World War Z: Announced

[Angel Tarragon]

Just stumbled across this on IMDB.

I've gotta say, I'm pretty stoked about this.

 

[dravot]

Just stumbled across this on IMDB.

I've gotta say, I'm pretty stoked about this.

and J. Michael Straczinski doing the screenplay! Sweet.

 

[frankthedm]

Hmmm. Maybe. Problem is, this looks like it is more of drama movie with all the cool zombie war stuff already over.

 

[Joker]

Hmmm. Maybe. Problem is, this looks like it is more of drama movie with all the cool zombie war stuff already over.

Yeah, shame on them for bringing something on the screen that's mildly original .

 

[Rackhir]

Hopefully they'll "Fix" the military battle with the zombie horde. That was one area where it really fell flat on it's face.

 

[Pyrex]

Hmmm. Maybe. Problem is, this looks like it is more of drama movie with all the cool zombie war stuff already over.

Why is that bad? If the movie follows form with the book I suspect we'll get snippets of the interviewer with lots of 'flashbacks' to zombie-stomping action.

Hopefully they'll "Fix" the military battle with the zombie horde. That was one area where it really fell flat on it's face.

How so?

I liked that chapter. It served to show how fighting zombies is just plain different from fighting people.

 

[Rackhir]

I liked that chapter. It served to show how fighting zombies is just plain different from fighting people.

Yes, but the author clearly demonstrated that he knows nothing about military hardware or how the military operates. For example, please tell me how zombies are going to threaten guys in a buttoned up tank, that can simply run over the zombies?

I understand what he was trying to do in that part of the book (he had to show and explain how the military failed against the zombies) and he made some gestures towards explaining why the military did so poorly in that situation (mostly the political interference in the set up and terms of engagement).

However, zombies are basically a massed infantry charge which is what we've spent the past century learning how to slaughter. Obviously zombies are tougher than the average person to bring down, but when you start using cluster munitions, Fuel Air (or thermobaric) warheads or canister rounds from tanks. There's a limit to what the human body can sustain and still function.

The scene can be fixed, it is just going to take someone with some actual military knowledge and a bit more effort at thinking the situation through.

 

[Joker]

Take em down.

I would actually like to see a zombie movie or any movie for that matter where the military does know what it's doing.
Like a movie where "The Marines" are systematically clearing out an infected city, supported by tanks, powered armors and gunships.

But then the aliens, who were responsible for the plague. come down in dropships and fight the human soldiers in a frantic urban no-holds barred end-of the world fragfest.
The soldiers, while initially surprised, quickly recover and proceed to kick some zombie and alien ass.

...

This idea is copyrighted by the way, so don't even think about going off to Hollywood and trying to film this masterpiece.

 

[FoxWander]

Yes, but the author clearly demonstrated that he knows nothing about military hardware or how the military operates. For example, please tell me how zombies are going to threaten guys in a buttoned up tank, that can simply run over the zombies?

I understand what he was trying to do in that part of the book (he had to show and explain how the military failed against the zombies) and he made some gestures towards explaining why the military did so poorly in that situation (mostly the political interference in the set up and terms of engagement).

However, zombies are basically a massed infantry charge which is what we've spent the past century learning how to slaughter. Obviously zombies are tougher than the average person to bring down, but when you start using cluster munitions, Fuel Air (or thermobaric) warheads or canister rounds from tanks. There's a limit to what the human body can sustain and still function.

The scene can be fixed, it is just going to take someone with some actual military knowledge and a bit more effort at thinking the situation through.

SOrry, IDHMBWM but if I recall the scene correctly, the guys in the tanks WERE safe from the zombies. It was the military's own thermobaric weapons that killed them. Cooked them alive inside the tanks, I believe.

Also, while we used to be good at massed infantry charges, that's not how we fight wars today. So the military isn't really trained to counter that. Besides the book (and the Survival Guide before it) make it pretty clear (rightly so) that automatic weapons fire isn't very effective against zombies. You need precise, non-panicked shots- which is exactly the tactic they use later on.

In that first military scene, things go fairly well until soldiers start to realize that there's no real end to the zombie horde. And then they start to panic. They open up in full-auto and they're effectiveness drops even more. While a charge from a human army would break up after the first salvos dropped their front ranks by the thousands- zombies just don't care. They keep coming. Even if you drop thousands, there are millions of them still coming. And even most of the ones that dropped are still crawling along- even if they're just a head and one arm!

That's what the first military scene was about- how we just weren't prepared to fight that kind of enemy. The main things that went wrong in the scene were the army's lack of foresight on two things- the true capabilities of their enemy and the sheer numbers of the enemy. Then on top of that you have grandstanding commanders who deployed the army more for publicity reasons the tactical ones. After that the inevitable panic went things start to go wrong makes the scene in the book entirely believable.

Yes, maybe the REAL military might have done better- but maybe not. I'm in the Air Force and not the Army and so I can't really comment on how best to use infantry any better than anyone else who just studies tactics casually. But I can say that the reaction (and consequent force deployment) from the military "brass" seemed entirely realistic. And since THAT was the main "problem" with the scene- I didn't really see any problem.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I would actually like to see a zombie movie or any movie for that matter where the military does know what it's doing.
Like a movie where "The Marines" are systematically clearing out an infected city, supported by tanks, powered armors and gunships.

But then the aliens, who were responsible for the plague. come down in dropships and fight the human soldiers in a frantic urban no-holds barred end-of the world fragfest.
The soldiers, while initially surprised, quickly recover and proceed to kick some zombie and alien ass.

...

This idea is copyrighted by the way, so don't even think about going off to Hollywood and trying to film this masterpiece.

Up to the last sentence, I know of a movie that is exactly like this; it is called Meteorites. I believe it takes place in Australia.