AMC's "Fear The Walking Dead"

[bassman2546]

Funny story, not at all related to the topic, but... When I was working in the movie industry, in addition to my normal duties, I would volunteer to get sent out to do a "production audit" on how equipment was being used on location. It was a nice way to make some weekend cash, and get to travel. I got to do that with Showgirls. Had my audit done by 3:00 on a Saturday, and was asked by a producer if I wanted to help fill in the crowd during a scene they were filming. Despite no lines, I'd get a signature on the SAG card, and paid as an extra. So, double dipping on the budget at this point, I said yes. It was the strip club scene. I literally spent 5 hours staring down Elizabeth Berkley's cooch at a place called Cheetahs in Las Vegas. I was expecting it to be amazing, but it was far from. Tight little peach, in a dimly lit room, and no one was allowed to sit close, except the EP's. They'd call for a break, and like 80 guys would run off to the craft services table, she'd run and hide from them. I think I talked to her all of about 5 seconds. Said I loved her on Saved By The Bell, and she made a crack about how she hoped to leave that "shit show" in the rearview. Then I went back to staring down her snatch again. You can tell in the movie how long we filmed that whole thing, because if you look around the room, the first scenes we shot, every guy in the room is into it. By the end, no one wanted to look at it anymore, and everyone was sick of that lame song that was playing for her and the other blonde girl to dance to. Had to share that.

And now back to the actual discussion.

Great story. Her efforts at leaving that 'shit show' in the rearview failed her as she. along with most of the cast did a parody of it on Jimmy Fallon earlier this year or late last year. Hey, a buck's a buck, right?

I always had a hard-on for her on the show and when I heard about Showgirls and the nudity, I took my girlfriend (now ex-wife but not because of this) to opening night, while acting oblivious to what the movie contained. Needless to say she wasn't impressed with the movie nor impressed with being the only woman in the theatre.

[alpha2117]

To me, the beauty of The Walking Dead's first episode was that it truly mimicked panic and emulated Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. Each has a character waking up in a world gone made. There is no attempt at explanation and there is need for it. You just react and survive and figure it out as you go along. It is dystopian because the media is not there to spoon feed you information. It just is. Moreover, all you need to know about Rick is revealed when he puts on his uniform.

I don't see any originality here.

You do know that's a rip-off from Day of the Triffids right. The main character has an accident and is in hospital with bandages over his eyes when 99.9% of the rest of the world is blinded.

[RallyCola]

You do know that's a rip-off from Day of the Triffids right. The main character has an accident and is in hospital with bandages over his eyes when 99.9% of the rest of the world is blinded.

yes...boyle admitted as such but as I understand it...he was inspired to show what a world would look like to the last man who would see among a city of the blind. i have not read that book but the city was filled with people, no? in 28 days later, he upped the ante by showing jim utterly alone and brought a little know work to the zombie world. it is a trope that was again used to far lesser extent in Resident Evil.

that kirkman and co used it in The Walking Dead and that 28 Days Later was clearly the inspiration, was annoying at first but that they went back to it for Fear really grinds my gears! That shows limited originality and no creativity at all. I know they wanted parity with the original series, but from the very first minutes of the show, I was already unimpressed.

I will be honest...the whole zombie genre is extremely hard to be novel in...so I can't entirely fault Fear for just retreading very common themes that have been done better elsewhere, but when you layer all the cliched characters, the so called slow burn which to me is a bad thing, the terrible acting, and the lack of anything substantively different, it is not something I will need to watch. My wife on the other hand (as referenced in other threads) likes pretty much opposite shows that I like, so of course she enjoyed Fear...so it will be on my dvr, unfortunately.

ya know...I am pretty sure Ruben Blades character is just going to piss me off something fierce too as even more heavy handed and cliched. he is going to be the wise sage (like Dale) but has to be latino because its LA and when he dies a gruesome death at the hands of a walker, it will not be soon enough for me.

[MrFanti]

It set an all time record for a cable premier!
http://www.eonline.com/news/689338/f...-loves-zombies

[fred41]

It set an all time record for a cable premier!
http://www.eonline.com/news/689338/f...-loves-zombies

It did...but I believe, according to Wiki, the previous winner was a show called "Raising the Bar", which I don't remember at all, and which was cancelled after season 2...lol.

