Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis and my opinions at the very end.
Summary:
Two United Nations Space Command (UNSC) personal, Jacob Keyes and Catherine Halsey,
travel to the planet Eridanus II to search for child candidates for a
new super soldier program known as the SPARTAN-II program. The children
are kidnapped by Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) operatives and replaced with short-lived flash-clones. Halsey briefs the "conscripted" children on their situation, namely that their parents are gone, their fellow trainees are now their "family", and the planet Reach is their "new home".
"This child could be more useful to the UNSC than a fleet of destroyers, a thousand lieutenants... or even me. In the end one child could be the difference between peace and an unwinnable war." -Catherine Halsey
The next day, the children are rudely awoken and beaten with Humbler stun devices (electric batons) for not moving fast enough. Their trainer, Franklin Mendez, leads them in physical exercises and an activity called "Ring the Bell" in which the losing team goes without food. John-117 manages to ring the bell, but because he left his teammates (Samuel-034, Kelly-087, and Frederic-104) behind, they loose the competition. To apologize, John offers his team some crackers he stole the day before, which cements their bond.
Two years later the cadets are dropped off in different areas of the Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve with a piece of a map. Their goal is to find each other and use their map pieces to determine the location of the dropship. The last cadet to arrive at the dropship will be left behind and forced to walk back. The kids use a river as a rallying point and reach the dropship, but mistake two UNSC officers not in uniform for hostiles. They lure the two men into a trap and dispatch them by stoning. John then flies everyone back to base and expects to be punished for his actions but is promoted to squad leader instead.
Six years later all the Spartans undergo experimental augmentations despite Admiral Ysionris Jeromi's warning of high fatality rates in chimpanzee test subjects. Twenty-seven of the Spartans - thirty-six percent of the cadets, die. The surviving Spartans attend a funeral service for the ones that did not survive the operations. When John questions why several Spartans in wheelchairs have been taken away, Mendez says that they will be put to work on less-physically demanding jobs and reminds everyone that as soldiers they need to be willing to send people to their deaths.
"If even one candidate survives and balance is restored, history will absolve me for the greater good." -Catherine Halsey
John is promoted to petty officer third class and sent on a mission with Sam, Kelly, Fred, and Linda-058 to kidnap Robert Watts, the leader of an insurrection in the Eridanus system. The Spartans stow away on the Laden, a freighter delivering supplies to the insurrection hideout. They capture Watts by stuffing him into a crate, and upon returning from the mission are summoned aboard the UNSC Pioneer, where Vice Admiral Michael Stanforth briefs the Spartans on a new alien threat called the Covenant.
After a brief run-in with the Covenant, known as the Battle of Chi Ceti, the Spartans are given MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. When worn by ordinary soldiers the armor mangles bodies, but thanks to their augmentations the Spartan super-soldiers can handle the strain. John, Samuel, Kelly, Frederic, and Linda infiltrate the Covenant ship and blow it up from the inside. Everyone escapes the blast except for Sam, who is lost to enemy fire.
"We thought training, augmentation, and armor made us untouchable, invulnerable, immortal. We were wrong." -Spartan
Final Thoughts
The Fall of Reach was included in special editions of Halo 5 as a way to
inform new players of the origins of John-117, Blue Team, and the
SPARTAN-II program. The adaptation may also be of interest to Halo
fans that have played the games but have not read the books. But
without already having some investment in the Halo franchise it is hard
to get attached to the expressionless child soldiers in the movie. The
children never act like kids in that kind of situation should; they
never get emotional or question the jingoism and indoctrination of the
UNSC. They look and act like mindless robots without an once of humanity
in them. Even the most recognizable character, John, could come off as
apathetic or even psychopathic, like when he savagely beat (killed?) an ODST over a minor slight.
Its
clear they didn't have much of a budget either, as evidenced by the
short length - 1 hour, concept-art-like aesthetic used to cover up the
minimalist models, and the frequent location shots that are essentially
just still images. There are a lot of inconsistencies as well, the most
obvious being the post Halo 3
vehicles, weapons, and armor. They also have no problems showing John's
face as a kid, but not as an adult for some reason. Most bizarrely of
all though, only the first half of the book has been adapted, leaving
the movie's namesake - the Fall of Reach, out of the story entirely.
Halo Movies: How enjoyable are they to watch? (left to right; best to worst)
Have you seen The Fall of Reach or played any of the Halo video games? What were your thoughts?
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