HBO: The Last of Us

[Space Jockey]

Yes, still fungus though how it's transmitted is different. Vulture has a pretty good article on it.
The Last Of Us Fungal Outbreak Is Terrifying, But Is It Realistic?

 

[ScoutingForToys]

Still fungus.

They have weird fungal tendrils coming out of their mouths, eyes, etc. now

Oh good, glad they kept the overall idea. I'll be interested to see how they explore it.
Not having played the game, I don't know how they handled the spores but the idea of breathing this stuff in, feeling it choking you and catching in the throat, the taste of it. Difficulty breathing, knowing it's there growing in your lungs.
Seems pretty horrible to me. I'll have to see what this tendril thing is like on the show.

Yes, still fungus though how it's transmitted is different. Vulture has a pretty good article on it.
The Last Of Us Fungal Outbreak Is Terrifying, But Is It Realistic?

Thanks for that, an interesting read.

 

[DioramaMaker]

There have been a few great video game adaptations in the last few years.

Castlevania (10/10 must watch)
Sonic 1 & 2
Arcane
Cyberpunk Edgerunners

Let me rephrase it - live action adaptations. And while what you listed are great, they generally stay within the gaming audience.

That basically takes you down to Sonic. And all these years later, all of these leaps in the quality of game writing and presentation...and it's Sonic the ******* Hedgehog that somehow succeeded making the transition.

I hope this show is what the medium needs. Long format, serialized presentations that are true to a given game. Shows are an opportunity to allow a 20+ hour game narrative to be accurately recreated, rather than condensed.

 

[R_R_X]

A few issues aside I actually thought it was a quite good and faithful first episode.

First of all I loved most of the new pre-outbreak stuff they added, seeing Joel, Sarah and Tommy living a normal life before **** hits the fan definitely makes what happens later hit a bit harder, the whole outbreak sequence was great as well, a bit more action oriented but I liked the intensity of the whole thing and how the music builds up over time, the air plane crash was a bit of weird deviation imho but I liked the nod of almost having the truck get crashed into.

Pedro Pascal does a good job as Joel, the Texan accent is there and physically he embodies the character well, you can see a lot of Troy Baker's original performance in him and I commend him for doing his home work.
Bella Ramsey is a good actress and I think she plays the spunky teenager part well but sometimes her accent is a bit all over the place and I'm not exactly feeling Ellie, they've changed her up a bit in the show and her and Joel seem even more spiteful torwars each other than I think is necessary so for now I can't properly give a final verdict because we still haven't seen how their bond will grow and how they'll both act it out, my gut feeling still believes she was miscast.

The rest of the cast was good, Gabriel Luna as Tommy was the standout for me because he looks nothing like Tommy but he plays him REALLY well he even has the perfect voice and demeanor I'd actually say out of all the new actors playing these roles he was the best, Merle Dandrige as Marlene is obviously perfect given she played her in the games too so it's really great to hear and see her in live action it adds that special touch if you're a fan of the games, Anna Torv and Nico Parker did fine but they weren't my favorite from the bunch and I think Hannah Hayes acted out that scene better in the game but for newcomers they fit the roles well enough.

To close my positive thoughts it's a very good adapation, most of the actors are good and there's tons of nods to the games, I love that they kept the original soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla, it also doesn't feel cheap like other apocalypse shows thanks to that HBO budget, it's so good having people working on this that are passionate about the source material and having so many elements of the game in there, if they can keep it up this can become the best live action of a video game and pave the way for proper adaptations in the future or at least one can hope, regardless of my obviously biased opinions torwards the games I still think this will be a huge hit and new watchers and most of the original fanbase is going to love this.

Now for things I didn't like, the way they did the cordyceps... I hate it, the spores are sorely missed, when Joel and Tess entered the tunnels and found the body on the wall I couldn't help but think how much better the scene would've been if everything was cloudy and they were wearing masks it would've added another layer of horror when Joel mentions maybe there's infected down there and the weird mouth fungus tentacles just don't work for me it completely takes away from the realism of the whole cordyceps concept and it's closer to sci-fi/fiction like invasion of the body snatchers. The lack of gore and violence is something I also don't like, what's there feels muted and sterilized, typical Hollywood violence and nothing as visceral and shocking as the games.
Some of the changes felt like they were made just for the sake of it too, like they totally could've kept some things exactly how they play out in the game and it would've worked better I think, finally the ending felt very, very rushed and could be a sign of what's to come since they've already confirmed there will be entire episodes focused on new characters and new material, I hope they can strike a balance between the original and new so we don't have more scenes, especially important ones like the reveal of Ellie's immunity being weirdly adapted and rushed like hell.

 

[R_R_X]

The series is getting IMDB ratings similar to the game, so which 1/6 company is going to come out with TV versions of the characters? I'd be up for that, because I'll take anything in 1/6 connected to this world.

Threezero or InArt most likely but leaning more torwards Threezero it seems like something they would love to do but also big enough for other companies to be interested in.

Don't see Hot Toys doing it at all and if they do it'll probably just be Pedro Pascal's joel with a slightly tweaked Mando head.

 

[KitbashOfficer]

First episode was great. Loved the opening.

