Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Hannah Armstrong The first time I watched Forward Unto Dawn, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. My only exposure to Halo media was the multiplayer function in Halo 2.Despite that, FUD presented me with a story that made me care about the characters, it gave me enough information to understand some of what was going on, but not enough that I felt like I knew everything -- which I'm assuming was the goal, as the perspective we're given is that of the cadets at this officers' academy who also don't know the full story either.Some might call the buildup 'slow' or 'boring', but as a storyteller I can appreciate taking the time for your viewers to make some kind of connection to the characters before you throw them into the action and the chaos.FUD did a very good job of introducing The Master Chief, easily the most iconic character in the Halo franchise. As said before, I knew absolutely nothing about Halo when I started out, but the Chief's first appearance still had me jumping in my seat. It was very exciting, because even I knew that was when it was about to get REAL.I enjoyed the final confrontation with the Hunters at the end, and the appearance of the iconic Halo theme in the background when Master Chief defeated the last one. It was very dramatic, but in a good way.I also liked the inclusion of the other two Spartan-IIs we see in FUD - Fred-104 and Kelly-087. While not given much screen time, it's a nice nod to people who have been fans for a lot longer, who would recognize them.My one qualm is the death of Cadet Silva, as its only purpose seemed to be to inspire Cadet Lasky. Maybe that was just me. My honest rating -- 9.5/10

atlasmb I found this on Netflix as a 91 minute "movie". As a fan of the video game franchise, I decided to watch it. As always I will evaluate this film as independent of the source material, but I will include some notes about the games.The film starts fairly typically, following the progress of a group of young cadets at a military academy. They are training to do battle with "the Insurrectionists"--a group of "terrorists" who may just be outworld farmers rebelling against taxes.Thomas Lasky (Tom Green) is the central character--a cadet who sees himself as a pacifist and who has trouble living up to the legacy of his military family. But all of the cadets are untested and have no idea how they would react under real fire.Their ivory tower dedication to the cause is jarringly interrupted by an actual attack, but the invaders are like nothing they have ever seen. How can they survive against a superior force of aliens?The photography and the music are both excellent, immersing the viewer into a dynamic and sometimes spooky conflict. But the story is disjointed, with significant parts left unexplained. The actors, though young, become believable as the action unfolds.I cannot give this film a good score, due to the deficiencies in the story. But I can recommend the film to anyone who loves the games, like I do. What fun to see the Master Chief come to life, to see great depictions of the warthog, the grunts and weapons like the needler. The various members of the Covenant, though only briefly depicted in some cases, were a joy to see.

WakenPayne I'm just going to say it, Halo is overrated. It can present some fun gameplay if you want to play with friends but in terms of story nothing about it screams anything other than video game, although I DID enjoy some of the anime so that was a surprise. But as a linear 80 minute movie? This could work, I mean I'm open to it if they flesh out more plot characters and... That's not even remotely what happens.We follow cadets in a training Academy for the army against the Covenant. Only they think they're going to fight terrorists which we don't know about and has never been in any other Halo game. As the characters which are barely established go through training one played by Tom "NOT-Freddy-Got-Fingered" Green questions orders, has a war hero mother who we never see and is allergic to some cryo-genetic fluid that's in tanks which the army uses. One day The Covenant attacks and They're caught completely off-guard as to what they are and where they came from and The Master Chief appears in record time to make his 5 minute cameo and then the movie's over.Okay, notice how many times I said things aren't established in any other Halo game or we are told as opposed to shown? There's a lot of that. I can't feel emotionally connected to characters who we know almost nothing about and what we do know comes in about halfway through at best, so half the movie is spent with me saying "What?, Who?, Why?, OKAY! TIME OUT! WHAT IS GOING ON!" I mean for what is simply "Human's Versus Aliens" this movie loses you very easily.I might dwell into the under-use of one of the most recognizable video game characters of all time However I have another complaint. Why does the academy keep the fact that they're fighting aliens secret. I mean how's that supposed to work? On Graduation Day does the person running the place say "Oh, by the way, we're fighting aliens in a losing war" Shouldn't Tom Green's character know this because he has a mother AND a dead brother in the exact war? I mean if they wanted to keep it a secret from non-soldiers (where are they again? In a game franchise over 10 years old I don't think I've seen anyone who isn't a soldier in them) then I'd be fine but these are people who are going to fight the war.At the end of the day this is like watching a YouTube fan film. You know, the ones which don't exactly follow the rules of film (I'll give credit even they're better at keeping to the rules then this does) but you know they're a fan of the games. Instead of watching one that's a few minutes this is one that's an hour and a half. There is some talent trying to pull through - I'll admit that but there is just a lot that I really don't like.

kaiba2789 Alright for a live-action Halo series, it's pretty good. The acting is nice and believable and the visuals are amazing. Nothing is really left out but you aren't bogged down by insignificant details either. I am rather pleased with what I saw and for a video game adaptation, that's saying a lot. I can't say the same for some of the action. When it comes to the actual gun fights, it feels kind of lacking. All the whooshing and zapping and blasting is nice and all but the feeling behind it all just feels lost. It's pretty slow-paced when it comes to the battle scenes and when Chief appears it doesn't really get any faster. And all the slow-motion doesn't help. If you've ever played a Halo game than you know what Master Chief looks like in slow motion and this doesn't make it any cooler. Showcasing Master Chief blowing up an alien with a grenade is fine but it didn't need to be all slow. It's obvious what's going to happen. If you go into this movie expecting a lot of Chief you might be a bit disappointed but you'll enjoy it either way