When the Covenant threatens mankind’s greatest stronghold, Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) and his elite team of Spartans embark on an epic journey to find the Halo and ensure humanity’s survival…or guarantee their destruction. Also starring Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders), Natascha McElhone (The Crown), Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo), and featuring Jen Taylor (voice of Cortana in the Halo video game series). This 4-disc collection includes every thrilling episode of Halo: Season 2 along with nearly 2 ½ hours of special features, including exclusive featurettes and more!

For in-depth thoughts on Halo: The Complete Second Season, please see my colleague Lane Mills’s review from its streaming debut here.

Video Quality

Halo provides its sophomore outing with a terrific 4K UHD Blu-Ray in 2160p HDR/Dolby Vision with its original 2.00:1 aspect ratio preserved and thriving on the format. This release does not come with any Blu-Ray discs, so the exact level of upgrade is difficult to pinpoint, but the quality throughout is first-rate. Clarity and detail are astounding, tapping into a reservoir of detail otherwise lost due to the limitations of the lesser formats. Subtle flourishes in the thoughtful production design render incredibly clear and defined at every turn. The texture possible with this format makes you feel like you can reach through the screen and touch it. Everything looks natural from the skin tones to the colors of the locales, costumes, and light sources.

The utilization of Dolby Vision is impressive from the more accurate colors to exceptional highlights in specific settings. The brighter landscapes remain steady and do not suffer from banding or blooming. This series benefits particularly from 4K UHD with the refinement of image stability and deeper black levels. Shadowy moments are extremely deep with no hint of crush or compression artifacts to ruin the viewing experience. The control of shadow detail achieved is vital to this release. Every hue and display of stark contrast seems so much more genuine. A great amount of depth is gained with this transfer, both in close-ups and long shots. This 4K UHD transfer is the ideal way to view this series.

Audio Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray set offers a wonderful upgrade in the form of a dynamite Dolby Atmos presentation that handles the major developments of this season flawlessly. The Atmos presentation makes the most of the expanded channel allotment. During the epic set pieces, you get some thrilling moments of height immersion from overhead channels. Overhead sounds during confrontations may be expected, but it does not make anything less enjoyable. Environmental effects are deployed consistently even when the scene is more subtle.

All of the sounds are balanced without issue during battle sequences that are numerous throughout the season. This track leaves you amazed by the nuance that is explored in the sound design. Directionality of sound is never an issue with this series, and dialogue is reproduced with unmistakable clarity. The track also offers peerless immersion into the various environments so that even the most discrete elements are represented. This show is never short on activity in the low end that digs deep. The audio presentation is everything you want from physical media. Optional English SDH, German, French, Italian, and Dutch subtitles are provided.

Special Features

For a look at the SteelBook packaging of Halo: The Complete Second Season, please check our photos below. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Halo The Series – Declassified: Every episode is given a terrific post-show assessment hosted by Sydnee Goodman as she takes you through all of the highlights of the episodes, chats with some of the cast and creative team, shows some behind-the-scenes content, offers fan reactions and more that makes for a good time. Needless to say, each of these post-show explorations comes with a spoiler alert for the episode in question.

- 201 – (13:52)

- 202 – (14:58)

- 203 – (13:17)

- 204 – (15:04)

- 205 – (11:34)

- 206 – (12:28)

- 207 – (13:56)

- 208 – (13:01)

Silver Team Returns: A nearly three-minute look at how the show picks up from the first season and reunites the “family” of cast members. There are some nice insights into how this season ups the ante from the previous one.

Kiki’s Favorite Set – The Condor: A minute-long piece in which the Executive Producer talks about her love for the Condor set.

Bringing The 26th Century To Life: A three-minute featurette that looks at the creation of the different worlds and cultures adapted for the show from a production design, costume, and makeup perspective.

A Visit To Luma Pictures: A five-minute piece that tours one of the studios in charge of special effects this season and interviews some of the creatives about the process.

Building A Covenant Warship: A two-minute look at the production of the massive Covenant ship from concept art to reality.

Creating The Fall of Reach: A nine-minute exploration of the epic centerpiece of the season including the training, safety procedures, production design, performances, and more.

House of Soren: A nearly three-minute piece that explores the origins of Soren and how it impacts those closest to him.

Writing for Halo Season 2: A nearly five-minute discussion about the process of writing for a property as rich and expansive as Halo for the screen.

Bigger & Better Props: A ten-minute piece on the props, artifacts, and weapons created for the show this season.

Final Thoughts

Halo was a series that quietly debuted in its first season with a surprising sense of apathy from the public at large, which was particularly unusual given the popularity of the game franchise. That first outing had its fair share of issues, but Paramount kept the show alive to fight another day. Thankfully they did because this second campaign is quite an improvement. There are still some character issues that could be refined, but everything seems to be operating at a higher level of care and craftsmanship. Those who bailed during the first season might want to come back and give this another chance. CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment have delivered a 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a 5-star A/V presentation and a great collection of special features. Fans of the television series will be happy it has been treated so well. Recommended

Halo: The Complete Second Season will be available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray (Standard or SteelBook), Blu-Ray, and DVD on July 23, 2024.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment have supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.