World War Z Thread

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Shegokigo

Shegokigo

I was doing my usual death toll counts on CNN when I came across
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/29/brad-pitt-rescues-world-war-z-extra/?hpt=hp_bn5
and was glad to hear that this is still full-steam ahead in the production dept. I'm still concerned how it will be handled but from what I understood, Brooks has a hand in the development so it should turn out well. I mostly hope it's a documentary style with "memory clips" as they talk about what they went through.
 
C

Chibibar

Shegokigo said:
I was doing my usual death toll counts on CNN when I came across
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/29/brad-pitt-rescues-world-war-z-extra/?hpt=hp_bn5
and was glad to hear that this is still full-steam ahead in the production dept. I'm still concerned how it will be handled but from what I understood, Brooks has a hand in the development so it should turn out well. I mostly hope it's a documentary style with "memory clips" as they talk about what they went through.
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It will be awesome!!
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

I'm a little worried, since they apparently made major changes to J. Michael Strazinsky's already great script.

That said, it's still World War flipping Z. I'm down for that bad boy like steroids on Hulk Hogan.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Eh, I can kinda understand their reasoning for changing it as such. The book is unique for telling it in a series of post-war interviews but something like that would be difficult to translate onto the big screen.

I say, as long as we get the two big battles (the one on the bridge at Yonkers, I think...and the first big winning battle), I'd say we're still golden.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
I'm going to do it again. Fair warning. I LIKED WWZ. Okay, that being said, I was also sort of annoyed by the repetitive theme of "I have some perceived disability that helped me survive". Like being physically disabled, or being such a strong woman that in your womanness you are rescued by a vision of the goddess of womanhood. The ordinary Joe seemed to be missing. I also fail to buy Yonkers. I think the headshot word would've spread pretty damn quickly through an organization that trains in communications regularly. All that being said, I would look forward to a movie.
 
Tress

Tress

Negative Nancy said:
It will be....

Nothing like the book.
http://io9.com/5830389/world-war-z-movie-synopsis-is-nothing-like-the-book-internet-melts-down
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From the comments: "Sounds to me like this will be the Catwoman of zombie films."

Ouch! But this is sounding really, really bad.
Added at: 10:36
fade said:
I'm going to do it again. Fair warning. I LIKED WWZ. Okay, that being said, I was also sort of annoyed by the repetitive theme of "I have some perceived disability that helped me survive". Like being physically disabled, or being such a strong woman that in your womanness you are rescued by a vision of the goddess of womanhood. The ordinary Joe seemed to be missing.
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When I think back to the book, I don't remember that being as prevalent as you say it is. I remember certain stories revolving around that theme, but I don't think it was repetitive.
 
Null

Null

I liked World War Z too, though the author obvious doesn't know anything about weaponry, tactics, or combined arms. I was deeply amused when the "useless" 5.56mm selective fire weapons of the current military are replaced by the "magnificent" 5.56mm selective fire weapons, the only difference being the use of incendiary rounds.

I understand that smashing the bones of a zombie's body won't kill or hurt it. But it will damn well immobilize it. Soft tissue injuries are another matter, but you can't tell me that machine-guns are useless against zombies, because they wouldn't be. And I've never seen any zombie fiction that used armored vehicles even close to adequately. Here's a clue - if a reporter or scientist with a bulldozer he isn't trained on, figures out he can just crush the zombies, how long do you think it would take a tank driver to work the same thing out? The old M113 would be fantastic for clearing mobs of zombies in cities. Button them up and keep going forward. It's not like the zombies will be firing RPGs at it.
 
Shegokigo

Shegokigo

You realize we're talking about a book/movie about super-natural creatures that don't exist. I understand that he's basing it in our world but those don't seem like nitpicks that would remotely overshadow the amazing storytelling in the novels. He didn't say that machine-guns are useless against zombies, he was "preparing" readers for a constant onslaught and that guns of that calibur/type were not long-term reliable, which they aren't. It's about sustainable survivability, not what can dispatch a zombie or group of zombies once or twice.
 
