The Last of Us (HBO Max)

[payn]

It will be interesting to see how (or if) it differentiates itself apart from the fungus origins of the zombies. I wonder if the different mediums of their sources will make any kind of difference? I'm honestly not sure!

The main difference is that TWD goes from beginning to middle and/or end of the zombie apocalypse. TLOU skips right to the middle/end of it. Both use the zombies/fungal infected as a back drop and focus mainly on the characters and their stories. TLOU just gets right down to it and isnt nearly as repetitive in its story telling as TWD.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Yeah, a lot of the strength of the storytelling in The Last of Us is in the Joel-Ellie relationship and their performances.

On the surface, yes they seem similar. Though, I think there is a more focused story on the two main characters in Last of Us. I find this focused story to be both more engaging and less repetitive than Walking Dead is. YMMV.

 

[Mercurius]

I found it a bit...meh. It was OK, I like Pedro Pascal, and generally really enjoy post-apocalypse cinema, but it was kind of...bland? Boring? Tepid? It felt like the Walking Dead, but with different specifics. Not much new, nor anything that really stood out. I'll probably continue for another episode or two to see how it unfolds, but it doesn't feel like a "must watch" show.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

I never played the game, and yes, perhaps a bit bland:ish, but so far Pascal and whatshername actress from GoT has saved it. The bland feeling is probably because zombie overdose, we'll see where the show goes.

 

[Mannahnin]

I suspect I may be enjoying it more than some because...

a) I generally dig this kind of collapse of society/post-apoc story.
b) I gave up on TWD years ago because of the terrible writing, so I'm not currently burnt out on zombies.

I watched... 2-3 seasons of TWD? A couple as they came out, 5-6 years ago with my then-girlfriend who was super into the series, and I think season 1 on my own with the intent to catch up, which fizzled out pretty rapidly. While it had some good stuff in it, overall I was not very impressed. TLoU seems better executed on basically every level.

 

[payn]

I suspect I may be enjoying it more than some because...

a) I generally dig this kind of collapse of society/post-apoc story.
b) I gave up on TWD years ago because of the terrible writing, so I'm not currently burnt out on zombies.

I watched... 2-3 seasons of TWD? A couple as they came out, 5-6 years ago with my then-girlfriend who was super into the series, and I think season 1 on my own with the intent to catch up. But while it had some good stuff in it, overall I was not very impressed. TLoU seems better executed on basically every level.

Pretty much this. The story of TLOU is superior in pretty much every way to TWD. Though, if all you see is zombie and zombie then you wont get into it.

 

[Mercurius]

I suspect I may be enjoying it more than some because...

a) I generally dig this kind of collapse of society/post-apoc story.
b) I gave up on TWD years ago because of the terrible writing, so I'm not currently burnt out on zombies.

I watched... 2-3 seasons of TWD? A couple as they came out, 5-6 years ago with my then-girlfriend who was super into the series, and I think season 1 on my own with the intent to catch up, which fizzled out pretty rapidly. While it had some good stuff in it, overall I was not very impressed. TLoU seems better executed on basically every level.

I pretty much agree with this, although watched TWD a couple more seasons, until Negan showed up and we saw Glen's eyes divorced from his body. At that point I said "enough is enough."

My complaint about TLoU is not strongly held...I'm just not feeling the instant love of it that the (HBO-driven) hype machine seems to imply that I should be feeling ("Hey everyone, this is the Next Thing!") and don't (yet) feel like I'd be sad if it were cancelled. Who knows, that might change.

That said, I do wish we could see a more diverse range of post-apocalyptic stories, that aren't all about how horrible people can be to each other, and survival of the fittest. We need more to our cultural mythologies other than good old Social Darwinism.

A couple years ago I read the classic Earth Abides, which does have a virus of some kind as the causative factor, but focuses more on people trying to rebuild a micro-society after, and issues around loss of knowledge and history. It is a very slow-paced, non-action driven story. It probably wouldn't translate well to film or a modern day audience without more drama and action, but is an example of a different type of post-apocalyptic story.

These shows almost always focus on the more sensational elements of survival and human corruption...I'd like to see a show in which the underlying sentiment isn't "people suck," but "people can work together, but there are still problems to deal with."

 

[payn]

I pretty much agree with this, although watched TWD a couple more seasons, until Negan showed up and we saw Glen's eyes divorced from his body. At that point I said "enough is enough."

You could tell at this point that the writers were no longer aiming for a good story and purely operating on fan service. I don't think TLOU will go there. Though, when things get popular all bets are off. Even GoT got real bad in the final seasons.

 

[Bolares]

That said, I do wish we could see a more diverse range of post-apocalyptic stories, that aren't all about how horrible people can be to each other, and survival of the fittest.

In the last of us (at least the first game) I think that "how horrible people can be to each other" is just a tool used to help build a story about a relationship between two characters.
The Last of Us isn't about zombies, it isn't about society, it isn't about humanity.... it's about Joel and Ellie.

 

[Bolares]

You could tell at this point that the writers were no longer aiming for a good story and purely operating on fan service. I don't think TLOU will go there. Though, when things get popular all bets are off. Even GoT got real bad in the final seasons.

well, that was taken directly from the comic book. It was the "gift" kirkman gave the community for the (I think) 100th edition of the comic.