TV: The Last of Us (HBO)

[Tuggy]

 

[Kcb12345]

Wow...first season expected to cost over $100 million to make.

$10m+ per episode. HBO is going all out on it, love to see it.

They began/begin filming this week (will take 11 months to film).

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Wow...first season expected to cost over $100 million to make.

$10m+ per episode. HBO is going all out on it, love to see it.

They began/begin filming this week (will take 11 months to film).

Looks like a normal street with stores...

 

[Kcb12345]

Looks like a normal street with stores...

Every sign is different they made it out to look like a small town outside of Austin, Texas. They're filming in Canada

This is obviously not where the budget is coming from though, this is just for one or 2 scenes.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Every sign is different they made it out to look like a small town outside of Austin, Texas. They're filming in Canada

This is obviously not where the budget is coming from though, this is just for one or 2 scenes.

Oh. Not sure how we were suppose to know that haha.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I’ll give this a shot, but with low expectations. I’m not into post-apocalyptic style entertainment, and never played the game. Two fantastic actors

Play the first game

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I'm skeptical of Bella Ramsay as Ellie.

Also Joel has a very specific voice can Pedro Pascal pull it off?

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

10 million per episode and up to 100 million per season does give me some hope for this show, that shows that HBO isn't messing around in terms of budget that's more than Game of Thornes got and until the last season game of Thornes was can't miss TV

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Wow...first season expected to cost over $100 million to make.

$10m+ per episode. HBO is going all out on it, love to see it.

They began/begin filming this week (will take 11 months to film).

So we should get it late 2022

 

[YpsiWings]

Just finished the 2nd game, and while it wasn’t as good as the first I am still super pumped about this show. If they can recreate the chemistry between Joel and Ellie the sky is the limit. Tall task for sure, but if anyone can pull it off it’s HBO.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Just finished the 2nd game, and while it wasn’t as good as the first I am still super pumped about this show. If they can recreate the chemistry between Joel and Ellie the sky is the limit. Tall task for sure, but if anyone can pull it off it’s HBO.

As long as HBO doesn't allow it to go down hill like they did Game of Thornes

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

The video games are some of the most overatted pieces of media ever imo

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I'm skeptical of Bella Ramsay as Ellie.

Also Joel has a very specific voice can Pedro Pascal pull it off?

Characters are more than just their looks or voice.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Characters are more than just their looks or voice.

Nobody is going to buy him as Joel if he doesn't look like him or can't pull off the voice.

 

[Shareefruck]

^ Nobody necessarily needs to buy him as the Joel that they know from the games, though, they just need to buy him as whatever version of Joel he's portraying in this.

The video games are some of the most overatted pieces of media ever imo

I feel that way as well. The first one felt like it was playing it too safe and just crowd-pleasing/using overdone storytelling tropes in a way that made it feel very mediocre and by-the-numbers to me (and using the twist at the end to pass itself off as something more), whereas the second one completely 180'd on that and to me, felt too ambitious for its own good in a misguided, heavy-handed, borderline Tommy-Wiseau/David Cage/Zach Snyder-esque way that made me think "maybe it would have been better off just staying in its comfort zone and sticking to what it's good at/what people liked about it."

I think I just dislike Druckmann's sensibilities overall, regardless of the approach he chooses. There's something about his creative voice that just feels very inauthentic/full of itself to me. The only credit I can give him is that his things seem really polished and impressive on a technical production value level.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

^ Nobody necessarily needs to buy him as the Joel that they know from the games, though, they just need to buy him as whatever version of Joel he's portraying in this.

I feel that way as well. The first one felt like it was playing it too safe and just crowd-pleasing/using overdone storytelling tropes in a way that made it feel very mediocre and by-the-numbers to me (and using the twist at the end to pass itself off as something more), whereas the second one completely 180'd on that and to me, felt too ambitious for its own good in a misguided, heavy-handed, borderline Tommy-Wiseau/David Cage/Zach Snyder-esque way that made me think "maybe it would have been better off just staying in its comfort zone and sticking to what it's good at/what people liked about it."

I think I just dislike Druckmann's sensibilities overall, regardless of the approach he chooses. There's something about his creative voice that just feels very inauthentic/full of itself to me. The only credit I can give him is that his things seem really polished and impressive on a technical production value level.

The show wouldn't exist without the games people need to buy him as Joel and to do that he needs to pull off the look and voice.

Joel with a Spanish accident isn't going to work because that's not what the character is.