Officer_Charon

Officer_Charon

Also, tracks are not infallible... enough debris and detritus get pushed into them, then the metal box is immobilized. Doesn't mean so much, until the folks inside have to come out... but still.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
Null, I completely agree. Shego, I would normally agree with you, too, except that Brooks takes the time to try to get realistic, so it's almost like all bets are off when it comes to suspension of disbelief. In fact, what Null is complaining about always bothered me about zombie movies, and I LOVE zombie movies. The tactics that seem to beat the zombies in most movies are standard military tactics executed by untrained schmucks, despite the fact that the regular army got beaten using the same (better trained) techniques.
 
C

Chibibar

fade said:
Null, I completely agree. Shego, I would normally agree with you, too, except that Brooks takes the time to try to get realistic, so it's almost like all bets are off when it comes to suspension of disbelief. In fact, what Null is complaining about always bothered me about zombie movies, and I LOVE zombie movies. The tactics that seem to beat the zombies in most movies are standard military tactics executed by untrained schmucks, despite the fact that the regular army got beaten using the same (better trained) techniques.
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Yea. I can see both side.
The problem with movies is time limit. you can only tell so much story/stories before you run out of time (which average about 1.5 hours to 3 hours tops!)

Superior firepower will always win IF they are also superior forces :)

If a zombie break out just started in a town, then the military shouldn't have any issue dispatching them (assuming under 200 or so)
If a city have a zombie break out in the millions, then we have issue cause the military (at the time) may have limited resources until more arrive (bullets, people, weapons, vehicles etc etc)
which part of the scenario above will the movie take?

I do love Zombie Survival guide (I haven't had chance to read WWZ since all my stuff are still packed) and notice that a lot of the stories are small breakout. We haven't had a huge world scale break out. I presume WWZ does cover this.

But how will the movie end? I personally hope it doesn't end with the human "winning" cause if it is a world level epidemic movie, the human will eventually lose unless every single zombie is wiped (which is hard to do if you read the survival guide)

The point is to survive :) (but it would make a boring movie to most people) I personally gonna wait and see how they are going to do it.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Chibibar said:
If a zombie break out just started in a town, then the military shouldn't have any issue dispatching them (assuming under 200 or so)
If a city have a zombie break out in the millions, then we have issue cause the military (at the time) may have limited resources until more arrive (bullets, people, weapons, vehicles etc etc)
which part of the scenario above will the movie take?
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Actually, in that scenario (a situation where military or CDC containment of a location would be impossible and the consequences of such a failure are lethal), the military is generally authorized to ether level and/or burn down the entire area to prevent further infection. That this didn't happen in the book is probably for narrative reasons or because they didn't have access to large stores of Napalm anymore.

Chibibar said:
But how will the movie end? I personally hope it doesn't end with the human "winning" cause if it is a world level epidemic movie, the human will eventually lose unless every single zombie is wiped (which is hard to do if you read the survival guide)
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I assume the movie will end with a similar ending to the book: Humanity is on the way to winning (or at least managing the zombie problem somewhat), but society is completely changed as a result... and not always for the better. Communities have to be rebuilt to account for Zed, governments have be overthrown, and some countries are still swarming with Zed. It ends on a hopeful note but it's clear that everything might go to shit at anytime and it might not be because of Zed.
 
Null

Null

fade said:
Null, I completely agree. Shego, I would normally agree with you, too, except that Brooks takes the time to try to get realistic, so it's almost like all bets are off when it comes to suspension of disbelief. In fact, what Null is complaining about always bothered me about zombie movies, and I LOVE zombie movies. The tactics that seem to beat the zombies in most movies are standard military tactics executed by untrained schmucks, despite the fact that the regular army got beaten using the same (better trained) techniques.
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My other point is that so much of the alternate history presented hinges on the failure of conventional military forces, when there's no goddamn reason given why it would. Why was the Battle of Yonkers a massive failure, but company-sized volley-fire works brilliantly? If the civilians aren't an issue, why not use thermobaric weapons to level the entire area? If you're facing a mass of unarmored, unarmed infantry who are only a threat at point-blank range, channeled into a killing zone, what's wrong with using helicopter gunships or automatic grenade launchers? A blind dude with a garden tool is invincible, but the USMC is wiped out?

