Halo: Reach (Film)

Halo: Reach is a 2016 science fiction war film based on the popular 2010 video game distributed by Microsoft. This reboot was directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Ray Park, Tom Cruise, Keira Knightley, Idris Elba, Robert Maillet and Anton Yelchin among others.

Plot
The UNSC having been lost their signal in several Reach's rural regions by rebels, contact an team formed only by Spatans called The Noble Team consisting of Commander Carter-259 Noble 1 (Tom Cruise), Hacking Specialist Catherine "Kat"-320 Noble 2 (Keira Knightley), Explosion Specialist George-052 Noble 5 (Robert Maillet), Close Combat and Stealth Emile-239 Noble 4 (Idris Elba), Sniper Jun Noble 3 (Anton Yelchin) and newcomer Spartan-312 Noble 6 (Ray Park), replacing their deceased former Noble 6 Thom-293, killed in action into an prior battle.

The team first reunites with 6 in their base as they are contacted by UNSC Ground Commander Urban Holland (David Morse) calls the team to investigate the sudden blackout of the Visegrad Relay, one of the planet's primary communications hubs. Expecting a confrontation with Insurrectionists, the team lands in the remote rural area and proceeds to the relay. After interrogating a farmer and finding suspicious signs in the area, it is soon discovered that the loss of communications is the work of the Covenant, as the team is engaged by Covenant ground forces. After they have made their way into the relay station, and finding an living civillian called Natasha (Lena Headley) and her deceased father, the team are attacked by a Elite Zealot advance team, who were on a mission to steal information from the relay. After the team successfully secures the relay, Carter uses the damaged relay to contact Colonel Holland and explain the situation, leading to the declaration of the planetary emergency directive WINTER CONTINGENCY.

Two days later, on July 26th, NOBLE Team is called in to ONI Sword Base near the Babd Catha Ice Shelf. As explained to the team by the Team AI Auntie Dot (Judi Dench), Sword Base is under attack from a Covenant corvette, but due to the sensitive nature of the facility, the use of orbital MAC rounds is prohibited. NOBLE Team clears the main courtyard of enemies, and is then sent on a mission to re-activate Farragut Station, a communications station they can use to get into contact with command, and Airview Base, where they need to activate an anti-air battery to clear the skies. The Spartans move into Sword Base and NOBLE Six assists Emile in driving off several Phantoms and Banshees. After the skies have been cleared, the UNSC sends in a pair of Longswords to push the corvette away from the base's immediate vicinity. The Covenant vessel begins to retreat, only to be shot out of the sky by an orbital strike. After the mission, NOBLE Team is debriefed by Dr. Catherine Halsey (Helen Mirren), who inquires as to the death of one of her scientists, who was doing research at the relay. She says he mentioned a "latchkey" discovery and that the information was essential. Learning that he was killed by Zealots, Halsey reprimands Carter for not pursuing the leader, as the scientist's research was potentially important to their religion. Fortunately, Kat had stolen the data module off of the scientist, and hands it over to Halsey.

Two and a half weeks later, NOBLE Six and Jun are sent to perform a night reconnaissance mission to reconnoiter the Covenant "dark zone" in the Viery Territory. After stealthily eliminating guards at multiple outposts, and even gigantic wild beasts called Gutas, The two Spartans meet up with a group of civilian militiamen, led by Kosovo Khan (Adewale_Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who guide them to a hydro-plant further into the dark zone, where the team discovers a Covenant stealth pylon. After planting an explosive charge on the pylon, the team moves deeper into the dark zone, where they discover a massive Covenant invasion force. Kat then orders them back so they can prepare for the attack on the next day.

In the morning of August 12, 2552, a massive UNSC joint assault force is put together, with the objective of mounting a counterattack on the Covenant-occupied Viery Territory. As revealed by Auntie Dot in the mission briefing, the Covenant have infiltrated to the region in force, deploying ground forces and installations, including several massive Covenant Spires.

