Author Topic: Last of US HBO  (Read 4252 times)

Offline Old Man Grey

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #15 on: January 23, 2023, 07:45:06 PM »
I will concede that this episode looked really good compared to the cheap looking pilot. But substitute zombies for the infected and you have a typical "Walking Dead" episode. Three things had me shaking my head. What human being would let a grotesque monster slowly walk up and give them a French kiss? How come our hero didn't pick up some of those grenades (or ammo) before he took off?  They might come in handy latter. Why do TV/movie lighters take 20 flicks to light? Oh, and a constantly cussing 14-year-old isn't as charming as the writers think.

Offline perc2100

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #16 on: January 24, 2023, 10:13:30 AM »
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I will concede that this episode looked really good compared to the cheap looking pilot. But substitute zombies for the infected and you have a typical "Walking Dead" episode. Three things had me shaking my head. What human being would let a grotesque monster slowly walk up and give them a French kiss? How come our hero didn't pick up some of those grenades (or ammo) before he took off?  They might come in handy latter. Why do TV/movie lighters take 20 flicks to light? Oh, and a constantly cussing 14-year-old isn't as charming as the writers think.
IDK, in a post-apocalypse where lighter fluid may be hard to come by I can imagine a lighter taking quite a few flicks.  Hell, I know someone who was smoking w/an old bic lighter recently that was near the end of its lifespan and it took quite a long time to get it lit.

As for Tess, she knew she was dead and her moments were numbered so she was likely trying to be unprovocative in order to not attract the infected & get ripped to shreds so she can light the fuse.

I don't be to be a grand defender of this (or anything I personally have nothing to do with), and obviously tastes will very.  Heck, I think through two episodes this is already far better than the bulk of The Walking Dead's run, and knowing the game there is a good chance this show will be far more consistent than TWD ever was (even the all-Frank Darabont first season was wildly inconsistent quality and character wise: again, see T-Dog as one easy example) but I can see how, especially through only two episodes, this is a zombie-adjacent series.  And to me, that's not a big deal (as stated in a previous thread, my love of zombie media runs deep, and I often will even appreciate mediocre or bad zombie movies if they have interesting 'gags'/gory kills   :P ).  I stopped watching TWD awhile ago so I'm personally not burned-out by zombie stuff if it's good quality, and so far The Last of Us is above-average quality (though I suspect even if I stuck with TWD for its duration, I still wouldn't be burned out on zombie stuff of good quality).

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #17 on: Today at 05:03:23 AM »

Offline perc2100

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #17 on: January 31, 2023, 10:17:47 AM »
Holy cow did Episode 3 hit it out of the park: what an incredible 80ish mins of television!!!  It feels bold of the creatives to spend the bulk of an episode on two side-characters, heretofore mostly unknown to us.  While most folks would approach "Joel needs a vehicle" with minimal efforts, here we get massive backstory on Joel (and Tess)'s scavenging partner.  While I had a slight understanding of how things would turn out for Bill & Frank, I wasn't quite prepared for the creatives to decide "how about an entire episode of the beginning sequence of UP?" 
I'm a fan of Nick Offerman, and he was out-freaking-standing here: as was his partner, Murray Bartlett.  They really did make a cute couple, and
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I thought this episode was incredibly satisfying: a top-tier television episode!
 
A couple of really quick side-notes:
* this was NOT a bottle-neck episode, as some online have proclaimed: a bottle-neck episode is when a studio/network decide to save money and include an entire episode (or season, coughWalkingDeadFarmcough) in one location.  This is a dopey nitpick (kind of?!) on my part, I know, but I feel it needs to be said :-P
* based on the game, if this episode emotionally wrecked you, as it seemed to wreck MANY online, brace yourselves for Sam: likely in the next few weeks, depending on how long the creatives draw out the Pittsburgh stuff
* there was a bit of fun via the show-obviously-filmed-in-Canada making proclamations like "10 miles west of Boston," but who cares, am I right?!  There's a long history of quality TV series or films (and even more not-so-quality) that take place in one city but are obviously filmed elsewhere.  I have no down MA residents got a lol at that card, and even I (a SoCA resident from OH) chuckled at that, but whatareyagonnado.  :P

Offline debster

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #18 on: January 31, 2023, 02:41:44 PM »
I'm really enjoying the series. I have only a basic knowledge of the video game so I have no idea what's going to happen. I know we are probably in for some more heartbreak...