Shaun of the Dead presents this brilliantly - yes, soldiers are overwhelmed... for a few hours. By the next day, though, soldiers are clearing out neighborhood by neighborhood with relative ease.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat


They should have made a miniseries instead. The documentary style would have translated really well to the small screen in a way that it just can't on the big screen, complete with "dramatic reenactments" and "archive footage".... faces blacked out and voices distorted to hide identities in some cases.... Its what was going through my head all through reading it. Damn that would have been good.
 
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checkeredhat

checkeredhat

Also I'm curious what they'll call this when it comes to Canada. Usually they don't bother to change titles between American and Canadian releases, but I honestly think World War Zee sounds stupid. I'll be ordering my ticket for World War Zed either way.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
I always hated "zed". It breaks the pattern of "tee cee dee gee", etc. It's like, "Fuck you, this one's different."
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

We sing it to a different tune in our public schools so it rhymes (more or less) with M, instead of rhyming with B,C,D,E,G,P,T, and V.
But that aside, in this particular case, I like the finality of "zed". Maybe just because it rhymes with "dead", I dunno.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
I was just playing anyway. I work for a British company, and we always have to deal with the "z" dimension because it's depth. We good-naturedly rib each other about it, and about spelling "colours" and "modelling" wrong, etc.
 
Tress

Tress

The only reason why it works better as World War "Zee" is because it rhymes better with "World War Three." At least that's how I look at it. There is something to sounding like "World War Dead" I suppose.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

That is precisely the argument I have had with the few people I've met who care enough about the book to have an opinion on the matter.

I bet they overlook t and call it World War Zee here. I'm sure in dialogue it'll be World War Zee and not Zed, and its not like Canadian Audiences won't understand the title of the movie if the movie trailer voice says Zee instead of Zed.

Also I just read the synopsis of what this is to be about, and how much it will differ from the book and... I'm actually not sure if I even still want to see it. That sounds kinda boring.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Oh, for...

Tell me they're not doing that running zombie shit. Not doing as a documentary, I can understand but the fact that they were proper, slow-moving ghouls was part of the goddamn impact of the book.
 
B

Biannoshufu

Shegokigo said:
You realize we're talking about a book/movie about super-natural creatures that don't exist...
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FUCK YOU ZOMBIES ARE REAL AND YOU'LL SEE WHEN THEY BITE YOUR HEAD OFF!
*runs away crying*

also without context that clip is the funniest thing I have ever seen.
 
B

Biannoshufu

I cringed when I saw that. not because zombies scare me but christ that is a bad render.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

AshburnerX said:
Leaked Footage:

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I thought Max Brooks was involved in this on some level? Are they just not listening to anything he has to say? Running Zombies? Look, Running Zombies aren't a complete deal breaker for me (Dawn of the Dead remake was actually pretty awesome for what it was, and the zombies are inarguably scarier when they're sprinting full-tilt). But running zombies say to me they aren't paying a whole lot of attention to the source material here.
 
B

Biannoshufu

maybe it's misinformation? "Hey lets shoot a clip that totally screws with the internet and has nothing to do with the real film, and leak that?"
 
fade

fade

Staff member
checkeredhat said:
I thought Max Brooks was involved in this on some level? Are they just not listening to anything he has to say? Running Zombies? Look, Running Zombies aren't a complete deal breaker for me (Dawn of the Dead remake was actually pretty awesome for what it was, and the zombies are inarguably scarier when they're sprinting full-tilt). But running zombies say to me they aren't paying a whole lot of attention to the source material here.
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I don't know---I sure want to argue with you. I find the shuffling terrifying because it reinforces the inevitability of eventually getting eaten. Running turns them into more animal-like creatures rather than death-metaphors to me.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

fade said:
I don't know---I sure want to argue with you. I find the shuffling terrifying because it reinforces the inevitability of eventually getting eaten. Running turns them into more animal-like creatures rather than death-metaphors to me.
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Let me clarify. I think shuffling zombies are creepier, and definitely have a more lasting, lingering effect, but an undead cannibal sprinting at you is more of an adrenaline rush scare.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

On that, I think everyone can agree.

I'm pretty unsure about this movie. On one hand; its clearly deviating from the source material and I really wanted to see that source material interpreted faithfully. On the other, the Dawn of the Dead remake veered well away from Romero's version and although it failed to make any commentary whatsoever, it managed to be a pretty rockin' mindless action-horror flick worth revisiting from time to time. This could be the same...
 
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