Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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

SnoopyStyle The year is 2526. Thomas Lasky (Tom Green) struggles in training at the Corbulo Academy of Military Science on the planet Cirnicus-IV. He is a disappointment considering his illustrious military family. His only friend is fellow cadet Chyler Silva (Anna Popplewell). Humanity has ventured out to colonize other worlds. The big threat is expected to be colony insurrectionists. Then the planet is invaded by an alien army, the Covenant, which is kept secret from everybody except the higher ups.As a web mini-series, there is some good work with impressive F/X for the price. As a TV show, this is better than most Syfy channel work. It's more of an interesting road map of what a Halo TV show or movie could be. Tom Green is a relative newcomer. I've only seen him in a TV show called Camp. It's a different character with a completely different hair cut. Anna Popplewell is probably the only recognizable name and face. She does the only competent acting on the show. In the end, this is not about the acting or even the story. This is mostly a dry run to get the look, the style and the effects correct for something bigger later on. At least, that's the big hope for fans. Looking at what they have, I hope they dial back the shaky cam work. I also hope that they lose the slow-mo Michael Bay wannabe. This seems to be going for Battlestar Galactica and I think that's a good move. If they make a theatrical war movie, it's going to need more money, a lot more money. However I think there is a great horror movie available for a lot less cash.

Helio Copter First of all, I have virtually no experience playing the Halo games, and thus only a very casual acquaintance with their universe and story line. I like science fiction, though, and was interested in something with action, so I gave Halo 4 a spin, not expecting too terribly much. As at least one other reviewer has written, ALL CAPS WOW!This film is simply astounding in the quality of its production values, cast, writing, cinematography and musical score. I am completely blow away. I have not seen a science fiction/action film this arresting in a long time. Just the visual aspect of it is incredibly beautiful. From what I understand -- I could be wrong -- this was not released in theaters, but I would absolutely love to see something like this on a big screen.Does it start out slowly? I suppose so, but I am a big fan of taking time to develop characters, establish themes and set the stage. Once the action hits, it is intense, and that is only helped by the build up to it. I was on the edge of my seat, lost track of time, and kept thinking to myself, How can this be so good? A little bit of Starship Troopers without the satire/gore, a little bit of Aliens w/out the 80s rough edges, a little bit of Ender's Game with a more hands-on approach, but with a specific modern style all its own. Halo 4 may be just an origin story on a small scale, but what a ride! Highly recommended if you enjoy being transported and thrilled.

view_and_review I've never played Halo so I was going into this movie somewhat blind not knowing what to expect. It started out ordinary enough with young cadets in a military school introducing themselves and stating why they joined. Much to my surprise, the wide swath of kids (teens really) had varying reasons for joining that extended beyond blood lust or just seeing how cool it would be to kill. That, in itself, was a big notch of respectability in my eyes. I expected a lot of HOO RAH type speech and antics and I didn't see that.Furthermore, I looked for the typical teen movie clichés, because these were teens after all. Although it wasn't a high school setting, I was looking for the ultra popular beauty queen, the muscle-headed jock, the dweeb and the supporting cast. Fortunately, those characters never appeared. Halo proved to be a deeper, layered, better thought out film than I expected. It could be considered slow, but I thought it was right on point. Very nicely done.