Offline alyssa

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #19 on: February 01, 2023, 08:36:41 AM »
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I'm really enjoying the series. I have only a basic knowledge of the video game so I have no idea what's going to happen. I know we are probably in for some more heartbreak...
i'm with u on this. Not a clue what's coming up but I really enjoy the depth of the writing. It takes guts to devote an entire ep to the back story of how they get a truck. It was really satisfying to see a complete lifelong arc instead of the usual fight & die and then leave it all(truck) to the protagonist.
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Offline TardisMom

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #20 on: February 01, 2023, 09:40:31 AM »
That was one of the best episodes of television I've seen! Incredible acting!

Offline foxbatkllr

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #21 on: February 06, 2023, 02:57:31 PM »
I'm a fan of the games (I've done a Joel cosplay too) and I'm really loving this show so far.  I've gotten several people hooked on the show as well who don't play the games.  It's a really good adaptation so far.  It's not 1:1, but it is still faithful.  I find myself looking forward to new episodes all week long, like I need my fix!

Offline perc2100

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #22 on: February 07, 2023, 10:01:09 AM »
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I'm a fan of the games (I've done a Joel cosplay too) and I'm really loving this show so far.  I've gotten several people hooked on the show as well who don't play the games.  It's a really good adaptation so far. It's not 1:1, but it is still faithful.  I find myself looking forward to new episodes all week long, like I need my fix!
And I have so many questions on the changes Neil Druckmann had a hand in changing from his story in the game!  Some make sense (for example, the opening episode spending more time with Joel's daughter - great story on TV, likely not something that would be good for gameplay), but some are just 'different.'  In now way do I mean I dislike any changes (contrarily, I kind of dig that at this point, after 4 episodes, I feel like I have a _broad_ idea of where the story beats are headed, but enough has already be changed a bit that I'm continually surprised).  Also, even knowing how drama works, this show makes me feel tense in ways that few TV series generally do!  For example, in the most recent episode when Joel and Ellie are in Kansas City (another change from the game, where much of this stuff took place in Pittsburgh), from the moment they encounter the guy acting injured in the road I was massively on edge, even though I was fairly confident I generally knew how the story moment would unfold!  Also, adding Melanie Lynskey onto the show was a great idea: she's a phenomenal actor, one I've respected since Peter Jackson's HEAVENLY CREATURES, and she always makes everything better.  Her character is an addition to the story for the series, and I have no idea where her story is taking us.

That all being said, for those who were crushed by the Frank & Bill episode, if the show keeps relatively close to the game you should brace yourself for the Henry & Sam story arc... :-[ :(

Offline Old Man Grey

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #23 on: February 07, 2023, 04:31:32 PM »
Felt like a typical "Walking Dead" episode. Whatever was making the basement floor bulge looks scary. Nice homage to "Omega Man": The movie theater they drive past is showing "Woodstock".

Offline vpoulsen

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #24 on: February 12, 2023, 12:21:48 AM »
This show...omg...it's breaking my heart.  No spoilers, just that I noticed that HBO anticipated with the Superbowl being on tomorrow night it dropped Episode 5 early so I watched it last night and...yeah, it broke my heart.   

