And here we are. The next film production by 343 Industries, Halo: The Fall of Reach. A basic nearly word for word retelling of the novel of the same name set before Halo: CE. It tells the story of Doctor Catherine Halsey kidnapping 150 children and inducted them into the Spartan II program. We follow the candidate 117 AKA John 117, The Master Chief and we watch him slowly become a leader and the hero we know him to be in the Halo games. Again 343 have pulled another great production out of their hats. H:TFOR is a fantastic animated feature and is true to the source material. The voice acting is superb and the story strong. Whats also surprisingly great is they don't hide how graphic and horrible the Spartan II augmentations were. The Good The Animation Style The animation was, at first watch, jarring and confusing. why 343 would use that kind of animation as they've used better in Halo Legends: The Package? Yet on a second watch, I recognised the artistic value and the it resemble early Final Fantasy movies which i've always thought were artistic achievements. The film I believe attempts to use almost a water colour effect which works fantastically and the tense atmosphere that produces in certain scenes is brilliant. Voice Acting The voice cast is outstanding. Jen Taylor certainly works her magic and brings out the young Halsey in her voice. Steve Downes, though a minor role, gives off so much emotion in his voice than any other game, minus the end of Halo 4, and the voice actor for younger John also gives off an outstanding performance. How Real They Make The Film Feel As stated before, The Fall of Reach does not hide the trauma these kids go through. You see a kid during the augmentation process and violently thrash about before kicking the bucket. Also when the introduce the Mjolnir armour, they again show a kid wearing the armour and it slowly twist and breaking his bones and the kids screams are not muffled or hidden. They are loud and you feel for how much pain these kids must have gone through. In Halo Legends: Homecoming. You understand the psychologicaltrauma of the kids becoming spartans and here you see what the physical trauma. It's nice to see 343 expanding and seeing the different ends of the spectrum of Halo Lore and not staying tame. The Bad I have 2 minor gripes and one major gripe with this film. Minor Gripes: Continuity Error Theres a point in this film where you see John, Fred, Linda and Kelly all in their mark 6 Spartan II armour on the planet Reach where Sam carved a symbol into a tree to show they'd been there and of their friendship. Ok: 1. If this is set during the novel they're in the wrong armour. They should be in either mark 4 or logically mark 5. 2. If it's set after Halo 4 and John's return to the team, Why The Hell Are They On Reach??!! As far as I'm aware when the Covenant "glass" a planet, it becomes uninhabitable for several decades to everyone including enhanced super soldiers in armour. Time wise its only been 5, maybe 6 year, NOT SEVERAL DECADES!!! The Run Time Halo: The Fall of Reach runs for about 67 minutes (1 hour 7 minutes). Because of this run time, a lot of scenes are incredibly rushed and possible several crucial plot points are just shown in montage or are glossed over and they could have been expanded on. Major Gripe:
THE FILMS TITLE IS A LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy crap on high!!! What I hate most about films of any kind is false advertising and/or lying to its audience. This film doesn't tell the story of the Fall of Reach. It's how the kids are indoctrinated into becoming soldiers, the introduction of the Covenant and the death of Samuel. In essence THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAMN BOOK!!!!! I'm not kidding. The primary story ends with the infiltration of the Covenant cruiser and Sam staying behind to detonate a nuke after his suit is compromised. When we return to the team back on reach next to the tree, he says his final line and then.... cut to credits. What the f**k 343?! When you emphasise in your promotional material about this being based off of the novel a lot of people, including myself, were gullible to think you meant the whole novel, not half the novel with some add bit that isn't in the novel or any expanded universe stuff, which I thought was excellent material and show Blue team as a family. This should have been called Halo: Spartan Origins. Yes its a crappy title and is too similar to Halo Legend: Origins, but at least it actually rhymes with the god damn story.
Even though I've torn this film a new one and it sound like its the worst thing 343i has made well it isn't, I'm looking at you Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike, This animated film is definitely a good watch and because of my major grip, i hope theres a "part 2" to this at some point.
