasky, now a captain, after receiving a distress call from a ship named Forward Unto Dawn. There is an opening sequence featuring this vessel drifting thru space which is totally incomprehensible - I guess you'd have to know some of the Halo back-story to make sense of this bit. On the positive : effects are pretty good, performances not bad despite a lot of banal dialogue. Overall, I guess the not-too-fussy fans of the game enjoy this movie, but everyone else - don't waste your time.

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10/10

So.. I got axios tattoo'd on my upper back.

aerobro25 April 2019

I know it's been quite a few years, but I just felt I needed to tell you how much this series inspired me. I am a Halo fan, but turned much more so after seeing this. For some reason something in me clicked after watching this. 21 years old, sitting around doing nothing with my life, fat, unhappy.After watching this movie, I went out for my first run, and ended up losing 80 pounds over the course of 6 months, and joined the US Air Force. After boot camp I got AXIOS just below my neck, because it really inspired me to get up and be somebody. 'I am worthy.' I guess something about watching Lasky struggle, and overcome obstacles, I'm not entirely sure.

But I do really love the movie, and Halo in general, and thank you for making such an epic production.

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7/10

Better than most

Snootz2 April 2018

Well-done story about cadets in the Halo-world military training facility. Would be better if people knew the Cortana and Master Chief story. As it is, slightly weak ending but fascinating storyline and good acting, filming and directing.

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3/10

Overrated.

zeller-518 November 2012

This movie is just a very bad version of Starship Troopers. Without the funny and ironic part of course.

In a nutshell. The same way, movies get underrated because they're based on a novel that is allegedly "way better", this movie gets overrated because it's based on a game.

A movie should always be looked at as such and nothing else. And looking at this film, the story, the characters (whose names I don't even remember), all I'm stuck with is "bad".

To avoid spoilers for the gamers who actually still want to watch this, I'm not getting into it. But don't expect anything interesting to happen in this movie. That's all I can say.

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6/10

Good step up but not there yet

SnoopyStyle21 September 2014

The year is 2526. Thomas Lasky (Tom Green) struggles in training at the Corbulo Academy of Military Science on the planet Cirnicus-IV. He is a disappointment considering his illustrious military family. His only friend is fellow cadet Chyler Silva (Anna Popplewell). Humanity has ventured out to colonize other worlds. The big threat is expected to be colony insurrectionists. Then the planet is invaded by an alien army, the Covenant, which is kept secret from everybody except the higher ups.

As a web mini-series, there is some good work with impressive F/X for the price. As a TV show, this is better than most Syfy channel work. It's more of an interesting road map of what a Halo TV show or movie could be. Tom Green is a relative newcomer. I've only seen him in a TV show called Camp. It's a different character with a completely different hair cut. Anna Popplewell is probably the only recognizable name and face. She does the only competent acting on the show. In the end, this is not about the acting or even the story. This is mostly a dry run to get the look, the style and the effects correct for something bigger later on. At least, that's the big hope for fans. Looking at what they have, I hope they dial back the shaky cam work. I also hope that they lose the slow-mo Michael Bay wannabe. This seems to be going for Battlestar Galactica and I think that's a good move. If they make a theatrical war movie, it's going to need more money, a lot more money. However I think there is a great horror movie available for a lot less cash.

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2/10

It's cheaply produced and it isn't really worth watching

jonnithomas13 December 2012

The camera angles and jerky screen movements are designed to hide the fact that very little action is actually happening. The costume department is a cross between a Dan Dare comic and cheap child like pretend superhero clothing your aunty bought you when you were 8.

I am a huge fan of science fiction but I am amazed at how poor this actually is. The props make the first series of Star Trek look good. That at least had the advantage of realistic characters and good story lines.

I find it hard to believe it is intended for adults. There is so much decent scifi around now that this is really something of a timewaster.

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6/10

Deceptive as a Sci-Fi Movie

claudio_carvalho15 September 2013

In the future, a group of teenagers from prominent families are trained at the Corbulo Academy of Military Science forming the Hastati Squad to fight against the insurrectionists. Out of the blue, the planet is invaded by powerful aliens and only four cadets survive. When there is no hope for them, they are rescued by the strong Master Chief.

"Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn" is a sci-fi movie made to promote a video game. The characters are not well developed and the first half is a rip-off of "Starship Troopers". Maybe fans of the video game like this movie but for those like me that do not know the game, it is a deceptive sci-fi movie. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Halo 4: Em Direção ao Amanhecer" ("Halo 4: Torward the Dawn")

Note: On 19 Feb 2022, I saw this film again and I note that the Brazilian one-disc DVD is completely edited and maybe this is the reason of my bad review. I upgraded my note to six.

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8/10

Not a bad introduction to the Halo universe

zindzijade4 December 2012

As a fan of all things sci-fi, I was really eager to see what a live- action representation of the hallowed game would look like. After seeing this, I am motivated to buy my first ever Halo game and start playing. I would have given it a 10/10 but for the constant slo-mo which I believe was used due to the brief nature of the series. Very good acting, conveying so much emotion and some pretty good action scenes for a 15- minute webisode. I was very impressed with this and as a Halo novice, I am now so intrigued by the series that I want to play it more than I ever wanted to plan any other game! I put this up there with some of my other favourite shows, Battlestar Galactica (the remake) and Stargate Universe. This was very well done.

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1/10

Terrible

john_seater5 April 2014

I have not played the Halo games. Based on this movie, I am inclined never to do so. The plot, if you can call it that, is a confused mess. It starts out with an introduction comprising a sequence of snapshots from some kind of disaster aboard a spaceship with some woman, the only survivor of those on board, talking inexplicably about having spent 4 years doing nothing but thinking. You as the viewer can't possibly figure out what any of it means, but you think that, well, this is one of those deliberately confusing intros that will make sense as the story unfolds. It never does. In fact, it doesn't connect in any way with anything that follows. The next 60% or so of the movie is devoted to a bunch of cadets at a futuristic military academy. That part is slow-moving, boring, shallow, uninteresting, routine, trite, and predictable. As another reviewer said, it's all been done better before in other movies. Now it's just uninteresting. Suddenly there is a complete change in direction in the plot (if you can call it that, remember) when some aliens attack the academy for no apparent reason. Almost everyone is wiped out, but a few survivors are saved by yet another new entrant into the cast, who also is not explained. Much of the movie apparently comprises a replay of a documentary tape being viewed by some military big-wig whose presence and significance never are explained. My 3-year old grandchildren make up better stories than this.

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2/10

Really cheap looking and boring.

donald-martin-175-8739788 June 2013

This show might as well have "limited budget" plastered cross the screen. Really poor production values and has a very generic feel to it. And I HATE series that expect us to invest in completely different characters from the source material. There's just no reason to care about these trainees. They amounted to canon fodder in the games. If you're going to make a Halo series, make Master Chief the focus and not just some dude that shows up occasionally to give the other characters some cred. This is the same thing that ruined Transformers -- I didn't give a crap about the human characters and the robots were essentially props to further the story involving unlikeable or moronic humans. Live action spinoffs of cartoons and video games can't seem to help ruining themselves.

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4/10

Good for Halo fans. For others, not so much

trey-yancy-572-76354713 May 2018

This is a film for Halo fans. If you aren't, a lot of this is meaningless - three minutes of beautiful CG with vague snippets about a wrecked space ship, followed by an hour of teen angst, then a shoot-em-up on campus with space aliens and a snippet about the space ship again. If you don't know the games, you don't get much out of this. Other than a couple of training exercises, the first hour pretty much drags - teen melodrama.

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10/10

Amazing

jershin7129 November 2012

Standing alone, Forward Unto Dawn is visually stunning, aesthetically sound, and superb talent on both sides of the camera. I have read some of these other reviews, and the ones that gave mediocre to terrible reviews basically had viewed the storyline as poorly written or unfinished. In my opinion, Forward Unto Dawn's storyline was not intended to be a stand alone story, but instead as a lead up story to be used in unison with the Halo 4 video game. The character building within the series was centered around Cadet Lasky. It was also about Lasky's first meeting with John-117, as a flashback/memory. Forward Unto Dawn was also intended to bring more fans of the series to the Halo books. Thank you for reading this review and help me look forward to more live-action Halo films.

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7/10

A decent little sci-fi movie released sideways.

Safetylight15 March 2022

Let's bear in mind that this came out several years before Netflix rudely awakened the slumbering movie industry with their 2017 Wil Smith project, "Bright".

