The Halo franchise is going the Animatrix route by releasing a series of anime short films in a collected anthology entitled Halo Legends. The collection will feature seven stories told across eight episodes, all serving to expand the mythology of the Halo universe, much in the same way that the recently-released Halo 3: ODST sought to do.
For those of you still waiting on your live-action Halo movie, it seems as though you’ll have to make due with Legends for now, so, if “universe expansion films” like The Animatrix or Batman: Gotham Knight haven’t turned you off completely to this sort of thing, check out these highlights from the Halo Legends official press release:
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Go deeper into the Halo universe than
ever before with Halo Legends, an all-new, CG and traditional anime
PG-13 experience that presents enthralling new stories from one of the
world’s most popular video game franchises. Produced by 343
Industries, a part of Microsoft Game Studios, the exciting
tales-beyond-the-games will be distributed February 9, 2010 by Warner
Home Video as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ for
$29.98 (SRP) and $34.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc
DVD for $19.98 (SRP) due date for all versions is January 5, 2010.
The chapters will also be available On Demand and Digital Download.The individual episodes fall within Halo’s 26th Century mythology as
the battle between humanity and aliens rages on in an attempt to
protect Earth and mankind’s expansive number of space colonies. The
dramatic, action-packed stories feature characters and locales
familiar to Halo fans, and episodes range in length between 10 and 17
minutes – resulting in nearly two hours of animated adventures.Halo Legends -- 2 Disc Special Edition version will have several hours
of incredible bonus features, including:The Making of Halo Legends – An introduction to Halo Legends followed
by a making-of segment for each episode.Halo: Gaming Evolved – Explaining the Halo phenomenon from its
inception as an Xbox video game to a present day entertainment
franchise.Audio Commentary with directors Frank O’Connor and Joseph Chou
Widescreen (1.78:1)
Halo Legends Blu-Ray versions will be loaded with bonus materials,
including all the great extras from the 2-disc Special Edition as well
as Halo: The Story so Far, an overview of the Halo universe up until
the end of Halo 3.
Much like previous universe-expanding anime features, each “episode” of Halo Legends will be helmed by a famous anime director, and all of the episodes will produced (and written) by 343 Industries, a division of Microsoft Game Studios (the creators of Halo). The “animetion” studios involved with the project are all pretty famous, respectively responsible for such notable anime series such as Ghost In The Shell, Full Metal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, Dragonball Z, Patlabor, Macross Plus, Vampire Hunter D, and of course, The Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight.
Check out a trailer for Halo Legends:
Right now, I’m kind of split on these “universe expansion” anime films; I loved The Animatrix but only felt so-so about Batman: Gotham Knight. Personally speaking, the actual storyline behind Halo has always taken a back seat (as in waaaayyyyy back) to the run-and-gun excitement and multiplayer mayhem of the games, but I know, for example, that there is a whole genre of fan-fiction dedicated to expanding and exploring this particular sci-fi universe, so I guess that devotion warrants something like Halo Legends being released. I’ll definitely be checking it out.
What about you -- does Halo Legends sound interesting (especially to those of you who aren’t already fans of the game)?
As stated, Halo Legends will be available on February 9, 2010.
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16 Comments
meh… I will pass. I am waiting for a Halo movie.
This looks really cool, although the brute from the preview that was released way back when looked twice the hieght of Master Chief, which makes me a little concerned. Since when have brutes been 15ft tall?
Oh and for those of you that care and havent seen them, here are some Halo:Reach screenshots that look pretty freakin cool.http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378966
It would be really cool if the game followed the book, The Fall of Reach, and to let us play as other spartans, and hopefully, someday, we’ll get a Fall of Reach movie, which is probably the best Halo novel out.
Not a bad compromise for now.
At the very least it is an acknowledgement of The Halo audience.
It is better then being totally ignored.
If it’s anything like the Animatrix it will be decent. I still wish we had a movie for Halo like the commercial for ODST.
Whenever Production I.G. is involved with an animated project you can expect that turkey nicely done and juicy already!! I.can’t.wait!
In my opinion, Halo is one of the few video game franchises whose story shows promise for a movie adaptation. The Metal Gear Solid series also has a rich, original story.
The Halo story definitely takes a back seat in the games but it’s still impressive! Of course, to lure the attention of directors like Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg it would have to be impressive. High profile directors being attached to a Halo movie gives high hopes to fans. I think this animae will extend the Halo universe to a wider audience.
Bane
M-CAT I AM SURPRISED YOU ARENT COMPARING IT TO THE HUGE STEAMING PILE THAT WILL BE AVATAR….
Why would compare it to Avatar? That’s live action based film.
Bungie crated halo. 343 made halo waypoint on xbl. I’ve read all th fiction as well as a good amount of other sci-fi and can say it’s some of the best. This anime looks awesom I loved the animatrix and the batman stories. But this could be the cake stealer. I’ll also wait as long as it takes to get a good halo movie. Bcuz if someone jumps the gun and gives this to uwe bowle. I will snap.
This has to be one of the better decisions made about adapting a game franchise to the movies. Having the excellent production houses involved doesn’t hurt either. Yes test and build a greater fan base by producing a cheaper but no less quality Anime from the game.
@ Bane, metal gear was a movie lol
4 had over 2 hours of cinema cut scenes. which i loved. and the story was freaking genius. they made a stupid character bad ass with raiden.
I LOVE THAT GAME!!!
one of the best reviews i saw for the game was
:that was one of the best movies ive ever seen…wait.. i thought i rented a game??
lol
if you havent played it or just played the first level and said this is boring. Game starts SOOO freaking slow but the payoff is epic.
also the problem with both the metal gear and halo movie specs is the main character
the voices inparticular are so freaking iconic that anything less than spot on is going to be seen as a sham/failure
i guess you could pull a darth vader with master chief but with snake i think it would be more complicated.
And STUPID IDIOTIC hollywood seems like they dont want to make a halo where the dudes face is never seen
ya
cause thats why id go see it
to see the elusive face
what a joke
@rich
Lol you’re right, Metal Gear has already proven it can be adapted to a movie! I’m not a major gamer but after completing the first one back in the 90s, I’ve made sure to play through each sequel. David Hayter is pretty involved in Hollywood (Watchmen), so if a MGS movie gets made I definitely hope he’s attached.
I agree, the voice of the Master Chief is rather iconic. I think they should just keep his helment on and keep the same guys voice over.
Bane
I’m with you guys on the voice = identity issue. Sound is around 40% of a movies appeal. Halo has a good excuse too, the suit! It’s going to suck when “Ghost In The Shell” & “Cowboy Bebop” are released without the iconic voices to back them up…
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