A legendary manhunter and Naval Intelligence officer and his team are investigating terrorist chatter on the distant colony world of Sedra, when they are caught in a horrific biological attack that reroutes their mission.

Halo: Nightfall tells the personal story of Jameson Locke, a legendary manhunter and agent with the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), Earth s most powerful and secretive military branch. He and his team are investigating terrorist chatter on the distant colony world of Sedra, when they are caught in a horrific biological attack. Led by Locke, ONI agents are forced to coordinate with Randall Aiken, a local commander with a remarkable history and deep-rooted mistrust of ONI. As they unravel a plot that draws them to an ancient, hellish artifact, they will be forced to fight for their survival, question everything, and ultimately choose between their loyalties and their lives.

Director- Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Starring- Mike Colter, Steven Waddington, Christina Chong

The story of Nightfall simple; the Covenant Remnant (as they're now known) has got its hands on some element that is basically toxic to humans, and humans alone, that was presumably manufactured by the Forerunners, as its source is traced to a piece of the original Halo ring (yep, the one from the first game that Master Chief destroyed). New character Locke is tasked with taking a team of marines as well as colonial officers to track down the source and destroy it. Of course, once they land their method of evacuation is compromised and they are then stranded on this piece of the Halo ring with only 16 hours until they are all fried by the heat of the local sun. To make matters worse, a sentient creature or creatures appears to be on the ring too, and seems bent on their destruction. The bulk of the movie is the characters being picked off one by one by these creatures whilst turning against each other as they realise only two of them will be able to make it off the Halo shard alive.

So yeah, a story we've seen a thousand times before, but never in the Halo universe, so its addition is not unwelcome.

Locke is a pretty awesome character, which is due in no small part to Mike Colter. I'm already looking forward to playing as him in Halo 5, and considering Nightfall is essentially an origins story for him, in that respect it does the job. I hate it when people bring up race/skin colour in these kinds of things, because honestly it shouldn't even BE an issue, but that said, it is nice to see a heroic black lead, and not a 'supporting role', in an action sci fi work for a change.

The enemy creature on the Halo ring are Lekgolo worms, or 'Hunter worms' - the worms that the 'Hunter' creatures from the Halo games are made up of - only these are pre-Covenant Lekgolo and are therefore 'free roaming', and thankfully the CGI on the worms looks fine. It was a nice surprise, and cool to see something recognisable and familiar from the Halo games, but in a form we haven't seen them in before (if you know about Halo lore you know that Hunter worms are not naturally in the 'warrior' shape we see them in in the games, but this is the first time we see them in their base form).

Halo: Nightfall is a live-action Xbox Originals webseries for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and other Microsoft devices which was released in late 2014. Consisting of five episodes, the series was created by Scott Free Productions in conjunction with 343 Industries. Acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott was the show's executive producer along with Scott Free TV President David Zucker; it was directed by television director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. In the series, "A strange and treacherous world exposes elite UNSC operatives to a much deeper danger." The five episodes of Nightfall aired on the Halo Channel weekly, on Tuesdays at 4 PM PST, starting on November 11, 2014 and concluding on December 9, 2014.

Serving as an origin story for Agent Locke, a secondary playable character in Halo 5: Guardians, Nightfall is intended to connect the stories of Halo 4 and Guardians. An ONI unit under Locke's command is deployed on the distant human Outer Colony of Sedra to investigate terrorist activity. Sedra is described as a backwater world harboring a disdain for the Unified Earth Government and the UNSC. During their investigation, a Sedran city is attacked by a Sangheili terrorist wielding a biological weapon that only affects humans. Locke's team is forced to work together with Sedran Colonial Guard commander Randall Aiken and his troops to track down the origin of the bioweapon. During their search, the unit is drawn to a partially intact section of Installation 04, the Halo ringworld destroyed by the Master Chief in the first Halo game. A grave threat present on the ancient construct soon turns the mission into a desperate fight for survival.

Nightfall will have narrative connections to Halo: The Television Series. The series also incorporated interactive features with the Halo Channel application for Xbox One. Viewers could complete challenges related to the series to unlock features that can be used in Halo games. Each episode had several challenges and "Second Story" videos that expand on events that were not shown in the series. Additionally, viewers could access the Halo Channel's "Halo Encyclopedia" to gain information on characters, locations, weapons, and vehicles that are featured in Halo: Nightfall.

Halo is an American military science fiction television series developed by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane for the streaming service Paramount+, loosely based on the video game franchise of the same name. Produced by Showtime Networks, 343 Industries, Amblin Television, One Big Picture, and Chapter Eleven, the series follows a 26th-century war between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant, a theocratic-military alliance of several advanced alien races determined to eradicate the human race.

Pablo Schreiber and Jen Taylor star as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and Cortana, with the latter reprising her role from the video game series, and are joined by Natascha McElhone, Yerin Ha, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Olive Gray, Charlie Murphy, Kate Kennedy, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac, and Danny Sapani. Development for a Halo television series began in 2013. Killen was hired in June 2018, and the series officially announced a 9-episode order for Paramount+. Filming began in Ontario, Canada in October 2019, although post-production for the first five episodes was affected due to the pandemic. Filming eventually resumed in Budapest, Hungary in February 2021.

Halo premiered on March 24, 2022, on Paramount+, with the series already renewed for a second season.

Before checking out, please check out my other listings HERE!
Questions?  Comments?  Send a message!

Excelsior!