This video was nothing more than a cheap rip-off of Orson Scott Card's Enders Game. I was surprised how uncreative it was. Read Enders Game, then watch the movie, you will see how this was nothing more than someones attempt to capitalize off another persons ideas. Shameful. I read Fall of Reach a few years back and found it entertaining but again I was saddened at how closely it resembled Orson Scott Card and Heinlein. I was hoping for original ideas, plots, and characters but this was the wrong place to look for it. It is sad how people will spend thousands of dollars on producing a show yet they spend nothing on making sure that show has quality original content. Stick to the video game, and ignore the sad plagiarizing back-story.

I am one of many who has read the novel on which this movie is based off of and which I loved so you could say I went in with high expectations. I would be lying if I said i didn't have any. I will however say that I tried to lower those expectations and be open to a different view. Besides, book adaptations are rarely if not ever better than in it's original form simply because our own imagination plays a mayor role in it. It's hard to live up to those standards which are different for each and any individual.Unfortunately lowering my standards was not merely enough to be able to enjoy this movie. I would even say that if it weren't for me being a fan of the source material I would've given it an even lower score and it might have even scared me away from the franchise completely. The only thing that actually kept me going was me liking the universe the books created and my interest in how the team behind this production envisioned this prelude to the Halo games.And that's why it baffles me so much that it's this bad because this is coming from the people that have the property in their possession and who work on the current games in the franchise. Everything is there and checks out, from the original voice actors down to the lore, even small details like the HUD indicators from the games, and yet they have managed to produce a lackluster representation of an otherwise great story written by Mr. Nylund with stiff voice-acting and even stiffer animation work that resembled something closer to in-game graphics from last generations game consoles than anything. If I didn't know any better I could be fooled in to thinking I was watching a not so funny episode of Red vs. Blue. I know and agree that looks aren't everything but then at least get the emotion part right one way or another, especially because The Fall of Reach is one of emotional heavier tales in the franchise, if not the heaviest.The movie adaptation of the Fall of Reach ended up being quite a disappointment to me and I wasn't even expecting all that much of it to begin with, and to make matters worse, to top it all of, we didn't even get to see the full story. We have seen Reach, but the falling bit as mentioned in the title is a big part of it too. Either 343 didn't think so or this is a 2 parter.All in all I can't recommend this to anyone. And if you're a fan and you're as curious as I was though, take my advise and put the book on your nightstand before hand.

(Note - this review has some spoilers)The Halo movies aren't usually that bad so I thought this one might have 'improved' from the last. However, I've seen better animation and rendering in a late 90's video game than this movie!From the start you watch 6 year old kids getting beaten up - it's just plain unpleasant and unnecessary. John (who becomes Master Chief) is totally unbelievable - almost schizophrenic in his character; one minute he can be slaughtering those who annoy him and then suddenly become the most caring soldier on the block.The 'story' slightly reminds me of Enders Game with John being a very pale-in-comparison 'Ender'. But there's just nothing to like about him or any of the characters. The whole movie consists of short cut- scenes based on the sacrifice of kids as they grow up. It's just plain morose from beginning to end.I haven't watched such a shallow, wooden, stiff, badly animated cartoon such as this for a long time. I usually love sci-fi but you'd have to be a dyed-in-the-wool, die-hard, Halo lover to give this movie any rating above 1!I seriously wasted my money on this one.

Halo has been a flagship title for Xbox consoles for more than a decade, it has spawned numerous titles and spin-offs, but apparently animation movie is not a priority. The CGI is incredibly stiff and design is equally lackluster, there is barely any shred of production value of the game here. This will no doubt disappoint the fans while probably won't attract any casual movie viewers.It tells the story of John / Master Chief, the main protagonist as he goes through his training and childhood. He is not the easiest character to transition to cinema as he's a silent protagonist on the game. The animation delivers his story by narrations from other characters, while Joh himself is pretty one dimensional. His interactions are mostly military oriented, leaving little room to expand.To make matter worse, it utilizes the same formulaic sequences like those in Universal Soldier films. Also, characters' facial expressions are extremely bland. Animation can barely produce any quality equivalent to today's game cutscenes. It's just plain rigid motion and uninteresting setting for one hour, and that short runtime will not amount much in term of narrative anyway.The low quality visual will most likely upset gamers, and it's certainly not the introduction story Halo would like to represent the franchise on animation genre.