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Well...not bad for the first episode,but certainly nothing great...I'll give it a C+ with potential for improvement based on what I saw last night.

I quiet like the look of the zombies,well done make up/effects department and the storyline is fairly good...but..

The acting was way OTT at points and completely wooden at others,I'm hoping this is just a case of the actors "finding the rhythm" of their characters.

One of my biggest personal complaints is that all the chaos looked way to organized and clean...hundreds of cars used to represent various "mass exoduses" in various towns and cities all looking as though they were simply driven off the dealers lot and parked in odd ways...not a smashed window or drop of blood to mar they're freshly waxed surfaces...or random toys scattered about for those "dear lord they ate the children" moments...each toy looking fresh out the box...hell even the newspapers blowing down the street looked crisp and clean...call me silly...but the post zombie outbreak world shouldn't look so ...clean.

FITZZ wrote: ...call me silly...

You're silly.

I thought I saw busted up cars, and the buildings certainly looked trashed. I love end of the world stuff too; original Dawn of the Dead + first two episodes of The Stand FTW!

I thought it was pretty good. After watching Dead Set, and seeing 28 Days Later yet again on Saturday, it was kind of neat to get retro-style slow(er) zombies.

The acting isn't awesome, yet, but as you say, the actors are finding their characters. I do think the clear focus on the characters and the human drama is cool; it puts more weight on the actors' shoulders, but is definitely the key to giving the show the depth needed for an ongoing series.

Ahtman wrote:

FITZZ wrote: ...call me silly...

You're silly.

You know...I've been called that at times..I can't begin to imagine why.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Mannahnin wrote:I thought I saw busted up cars, and the buildings certainly looked trashed. I love end of the world stuff too; original Dawn of the Dead + first two episodes of The Stand FTW!

I thought it was pretty good. After watching Dead Set, and seeing 28 Days Later yet again on Saturday, it was kind of neat to get retro-style slow(er) zombies.

The acting isn't awesome, yet, but as you say, the actors are finding their characters. I do think the clear focus on the characters and the human drama is cool; it puts more weight on the actors' shoulders, but is definitely the key to giving the show the depth needed for an ongoing series.

Yes..there were some damaged/busted up vehicles,but if you noticed most of those were used for "close shots",in most of the wide "look at all the mayhem" shots...the vehicles were for the most part "dealer fresh".
IIRC in one scene the lead character peers into an abandoned car and the interior is absolutely immaculate...even glistening with armour all.

I know it sounds exceedingly picky...but I just felt things appeared to "fresh".

I do enjoy the fact that alot of focus is being placed on characters and they're interactions,as you stated it should definitely lead to some interesting developments and help the overall scope of the show.

I was impressed with the show really. I was surprised at how brutal some of the killings were. Hell Ive seen MOVIES that werent that bad (meant in a good way of course) and I thought the main character was actually going to die when he was under that tank, my wife even said "they cant kill him off yet, hes the main character" lol. Pretty good start I think. I just hope it picks up a little more steam and keeps it up

The fact that many of the cars and props looked new and clean kind of added to it for me. The main character wasn't in a coma for years. This events happen after he is out for a few weeks/months. The idea that things have happened rapidly and very soon to him awakening are interesting. This isn't months or years after an outbreak.

I don't think every car out there would be on fire and exploded in a zombie apocalypse. In fact most would probably be abandoned in a traffic jam and still have the dealer sticker on them if the guy was out for a test drive.

The one thing with zombie apocalypses that gets me though is I really think the military would do a much better job at killing em all. I dunno maybe I'm giving the military too much credit, but seriously.. with the kinda firepower that's out there these days... shambling zombies wouldn't stand a chance. Worse case, just take off and MOAB them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

And that tank looked perfectly fine, why would the crew bother leaving? I'd shut myself inside like the sheriff did and just drive over all the zombies and squish their heads all over the asphalt.

Necros wrote:

And that tank looked perfectly fine, why would the crew bother leaving? I'd shut myself inside like the sheriff did and just drive over all the zombies and squish their heads all over the asphalt.

Ran out of fuel?

Infected crew member died and then reanimated and scared them out?

Then they need to get some more comissars...

Necros wrote:I don't think every car out there would be on fire and exploded in a zombie apocalypse. In fact most would probably be abandoned in a traffic jam and still have the dealer sticker on them if the guy was out for a test drive.