Let me put it this way: Michael Bay's Transformers films (and Star Wars) are the reason for me wanting to pursue a career in the TV and Film Industry. I personally think they're great films with great characters and take some great ideas from the lore to implement into the films. Transformers, Dark of The Moon and Age of Extinction have great stories and I like the concept for Revenge of The Fallen, though I will admit it's the weakest of the 4. And with the 5th instalment on it's way due for release in 2017 (they originally said 2016 but the majorly f***ed that up), I have chosen to compile a list of 7 things I want to see in the new film. It's your classic countdown list so no need to go over the rules. Also their is a heavily minor spoiler for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
7. Don’t add tonnes of new Autobots.
A thing I found really great about the 4th instalment is the fact there about five Autobot’s in the whole film. It makes the interactions between each of the characters more personal and give them more personality. In the first 2 films (minus Optimus) they don’t have much personality and come off as either over acted, wooden……. or severely racist. In the third, some characters do actually expand their characteristics and have more personality. Like the first film, Age of Extinction has only a small amount of Autobots which allows a lot of good moments between them and allows them to have a lot of personality (more in AOE). When it comes to the 5th film, the number of Autobots should remain the same. These being Drift, Hound, Bumblebee, Crosshairs and Optimus Prime. If you add more, you end up making the film massively overcrowded with the Transformers characters and be like ROTF and DOTM. You can maybe add two…… MAXIMUM!!!! Examples being Ultra Magnus and Powerglide.
6. Bring Back Steve Jablonsky.
Steve Jablonsky is the man behind the amazing score for all four films. I am a sucker for movie scores and I believe Jablonsky is on his way to be the next John Williams and Hans Zimmer. He created the incredible “Optimus” theme for the 2nd film, the epic “Battle” theme of the 3rd film and the emotionally pumping “Dinobot Charge” theme of the 4th film. He is incredibly talented and without him, someone else composing the score for these films is like someone else other than John Williams composing the Star Wars scores. It will feel incredibly wrong. He's done great collaborations with Skrillex, Imagine Dragons and Linkin Park. Jablonsky is the man who should be the one who does the score.
5. Less Scenes Dominated by The Human Factor.
A big problem that a lot of people have with the TF films is simply; too many scenes with humans and not enough with the Transformers. 1 and Revenge of The Fallen had this. We spend to much time with the human characters and sometimes it makes the Tformer characters as extras with a few lines here and there. Dark of The Moon moved away from this slightly as there were a lot more scenes with the Transformers, mainly scenes that involved Bumblebee, Optimus and Sentinel Prime. However the human characters were the main focus still. AOE had it has 50/50 once we pass the one hour mark, Which benefits the Autobot characters well as explained in my fifth point. Also when looking at the films, the Decepticons are only in a few scenes prior to the final act. Then they have a massive presence throughout the final battle sequences. Number 5 needs to have more screen time with the Transformers characters and less of the human factor. Though the human characters are beneficial to setting a film on present day Earth, We're here to see giant robots, not humans.
4. Another "Battle of Chicago" Style Final Act.
One of my all time favourite fight scenes in any film is the last hour of Dark of The Moon. The Autobots are massively outnumbered, we get amazing fight sequences, incredible effects and a great one on one final battle between Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime. A lot of people will disagree with me on this but....Transformers 5 needs that kind of final fight scene. If you don't like it for the story, it's a great visual masterpiece and shows how real the Autobots are even as CGI characters. The fight will need to follow a specific formula. 1. Start with the initial combat scene. The heroes entering where the final battle is to take place and maybe engaging a few enemies. 2. Have the Autobots and human characters split and have them engaging in two separate fight scenes and eventually come back together. 3. Show the return of Optimus due to he flew off at the end of the Age of Extinction. 4. Kill a character we've come to love whether it be Autobot or Human. 5. Have the final fight between Prime and whoever the main villain is for the film. It's a formula I think that will work and make the fight a memorable one.
3. Two Separate Narratives.
With what happens at the end of Age of Extinction, there's now the opportunity for two stories to be told. You can have one featuring Optimus hunting down the Creators and running into Unicron and the second having Cade and the Autobots hunting and fighting Galvatron and the new Decepticons and then both narratives link and come together by the final act. Both stories will need to obviously make sense but this is also the opportunity to be creative. The Optimus story can be very lore based and a CGI environment. They can delve into Transformers history and can make way for the multiple sequels that are planned. With the Cade and the Autobots story, that can be character driven. Show how much they've grown as a team and family as the fight the Decepticons and that and make the death of one of the characters in the final battle all the more traumatic and all the more heartbreaking.
2. No Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime.
My earliest memory of the Transformers is the 2001 series Transformers: Robots in Disguise and Unicron Trilogy which features the series' Armada, Energon and Cybertron. I didn't even start watching the original 1980's cartoon till around the time the first live action film came out and my first exposure to that was the animated film which is ...yeah it's pretty fantastic. I then watched the series then by the time I got to season 3 and Rodimus Prime was now the leader of the Autobots....put it this way; I hate Rodimus Prime. He is impulsive and keeps comparing himself to Optimus saying he'll never be good enough as him and on several occasions is willing to give up leadership with a snap of the figure. He's essentially a teenager going through puberty and its f***ing frustrating to watch. I tend to skip season 3 and only watch the beginning of the season and the end of the season. When an article was published late 2014 on a story that turned out to be false, Rodimus was meant to come in and Optimus was to die...again. If this was true, it would have been a crap a terrible move on both Michael Bay and Paramounts part and you would have pissed off a lot of fans. Even if they have plans to add Rodimus into the mix, Please for the love of God, Don't.
