Halo 3: ODST Commerical

I don't usually gush over an obvious hype-based marketing campaign, especially one for a game that will sell millions of copies no matter how it was marketed; but aftering seeing this commercial in its entirety, I couldn't resist sharing it.

This is not the first time Rupert Sanders has had his directorial hands on the Halo franchise.  Before Halo 3's release, both Sanders and director Simon McQuoid produced several short films/commercials known as the "Believe" ads, created using the narrative perspective of veterans looking back on the events of Halo 3 and the war with alien Covenant.  One was a dialogue-less shoot of an incredibly detailed diarama depicting a brutal battle, all set to the somber tones of Chopin.  Others were of wizened veterans recounting tearful tales of the war to an off-screen documentary film maker.  In my opinion, these are some the best commercials/short-film content ever produced.  In particular, the haunting realism of the veterans' tales ring eerily true, like the tales of D-Day survivors, and you can't help but sucked in and feel the horror and sadness of a war that never actually happened.

Watching Sanders's new work has that same spark of truth in it, and it's a marvelous piece of film making in its own right, even if you aren't excited about the game it's selling.  This commercial could have ended with "The Few, The Proud, the Marines," and I'd have signed up then and there.

Oh, and if you've ever wondered what a good video game movie would be like, this is it.