'The Last of Us' HBO Series

[David Alexander]

Looking forward to the storyline with the two brothers. Last of Us is different from Walking Dead but it is a end of the world story about survival. In the end it is all about the father daughter bond between Joel and Elle. One of best games I ever played. Looking forward to the characters and groups from game one to come to live action.

 

[Erik Lensherr]

It's really a shame what happenend to this franchise.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I’ve never played this game (like others have said, Walking Dead kinda ruined zombie horror for me) but I may have to start now. Love these casting choices.

 

[henzINNIT]

I agree that it's a shame what happened to the franchise last year. It's a shame an incredibly well made video game came out last year and turned its fandom into dumpster fire over a story decision that anyone with a brain should have seen coming. It's also a shame that in including a trans character and a buff woman in the story, TLOU2 inevitably exposed everyone to those most toxic voices in the gaming community. It's also a shame that Naughty Dog's standards seem to be achieved by good ol' crunch and at the cost of staff's well-being, and of course doubly a shame because 99% of the complaining is from people who didn't get the story they wanted and don't care at all about the workers who made it.

 

[DarkKnight88]

It'll be interesting how much they keep from the game and how much they diverge. I've never played it either but I've heard "masterpiece" thrown around quite a lot for the first one. If the second is as divisive as you say, do they go in a new route for Season 2 or stick with the vision of the game.

 

[henzINNIT]

It'll be interesting how much they keep from the game and how much they diverge. I've never played it either but I've heard "masterpiece" thrown around quite a lot for the first one. If the second is as divisive as you say, do they go in a new route for Season 2 or stick with the vision of the game.

There's a time jump between 1 and 2 that I don't see happening in TV. If season 1 is largely an adaptation of the first game, I imagine season 2 would continue on in real time, aging with the actors. This could mean multiple seasons before the events of the second game take place, which would allow the show to side-step the divisive sequel.

Really depends on the pace they've set as well. The first game takes place over months and could feasibly stretch beyond one season if they wanted.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Pascal isn't exactly who I pictured as Joel. What's most important is you need someone you really look at as a father figure. Now I haven't seen everything he's been in, including The Mandalorian where he has a caretaker role, but I'll be open minded. I trust the showrunners. The girl is a great fit for Ellie though. What they need to do is nail that father/daughter aspect. That's the heart of that first game. If you do that, the rest follows.

To those who haven't played the games, play them. The first is one of the best games I've ever played. The second isn't as good, but it's still a great story.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

In The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal's character is the guy you would want as a surrogate father if you were a lost Force user alien child. He's so awesome it's blinding
Then again, I never played the games.

 

[Brother Jack]

He's a fine actor, but I'm not really feeling Pascal in the role. Joel is such a specific and well-realized character in the game that there are frankly very few actors I can picture playing him live action. But I'm more than willing to give it a shot. As much as this project feels redundant to me, and could very well end up a paltry and hollow imitation of the source material, they're certainly putting a lot of talent and effort into it. I hope it can overcome the obstacles virtually every other video game adaptation has failed to get over.

 

[henzINNIT]

He's a fine actor, but I'm not really feeling Pascal in the role. Joel is such a specific and well-realized character in the game that there are frankly very few actors I can picture playing him live action. But I'm more than willing to give it a shot. As much as this project feels redundant to me, and could very well end up a paltry and hollow imitation of the source material, they're certainly putting a lot of talent and effort into it. I hope it can overcome the obstacles virtually every other video game adaptation has failed to get over.

I'm pretty lukewarm on the show at present as the story isn't all that original. It made for a compelling game experience but I'm not sure there's any value in porting it over to TV. Like you I will check it out because the talent is there.

 

[Sithborg]

Pascal isn't exactly who I pictured as Joel. What's most important is you need someone you really look at as a father figure. Now I haven't seen everything he's been in, including The Mandalorian where he has a caretaker role, but I'll be open minded. I trust the showrunners. The girl is a great fit for Ellie though. What they need to do is nail that father/daughter aspect. That's the heart of that first game. If you do that, the rest follows.

To those who haven't played the games, play them. The first is one of the best games I've ever played. The second isn't as good, but it's still a great story.

Literally had a holiday season with him having to play parts with a father figure component....

 

[Doctor Jones]

I'm not saying he can't pull it off, it's just I'm in the middle of trying to bridge the gap between Joel specifically in the game and Pascal with what I have. But maybe I need to let that go and go with what Pascal will bring to it. I'm sure he can. Like I said, as long as they nail that dynamic then it will work.

 

[Brother Jack]

I'm pretty lukewarm on the show at present as the story isn't all that original. It made for a compelling game experience but I'm not sure there's any value in porting it over to TV. Like you I will check it out because the talent is there.

I think TV makes more sense as a medium than film, so I'm grateful for that. Part of the fundamental problem with game adaptations is the lack of time. With a game you have potentially dozens of hours to flesh out the world and the characters and all of that has to be compressed to fit into a single 120-180 minute feature. A ten or so episode season of television should give them enough real estate to do the story justice, I just wonder if it will seem worth it in the end. The game is such a masterpiece of video game storytelling, how could this compare?

 

[henzINNIT]

I think TV makes more sense as a medium than film, so I'm grateful for that. Part of the fundamental problem with game adaptations is the lack of time. With a game you have potentially dozens of hours to flesh out the world and the characters and all of that has to be compressed to fit into a single 120-180 minute feature. A ten or so episode season of television should give them enough real estate to do the story justice, I just wonder if it will seem worth it in the end. The game is such a masterpiece of video game storytelling, how could this compare?

