The Walking Dead!

[A.C.R.O.N.Y.M]

Walking Dead isn't about comedy its about survival. I don't see why it even has to be remotely funny, though Zombieland was ace.

[Valiant]

Zombieland was awful in so many ways.

Colour me in with the slightly unimpressed from the first episode as it dealt with many very worn out themes episode two was much better in my opinion. Very good production values and all. It's a shame it's already a third over before it finishes with the first season being so very very short.

Having said that twenty years ago you would have got a two part miniseries like all those Stephen King adaptions that lasted about three hours long so doing it by a serial format is an improvement.

[SM47]

I thought the

chopping up of the body

was pretty funny. As well as being really, really horrific at the same time, obviously. I predict that

Racist Criminal Fellow will saw his hand off with the hacksaw from the toolbox and come after Rick and The Gang. Or he'll come back into it later, possibly in the last episode or something. With gunz, being all racist.

[Steve McQueef]

Zombieland was awful in so many ways.

Back to watching Devon Aoki movies with you!

[oli]

I read a whole shitload of The Walking Dead and the one thing it really needed was humour. If the planet really did become overrun with zombies me and my mates would have a fucking blast

I was going to post something about it probably wouldn't be a blast if the world was overrun with zombies then I saw it was you who posted, Kerraig. I think you're right if there was a zombie apocalypse you and your mates would still probably have some awesome stories

I'm coming round to yours on zombie day

[Melon_Bread]

Zombie Day would indeed be awesome fun for all us horror movie fans, waking up after a coma to find out everyone you know is dead, not so much fun. I think it's all about how far into the Zombie Apocalypse you get and how many mates you have left.

Been reading the comics and really enjoying them, I'm making myself watch this when it's on TV as it's nice to have something to look forward to watching Friday evenings.

[son_of_helvetica]

ZOMBIES WITH ROCKS! FUCK!

[CrispinG]

loving this so far. i watched the pilot at poet's house and just downloaded the 2nd episode tonight.

i thought the zombie disguise was neat; obviously borrowed from Shaun of the Dead but played for reals the tension was palpable. i'm consistently surprised by its TV-14 rating; the sex scene at the beginning of the episode and detail of the headshots and wounds, not to mention the N-bomb, would have earned it a TV-MA a couple of years ago

also the whitetrash character is the same actor who played the monster in Slither. he is all kinds of brilliant. bit obvious in the way they set him up for a revenge plot though.

when is the next episode available to download?

[futureshock]

Late Sunday night, I think. Though after comparing the HD broadcast on FX to the HD rip, I think I'm going to switch to the TV broadcast.

It's all about the 16mm grain.

[NecroMorrius]

loving this so far. i watched the pilot at poet's house and just downloaded the 2nd episode tonight.

i thought the zombie disguise was neat; obviously borrowed from Shaun of the Dead but played for reals the tension was palpable. i'm consistently surprised by its TV-14 rating; the sex scene at the beginning of the episode and detail of the headshots and wounds, not to mention the N-bomb, would have earned it a TV-MA a couple of years ago

also the whitetrash character is the same actor who played the monster in Slither. he is all kinds of brilliant. bit obvious in the way they set him up for a revenge plot though.

when is the next episode available to download?

That issue of the comic came out a year before Shaun of the Dead and was probably written a year or so prior to that too. Just another coincidence or maybe from an older film I haven't seen?

I like the compromise here: they are the slow shuffling kind, but they can "skip" at a fair pace when they're motivated.

I imagine their mobility depends on their level of decomposition. As the brain and body decompose, they are physically and mentally less capable of moving. Not a comic spoiler or anything, just a guess based on World War Z, which Kirkman has vowed not to read until he finishes TWD. He should though, it'd give him some good ideas. If they do the WWZ film properly, it'll be incredible. Brad Pitt confirmed to play the lead and Marc Forster directing, so there's no reason why it shouldn't be brilliant.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of Zombies.

[rumblecat]

Yeah, I keep waiting to get bored of them but it doesn't happen. I'm glad the show is deviating a bit from the comics, as it's a lot easier to watch without constantly pinging comparisons back and forth in the brain (like when watching Watchmen). Do think the characters- Glenn and Rick aside- are coming across as slightly bland at the moment, so hopefully the third episode will open them up a lot more. And Lori just seems like a real bitch.

[NecroMorrius]

Lori is a real bitch

Yeah, I like the way it's deviating. It means I don't have to sit there and unavoidably compare it constantly.

[CandyBob]

I've only seen the first episode so far as I'm following it on TV but loved it. The first episode anyway captured the tone of the comics brilliantly. I'm a bit worried about some of the other characters. Shane seems even more of a dick in this than the comics for example.

I was going to read the comics again, following them along with the series, but if you guys are saying it deviates then I'll leave it.

[Davros sock drawer]

Loved the 2nd episode. Best bit of telly I've seen in a while.

[snowbind]

Yeah, it was pretty awesome. I already like Glen a shit ton more than I did in the books.

[CandyBob]

Coming from a 9/10 first episode the second was a 5. It really was a mess.

The whole red neck v black man incident was embarrasing and that set the tone.

We went from a nicely atmospheric first episode to what felt like an episode of Lost (which for me is bad).

The characters in the store were poorly introduced, the interaction between them was messy which had nothing to do with their situation, there were some awful stereotypes and they were really generic in an American sci-fi type way. Apart from the odd one or two the main group also seem lacking. Maybe things will pick up when they have more time.