Offline perc2100

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #25 on: February 14, 2023, 09:37:21 AM »
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This show...omg...it's breaking my heart.  No spoilers, just that I noticed that HBO anticipated with the Superbowl being on tomorrow night it dropped Episode 5 early so I watched it last night and...yeah, it broke my heart.
Yeah even when I knew what was going to happen because of the game, it was still a bit crushing!  And _DAYUM_: when those
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?!  Even though I KNEW what was happening based on the basic tenants of setting up plot points
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I still felt pretty tense: something that rarely happens to me for TV or movies.

I really dig how they keep tweaking plot points from the game to the series in ways that work really effectively for the series.  The addition of the Kathleen character (played, as always, WONDERFULLY by always-great Melanie Lynskey) was a nice touch for the series that gave the rebels a bit of added depth.

Dopey note from me: I knew all week this ep was dropping Friday evening, and was all hyped to watch it before Sunday.  Alas, for whatever reasons I didn't end up seeing it until Monday afternoon anyway.   :-X

Offline perc2100

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #26 on: February 15, 2023, 10:58:15 AM »
Also, how cool are the practical effects for the clickers & the bloaters (the XL version of the zombie things)?!  Really nice attention to detail with the practical makeup and suit, that likely blends CGI for facial expressions or other (gooey?) needs.

And one more thing: are those things zombies?  I just saw an article in Variety that said crew weren't allowed to use the term "zombie" on set (how pedantic  :P ), and I know Kirkman has justified the lack of the term 'zombie' in The Walking Dead with Romero not having directed NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or other DEAD films in that universe so the term zombie was unknown.  Obviously SHAUN OF THE DEAD had fun with that verbiage, with Shaun telling his buddy Ed not to use the term 'zombie.'
Obviously the 'clickers' and the 'bloaters' have characteristics of Romero's zombies (which have become the de facto characteristics of modern zombies) with some modifications due to the fungal thing. Do you all consider them as zombies?  I think I do not just because it keeps things a bit 'fresh' or (slightly) different than other popular, maybe slightly over-played zombie genre: like, these things are more like the infected in the 20 DAYS/WEEKS LATER films rather than the walking undead.

What do you all think?

Offline Old Man Grey

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #27 on: February 15, 2023, 06:02:37 PM »
At the beginning the infected were just like zombies (fast zombies). The later "clickers" and bloater are more like regular monsters. I didn't think the bloater was very impressive. It reminded me of the old "Swamp Thing" movie costume, a guy in a rubber suit. The girl that went after Ellie in the car was creepy like one of those Japanese ghosts (The Ring, The Grudge).

Offline vpoulsen

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #28 on: February 15, 2023, 06:05:07 PM »
There is definitely a thinking intelligence to these "creatures" and even the teasers for the upcoming spinoffs of TWD universe is hinting at a more highly functioning and thinking "walker".  Personally I don't watch these shows for the monsters.  I watch these shows for the stories of how humanity survives, how they overcome the complete loss of civilization and how they cope with the feudal tenancies that always seem to rise up in these crisis.  Ominous parallels can be drawn to these stories and historical events that have taken place in the past 100 years.  Cambodia comes to mind as the most recent.  Two of the best shows that didn't get more than two seasons was Jericho, and Revolution, and those didn't involve zombies but there were catastrophic events that led to the breakdown of civilization. 

Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: Last of US HBO
« Reply #29 on: February 16, 2023, 05:57:55 AM »
I agree with you there, Vpoulson. I like to say that in TWD, zombies were not the story, they were the setting. The actual plot (and resulting character development) of how people would react in the complete breakdown of civilization is the real hook.

That being said... it's clear that Last of Us is based on a video game, and I can see the 'action sequences' where the player is supposed to be killing zombies. But it's also clear that the producers of the show are trying to add more plot, to 'flesh out' (as it were) the characters and story. I'm finding it to be a little predictable, but it has promise, and I'm still watching. ;)

Jericho was good, and I'm glad that the story got finished off in a comic. Revolution started out good, but by the end it had really gone off the rails and was bouncing around so much it gave me a headache (who was a 'good guy' and who was a 'bad guy' was changing every episode as people constantly switched sides).