Yeah that's the thing. TLOU was incredible because we bonded with Ellie. The medium was used to tremendous effect simulating a father's bond in gameplay. That was the thing that made the game unique, and will naturally be lost in translation. Without that, what you have is a fairly generic zombie apocalypse story with an admittedly cool twist on zombie life-cycles. This could well be a very well made show, but I don't know how it could be more gripping watching it rather than playing it.

You're right about the length though. Way better a series than a movie. I guess it's reasonably cheap to accomplish too. No-one is gonna pay for live action Bioshock but that is the kinda thing I wanna see on the big screen.

 

[Iceman]

I'm quite happy with the cast now. A big step up from Uncharted at least!

 

[TonyJake12]

Yeah that's the thing. TLOU was incredible because we bonded with Ellie. The medium was used to tremendous effect simulating a father's bond in gameplay. That was the thing that made the game unique, and will naturally be lost in translation. Without that, what you have is a fairly generic zombie apocalypse story with an admittedly cool twist on zombie life-cycles. This could well be a very well made show, but I don't know how it could be more gripping watching it rather than playing it.

You're right about the length though. Way better a series than a movie. I guess it's reasonably cheap to accomplish too. No-one is gonna pay for live action Bioshock but that is the kinda thing I wanna see on the big screen.

If we were just talking about a two hour movie I think you'd be right but a 8 to 10 hour season is more than enough time to have the people watching bond with the characters. The first game was only about 12-15 hours and that was including all the gameplay elements. So there will be more story in the show then there was in the game.

What is interesting about HBO making a tv series about this game is that HBO originally had the option to make Walking Dead but turned it down. Them doing this series now really indicates that they regretted it after it became as successful as it once was. Regardless of what people think about them adapting the game we know that there is definitely an audience for a zombie apocalypse tv series. If this show manages to bring in a lot of the old Walking Dead fans I have no doubt HBO will handle this series better than AMC did TWD.

 

[Michael Frost]

Pascal's a great actor but this is weird casting from a visual/looks point of view. He can't even grow a full uniform beard.. Joel has this worn out, gruff and weathered look. Bella Ramsey as Ellie is also weird given that Ellie is practically a ginger.

I have no idea what they want to do with the project but I was rooting for Nikolaj Coster-Waldu + Kaitlyn Dever. Of course this is dream casting but cmon now, I'd expect them to look at least a bit like the part...

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

There's a time jump between 1 and 2 that I don't see happening in TV. If season 1 is largely an adaptation of the first game, I imagine season 2 would continue on in real time, aging with the actors. This could mean multiple seasons before the events of the second game take place, which would allow the show to side-step the divisive sequel.

Really depends on the pace they've set as well. The first game takes place over months and could feasibly stretch beyond one season if they wanted.

I have a feeling that will happen once they reach the events of the the second game. Writers will probably pull a Walking Dead and diverge from the source material

At least I hope that happens. TLOU2 had incredible gameplay but the story itself was very divisive in addition to having questionable character moments. The series will give writers to set some things right

 

[henzINNIT]

If we were just talking about a two hour movie I think you'd be right but a 8 to 10 hour season is more than enough time to have the people watching bond with the characters. The first game was only about 12-15 hours and that was including all the gameplay elements. So there will be more story in the show then there was in the game.

But my point is that I could watch Pedro Pascal as Joel for 100 hours but that will never be as involving as me as Joel. I'm sure Pascal will kill it and the show could well do a great job getting us to invest in the characters, however it is fighting a losing battle trying to out-do the experience I already had living it.

 

[TonyJake12]

But my point is that I could watch Pedro Pascal as Joel for 100 hours but that will never be as involving as me as Joel. I'm sure Pascal will kill it and the show could well do a great job getting us to invest in the characters, however it is fighting a losing battle trying to out-do the experience I already had living it.

You are merely guessing at this point because you havn't seen it yet. You very well may watch it and think he is a great Joel. Just like you could watch The Uncharted movie and think Holland is a great Nathan Drake. Just remember half the people who are part of the Walking Dead cast are Brittish. If you heard them do interviews prior to them ever filming a scene for the show you would think there would be no way they will be able to fit the role of someone from the deep south. Yet after watching them play their roles they are 'beloved' characters by TWD fans.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I am halfway through the first game and absolutely loving it, and I wouldn’t have guessed Pedro for Joel, but the guy has been killing it with his roles lately so I am happy to keep an open mind and see what he does with it.

Ramsey doesn’t immediately strike me as Ellie either, but both her and Pedro sure can act!

 

[Deck Rickard]

Oh damn. Someone had to mention Kaitlyn Dever and now I’m angry she’s not in this show because she’s great in everything, lol. But they clearly wanted someone younger. Oh, well.

Anyway, if this show is a success, what’s the over/under on Sony and Netflix getting the guts to greenlight a God of War series?

 

[Detective Conan]

 

[Erik20]

Too bad Pedro can't grow a beard though, so I doubt we'll be getting anything close to that... (I'm not judging him, I have the same problem )

 

[Deck Rickard]

Has he said he can’t grow a beard or are people just saying he can’t because of the way his GoT character looked? Because Oberyn was a stylish guy and maybe he just shaved his beard in that way because it looked good.