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| Faithfulness. Fidelity. | |
| Posted By: AngelicLionheart <angeliclionheart@gmail.com> | Date: 10/27/05 2:32 a.m. |
In Response To: The Halo Movie - Who Will Act? (Louis Wu) Faithfulness. Pure and simple, the hardcore fans (I being one of them) that will eat this movie up three hundred times over if it is done to their tastes, demand faithfulness. I don't know if Microsoft/Universal/Fox realize this, but if it is done RIGHT, I will go see this movie at the theater seven times. At least. I will buy just about any piece of merchandise that faithfully reflects the original formula, that comes from the movie. I will go out of my way to spend a LOT OF MONEY on what I believe was made with my interests in mind. If I sense ANY significant lack of fidelity, I will immediately abandon all interest in everything movie-related that is Halo. I just can't stand the idea of someone taking something that I take very seriously and warping it to their own inadequate tastes - I love this saga; I love Halo. It's not just some game that I sit down and play. It is an AWESOME story that I am able to truly relish in. It transcends things like Star Wars, or, The Matrix, or any other thing out there that was something that fascinated me. This is MY game. This is what I subscribe to. This is *MY culture*. These Halo fans, they are my people. I have made fan groups, I voice act for machinimas, I play online frequently and competitively, I even freaking participate in lengthy discussions that go into the late hours of the evening about the story that hasn't been fully revealed to us yet. In other words, I spend a lot of my time entrenched in all things Halo. That would go completely the opposite way if I detected that what I was seeing/experiencing was not Halo. So yeah, be careful, there, Hollywood. Cut one single corner and you will lose me. Don't think for even one moment that Halo can just be used to make another notch in your belt. If you fail to give us 100%, the film will bomb. Horribly. Violently. If, however, you *DO* give us 100%, the film will Rocket upwards into realms of success previously unheard of. You think that there are some Star Wars fans out there that are dedicated? You haven't met a Halo nut. We are a crazy bunch. We'll make an assault rifle out of toilet paper tubes and elbow macaroni JUST so that we can crawl around in the woods with a paintball mask on and do whatever we can to get our Halo fix for the day. The word is "hardcore." Now, first off, I would like to address a semi-popular opinion going on out there. That opinion being that Samuel L. Jackson wouldn't be a bad Sarge. That he would just not be as good as David Scully's interpretation of the character, but still adequate. The truth is, I love Samuel L. Jackson - I am a fan. But, listen to him - listen to his voice. (Think Mace's voice from the Star Wars saga.) Does that sound like the battle-hardened, semi-comedic voice that we all know, love, and instantly recognize? No. He might be able to pass for the part visually, but I just do not believe that he could voice the part adequately. Samuel L. Jackson falls short by a small, but essential requirement for the part. Sorry, Sam. Now, as several fans have already said here, if there were a non-live-action role that were voiced by someone OTHER than who we *expect* to hear, we would be upset. Very. The voice actors that did these parts - they aren't just any old people. They are OUR people. And we want them doing what they've done best for the past 4 years or more. Cortana is Jen Taylor. Period. End of story. Not open for discussion. Tim Dadabo is 343 Guilty Spark. Period. End of story. Not open for discussion. Somehow, someway, Sarge has gotta stay Sarge. If they can find an actor who can really portray David Scully's character the way he does, then I would probably be content with that. Any attempts to change this voice-acting roster will be met with violent upheaval. This I guarantee. Especially if it were someone that was chosen solely on their position in Hollywood, rather than their aptitude for the part. Another idea occurred to me which would also be acceptable - leave the character of Sarge out. "SAY WHAT?" You cry out, nearly choking on your cigar. No, really, think about it. If David Scully couldn't act it, and they couldn't get an adequate replacement, then does the Halo *MOVIE* (not the games that you already enjoy) really need Sergeant Major Johnson as a character in them? He's basically the one wrinkle that we can't exactly iron out. I suppose we COULD computer render him, but that seems to me to be a bad idea, for several reasons, which I will not get into here. Might it be a good idea to make him a "games-only" character? Time will tell. All I know is, better safe than sorry. Not sure how they'd want to do the whole "Sergeant Johnson surviving the