- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I was on this thread since about three days ago, and I never got to reading the whole thing cause when I started, it was 33 pages, and now it's 44, so, I'll stop bothering. Anyway, here's the my stand on it:
I saw AVP, the movie, and I was actually VERY impressed at how good it was. But I also know how hard it would've been. This may have been said a million times by now, but I was going to mention it and Dragos mentioned it already, but Bungie chooses to do a movie, they HAVE to be there from minute on till the end of the movie, and they have to do the editing themselves.
When it comes to the story, though, I really think that Fall of Reach should be the book the first movie should be made on. If that isn't the whole idea, they should tell us the story of the forerunner and how they made halo and how it worked and I saw this little mini-article thing in xbox nation the last time I saw it, and it noted that it would take 9 halos to destroy the whole universe. I'll try to hook you guys up with a URL or type it up if I find my magazine, but yea, that's the whole story with that. Moving on... the only problem with trasnferring a book's story into a movie is that you'd have to lose detail and with a story like the one of Fall Of Reach, it'd lose a tremendous amount of detail.
Moving on, when it comes to the type of movie, these are the choices and what they could do with it:
CG: It could be completely computer generated. This thing seems to be the best idea, but it has its own problems. First of all, it would take Bungie a LOT of work and a lot more money to complete the project... if it hires more people to complete the project more quickly. That seems like the only problem that I can think of now, but it seems like the best way to go. If they can find the perfect balance between time, money and number of people working, it could very well be just as good as another halo video game. And looking at the kind of advanced character modeling tools like bump mapping, etc, bungie uses, the movie would look VERY pleasing to the eyes.
Next thing, the sound development, too, is the best in the industry (in my opinion... I could be right.) They should stick with halo's original soundtrack because nothing else fits the game's mood as well as the music. But there ARE times in the book where I honestly don't think the game's music would fit and they could redo the soundtrack just for the movie (more money ideas, here.)
Live Action + MoCap: This is where the real life credibility kicks in. If they choose to do it this way, they could always hire nightmare armor's people to create a MJOLNIR Mark IV armor for them, rather than the Mark VI armor that they are making now. So, for the covenant, they could always have a voice over and MoCap. And honestly, no one has the stand-alone attitude that Master Chief has better than Hugh Jackman (yes, he's the guy who played Wolverine in X-men.) Whether you like/liked X-men the movie or not, I really thought Jackman fit Wolverine's part perfectly well. Not only that, he only opened his mouth when he needed to... part of the reason why Halo's gameplay is very enjoyable... you don't hear the person you play as talk too much, even during cut scenes. Not only that, Jackman is also one of the people "they" (I'm really not sure whom I'm referring to, but the producers of James Bond... directors, perhaps(?) of the James Bond series), are considering to use for the next James Bond if Pierce Brosnan gets too old for the part. Pierce Brosnan turned out to be the best one, along with Sir Sean Connerry (IMO, once again,) but they (you know whom I'm talkin about) chose younger actors. Going back to the main point, I really think Hugh Jackman could be the best Master Chief. And when it comes to director, you really have to pick between Spielberg, who made Saving Private Ryan (I don't care what you say, but it was a really awesome movie) or Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer (who made The Rock, which is one of my favorites... and Bruckheimer is one of the best action movie directors, too.)
But the director would only be needed if it was a Live Action + MoCap. And no matter what happens, Bungie HAS to get full access of the movie. I really think Nightmare Armor could use this idea to promote the idea of a movie for Halo and take their business to the next level. Not only that, the whole movie should be what Bungie wants... not what the director wants... unless it really makes the movie better.
No matter how good all this sounds, there's always a downside to letting things get into the hands of holly wood. First of all, there should be NO love or sex scenes involved. They seriously buy people out of their ideas and add a sex scene or two into the movie. Not that I oppose it, but it really just screws up the whole mood of the story. It would really mean the difference between a PG-13 or PG movie to an R rated movie.
On top of all that, another downside is that if it isn't as good, it probably wouldn't gain any more fans. If it was good, then you'd expect to see better sales, etc. But the whole point isn't for Bungie to sound like a bunch of sellouts to money and other things, but it COULD really give it a lot more fame and of course, money. But if Bungie focuses mainly on money, they might do it half-ass (which Bungie is famous for NOT doing.) It IS human psychology to do such a thing. When you're tempted too much and you're too greedy for your reward, for instance, then you might not do that well on what you're supposed to put your heart and soul into, because you're too focused on what you get and not what you give. Some people might say that it's not true and that they'd put their best into it, but trust me, when a thing like a few million dollars is at stake, then anyone would care more for the money.
In my honest opinion, I think that Bungie should stop bothering with the whole idea of the movie and just do their best until their current projects are completed. After that, when they start the movie, they should hit it and hit it hard and make the movie so good, it's unforgettable (which I'm DAMN sure Bungie will do,) and just worry about things that it needs to for the time being; nothing more, nothing less.