Did a good job of setting the tone and the science without overdoing it.

I like it so far. Only bad thing...I played the games and know too much, lol. Here's an example of shows so easy to do, it's nearly impossible to fail. Take heed, Disney (MCU & Star Wars) and WB (DCU)...

 

[darthviper107]

I liked it a lot, I think they are doing a great job in how to translate it to a show. In the game, some things just happen but the show has made an effort to connect things so that it's a more cohesive story. Great acting from the cast, Anna Torv as Tess is a standout for me.

 

[Asta]

A few issues aside I actually thought it was a quite good and faithful first episode.

First of all I loved most of the new pre-outbreak stuff they added, seeing Joel, Sarah and Tommy living a normal life before **** hits the fan definitely makes what happens later hit a bit harder, the whole outbreak sequence was great as well, a bit more action oriented but I liked the intensity of the whole thing and how the music builds up over time, the air plane crash was a bit of weird deviation imho but I liked the nod of almost having the truck get crashed into.

Pedro Pascal does a good job as Joel, the Texan accent is there and physically he embodies the character well, you can see a lot of Troy Baker's original performance in him and I commend him for doing his home work.
Bella Ramsey is a good actress and I think she plays the spunky teenager part well but sometimes her accent is a bit all over the place and I'm not exactly feeling Ellie, they've changed her up a bit in the show and her and Joel seem even more spiteful torwars each other than I think is necessary so for now I can't properly give a final verdict because we still haven't seen how their bond will grow and how they'll both act it out, my gut feeling still believes she was miscast.

The rest of the cast was good, Gabriel Luna as Tommy was the standout for me because he looks nothing like Tommy but he plays him REALLY well he even has the perfect voice and demeanor I'd actually say out of all the new actors playing these roles he was the best, Merle Dandrige as Marlene is obviously perfect given she played her in the games too so it's really great to hear and see her in live action it adds that special touch if you're a fan of the games, Anna Torv and Nico Parker did fine but they weren't my favorite from the bunch and I think Hannah Hayes acted out that scene better in the game but for newcomers they fit the roles well enough.

To close my positive thoughts it's a very good adapation, most of the actors are good and there's tons of nods to the games, I love that they kept the original soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla, it also doesn't feel cheap like other apocalypse shows thanks to that HBO budget, it's so good having people working on this that are passionate about the source material and having so many elements of the game in there, if they can keep it up this can become the best live action of a video game and pave the way for proper adaptations in the future or at least one can hope, regardless of my obviously biased opinions torwards the games I still think this will be a huge hit and new watchers and most of the original fanbase is going to love this.

Now for things I didn't like, the way they did the cordyceps... I hate it, the spores are sorely missed, when Joel and Tess entered the tunnels and found the body on the wall I couldn't help but think how much better the scene would've been if everything was cloudy and they were wearing masks it would've added another layer of horror when Joel mentions maybe there's infected down there and the weird mouth fungus tentacles just don't work for me it completely takes away from the realism of the whole cordyceps concept and it's closer to sci-fi/fiction like invasion of the body snatchers. The lack of gore and violence is something I also don't like, what's there feels muted and sterilized, typical Hollywood violence and nothing as visceral and shocking as the games.
Some of the changes felt like they were made just for the sake of it too, like they totally could've kept some things exactly how they play out in the game and it would've worked better I think, finally the ending felt very, very rushed and could be a sign of what's to come since they've already confirmed there will be entire episodes focused on new characters and new material, I hope they can strike a balance between the original and new so we don't have more scenes, especially important ones like the reveal of Ellie's immunity being weirdly adapted and rushed like hell.

The gas masks were part of the iconic look of the game, so removing the danger of the spores has also taken away that element.

When I got my CC Toys Joels I was compelled to go onto Ebay and track down a couple of Soldier Story Avon FM-12 gas masks to hang on their belts.

Regardless, I was impressed how well they'd transferred the game to television. It was always a long movie or series for me anyway, but now it's live action and padded with extra scenes.

 

[darthviper107]

I understand why they didn't include that element though of the spores. It doesn't make sense that they would be able to recognize that spores are present and be able to put on a mask before they would have already inhaled them and gotten infected. For the game, it's an added gameplay element, but it's not necessary for the show.

 

[KitbashOfficer]

The gas masks were part of the iconic look of the game, so removing the danger of the spores has also taken away that element.

Maybe they will bring this in later...?

Too bad, if not.

 

[R_R_X]

I understand why they didn't include that element though of the spores. It doesn't make sense that they would be able to recognize that spores are present and be able to put on a mask before they would have already inhaled them and gotten infected. For the game, it's an added gameplay element, but it's not necessary for the show.

The weird mouth tentacles make even less sense to me, the spores might've been unrealistic but they felt more grounded and authentic than the alternative they picked either way I don't think it will be a big issue for the newcomers and most of the established fanbase only to fans of the game like myself who have loved and played it multiple times for almost a decade, we're bound to get nitpicky and compare stuff like that.

 

[BeefEaster]

I understand why they didn't include that element though of the spores. It doesn't make sense that they would be able to recognize that spores are present and be able to put on a mask before they would have already inhaled them and gotten infected. For the game, it's an added gameplay element, but it's not necessary for the show.

