World War Z premiere to coincide with end of the world

[Cutter John]

I'm just saying, if zombies were real that is, a horde of fast zombies that can swarm on you would be more terrifying than the slow ones swarming on you. At least you have more of a chance of out running them.

Well, I suppose in the real world. Doesn't make very interesting viewing though, at least to me. The newer infected zombies are scary in the same way beign chased by a pack of animals, or a linch mob is scary. I'm more old school. I like the slow, half decayed corpses who shamble toward you relentlessly. Sur eyou can dodge or run around them, but theres bound to be thirty more waiting just around the corner.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Are we assuming the people running in that clip are zombies and not just panicked people? Other than the biter and bitee, I can't tell Zack from the normals.

 

[Talosian]

Fast zombies aren't interesting because they lack subtlety. They run without tiring and sprint maniacally towards the nearest living creature. Traditional zombies, with their lurching, intermittent style of movement are somehow more realistic. They imply that the conversion to undead status is not merely an addition of cannibalistic hunger but a subtraction of vital energy. In the real world, even the fiercest beasts have weaknesses, have their moments of rest and hesitation. Zombies aren't real, but then neither are alien monsters, demons, vampires, and the like. All these fantastic creatures are better depicted with that drop of realism, with that ounce of vulnerability.

 

[Cutter John]

Are we assuming the people running in that clip are zombies and not just panicked people? Other than the biter and bitee, I can't tell Zack from the normals.

No way of knowing really. They're probably going to add blood and gore via CG. I'm just assuming that the guy turning in seconds, then throwing himself wildly against the car = fast zombie.

These suckers running is going to ruin the desert battle from later in the book.

 

[sojourner]

^You mean the battle where the soldiers calmly mow down the slow onslaught of thousands of zombies? Yeah, fast zombies won't add any excitement to that.

 

[Cutter John]

^You mean the battle where the soldiers calmly mow down the slow onslaught of thousands of zombies? Yeah, fast zombies won't add any excitement to that.

More like it'll mean changing the entire premise of the film. How does one headshot a target thats a hundred yards away, running toward you at full speed? They'll probably have to make them into Left 4 Dead or 28 Days Later type infected. i.e. they're just as vulnerable to physical damage as a normal human.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Will they even show the desert battle?

Do we know what segments of the book are going to be included? I know they can't do everything, but these are the ones that really stick out in my mind:

-The first segment in China (patient zero).
-The one in India that involved nuking the mountain pass (to me, this is the most cinematic part of the whole novel).
-The one with the female pilot (I can't help envisioning her played by Michelle Rodriguez, so sue me ) who crashes in and hears someone over the radio who turns out not to exist (cue Twilight Zone music).
-The sequence at Clairmont College near LA.
-The Battle of Yonkers.
-The sequence with the people migrating north because the zombies will get frozen.
-The coastal sequence in India with people trying to escape to the ships.
-And that chilling detail about the entire population of North Korea vanishing, possibly sealed in belowground tunnels that nobody will ever risk opening...

 

[sojourner]

Well, the battle of Hope (desert battle) is the "turning point" so I would guess we'll see it or something like it.

 

[Sindatur]

Will they even show the desert battle?

Do we know what segments of the book are going to be included? I know they can't do everything, but these are the ones that really stick out in my mind:

-The first segment in China (patient zero).
-The one in India that involved nuking the mountain pass (to me, this is the most cinematic part of the whole novel).
-The one with the female pilot (I can't help envisioning her played by Michelle Rodriguez, so sue me ) who crashes in and hears someone over the radio who turns out not to exist (cue Twilight Zone music).
-The sequence at Clairmont College near LA.
-The Battle of Yonkers.
-The sequence with the people migrating north because the zombies will get frozen.
-The coastal sequence in India with people trying to escape to the ships.
-And that chilling detail about the entire population of North Korea vanishing, possibly sealed in belowground tunnels that nobody will ever risk opening...

I've never read the book, but, I've been looking forward to this movie for a few years, and was really excited when JMS was given the first pass at the script (Though, rumor I've heard is that Brad didn't think it was commercial enough, so it's been altered)

Your guesses and descriptions sound like the makings of a great movie

I like Michelle Rodrigues for action. I wouldn't cast her in anything as a leading sex pot, or for feminine dramatic emotion, but, she does have a talent for dramatic emotional scenes, in her element.

 

[Shurik]

Will they even show the desert battle?

Do we know what segments of the book are going to be included? I know they can't do everything, but these are the ones that really stick out in my mind:

-The first segment in China (patient zero).
-The one in India that involved nuking the mountain pass (to me, this is the most cinematic part of the whole novel).
-The one with the female pilot (I can't help envisioning her played by Michelle Rodriguez, so sue me ) who crashes in and hears someone over the radio who turns out not to exist (cue Twilight Zone music).
-The sequence at Clairmont College near LA.
-The Battle of Yonkers.
-The sequence with the people migrating north because the zombies will get frozen.
-The coastal sequence in India with people trying to escape to the ships.
-And that chilling detail about the entire population of North Korea vanishing, possibly sealed in belowground tunnels that nobody will ever risk opening...

I'd add to that a few segments:
- Celebrities closing themselves down in some stronghold and broadcasting it to the world as a reality show. It's one of my favorite parts of the book.
- The chapter about Israel, though looks like it will be in the movie (quite a few local actors were hired).
- The part about astronauts in ISS.