Flood" thing, so, what if they didn't have to do it at all? Sure, he's a lovable character, but, might that be JUST the reason to keep him in the games? Things like Elites, Brutes, Hunters, Engineers, Jackals, Drones, Marines, Flood, and Grunts (gotta have Joe Staten voice at least one, for fidelity's sake. :) ) are an entirely different matter. We all know that they don't look the same. We know that the game used the exact same models over and over, and the same voices for each of those models. We know that that is not the way that it would really be. As with the orcs from LOTR, have your way with it, WETA. We trust you in that department. For that matter, the Halo fan community genuinely WANTS to (and for the most part, DOES) trust Mr. Jackson and his crew to do their absolute best on this film - we have no reason to doubt their abilities whatsoever; we are just worried, is all. Kind of like a parent with their child on their very first day of school. You know that they'll be okay, but you're still a little worried. It's your baby, I mean, what do you expect? We're worried that they might get their hands tied behind their back somehow, that they might not get to do what they feel would do the saga justice. What if that happens? What happens, then, to Halo? Mediocrity? *shudder* We sure hope not. Now, for the biggest matter at hand. MasterChief. My opinion? Steve Downes is the man. No, really - the MAN. I think SPARTAN-117, I think Steve Downes' voice. When I think John, of Elysium City - the leader of the most deadly fighters that the universe has ever seen, I think Steve Downes' voice. The idea of a Vader thing going on would greatly satisfy me. Steve Downes being who you hear, someone else being who you see (in armor). What happens if Hollywood decides that the helmet JUST HAS TO COME OFF? Well, then I'd suggest being logical - SPARTAN-117 is a man of few words. If you keep him that way, then he doesn't have to open his mouth when his helmet is off. Believe me - the man is intense enough in person that you would perceive his character plenty well without him having to say a word to you. He would have "stage presence." Now, what if you could "hear him thinking?" That should satisfy most of the "off-with-his-helmet" psychos out there. If you had his thoughts come over the speakers, then Steve Downes could still do the voice, but you could have a face to match the words up with. It is well documented that while on missions, many of them stealth, the SPARTANS preferred to use non-verbal forms of silent communication among themselves (gee, kinda like the real thing!). Fox/Universal should use this to their advantage. If they want to gain the people that aren't already Halo fans, but they don't want to lose the existing fanbase (which will be the ones to really rake in the money), then they need to make sure that no words ever escape the lips of the actor they choose to portray SPARTAN-117 with his helmet off. Voicing his thoughts via Steve Downes would be a way to satisfy both crowds. If they aren't willing to do that, then that's bad. Real bad. If you take the MasterChief and give yourself creative liberties with him, I'm gone. For good. There would be no coming back from that. Let me repeat that: Steve Downes is *the voice* of the MasterChief. Period. End of story. Not open for discussion. Is that so hard to work your magic around, Hollywood? I think not. And the benefits of you playing this game OUR WAY will be beyond what you expect. You have my word on that. Here are some excerpts from what Joe Staten says about this whole shebang. Take what he says and apply it to the particular questions that you are all asking here: "If I didn’t make this clear in my previous update, Bungie’s in this for the long haul – 100% dedicated to making the Halo movie the best it can be." "Here [are] a bunch of smart, talented folks eager to make a film that would be "not just the first great video-game movie, but one of the best sci-fi action movies ever made." " "Should you still worry about the movie turning out, well, not great? Again, Mr. Garland: "I'd say people are right to worry. I'm worried. In fact, everyone - in particular those working on the film - should be worried. In the case of Lord Of The Rings, I'd guess that Peter Jackson had plenty of sleepless nights, thinking - am I doing the right thing? Am I doing the books justice? And Lord of The Rings shows Jackson's efforts to avoid his fears on pretty much every frame. So I'd hope the director of Halo has exactly the same level of commitment and concern." Indeed, that's exactly the sort of director we're looking for. Someone who's as committed to the Halo universe – it's characters and their stories – as Mr. Jackson was to Tolkien's Middle-Earth. The same goes for actors, production designers, you name it." Sounds good, Joe. -Angel | |
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