This is how I feel as well. They say the spores are dangerous in the games, but we never even actually see anyone being affected by them and turning into an infected, as far as I can remember.

 

[R_R_X]

The gas masks were part of the iconic look of the game, so removing the danger of the spores has also taken away that element.

When I got my CC Toys Joels I was compelled to go onto Ebay and track down a couple of Soldier Story Avon FM-12 gas masks to hang on their belts.

Regardless, I was impressed how well they'd transferred the game to television. It was always a long movie or series for me anyway, but now it's live action and padded with extra scenes.

Agreed the spores were a terrifying threat and a fresh spin on the genre now it's basically just normal zombies controlled by a fungus tentacle parasite, the gas masks are an iconic staple of TLOU and the spores sections of the games are some of the best in terms of horror and intensity, some scenes like Dina finding out Ellie is immune will be lesser for the lack of spores if or when they adapt the second game.

Yeah they did a good job, hopefully other Hollywood execs take note that people want faithful adapations made by people who love the source material, I'm looking forward to see how they continue to adapt the first game and what they change and add.

 

[chrisstbh]

Threezero or InArt most likely but leaning more torwards Threezero it seems like something they would love to do but also big enough for other companies to be interested in.

Don't see Hot Toys doing it at all and if they do it'll probably just be Pedro Pascal's joel with a slightly tweaked Mando head.

Most likely ThreeZero, they already have that relationship with HBO.

 

[R_R_X]

This is how I feel as well. They say the spores are dangerous in the games, but we never even actually see anyone being affected by them and turning into an infected, as far as I can remember.

There's several instances, the first time Joel and tess leave the QZ they come across a man whose mask broke and begs them to put him out of his misery before he turns, there's also multiple notes about people mentioning spores and getting infected by them, Joel is also skeptical that Ellie really is immune until they both end up in a spore infested area and she breathers them in with no issue which finally makes him belive it and take on the mission to deliver her to the fireflies he even mentions it as the key factor of her immunity to Tommy "I've seen her breathe enough spores to take out a dozen men and nothing.".

In the second game they are used to greater dramatic effect like in scenes where Ellie's mask breaks while she's in an overrun metro in Seattle with Dina which shows how far Dina is willing to go for Ellie when she attempts to share her mask with her and how Ellie's secret can be threatned if she doesn't act like a regular person at all times, Joel even berates her when she doesn't want to put on her mask in of the flashbacks, there's also the intense scene where Ellie is holding Nora hostage and is cornered but she decides to throw herself into an area filled with spores which reveals to a dying and now infected Nora she is the immune girl the fireflies were after, and lastly there's a great level of Abby going into an infected building filled with spores to find a mask for Lev which is was a good way to show how her bond with him is growing and how she's willing to risk her neck for him via gameplay.

 

[BeefEaster]

There's several instances, the first time Joel and tess leave the QZ they come across a man whose mask broke and begs them to put him out of his misery before he turns, there's also multiple notes about people mentioning spores and getting infected by them, Joel is also skeptical that Ellie really is immune until they both end up in a spore infested area and she breathers them in with no issue which finally makes him belive it and take on the mission to deliver her to the fireflies he even mentions it as the key factor of her immunity to Tommy "I've seen her breathe enough spores to take out a dozen men and nothing.".

In the second game they are used to greater dramatic effect like in scenes where Ellie's mask breaks while she's in an overrun metro in Seattle with Dina which shows how far Dina is willing to go for Ellie when she attempts to share her mask with her and how Ellie's secret can be threatned if she doesn't act like a regular person at all times, Joel even berates her when she doesn't want to put on her mask in of the flashbacks, there's also the intense scene where Ellie is holding Nora hostage and is cornered but she decides to throw herself into an area filled with spores which reveals to a dying and now infected Nora she is the immune girl the fireflies were after, and lastly there's a great level of Abby going into an infected building filled with spores to find a mask for Lev which is was a good way to show how her bond with him is growing and how she's willing to risk her neck for him via gameplay.

I forgot the part with Nora. That is pretty much the only time we see anyone actually starting to turn because of them. It would have been interesting to see how they handled it in the show, but it still feels like such an insignificant thing in the overreaching story that I won't miss it if it's not there.

 

[snoop101]

Well it is widely regarded as one of the best stories ever told in video games.

We’re only talking about the first game, right?

 

[chrisstbh]

We’re only talking about the first game, right?

There is only one...

 

[Space Jockey]

Maybe they will bring this in later...?

Too bad, if not.

I was thinking the same thing, the Shambler creature in Part II in particular with throwing spores and exploding itself, I don't see how they would introduce that without spores being in a live-action story. Seems like they might add later to give something new to look at down the road as a plotpoint 'hey the fungus has mutated, not just tentacles anymore'.

 

[Hologram AI]

With them most likely doing a Season 2 for Part 2, I'm curious to see how it's done. I imagine we'll probably see a kid Abby cameo during the finale of this season. Essentially allowing them to tweak how Part 2 story is told and handled with them having a lot more time to tell it rather than rushing it like the game did.