Search - Halo Legends (Two-Disc Special Edition) on DVD


Halo Legends (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Halo Legends
Two-Disc Special Edition
Actor: Andy McAvin
Directors: Daisuke Nishio, Frank O'Connor, Hideki Futamura, Hiroshi Yamazki, Koji Sawai
Genres: Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Anime & Manga, Animation
NR     2010     2hr 0min

This 8 episode anthology of 10-15 minute length each, explores the origin and historical events of the HALO universe, and various characters inhabiting the world. Like Animatrix and Batman Gotham Knight, each of the 8 epis...  more »
     
     

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Movie Details

Actor: Andy McAvin
Directors: Daisuke Nishio, Frank O'Connor, Hideki Futamura, Hiroshi Yamazki, Koji Sawai
Creators: Daisuke Nishio, Frank O'Connor, Dai Sato, Eiji Umehara, Hiroshi Yamazaki, Hiroyuki Kawasaki, Joseph Staten, Megumi Shimizu
Genres: Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Anime & Manga, Animation
Sub-Genres: Action & Adventure, Animation, Anime & Manga, Animation
Studio: Warner Home Video
Format: DVD - Color,Full Screen,Widescreen - Animated,Dubbed
DVD Release Date: 02/16/2010
Release Year: 2010
Run Time: 2hr 0min
Screens: Color,Full Screen,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaDVD Credits: 2
Total Copies: 1
Members Wishing: 0
Edition: Special Edition
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English, Japanese, Spanish
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Member Movie Reviews

Michael M. from LEE CENTER, NY
Reviewed on 12/29/2013...
A Good anthology of stories from the Halo universe. Rented it on Netflix years ago, and found it worth owning.

Movie Reviews

NOT a game, these are stories
Erik Oleson | Sacramento, CA | 02/16/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm going to try to give as spoiler-free of a review as possible.

I've been apprehensive of Halo Legends since it was announced, and was nervous with the crazy Japanese getting a hold of the franchise. When a few stories were put up on Waypoint, however, my concerns were diminished. Seeing that Frankie (Frank O'Connor) had control over what was being done in Legends, it led me to give credence to what I was once doubtful of. And I've read all novels, blogs, BWUs, and played each game so much that there is little I don't know.

Yes, there are quivering eyes, men with jaws too wide open, cheesy mid-action posing shots, and a couple other cliched anime items that slipped in, but if you look past these and accept them as artistic interpretation, you can see what is underneath and really appreciate the stories. Elite's losing a pair of mandibles and seeing a female elite in the context of 'the Duel' chuckling like a school girl was probably the worst moment of this entire DVD. With that said, this has given me MORE food to chew on than sinking feelings of Microsoft milking us all out of $20.

-The entire episode of Origins (Part 1 & 2) are pure gold. We get our first glimpse of Forerunners, and witness the true power of the Flood, not constricted by the hardware of the 360 and polygon counts. And they are scary. This is easily the best offering of the entire DVD, and all of Cortana's monologue was written by Frankie himself. Great stuff.

-Babysitter, Prototype, and Homecoming all feature similar-styled animation and actually decent storylines. There are a few canonical things that I am curious of, but I'm sure have explanations. One thing I am getting tired of is all of the suicide missions that these side stories keep telling. It's getting a little too predictable (same as in Halo Evolutions).

-The Duel is a tough one. I hated the animation style when I first put it on, but as it went along, I saw what the artists were going for and really appreciated it. A very dark tone was needed, and this conveyed it perfectly. Two things to note: elites without their top pair of mandibles in certain scenes is simply artistic interpretation, and the large hunters are entirely possible (as Frankie has said in response to this criticism).

-The Package is a unique one. The visuals are amazing. This is the first time we ever see Master Chief working with his Spartans as a team. Highly disappointed that you witness some Spartans (the GREATEST military minds on the battlefield) die to some pretty stupid reasons. Voice acting choice for the MC? Terrible. Overall very, very fun though.

-Odd One Out is just fun. Watch it and enjoy it. Reminds me of Dragonball Z, in a good way.

If you like Halo, buy it. My fiance is somewhat interested in the Halo Universe, but this gives her a chance to really appreciate what the writers of the Halo Universe have made, and we both could appreciate it."
I'm a Halo fan, and this isn't so great
Michigoon | Mid-MI | 02/18/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)

"Halo Legends is basically Halo: The Animatrix, and comparisons are even made during the commentary. Like The Animatrix, it generally places visuals over everything else. It's also likewise very on/off, ranging from big-budget action to intimate character portraits. It's not a bad product, but it is something where you can't help but think what could have been. This review is from the perspective of a longtime fan, and really this product is not a good piece for non-fans anyway, so I'll be speaking in fan terms. Part-by-part, not necessarily in the same order as the disc, minor spoilers ahead:

-Origins I&II is solid. The storyline is essentially a recap of known history, told by the Cortana, although she freely admits much of what you'll see is speculation. The story starts from the Forerunner war with the Flood and covers through "present day", at the end of Halo 3. The drawing is okay, the animation very stiff, and Cortana's stand-in voice actress is not up to the original, but it's a compelling story. The canon is mostly kept, although as Cortana noted, you can't take the whole piece literally. 4/5

-The Duel has awful art, little story, and is mostly just noir. Ancient Elites, who apparently lived in feudal Japan and had two jaws instead of four, wind up in a duel. And one of them is in samurai armor. Lots of people wind up saying the art grew on them, but I just can't watch it. I can't help but wonder if the graphics didn't come out well during development, so the team got embarrassed and slapped on a dirty filter so you wouldn't notice. 1/5

-Homecoming shoots the Halo canon in the face at multiple junctions, and is another character vignette with some action slapped on. The lead female is a (teen, blonde, angsty) Spartan who for some reason wears her hair long in the helmet, and pulls off her helmet in a war zone in front of regular soldiers. This is just a massive no-no, for so many reasons. The story is basically a small remembrance underlying the action, i.e. not substantial. Still, the animation is great. 2/5

-Sort of big spoiler ahead: The Babysitter features the long flowing blonde hair of another Spartan lady. And the Elites are back in feudal Japan again. And a Spartan is listed as KIA. But there's at least a tie-in as Dutch from ODST makes an appearance. The story revolves around an assassination mission targeting a prophet, with some great action. The blonde female Spartan idea works a little better here, as it's given more context and saved up for the last act, but it's still a very artistic choice that you can't think too much about before it falls apart. 3/5

-Be Human is another character vignette plus action. The action here is really great, and the animation is excellent. The story revolves around a guy trying to regain his lost humanity during war, and frankly this bit is ham-handed. It all wraps up well though, with a great allusion to other events in the Halo universe. 4/5

-The Package is a ton of top-notch CGI. However, the voice acting is mostly awful, and the canon is terrible. The CGI during the central battle is amazing and well worth watching. 3/5

-Odd One out is basically a Halo version of Dragon Ball Z. It's supposed to be funny, I think. Spartan 1337 (har-har) gets eaten by a dinosaur and spit out at one point (pardon if I guffaw for a bit). It's mostly dumb, and I found it hard to watch. Some story is thrown over the framework, but it's like trying to build a house on a Jell-O foundation. 1/5

Too much of the disc is made up of what are basically character vignettes. The Duel is about that era's arbiter. Odd One out is about Spartan-Goku. Be Human is about, uh, that guy. Homecoming is about that girl. You can even extend it and say the whole disc is basically a series of vignettes. Origins features Cortana's reflections after Halo 3, The Babysitter is about the revelation regarding the Spartan, and The Package revolves around one great moment of Spartans fighting together. That makes the great failing of this work, that it just never branches out. It's one character and their take on some aspect of the Halo universe, again and again.

You can currently download all of these episodes online, and honestly I have to say you should save your money. The "extra features" include a trailer for Halo: Reach (available online), a DC comics trailer, and a director commentary that's one of the non good director commentaries. Frankie and crew basically recap known items and restate the plot of episodes over and over with little real insight. Oh, Origins is about conflict? Thanks. I didn't get that from the words "conflict" and "war" being used constantly in the dialog. If you're a massively hardcore fan, this is a decent piece to nerd out to. But I doubt even hardcore fans will give this more than one play, maybe two if you'r really nitpicking the content of Origins."
Masterfully done
Neel Gandhi | Los Angeles, CA | 02/17/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off the quality of this bluray is amazing. It is masterfully done and deserves credit. I ironically watched this on my PS3 and enjoyed every second of it. Having very little experience with the Halo Franchise outside of a few hours on Halo 3 I was curious to the larger universe that the games were set in. I know Bungie creates massively detailed worlds to set their games in and was curious as to what made Halo tick. I was very pleasantly surprised at the story and the quality of the animation in this release. The voice over work was excellent as well.

Here is my breakdown:

Voice Over:
Very well done, with great narration.
4.5/5

Animation:
Its great to see the various studios and artists create their impression of Halo. The quality control is excellent as expected from a AAA title franchise.
5/5

Blu-Ray Extras:
Could have used more extras, maybe even a Halo Reach beta invitation code or something. If there is one area that always could use improvement its extras!
4/5

Overall:
Well I would have given it a 4.5 out of 5 but that option is not available sadly. I asked myself did I regret pre-ordering the blu-ray and how badly did I miss the extras. To me personally I didnt think the lack of heavy duty extras called for a 80% score so I am giving it a full score. This is something you will enjoy, its feature length and worth the watch.
5/5
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