Here are a few honourable mentions to thing I want to see in Transformers 5: Unicorn
More Galvatron
No mcguffin devices
And old character from the first trilogy
Combiners
Optimus vs Unicorn
1. Optimus Prime as The Main Character and Focus Point of the film.
As previously stated in point 7, with so many characters a lot of then don't have time to expand on their characteristics and/or stories. This happened to Optimus in the first 2 films however his character expanded in 3 & 4. In 5 the focus should be on him and his story and how his departure at the end of AOE has affected the Autobot team on Earth. Have Optimus occupy the majority of scenes like Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens. Also the film should focus on his journey to fight the Creators, him delving into Cybertronian history and behind the scenes, allow Peter Cullen to flesh out Optimus more. Also this would be a perfect time to have this movie incarnation of Optimus Prime return to the classic character traits which he is known for and not have any major out of character moments that have happened in the last 4 films. And for god sakes not kill him. Also a great thing would be to expand on the friendship between Prime and Cade as it was a great attribute in AOE and can be expanded on in 5. This film should essentially be Optimus' story.
Not long passing its 52nd birthday, the Doctor Who franchise continues to grow strong and has recently finished it’s ninth season. In all these years we’ve lived through 13 (yes 13, i'm not counting the metacrisis Doctor) incarnations of our beloved hero and i’m gonna cutdown my favourite. Slight problem, I like all incarnations equally. You can thank the books and the audio stories. But heres a countdown of where I were to rank them.
12: 6th Doctor (Colin Baker)
All the adventures I've seen that involve this Doctor (minus The Twin Dilemma) I've thoroughly enjoyed. This Doctor is misunderstood I think. If you changed the writer, he could of been a brilliant Doctor. Colin Baker can certainly show this Doctor's emotional side, especially when Peri died and when he calls out the Time Lords as corrupt. The reason he's low on the list is well.... bad writing in "The Twin Dilemma". They wrote him to strangle Peri. WTF!!!!
11: 4th Doctor (Tom Baker)
This Doctor is memorable and legendary for how long he was on British television screens. 7 years as the Doctor is certainly an achievement to remember. This Doctor has so many good episodes especially during the period where the show was in it's too scary for kids phase, "Genesis of the Daleks" for one, "The Face of Evil" being another and his Doctor's regeneration in "Logopolis". His relationship with Sarah Jane Smith being another memorable part of his incarnation. The 4th Doctor I also believe is memorable for the dilemma he faced in "Genesis of the Daleks" where if he went through with his plan, he'd be more like his sworn enemies. He's 12 because, his attitude in places is really frustrating. But i will admit his surprise appearance in "The Day of The Doctor" was really, really incredible to see. A possible future for the hero.
10: 5th Doctor (Peter Davidson)
Peter Davidson's Doctor was the youngest Doctor of the classic era and was a very different and in my opinion, a very violent Doctor. He suffered a lot as well though he didn't let it affect him all that much. He was no stranger to putting others lives before his, like when he saved Peri, and was no stranger to removing threats such as when he threatened Davros. He's a man who was in it for the adventure. His top moment was meeting his 10th persona. Most entertaining ten minutes I've seen.
9: The War Doctor (John Hurt)
The War Doctor is the incarnation that fought in the Time War. The reveal of this Doctor at the end of "The Name of the Doctor". The is a very damaged character and is a perfect example of what I am big on studying. War changes people. This Doctor also runs around with some of the best quotes. "Great men are forged in fire. It is the pleasure of lesser men to light the flame". He's hoping for his later incarnations to be better than him and not fall light he did. He later incarnations who's banter is one of the best moments of the 50th Anniversary.
8: 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)
This the post war Doctor. Living with the fact of what he did in the war to his own people and the Daleks. I'm a sucker for darker characters. He is definitely a dark character. His meeting with the Dalek in Henry Van-Staten's vault shows what the Daleks made him. They give him a reason to break his rule. Give him a reason to kill. And because of this like the Dalek said to him. He'd make a good Dalek himself.