-Which critics completely panned, not because it was bad, (it was a solid 7/10 movie which regular folks enjoyed), but because it bucked the system and made all the little Authoritarian reviewers feel threatened. (You can't get free passes and pats on the head if the regular Hollywood machine's distribution network gets bypassed and Netflix ignores you and doesn't send you review copies, and has the audacity to still rake in tens of millions of viewers without your shillmanship).

I love that! Hollyweird needs to undergo a serious purge at every level.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn was essentially a grab bag item, like a coffee mug or tee shirt, swag to be released along with the latest episode in their flagship game franchise. I rolled my eyes when a gamer friend of mine insisted that I watch his DVD copy, "No, it's really good!"

Come on. It's a marketing product. An advert. How good can it possibly be?

So I strapped in, ready for a dose of tacky cheese...

And was blown away.

Wow! They hired real movie pros, actors, production teams. And script writers! It was better than most sci-fi TV shows.

I came to the end asking, "Is there more?"

That was the day I realized that just because Hollywood didn't spit it out doesn't mean it can't be good!

This is good stuff!

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3/10

Unlike the superb games, this doesn't work

Georgie-boy-Costanza18 November 2012

I just saw it yesterday and i must say that it bored the heck out of me. The visuals where okayish, but not very good. The storyline was straight up boredom, the acting was laughable in places, only the special effects where good.

I hated the whole anxious boy must overcome his fears in training story line and there was not even a hint of humor in it. Not that there has to be, but in this case it would be very welcome. It really got to the point that i was irritated with the whole affair.

Conlclusion, boring waste of budget.

I love the games and the story lines in the game, so don't come at me pulling that card.

If you really love Halo you are better of watching the short movie by Neill Blomkamp (District 9 director), or even the anime shorts.

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10/10

Keep Going Forward Unto Dawn

leejpalmer-517-7322681 November 2012

Wow! What can I say about this show? I'm massively impressed by the production values and somewhat puzzled by why this isn't on the big screen.

Episode 4 actually gave me shivers down my spine.

The best sci-fi since Galactica and that's quite a complement. Such believable performances from a young group of actors and the SFX are top notch.

Hopefully there'll be a blu-ray with a "making of" if we're lucky. This type of show deserves a wider audience than the one it's probably currently got. I'm a self proclaimed geek but I've been burning off these episodes for my predominately none geek friends for weeks!

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10/10

An superb standalone series.

augustomillevolte-518-4561221 November 2012

As a lifelong Halo fan, be it books or games, I am not disappointed. The 10/10 is not for it being Halo, but for it being an amazing standalone series in its own right. As far as Sci-Fi goes this is top notch material and I would love it without the history the Halo universe and myself already have. The acting is great, the story is great, the special effects? I'm sure you can guess. The overall production value of this is extraordinary and I am very confused as to why it has not reached a wider audience. I am thrilled that Microsoft and 343 put the time and effort in to create something truly magnificent, and I am excited for what the undoubted success of this series will bring the rest of the Halo universe.

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10/10

Halo Movie? Something better!

sunnysawrav21 October 2012

FUD is a series of webisodes that premieres every week on Machinima Prime channel on youtube. For long, I've waited to see a live action film about Halo. I believe it's a movie that has the potential to be amazing if done right. Halo fans all over the planet would go gaga. However, Microsoft's inability to lower their profit share deal, killed the movie. 343 on the other hand, thought it's best to release a 90 minute movie anyway but let it screen on youtube, google and Blu Ray Discs. Essentially, this movie would lead to the release of Halo 4. Hence, your's truly, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. These episodes will be taken off youtube on December 4. So, how is the series? It's mind blowing! Granted, there's only 3 webisodes out till now but I have to say this, the movie is not at all bad. It's the closest thing you'll get to a movie but it's better this way. With FUD not releasing on silver screen, we've got a chance for a bigger and better Halo film that could be under plans for release via Hollywood. For now, FUD is all we get and I love it. Since, the movie's being monitored by 343 and Microsoft, they'll make sure, that the story doesn't deviate from the game. So far, it hasn't. I have some predictions that might be counted as spoilers so not gonna write it here but I know from what I've seen so far, that FUD stays true to the game.

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Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (2012)

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