Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Halo: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 2, 2024

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.

Halo's second season returns to the intergalactic worlds made famous by Microsoft's crown jewel gaming franchise. As the season begins, humanity finds itself on the brink of destruction, and season two explores the Covenant's push to end humanity once and for all. Key events from the game series, including the fall of Reach, highlight the season, while also diving into the humanity of its characters, including Master Chief, both in ways familiar to gamers and new for this show.

The season begins on Sanctuary with an intense battle which reveals the technical progress between seasons: this is bigger and better than season one. Not dramatically, but noticeably. The action in season two is legit, and it will often leave fans breathless, even in a world of cookie cutter Sci-Fi action shows and films where there are not many barriers to be broken anymore. The series is more than action, though, and much like the game it is just as much about intergalactic politics, military maneuverings, and a good bit of human-alien relations, interactions, unexpected alliances, and unanticipated consequences. The season explores all of that, and while it fails to capture the absolute depth and breadth of the games (which offer exceptionally narratively rich cutscenes galore), it certainly nails the core mythos and content that makes the franchise identifiable and one of the best of its kind in the video game world.

Season two continues with a wonderful live action imagining of the show, with incredible attention to detail to not only the big things – the suit, the guns, those things which are most prominent and readily identifiable as Halo – but also excellent production values across backgrounds, like little costume and environmental touches that don’t just recreate the game, but appear familiar enough while also setting its own trends and looks that push the franchise forward while also keeping it rooted in the long established lore from the show. As noted above, season two has made some tweaks to get it just right and fans will appreciate the care and attention to detail that goes into the series’ aesthetics, which really help to carry its true devotion to hitting the other, broader details from the games as well.

Halo: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

Halo: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Halo: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

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: The Series: Declassified (1080p): Host Sydnee Goodman explores all of the most exciting moments from each season two episode. These are basically episode recaps told through cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes content, explorations of costumes and props, franchise lore, character details, and more, all of which add insight into individual episodes, the Halo franchise, and more. Do note that these are spoiler-heavy supplements. Included are 201 (13:52) and 202 (14:58).
• Silver Team Returns (1080p, 2:31): A brief look at the heightened cast camaraderie in season two, costumes, and more.
• Kiki's Favorite Set: The Condor (1080p, 1080p, 0:53): An all-too-brief look at one of the series' key vehicles.

Disc Two:

• Halo: The Series: Declassified (1080p): Included are 203 (13:17) and 204 (15:04).
• Bringing the 26th Century to Life (1080p, 3:07): Looking at the importance, and excellence, of the series' hair, makeup, and costume departments.

Disc Three:

• Halo: The Series: Declassified (1080p): Included are 205 (11:34) and 206 (12:28).
• A Visit to Luma Pictures (1080p, 4:54): A short yet still fairly in-depth look at how some of the show's most complex visual effects are made.
• Building a Covenant Warship (1080p, 1:50): Building one of the best-looking set pieces in the season.
• Creating the Fall of Reach (1080p, 9:01): Looking at one of the key battles, and losses, in the season and in the Halo franchise: the fall of Reach.

Disc Four:

• Halo: The Series: Declassified (1080p): Included are 207 (13:56) and 208 (13:01).
• House of Soren (1080p, 2:42): A closer look at Bokeem Woodbine's character.
• Writing for Halo Season 2 (1080p, 4:22): Writer Ahmadu Garba looks at the process of building an episode that works for TV while also holding to the necessary elements from the Halo universe.
• Bigger & Better Props (1080p, 9:56): Another extra that looks at the process of adding detail, definition, and even functionality to season two props.

Halo: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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!