6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Master Chief John-117 leads his team of elite Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant. In the wake of a shocking event on a desolate planet, John cannot shake the feeling that his war is about to change and risks everything to prove what no one else will believe – that the Covenant are preparing to attack humanity’s greatest stronghold. With the galaxy on the brink, John embarks on a journey to find the key to humankind’s salvation, or its extinction — the Halo.
Starring: Pablo Schreiber, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin HaAction | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 78% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.20:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.00:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Dutch
Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (4 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 0.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Halo's first season got a lot right, but it also got some things wrong. One of the things it got right was, well, just getting made. The Halo video game franchise has been a staple of the Xbox consoles for decades, and by now it has built an incredibly large and sprawling mythos born of more than a few games, and mostly very good games at that. Though a first-person shooter at heart, the franchise has really been a standard bearer of narrative excellence as well on the video game side of the Sci-Fi ledger, and really there's not much out there, TV, film, or game, that can match it for depth and breadth of its fictional universe. So, it was a long-awaited arrival for season one, and while imperfect, it offered a wonderful live action glimpse into the heretofore digital, and playable, world of its video games. Season two makes some small tweaks and a few big adjustments while also digging even more deeply into franchise mythology to offer the best, yet sadly also the final, season for what should have been an epic TV production but that never did quite capture the imagination in the same way the video games did and continue to do.
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.
Paramount releases Halo: Season Two to the UHD format with a well-rounded 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD presentation. This is more or less a
standard upgrade over the excellent Blu-ray. The 2160p resolution brings a tangibly sharper image to the screen,
bringing out finer clarity and crisper detailing to the vital structures the season has on offer, like skin, clothes, the Spartan uniforms, and weapons. Both
slick-smooth surfaces (like Covenant alien ship interiors) and rougher and denser elements alike benefit from the resolution gain. The increases in
definition and clarity are not game changing or starling in any way, but the differences are enough to clearly name this the superior version, by a fair
bit, and to justify the increase in cost over the Blu-ray. Likewise, the Dolby Vision grading adds depth to the image, not making it just a little darker but
pushing colors for all they are worth, adding impressive yield to the Master Chief's green armor and gold visor, for example, while also amplifying rich
outdoor tones on the Halo ring and bringing out the most vivid color elements on clothes and bright content, like Cortana's bright blue coloring. Black
level depth and shadow detail are improved, too -- vital for a show this predominantly dark -- as is white balance. The UHD is very sparse in terms of
problematic compression issues. Noise and banding are next to
nonexistent. This is an excellent UHD from Paramount.
Whereas the Blu-ray included a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack, Paramount has upped the game -- literally -- for this release of Halo: Season Two, providing a Dolby Atmos soundtrack for the UHD release. It shares the same core characteristics as the Blu-ray (see the audio review here): excellent and stable clarity, wonderful dynamics, fantastic stage engagement and immersion, plenty of surround use and subwoofer extension, and so on. The adds here include the additional back channels and the overhead content. The former offer the usual improvements, which is essentially a fuller surround field. While there are obviously no gaps in the 5.1 track, listeners will note a bit more precision in the 7.1 setup in terms of stage saturation and perfection here. Additionally, the overhead channels allow for a more satisfying journey through the show, with both a handful of discrete and plenty of support elements that use the overheads to bring a greater sense of place in the show. Action is a place where the top end really shines, with some exciting content flowing to, and from, the top, while some lighter content, like music, also takes advantage to offer a fuller listen, though obviously with the music it's more about greater saturation and not discrete usage. As with the 5.1 track, dialogue is clear, centered, and perfectly prioritized. This is a terrific Atmos soundtrack from Paramount.
This UHD release of Halo: Season Two contains extras on all four discs, highlighted by recaps of all eight episodes. No Blu-ray or digital
copies are included with purchase.
Disc One:
Halo's second season is it final. Perhaps the franchise will be resurrected for a feature film someday, or another shot at a TV series, but for better or for worse here is the last season, which along with season one hit a lot of high points but in many ways barely scratched the surface of everything Halo has in its mythos. It's good, and it stands as one of the better video game adaptations out there, but the show is also very good proof that sometimes, some concepts just work best in one medium rather than another. Sadly, the series ends with many more places to go, more things to do, and more characters to explore, but, alas, c'est la vie. Regardless, the UHD looks and sounds great, and the season is packed with extras. Well worth a look!
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