The relationship between Lori and Shane is way over the top and the sex scene, well, terrible. I guess they believe handling things this way makes for more drama when Rick turns up but its so unsubtle.

Something else I noticed. It's harsh comparing this to the likes of Dawn of the Dead but when they go for a closeup on a zombie, it all looks so fake in comparison to Romero's films. This is one area where I thought that technology would improve things and I'm not sure if its just the make-up, the direction, or the actors. It doesn't work anywhere near as well.

I think its in danger of losing its way and I'm not looking forward to the whole group getting together. The comics are nothing fancy in the writing of course, but its strong points are its atmosphere and tone and it lost a lot of that in episode 2. Rick is carrying the whole thing at the moment.

[futureshock]

Fake in comparison to Romero's zombies?

Blue = shit.

[CandyBob]

Fake in comparison to Romero's zombies?

Blue = shit.

It wasn't just the makeup. Maybe the actors were trying to hard but really, I just wanted to laugh in the same way people dressed up as zombies at conventions make me laugh.

[jonamok]

It wasn't just the makeup. Maybe the actors were trying to hard but really, I just wanted to laugh in the same way people dressed up as zombies at conventions make me laugh.

This. Trad-zombies are always one shuffling groan away from unintended giggles. Compared to rage-zombies they just don't frighten. It works fine in the comics, which I love, but as soon as a load of extras who've spent a few hours in zombie-school start lurching around it does descend towards campy naffness far too readily. Still, I'll stick with it, if only for the headshots.

[Davros sock drawer]

Something else I noticed. It's harsh comparing this to the likes of Dawn of the Dead but when they go for a closeup on a zombie, it all looks so fake in comparison to Romero's films. This is one area where I thought that technology would improve things and I'm not sure if its just the make-up, the direction, or the actors. It doesn't work anywhere near as well.

Whaaaaaaat?!

You have got to be kidding, surely? You should watch the making on featurette about how they did bicycle girl.

[CandyBob]

Whaaaaaaat?!

You have got to be kidding, surely? You should watch the making on featurette about how they did bicycle girl.

That bit was awesome absolutely, its the humans made up as zombies generally that I have a problem with. It's not deal breaking at all though, they just feel zombie convention. They don't feel menacing enough maybe is what I'm trying to get at.

I am a traditionalist when it comes to zombies as well, zombies shouldn't sprint.

[James Lyon]

One thing that stood out in the first two episodes for me, is that

none of the survivors have actually died yet. With all those non-comic - presumably cannon-fodder - characters being introduced, I'd expected one of them to get torn apart by the end, but no, everybody lives. Well, I suppose racist biker doesn't have much of a chance now. Was that hacksaw close enough for him to reach, do you think?

If so, I'm reckoning episode three's pre-credit sequence might be

biker man breaking out and trying to battle his way out before being eaten / miraculously escaping to bother everyone again.

For the record, I don't mind theses zombies. Not all zombies have to be the same just like not all vampires have to be. As long as they stick to the core rules, and they're a threat, that's fine. Walking Dead's are a bit more lithe than Romero's but they hardly betray their slow-moving kin.

[spanky debrest]

Really disappointed by ep2.

The whole feel of it was exactly like an episode of a big-dollar 'high concept' show the likes of which i didnt previously associate with AMC. I actually found it a bit of a struggle to remain interested which was disturbing as I tend to enjoy all things zombie - be they Romeros, Fulcis, DOTD remakes, parodies and whatever else. I didnt think i could fall victim to zombie fatigue but maybe - just maybe this particular 45 mins of viewing has given me just that.

Having said that I think there was enough class, understatement and visual flair in the first episode to warrant continuing with this for the meanwhile. I'm trying not to lose any optimism about the quality of the writing or whether this has high potential to disappear up its own decomposed arse.

[Kinketsu]

Shiiiit, fell asleep and missed the first half of the new episode tonight! Second half was good enough but nothing amazing. I'll have to wait until the next repeat to catch the whole thing and get a fair impression (hopefully not too long as AMC seems to show it quite often). The preview for ep 4 looked good though.

[NecroMorrius]

Some fucking weird complaints in the last few posts.

[PK]

christ, this went downhill fast. was the first episode directed by someone else? it didn't feel like the same programme, absolutely terrible supporting cast and some embarassingly shit dialogue.

I found myself wishing they'd just stop the cringeworthy talking and fight some zombies, which is pretty worrying considering the focus of the comic

[Rudi von Starnberg]

I enjoyed episode 3 a lot too. Much more talky than before but I was pretty gripped by it.

And the music in the climax of the episode was fantastic.

[spork]

I enjoyed episode 3 a lot too. Much more talky than before but I was pretty gripped by it.

And the music in the climax of the episode was fantastic.

The music sounded like it wanted to be what was used in the beginning on 28 weeks later..

[CrispinG]

just watched episode 3. i was wondering how they could possibly have the budget for episodes like the first two stretched over a whole TV show, and expected they'd do this; action episodes and "talking" episodes. quite disappointing.

[NecroMorrius]

just watched episode 3. i was wondering how they could possibly have the budget for episodes like the first two stretched over a whole TV show, and expected they'd do this; action episodes and "talking" episodes. quite disappointing.

It's called a bottle episode, and every TV show in the world does it

That's how you get away with the big budget episodes. However if the dialogue is crap, it all falls apart. I haven't watched it yet, it might be shit.

But probably shit in the same way that 'fly' was shit in S3 of Breaking Bad. Shit as in absolutely awesome.