The one thing with zombie apocalypses that gets me though is I really think the military would do a much better job at killing em all. I dunno maybe I'm giving the military too much credit, but seriously.. with the kinda firepower that's out there these days... shambling zombies wouldn't stand a chance. Worse case, just take off and MOAB them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

And that tank looked perfectly fine, why would the crew bother leaving? I'd shut myself inside like the sheriff did and just drive over all the zombies and squish their heads all over the asphalt.

It's not that I believe that every car should have been a burning wreck or drenched in blood.it's just that I prefer a bit less "clean" in my chaos.

As far as Military success in dealing with a hypothetical zombie apocalypse,I'm very sceptical that it could be contained...the military simply doesn't have the numbers/resources to be every place at once.

The difficulty of zombie films is that I really don't support the premise. I don't know about UK et al but "old style zombies" are really easy to take down. Put on some proer motorcylcle leathers and helmet and you're pretty much invulnerable. peop0le don't actually have that great of a bite pressure. Then its Zombie Olympics time.

Frazzled wrote:The difficulty of zombie films is that I really don't support the premise. I don't know about UK et al but "old style zombies" are really easy to take down. Put on some proer motorcylcle leathers and helmet and you're pretty much invulnerable. peop0le don't actually have that great of a bite pressure. Then its Zombie Olympics time.

With most movies, especially horror, you just have to give some in the reality department. I am hoping that this series builds on the first episode in a good way. If they focus on the human drama in a post zombie world and not so much on ZOMG ZOMBIES it may run well for awhile. Simply put, zombies shouldn't be the main selling point for this story.

Necros wrote:The one thing with zombie apocalypses that gets me though is I really think the military would do a much better job at killing em all. I dunno maybe I'm giving the military too much credit, but seriously.. with the kinda firepower that's out there these days... shambling zombies wouldn't stand a chance. Worse case, just take off and MOAB them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

Read World War Z, it covers why the military is poorly suited for dealing with zombies at the Battle of Yonkers and in the follow-up when they actually get their stuff together and retake the continent.

Basically, our military has evolved to shock and awe a target and disable them. Neither of these things work against a 'fearless' opponent that cannot be disabled, only killed.

In your example, a MOAB would only kill the zombies that it directly crushed the skulls of. Any that were 'wounded' or chopped up would still be viable and need to be dispatched. Not to mention loss of infrastructure.

And what did work?

They deal with the problem of the "old Style" Zombie by stating its the numbers that get you...one is easy to kill, two, three...so long as you have the bullets...but who gang "all hopped up and hungry" will give you trouble...

I saw the zombies as being a blend of the two schools of thought...when they saw the cop on horse, they all got moving pretty sharpish after him...but when they are just 'chilling' and walking around, they are fairly sedate. Maybe they are like orks, they feed off each others 'emotions' = more need/hunger, more drive to move quicker...

I enjoyed it...I especially liked to see the anguish in the mans eyes trying to decide to kill his zombie wife. Very well done.

Frazzled wrote:The difficulty of zombie films is that I really don't support the premise. I don't know about UK et al but "old style zombies" are really easy to take down. Put on some proer motorcylcle leathers and helmet and you're pretty much invulnerable. peop0le don't actually have that great of a bite pressure. Then its Zombie Olympics time.

The premise behind zombie films ,IMO,is actually quiet easy to believe...I mean sure they're are quiet a few people,you and myself included that are pretty good with firearms,and who could perhaps formulate "survival plans".
However,I assure you,they're plenty of people out there who would panic and eventually get themselves infected...after that it's a simple matter of numbers and time...even the most well armed and prepared person couldn't remain vigilant forever.

For Example (once again) I'll use my experiences after Hurricane Katrina,there were thousands upon thousands of people simply wandering around,with absolutely zero idea of what to do next simply because the electric teet had gone off and no one was telling them what they should do,now of course there were those who organized and took care of them self and others...but trust me...it was pretty chaotic...and no one was eating each other...and everyone basically knew that "help" would eventually arive.

Now if you took this same sort of situation,and tossed in the hungry dead...on a national level...understanding just how rapidly the system could fall apart is easy.

FITZZ wrote:
Now if you took this same sort of situation,and tossed in the hungry dead...on a national level...understanding just how rapidly the system could fall apart is easy.

One day that occur. And the time for Man will be over. The time for Weinie Legions will have begun.

FITZZ wrote:However,I assure you,they're plenty of people out there who would panic and eventually get themselves infected...

Unfortunately, this would be me. I think Zombieland handled that part the best with rule #1... Fatties will be the first to go.

I also watch those survival shows on Discovery & History Channel, etc.. yet if I was dumped in the middle of the amazon, I'd be poisoned and killed and eaten within about 10 minutes.