NOBLE Team's objective is to destroy one of these spires, designated Spire One. After pushing through Covenant forces and destroying several Covenant anti-air batteries, Jorge and NOBLE Six deploy to the spire in a Falcon. However, the aircraft crashes after being disabled by the electromagnetic field created by the Spire's shield. After the crash, the pair proceed into the Spire, where it is revealed that the Spires actually contain teleporters used to transport Covenant forces to the surface, linked to an unknown source. After proceeding to the Spire, NOBLE Six utilizes a gravity lift to reach the top, and disables the shield. Noble Six is flown away from the tower by a Falcon containing Carter and Jorge. UNSC Grafton, a heavy frigate, uses a MAC round to demolish the spire. Seconds later, a Covenant Supercarrier uncloaks and fires on the Grafton, completely destroying it.

NOBLE Team contemplates how to destroy the Covenant supercarrier, Long Night of Solace, as the UNSC no longer possess tactical nuclear devices on Reach. Instead, Kat proposes they use a slipspace drive as a makeshift bomb to destroy the ship. It also becomes apparent that Noble Six was a pilot in the top-secret Sabre Program at some point. Carter contacts Holland and the plan is approved.

On August 14, NOBLE Team arrives at the Sabre Program Launch/Research Range, where Noble Six and Jorge commandeer a UNSC YSS-1000 "Sabre", a recent development intended for Inner Colony orbital defense. They launch into the hostile space over Reach, where they protect a UNSC space station, Anchor 9, until its defenses come back online. Next, they rendezvous with the UNSC Savannah, which sacrifices its slipspace drive for the mission. They then board the Covenant corvette, Ardent Prayer, and using its re-fueling course at the supercarrier as an excuse, get close enough to detonate the slipspace bomb and destroy the Long Night of Solace. Unfortunately, the detonator for the makeshift bomb is damaged and Jorge is forced to manually detonate it, sacrificing himself to destroy the supercarrier. However, the victory is short lived: mere moments later, the Covenant Fleet of Particular Justice arrives, making the destruction of one supercarrier pointless.

Noble Six is flung away from the Corvette by Jorge, falling all the way down into Reach's atmosphere, saved by an M-Spec Reentry Pack. After landing, Six continues to the city of New Alexandria, arriving there on August 23rd. Six then regroups with UNSC forces and assists in the evacuation of Traxus Tower, lurking away from Brutes, where many civilians have taken refuge. After, Six helps UNSC Army troops to activate anti-air missile batteries, which damage a Covenant corvette, providing the time needed for the massive civilian transports to escape the city. Kat orders Noble Six to rejoin NOBLE Team, Noble Six meets Carter on a rooftop in New Alexandria. Kat orders Noble Six to assist in the destruction of several Covenant communications jammers in the area, along with several other tasks, including protecting Gunnery Sgt. Edward Buck's Falcon as he is transported to the rest of his unit, defending different groups of Army soldiers around the city, and assisting in more civilian evacuation. Kat then calls on Noble Six to come to her aid in the evacuation of the Office of Naval Intelligence HQ.

Once inside, NOBLE Team is reunited, in what Emile calls a "family reunion." Colonel Holland makes emergency contact to the team, ordering them to immediately re-deploy to Sword Base to destroy sensitive information. The communications are cut off, and Jun notes several Covenant vehicles leaving the area. Soon afterward, the Covenant begin to glass the city near the building, generating a massive shockwave NOBLE Team barely manages to avoid. The team takes an elevator down to the bottom level, where they run to an underground radiation bunker as Carter explains that they are to be redeployed to Sword Base to destroy all sensitive data. Just before they get inside, Kat is killed with a single shot from a Needle Rifle to the back of her head. Three days later, the team exits the shelter, and a Pelican arrives to transport them to Sword Base.

On August 29, Noble Six is deployed with a group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers in order to take out several Covenant anti-air towers around Sword Base, opening the defenses so the rest of NOBLE Team can be deployed to the base via Falcons. After fighting their way into Sword Base, NOBLE Team discovers the coordinates they were given to be empty, a last stand full of dead troopers. The coordinates are then revised by an unknown AI, and NOBLE Team moves into caves below Sword Base. NOBLE Team rides a cart down the tunnel, and discover that it was Dr. Halsey who ordered them back to the base, despite the existence of reports that she had died. As they descend down the elevator, a massive artifact built by an ancient civilization in the ice cavern is revealed.