 

[Reverend]

Someone leaked a bit of production footage. Oh dear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma8l5udOlvc&feature=player_embedded

What strikes me about this isn't that they're using "fast zombies" it's how quickly the victim was turned. It's been a while since I've read the book but I'm pretty sure the incubation period was in the order of hours or days, not seconds. That should eliminate the whole thing about checking refugees for wounds, using dogs at check points or having people hiding infected family members.

This is definitely drawing more from 28 Days Later than the book. Very disappointing.

To those who think fast zombies will make the action scenes more exciting; I'm afraid it'll undermine the whole point of many of those scenes. Let's take the Battle of Yonkers: The whole chapter is supposed to demonstrate how the military are overconfident, under prepared and too dependent on modern gadgets to deal with the situation. They don't loose because the horde swarmed them too fast, they lost because they tried shock and awe tactics on a horde that stretched from Yonkers, all the way back to Time Square and when they ran out of rockets, shells and napalm...Zack just kept coming. Oh, and they decided to hide behind sandbags in the middle of the street instead of taking the high ground.

 

[Cutter John]

Looks like a ton of clips on Youtube featuring civilians running and vehicles crashing. I'm guessing most of the shots with zombies are on closed sets, or in studio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZLDHmUexsI&feature=related

 

[sojourner]

Yeah, I'm afraid as is usual with Hollywood, the movie won't be as good as the book.

 

[watermelony2k]

Will they even show the desert battle?

Do we know what segments of the book are going to be included? I know they can't do everything, but these are the ones that really stick out in my mind:

-The first segment in China (patient zero).
-The one in India that involved nuking the mountain pass (to me, this is the most cinematic part of the whole novel).
-The one with the female pilot (I can't help envisioning her played by Michelle Rodriguez, so sue me ) who crashes in and hears someone over the radio who turns out not to exist (cue Twilight Zone music).
-The sequence at Clairmont College near LA.
-The Battle of Yonkers.
-The sequence with the people migrating north because the zombies will get frozen.
-The coastal sequence in India with people trying to escape to the ships.
-And that chilling detail about the entire population of North Korea vanishing, possibly sealed in belowground tunnels that nobody will ever risk opening...

I'd add to that a few segments:
- Celebrities closing themselves down in some stronghold and broadcasting it to the world as a reality show. It's one of my favorite parts of the book.
- The chapter about Israel, though looks like it will be in the movie (quite a few local actors were hired).
- The part about astronauts in ISS.

Each of these scenarios could have been an episode each in an HBO miniseries.

They shouldn't have called this movie World War Z; judging from the synopsis alone it's shaping up to be something else entirely.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

- The chapter about Israel, though looks like it will be in the movie (quite a few local actors were hired).

That's what I'm interested in, any signs that certain parts of the book will be included. They could change the story completely to craft it around segments that they find the most cinematic or striking, so I'm not judging it on the basis of what segments are required for the story as it was written.

To those who think fast zombies will make the action scenes more exciting; I'm afraid it'll undermine the whole point of many of those scenes. Let's take the Battle of Yonkers: The whole chapter is supposed to demonstrate how the military are overconfident, under prepared and too dependent on modern gadgets to deal with the situation. They don't loose because the horde swarmed them too fast, they lost because they tried shock and awe tactics on a horde that stretched from Yonkers, all the way back to Time Square and when they ran out of rockets, shells and napalm...Zack just kept coming. Oh, and they decided to hide behind sandbags in the middle of the street instead of taking the high ground.

Yeah, the less Zack acts like a human opponent, the more plausible it would be that the military would fuck up. They could use their imagination and contemplate what they need to do against an undeterrable enemy that moves slowly and mindlessly, whose numbers are enormous and growing, and who can "recruit" from your own soldiers, but apparently their imaginations failed them because it's hard to really accept that all the rules have changed. "Slow, mindless" zombies could sound easy to beat and make them overconfident.

 

[Cutter John]

Really good point Temis. I'm sure the military has tons of strategies to deal with 'large angry mob rampaging through the streets'. 'Slow relentless hordes' not so much.

 

[sojourner]

^It's discussed in the book. The living human body is much more susceptible to things like explosive overpressure.

 

[FluffyUnbound]

^You mean the battle where the soldiers calmly mow down the slow onslaught of thousands of zombies? Yeah, fast zombies won't add any excitement to that.

To me the problem is that fast zombies with a near-instantaneous infection cycle can't turn into a worldwide phenomenon.

Brooks explains very well how his slow-infection and slow-running zombies get worldwide - people get bitten and then get onto planes, or get carried across national borders by smugglers. You can't do that with a fast zombie that instantly turns.

A fast zombie plague originating in China completely destroys one local region and then gets nuked by the Chinese themselves. It doesn't go worldwide.

The whole cycle Brooks described - where the disease is just a rumor, then the Chinese suppress the news, then it slowly trickles out as infected people try to flee, then the West (other than Israel) doesn't take it seriously, then people falsely believe there's a cure, etc. etc. etc. - none of that happens if the zombies are fast.

 

[sojourner]

Yeah, a fast incubation does ruin things quite a bit. But you don't have to make it a fast incubation and fast zombies. But it does look like they are doing both from what little we have seen, ruining the book.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Yeah, fast incubation = ebola virus and slow incubation = AIDS. Which is the bigger problem in the world today?

Both slow zombies and slow incubation are parts of the story that Max Brooks actually thought about, so that his story could work. Hollywood is fucking up, etc. Oh well why did I ever think it would be any different?