I wouldn't mind being rich enough to build a fully stocked compound in the middle of nowhere, with electrified 20' fences all around it, solar power and my own private & independent water and sewer stuff. And sentry guns too. Oh and a moat. No one has moats anymore...

The problem I have with zombies is the initial spread. Most sources put bite -> zombie at ~24 hours.

Given that zombies tend to (from what we see) mostly kill a victim and eat/rip them apart before moving onto another victim (the "I don't need to be fast, I just need to be faster than you" defense), from an initial zombie to even a moderately sized outbreak would take quite a while and a lot of luck. Especially if we are talking about the traditional shuffle/fast walk/jog type zombies.

Though if I were plotting to zombify the world, I would put infected meat/matter in lots of products - get a sizable initial pool of zombies that way rather than unleash a few "live" zombies on some unsuspecting town. Gets you a widespread, hard to combat distribution, an unknown initial vector and a potentially large number of initial zombies.

Necros wrote:

FITZZ wrote:However,I assure you,they're plenty of people out there who would panic and eventually get themselves infected...

Unfortunately, this would be me. I think Zombieland handled that part the best with rule #1... Fatties will be the first to go.

I also watch those survival shows on Discovery & History Channel, etc.. yet if I was dumped in the middle of the amazon, I'd be poisoned and killed and eaten within about 10 minutes.

I wouldn't mind being rich enough to build a fully stocked compound in the middle of nowhere, with electrified 20' fences all around it, solar power and my own private & independent water and sewer stuff. And sentry guns too. Oh and a moat. No one has moats anymore...

Meh not that point. Think of it like the end of the original Night of the Living Dead. Redneck posses clearing up the outbreak, easier than doctors doing it.
But we're sidetracking the thread-my apology.

SilverMK2 wrote:The problem I have with zombies is the initial spread. Most sources put bite -> zombie at ~24 hours.

Given that zombies tend to (from what we see) mostly kill a victim and eat/rip them apart before moving onto another victim (the "I don't need to be fast, I just need to be faster than you" defense), from an initial zombie to even a moderately sized outbreak would take quite a while and a lot of luck. Especially if we are talking about the traditional shuffle/fast walk/jog type zombies.

Though if I were plotting to zombify the world, I would put infected meat/matter in lots of products - get a sizable initial pool of zombies that way rather than unleash a few "live" zombies on some unsuspecting town. Gets you a widespread, hard to combat distribution, an unknown initial vector and a potentially large number of initial zombies.

Well, it depends on the sources you going on as to the speed/rate of infection/reanimation...but for the most part (Using most popular zombie lore) a victim of a bite reanimates between 5 to 10 minutes after dying,so while a Pearson who is bitten on say..the arm may take 24 hours or so to die,he will reanimate shortly after death.
And of course some one who dies quickly (gets their throat torn out) will be back up and munching fairly rapidly.

So from a geometrical perspective,spread of infection could rapidly become overwhelming,for example...person A infects his family,they move on to infect the neighbors and so on...some people run to the hospital..were they die and infect others,some simply run off and die...only to eventually get up and go for a snack,police are called in to investigate...some are bitten...and so on and so on in hundreds of cities and towns...

And if you factor in the Romero mythos that you don't even have to be bitten to reanimate...the virus spreads even faster.

FITZZ wrote:Well, it depends on the sources you going on as to the speed/rate of infection/reanimation...but for the most part (Using most popular zombie lore) a victim of a bite reanimates between 5 to 10 minutes after dying,so while a Pearson who is bitten on say..the arm may take 24 hours or so to die,he will reanimate shortly after death.
And of course some one who dies quickly (gets their throat torn out) will be back up and munching fairly rapidly.

See, I tend to go with the "you have to be alive long enough for the virus to get a foothold in the brain before you can reanimate" school of zombies. It is that I was basing my rate of progression on. Most people are who are encountered will be killed and eaten by zombies before the virus can take hold.

So from a geometrical perspective,spread of infection could rapidly become overwhelming,for example...person A infects his family,they move on to infect the neighbors and so on...some people run to the hospital..were they die and infect others,some simply run off and die...only to eventually get up and go for a snack,police are called in to investigate...some are bitten...and so on and so on in hundreds of cities and towns...

Of course, this infection rate (where people do not really have to be alive for the virus to take hold - where infection is almost instantaneous/the virus can infiltrate recently dead cells to bring about reanimation) would be seriously fast. You could have potentially hundreds of zombies in the first hours of an outbreak.