Halsey asks NOBLE Team to buy her more time in order to decrypt the artifact's data. NOBLE Team sets up a defensive perimeter at the entrance to Halsey's lab, deploying Wolf Spider Turrets in the area before fighting off waves of incoming Covenant. After the process is complete, NOBLE Team falls back to Halsey's lab, where she then shows a fragment of the AI Cortana to the team and explains that she has been assigned the custodian of the artifact's data, and she needs to be brought to the Aszod ship breaking yards in order to be deployed onto a UNSC Halycon-class Cruiser which is being sent on a special mission. Dr. Halsey explains that Cortana has picked Noble Six to be her carrier, and entrusts her to the Spartan.

They make their way to a landing pad outside, where two Pelican dropships await. Jun is assigned by Carter to take one of the Pelicans to escort Dr. Halsey to CASTLE Base, while the rest of the team deploys on the other dropship to the ship breaking yards. On the way, the Pelican piloted by Carter is damaged, forcing Emile and Noble Six to initiate a low level altitude aerial insertion and move towards the UNSC Pillar of Autumn.

The pair are blocked by a Scarab, but Carter arrives and sacrifices himself, piloting the Pelican in a kamikaze strike on the Scarab. Noble Six and Emile continue towards the Pillar of Autumn. Once there, Emile mans a Mk. 2488 Onager MAC, while Noble Six fights off masses of Covenant infantry. Captain Jacob Keyes (Pierce Brosnan) then arrives and receives the AI from Noble Six. Before the Captain can take off, a Covenant Battlecruiser arrives, and prepares to fire on the Autumn. Meanwhile, a Covenant Phantom arrives on scene and dispatches a team of Elite Zealots to Emile's location. Emile kills one with a shotgun, before being stabbed through the abdomen by another. The Marines on Keyes's dropship offer that Noble Six board the Pelican, but Six declines, as without cover from the MAC, the Pillar of Autumn couldn't escape. After fighting through the Zealots, and the zealot that almost killed him, killed Kat, Carter and the others, Noble Six takes control of the cannon and defends the Pelican as it returns to the Autumn. As the Covenant ship prepares to fire, Noble Six fires into its main weapon, disabling the Cruiser as the Pillar of Autumn escapes from the planet.

The final scene portrays the beginning of the opening scene in the following movie: Halo: Combat Evolved, where the Pillar of Autumn comes out of slipspace. Keyes asks if they have evaded the Covenant, to which Cortana replies "I think we both know the answer to that". The credits roll on the right as the ship drifts off towards Installation 04.

After the credits, Noble Six is shown to still be at the ship breaking yards, preparing for a final stand against Covenant forces being deployed in the area. Six fights off several waves of Covenant forces, before succumbing to plasma fire, discarding his/her damaged helmet. Six fights desperately with several Sangheili soldiers until overwhelmed and stabbed by a Sangheili Arbiter's Energy Dagger. The epilogue, set over 30 years later in the year 2589 on a re-terraformed Reach, shows Noble Six's helmet sitting in what is now a grassy field. Dr. Halsey provides a eulogy to Noble Team as the camera shows a human ship landed on the planet, showing the re-colonization of Reach.

Cast

 * Ray Park as Spartan-312/Noble-6
 * Tom Cruise as Carter-259/Noble-1
 * Keira Knightley as Catherine "Kat"-320/Noble-2
 * Idris Elba as Emile-239/Noble-4
 * Robert Maillet as Jorge-052/Noble-5
 * Anton Yelchin as Jun-266/Noble-3
 * Helen Mirren as Dr. Catherine Halsey
 * David Morse as Colonel Urban Holland
 * Judi Dench as the voice of Auntie Dot
 * Pierce Brosnan as Captain Jacob Keyes
 * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Kosovo Khan