[luvzbig1s]

Actually most, if not all, stories are a rip off of some previous work

[Vladimir Putin]

I am not a fan. Last night's premier gave me nothing to 'fear!' I found it lacked action, suspense, the gore of the original and chose to give me cliched characters who lack depth.

To me, the beauty of The Walking Dead's first episode was that it truly mimicked panic and emulated Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. Each has a character waking up in a world gone made. There is no attempt at explanation and there is need for it. You just react and survive and figure it out as you go along. It is dystopian because the media is not there to spoon feed you information. It just is. Moreover, all you need to know about Rick is revealed when he puts on his uniform.

To me, without providing spoilers, Fear The Walking Dead's premier lacked any significant punch. First off, I resent trying to emulate The Walking Dead's premier. The main character awakes again in a world gone mad, except, he runs away back to what reality is supposed to be. It isn't as impactful as Rick's awakening because as soon as he leaves the church, he is safe. The show then had to spend time trying to make you like its protagonists. It is very heavy handed about the blended family. It is completely predictable in that the kids don't like each other but clearly as the season progresses, they will need to depend on each other as a family to get through it. All three main teens (the spiteful weekender, the drug addict and the prissy white girl dating a black dude who can't wait to get away from her intolerable life) are so predictable and offer nothing new.

Now to the overarching theme: the beauty of The Walking Dead is the fact that the "survivors" are in fact the walking dead because they will go full zombie when they die which can happen at any turn. There is a finality to their lives and a brutality. In Fear, they are all just figuring it out, have no idea what they are dealing with and thus it will be reduced to standard zombie fare, like most other zombie movies...people faced with hunkering down to ride it out.

I don't see any originality here.

Oops, responded to the wrong post, my bad.

[Vladimir Putin]

Funny story, not at all related to the topic, but... When I was working in the movie industry, in addition to my normal duties, I would volunteer to get sent out to do a "production audit" on how equipment was being used on location. It was a nice way to make some weekend cash, and get to travel. I got to do that with Showgirls. Had my audit done by 3:00 on a Saturday, and was asked by a producer if I wanted to help fill in the crowd during a scene they were filming. Despite no lines, I'd get a signature on the SAG card, and paid as an extra. So, double dipping on the budget at this point, I said yes. It was the strip club scene. I literally spent 5 hours staring down Elizabeth Berkley's cooch at a place called Cheetahs in Las Vegas. I was expecting it to be amazing, but it was far from. Tight little peach, in a dimly lit room, and no one was allowed to sit close, except the EP's. They'd call for a break, and like 80 guys would run off to the craft services table, she'd run and hide from them. I think I talked to her all of about 5 seconds. Said I loved her on Saved By The Bell, and she made a crack about how she hoped to leave that "shit show" in the rearview. Then I went back to staring down her snatch again. You can tell in the movie how long we filmed that whole thing, because if you look around the room, the first scenes we shot, every guy in the room is into it. By the end, no one wanted to look at it anymore, and everyone was sick of that lame song that was playing for her and the other blonde girl to dance to. Had to share that.

And now back to the actual discussion.

Very good story. Yes, I'm aware that no matter how good it looks on screen, it's actually the opposite on set. And that the best-looking actors no matter how friendly their characters may be in real life they are cold fishes. I can appreciate that staring at a woman's crotch for five hours, no matter how much you may have worshiped her on the screen can get to be less than a positive experience.

Case in point: the lovemaking scene between Sharon Stone and William Baldwin in "Sliver" (1993) was very unpleasant for both of them because they really hated each other. At one point Sharon bit William's lip on purpose with hostile intent.

I'm also not naive to not know that in many cases when shooting porn, even if both people in front of the camera orgasm, it doesn't necessarily mean they like each other. Both people in question can actually hate each other's guts and still successfully complete a sex scene.

[RallyCola]

It set an all time record for a cable premier!
http://www.eonline.com/news/689338/f...-loves-zombies

well...with a lead in of the original series...i can see why it would but let's see if it holds that through the end.

[MrFanti]

What I don't like about both series is that IMHO, they are moving too fast with the storyline...