And if you factor in the Romero mythos that you don't even have to be bitten to reanimate...the virus spreads even faster.

Added to which you can get zombies popping up "behind your own lines" if people suicide or die in accidents - a very dangerous thing.

SilverMK2 wrote:

FITZZ wrote:Well, it depends on the sources you going on as to the speed/rate of infection/reanimation...but for the most part (Using most popular zombie lore) a victim of a bite reanimates between 5 to 10 minutes after dying,so while a Pearson who is bitten on say..the arm may take 24 hours or so to die,he will reanimate shortly after death.
And of course some one who dies quickly (gets their throat torn out) will be back up and munching fairly rapidly.

See, I tend to go with the "you have to be alive long enough for the virus to get a foothold in the brain before you can reanimate" school of zombies. It is that I was basing my rate of progression on. Most people are who are encountered will be killed and eaten by zombies before the virus can take hold.

So from a geometrical perspective,spread of infection could rapidly become overwhelming,for example...person A infects his family,they move on to infect the neighbors and so on...some people run to the hospital..were they die and infect others,some simply run off and die...only to eventually get up and go for a snack,police are called in to investigate...some are bitten...and so on and so on in hundreds of cities and towns...

Of course, this infection rate (where people do not really have to be alive for the virus to take hold - where infection is almost instantaneous/the virus can infiltrate recently dead cells to bring about reanimation) would be seriously fast. You could have potentially hundreds of zombies in the first hours of an outbreak.

And if you factor in the Romero mythos that you don't even have to be bitten to reanimate...the virus spreads even faster.

Added to which you can get zombies popping up "behind your own lines" if people suicide or die in accidents - a very dangerous thing.

Exactly how Romero explained how rapidly his dead were spreading,not only did the bite spread the infection and cause death...but anyone who died,regardless of reason..so long as the brain was intact,got back up and killed.
So,for example ..you have the SWAT team in the opening of the original Dawn of the Dead shooting people down...well,those people all get back up with a really bad case of the munchies..even though they've never been bitten.

Well, I suppose that initial zombie outbreaks *could* feature an airborne component with a fairly low percentage of infection to help the zombies get over the hump as it were in terms of critical mass.

As for The Walking Dead, I liked the show. I hope it doesn't devolve into a "Lost" type experience where the humans are busier bickering and getting caught up in love triangles than surviving.

It would be interesting to see flashbacks of how the various protagonists survived/reacted to the initial outbreak

If you just finished polishing off 2 racks of ribs and a bunch of potato skins, then suddenly had a heart attack and died and came back a zombie... would you be hungry for brains right off the bat? Or would you be too full for a while?

Necros wrote:If you just finished polishing off 2 racks of ribs and a bunch of potato skins, then suddenly had a heart attack and died and came back a zombie... would you be hungry for brains right off the bat? Or would you be too full for a while?

Oh great, now I'm going to be up all night trying to figure that out.

shuffling around awkwardly and groaning works up an appetite pretty quickly I hear. Feel free to think of any suitably sexual innuendo based on that statement - I'm going to go get ribs.

Necros wrote:If you just finished polishing off 2 racks of ribs and a bunch of potato skins, then suddenly had a heart attack and died and came back a zombie... would you be hungry for brains right off the bat? Or would you be too full for a while?

Well, I'm not really certain about the "Braaains" zombies as I absolutely loathe most of those films and the whole "brain eating zombie" genre..however..

In the film "Day of the Dead",the character of Dr. "Frankenstein" Logan,after removing a zombies stomach,goes on to hypothesize that zombies don't eat us for nourishment,but rather operate on some "deep instinct."

So to answer your question (at least from that perspective) even if you had eaten a huge filling meal and then had a heart attack and reanimated,you'd still attack and feed on the living right off the bat.

But what if they ate loads? Like, 4 racks of ribs two dozen potato skins AND a litre of beer. Surely, surely they'd be a bit put off by munching down on some poor sod.

ghosty wrote:But what if they ate loads? Like, 4 racks of ribs two dozen potato skins AND a litre of beer. Surely, surely they'd be a bit put off by munching down on some poor sod.

Wouldn't matter...even if you had spent the past five hours gorging yourself at an all you can eat buffet...even if you had reached the point that you couldn't possibly stomach even one wafer thin mint...if you died at that moment and reanimated..you'd leap (well as much as any zombie can leap) from your table and devour the waiters face.

...And I like your new sig BTW.

Surely though, if governed by the Monty Python laws, surely if said zombie whom before being a zombie couldn't even have one wafer thin mint, surely eating a waiter would cause him to explode :?