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The Last of Us (HBO) premiered one year ago

VulcanRaven

Member


The best video game adaptation I have seen. What do you think about it now a year later and which are you favorite episodes? Mine are probably 3 and 6. I'm thinking about rewatching it on 4K Blu-Ray. I need to watch the extras too.
 
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FunkMiller

Member
I think with hindsight I'd say it was a little bit too much of a slave to the source material. One of the joys of a good adaptation should be the way familiar aspects are given an interesting spin. This show basically recreated a lot of cut scenes almost shot for shot. Not as creative as it could have been. Other than that, it was a very solid show, and I'll be there for part two with my best golfing shoes on.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
I’m always pulling for video game to tv shows or movies adaptations, to me the actor choices didn’t matter I’m not gonna lie I thought the last of us HBO was good.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
I kind of faded off it early in the season. It looked very expensive though.
In my opinion it didn't look very expensive. Most of all they cheaped out on the infected encounters, most likely because they didn't know how popular the series is going to be. There's maybe like 2-3 cool encounters for the whole season and rest of the time you're left wondering if they're still out there in the world or is it only human vs human.
Some postapocalyptic environments also looked quite cheap (liked the car wrecks with vines all over them). I remember being much more impressed with similar areas from Alice in Borderland series.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I think it was exceptionally mediocre for an HBO show and didnt feel like an HBO show. Had a very Netflix feel to it.

Druckman's episode 2 was by far the best episode with truly amazing cinematography and production values. Sadly, the show never hit the highs after that. Episode 3 was a massive detour and then episode 4 introduced even more boring new characters no one gave a shit about, and then literally two episodes later, we had ANOTHER detour.

For a show with just 9 episodes, wasting two episodes on side love stories is bizarre.

I also think the casting is all wrong. i like bella ramsay in GoT but she is miscast here. Ellie is supposed to be instantly likeable. Bella couldnt pull it off. Pedro was ok as Joel, but not memorable. He also lacked the sheer brutality of Troy Baker's Joel. he was almost like a cowboy, whereas Pedro's Joel felt a lot more domesticated.

I am watching Yellowstone right now and that is what a great show feels like. Great characters. Likeable and hateable. fantastic drama and tension. TLOU is probably my second or third favorite game of all time, and yellowstone just reminded me that games are still decades behind when it comes to storytelling.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Was better than the game, and they fixed a bunch of issues, but it's still just a zombie apocalypse show blended with a western at its heart.
 
worst videogame adaptation yet, actually much worse than the source material and just dreadfully boring because of cutting out all the big zombie encounters.
 
I don’t know if I’m too biased due to seeing Troy and Ashley as the only Joel and Ellie. Their voice acting is what really sold me on the series.
The tv series had a different overall vision and that’s okay, but fell short of the game for me. The true test will be harnessing everything in the 2nd game into something most will enjoy. Abby was divisive, the set pieces were massive and cinematic, and a certain someone was missing from 3/4 of the game. Good luck tackling all that in televised format.
 

bitbydeath

Member
Wasn’t a fan, Joel and Ellie were both poorly cast. Tess, Sam and Henry were the real stars in that abomination.

I highly recommend Twisted Metal if you haven’t seen it, now that’s an amazing adaptation and show!
 

Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
Show was garbage. Very happy to see GAF 180 on it.

I got emotionally invested into episode 3 and dead ass cried. Afterwards I was like "Bro... That had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the series and had zero subtlety."

The game had more respect for the audience to piece together a homosexual relationship and I WILL shit on the game but wow.

Next episode had the dude who plays Tommy being told what to do by a Fat Boss Chick who is in Yellowjackets with poor fight choreography and direction for the shoot out scene? Fucking god awful. Dropped.
 
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HoodWinked

Member
The show really proved that it really isn't that hard to make a decent show if you just stick to the script. And yet execs and idiot writers keep wanting to put their own stink on stuff time and time again.
 
Season 2 will decide this shows fate. I feel sorry for the Abbie actress unless they chicken out and keep Joel alive for another season or change the story. I dont think any of its non game fans and game fans watched the show for El and without Joel/Pascal, whats even the point. Just like The Walking Dead without Grimes.
 
Still haven't seen it and have no desire to. But I have to admit I'm curious about how they'll handle Season 2, given the divisiveness (to put it nicely) of the second game.

Will they double down on their "this story is perfect and you're a bigot if you don't like it" stance? Or will they take the criticism to heart and make changes to the story for the better? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z.
 

GymWolf

Member
Bad casting and almost no zombie made me skip the thing, i watched some scenes on yt to see if forehead was at least good at acting but she is kinda terrible.
Also an entire episode wasted on the fat, grumpy dude, lmao.

The intro with the doctor explaining how the fungus could grow was the by far the best thing i saw about it.
 
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Jenov

Member
I swear most people here would love this show if it wasn't for Bella Ramsey's face.

That one episode was so lame though.
Lool, it’s true, I had a hard time getting over how odd and distracting her face is. They should have swapped the actresses of Joel’s daughter with Ellie. Overall story of season 1 is good and Pedro does a good job. Not looking forward to season two if they’re going to make it just like the game though.
 

Pigenator

Member
Awesome show. Only gripe is how they massacred the pacing at the final episode, should have been a 10 episode season.
 

John Bilbo

Member
It wasn't great. I think Chernobyl left more of an impact on me.

Arcane and Edgerunners were better shows based on videogames although they were not adaptations but their own stories.
 

Hugare

Member
It was mediocre, honestly

Episodes 1 and 3 were the best. 1 because the build up to the outbreak and Sarah's death was really well done.

Episode 3 was a detour, but at the same time, had two excellent performances. And I loved how it was different from the game, was a genuine surprise to fans.

The show didnt work with me because I felt no chemistry between Bella and Pedro. It's all about Joel and Ellie, so if they dont work, the story doesnt work.

Pedro was either miscasted or they've changed Joel's character too much in terms of personality. Maybe both.

Same thing for Bella. You can tell she did her job well (way better than Pascal, imo), but she either wasnt a great fit for Ellie or they've changed her personality too much from the game

And as good as Bella is as an actress, Ashley Johnson was way, WAY better.
 

deoxxys

Neo Member
I think with hindsight I'd say it was a little bit too much of a slave to the source material. One of the joys of a good adaptation should be the way familiar aspects are given an interesting spin. This show basically recreated a lot of cut scenes almost shot for shot. Not as creative as it could have been. Other than that, it was a very solid show, and I'll be there for part two with my best golfing shoes on.
Really I think it wasn't enough of a slave to the material. The way the last of us starts out is Joel starts out as the leader and isn't afraid to make tough decisions and Ellie follows and learns. Right off the bat in the show though she's a badass right away, like they couldn't even wait.
 

Vick

Member
Mediocre, really. Infinitely worse than the source material for uncountable reasons, but especially just pointless in comparison.

Ironically, was impressed by Druckmann's direction and liked his episode best.
 
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