7: 1st Doctor (William Hartnell)
Being the first incarnation to hit the British screen. This Doctor had big shoes to start filling. This Doctor may be old and grumpy, but underneath all that, he's a classic caring old grandad. Especially to his granddaughter. Because of his travels and meeting many villains like the Daleks, he gradually becomes a damaged man. Because of the Daleks, he had to leave his Susan, his granddaughter, behind and they have caused so many companies to leave or die. And because of the Cybermen, he regenerates.
6th: 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee)
The 3rd Doctor is the classic action hero. Spent most of his time throwing punches and flipping people. This Doctor has some of the best seasons on record, Inferno, The Three Doctors and Planet of the Spiders. The Doctor is known for the introduction of the Master who becomes a major recurring villain for the Doctor. His seasons are also best for the introduction of arguably the best companion, Sarah Jane Smith. Though a favourite moment of mine is his reaction to the departure of Jo. He doesn't even need to say a word about how he feels. He just drives off into the night. Silent. Shows how much of a dramatic effect a departure of companion.
5: 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
The Second Doctor is know mostly for being a bit of a clown and the comedic incarnation. I believe these are a contributing factor to his dark persona. The comedic side hides a darker and character. Moments like explaining to the captain of the moonbase about the Cybermen, how he discusses the Daleks and other beasts. However he has such caring moments like discussing his family with Victoria. His moments of banter with Jon Pertwee's Doctor are definitely some of the best moments in Doctor Who's history.
4: The 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy)
This Doctor is a more wizard like incarnation and a manipulator. He manipulated his mortal enemies into destroying their own planet. (That's one way of doing it) He's know well for the Doctor being a mystery and his past being looked at in his stories. His big ass question mark on his clothes and his umbrella makes him noticeable from any kind of material. He also has the first instance of "Cool guys don't look at explosions."
3: 8th Doctor (Paul McGann)
Though used in a TV movie and a mini episode, the 8th Doctor i think is one of the most underrated incarnation. His appearances in the audio dramas show us a very interesting persona. Very much a happy and joyful Doctor. A romantic at heart. Though when the Time War breaks out, he's so broken by this he remains on a ship as it crashes into a planet. The war causes him that him that much pain he is forced to abandon the name "Doctor" to join the war. This Doctor is a pivotal incarnation because his regeneration, an anger fuelled regeneration, changes the fate of the galaxy for better and the worse.
2. 11th Doctor (Matt Smith)
This Doctor is a beloved by many. He's energetic, lively, eccentric, resourceful, and quick-thinking, able to spin things to his point of view and find positive outlooks in negative situations, and, while he preferred to settle problems through negotiation rather than violence, he was willing to result to violence when he deemed it necessary. His relationship with Clara is pivotal to the second half of season 7 and the interactions with his 10th and War persona's were to notch comedic value. He had some of the best speeches and his final moments being the most heart breaking to audience members. His phone call to Clara in "Deep Breath" was not only a great cameo but also a damn good way to reassure Clara and the audience members that this new regeneration is still him, just a new face. He's just a mad man with a box.
1. 10th Doctor (David Tennant) & 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi)
It is honestly so damn difficult to pick which one of these two regenerations is the better incarnation in my opinion. So heres why they both take top spot for me.
There is no denying how much love this incarnation gets. 5 years worth of adventures. He had some of the best episodes so far, some of the scariest episodes, some of the best companions and some of the most heartbreaking moments in the shows history; his goodbye to both Rose and Donna being examples. Towards the end of his run, he became what the eighth incarnation was before his regeneration, a damaged character. He had suffered so much loss, so much pain, being alone was the best way to deal with it all. His final episode wrapped up all his story arcs, he met every companion he's ever had, Martha, Mickey, Captain Jack, Donna and Rose before she ran into him, before the end. Then his final words: "I don't want to go" made his departure all the more heart wrenching. I'll even admit: his regeneration gets to me from time to time.
This regeneration takes top spot because of one thing. He asks a question. "Am I a good man?" Throughout his run so far we've seen instances of yes and no. In his opening episode, he left Clara to defend for herself (he did return), and the cyborg that died, we don't know if he killed it or not and that look he gives to the audience afterwards (the picture to the left) could be a yes. He openly goes against Clara's wishes after her death (Spoiler Alert) and he shoots a Time Lord in order to save Clara (Again Spoiler Alert). Though he has shown kindness, going with Clara to save Danny Pink, saved Isildur (that can be seen either way) and chose than rather Clara suffer losing her memory of him, it would be him forgetting her and the final scene of "Hell Bent" with him putting on the coat after reading the chalk board that said "Run you clever boy....and be a Doctor" show him keeping an unspoken promise. Number 12 is one word; Badass. He also has the best theme hands down.
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