No wonder Max Brooks has washed his hands--and reputation of this whole thing!

[scififreak]

Okay. I hate to be THAT fan, but...WHY DOESN'T ANYONE READ THE SOURCE MATERIAL!? I love me some Brad Pitt, but this looks NOTHING like the novel. The novel takes places AFTER the zombie war. The novel is about the protagonist traveling the
world and interviewing survivors about their experiences. That's what makes it a great novel! All the

Comments

[geminai5]

I admit I haven't read the book..or watched the above trailer for that matter (my old macbook and flash are not friends right now so watching/listening to anything really isn't going to happen).

However, I've noticed a trend in Hollywood movies: the more explosions/death/gruesome-deaths/car-chases/bombs/running/driving/action-action-more-bloody-action/omg-no-one-is-allowed-to-stop-and-think-or-breath-or-anything, the better. ...according to Hollywood anyway.

If omfg-action isn't in the book, they'll make it up and stuff as much as possible in the movie until it bursts...and obviously no longer resembles the source material outside of sharing a title.

It's as though they think only 14-year-old boys go to the movies. Or they think adults these days have regressed to thinking like 14-year-old boys. And so anything slow-paced, that makes you think for yourself, that asks deeper questions than omfg-it-exploded-she's-dead-who-am-I-going-to-kiss-now have disappeared from modern cinema.

Obviously, I speak in generalities and hyperbole, but I think my point it sound. Plot, character development, and dialogue (both the kind between the characters on-screen and the kind that happens afterwards as you grapple with the deeper truths a story tried to tell you with your friends and mentors) have been sacrificed. Action rules in Hollywood.

[scififreak]

I mostly agree with all that you've said here. The most frustrating part for me is that I normally wouldn't mind the Hollywood treatment. In fact, I LOVE big explosive popcorn summer movies. Like, a lot. But to buy the rights to a novel that ISN'T that kind of movie, just to make it INTO that kind of movie is totally wrong. It's also a waste of money. If you are going to make a movie with complete disregard to the source material, why did you buy it? It's like asking my opinion then completely ignoring it--with the intention to ignore it all along. WHAT WAS THE POINT IN YOU ASKING ME ? I just don't get it.