No different than Henry and Sam, should the show make it that far being played by white actors, it wouldn't work because that's not what the characters are.

Or Bill being protrayed as straight, it wouldn't work because that's not what the character is.

It is extremely important that Pedro Pascal can pull off both the look and voice because it is extremely important to be as faithful to the source material as possible.

If he can't do that it won't work

 

[TheBeastCoast]

The show wouldn't exist without the games people need to buy him as Joel and to do that he needs to pull off the look and voice.

Joel with a Spanish accident isn't going to work because that's not what the is.

No different than Henrey and Sam, should the show make it that far being played by white actors, it wouldn't work because that's not what the characters are.

Or Bill being protrayed as straight, it wouldn't work because that's not what the character is.

It is extremely important that Pedro Pascal can pull off both the look and voice because it is extremely important to be as faithful to the source material as possible.

If he can't do that it won't work

I think it is pretty silly to think that the show is dead on arrival if the actors for the show aren't dead on ringers in the looks and accent compared to the game. There have been plenty of well done adaptions that didn't hold themselves strictly to the source material in the physical characteristics of who they are hiring and the shows/movies still work.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I think it is pretty silly to think that the show is dead on arrival if the actors for the show aren't dead on ringers in the looks and accent compared to the game. There have been plenty of well done adaptions that didn't hold themselves strictly to the source material in the physical characteristics of who they are hiring and the shows/movies still work.

They might have more room for creative licensing if they didn't piss off half the fan base with The Last Of Us 2.

But they did so that's a big reason why it's so important that this is done right.

I'm not going to go into spoilers because I don't know if you are familiar with the source material but they can't afford to f*** this up.

This has to be done right

 

[Shareefruck]

The show wouldn't exist without the games people need to buy him as Joel and to do that he needs to pull off the look and voice.

Joel with a Spanish accident isn't going to work because that's not what the character is.

No different than Henry and Sam, should the show make it that far being played by white actors, it wouldn't work because that's not what the characters are.

Or Bill being protrayed as straight, it wouldn't work because that's not what the character is.

It is extremely important that Pedro Pascal can pull off both the look and voice because it is extremely important to be as faithful to the source material as possible.

If he can't do that it won't work

I disagree. If the outcome works and is good, ultimately, it is completely irrelevant whether or not something is 100% faithful to the source material, and if the outcome is bad, it wouldn't matter even if it was super faithful. I understand having some skepticism that something unfaithful has a lower chance of being as good if you happen to put the original thing up on a pedestal, but anything more than that seems needlessly rigid and narrow to me, personally.

It's not like Joel's look and voice are necessarily essential components of the story anyways-- they're just an aesthetic. He's not really a deliberate representation of an American or anything like that-- he's just deliberately a tough-guy dad. I don't remember if Henry and Sam's race actually plays into their role, but the same might apply there if it doesn't.

If you're just saying that they would need to be totally faithful in order to please the hardcore fans, I wouldn't disagree with that. However, I don't agree that those types of views from hardcore fans are the right way to look at things or should be the be all end all for what they should do, personally.

By definition, every adaptation wouldn't exist with the original, and yet total faithfulness has never been a prerequisite for them being successful or good.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I disagree. If the outcome works and is good, ultimately, it is completely irrelevant whether or not something is 100% faithful to the source material, and if the outcome is bad, it wouldn't matter even if it was super faithful. I understand having some skepticism that something unfaithful has a lower chance of being as good if you happen to put the original thing up on a pedestal, but anything more than that seems needlessly rigid and narrow to me, personally.

It's not like Joel's look and voice are necessarily essential components of the story anyways-- they're just an aesthetic. He's not really a deliberate representation of an American or anything like that-- he's just deliberately a tough-guy dad. I don't remember if Henry and Sam's race actually plays into their role, but the same might apply there if it doesn't.

If you're just saying that they would need to be totally faithful in order to please the hardcore fans, I wouldn't disagree with that. However, I don't agree that those types of views from hardcore fans are the right way to look at things or should be the be all end all for what they should do, personally.

By definition, every adaptation wouldn't exist with the original, and yet total faithfulness has never been a prerequisite for them being successful or good.

I mean it won't be totally faithful because Perry doesn't exist in the games He's a brand new character for the show., and Rielly isn't in the main game, She's only in the Left Behind DLC but she's supposedly in the show, you never see Frank in the game but He's in the show.

So it's not going to be completely faithful but that doesn't mean you can f*** around with the main characters,

Joel, Ellie, Tommy, Henry, Sam, David assuming we get to Henry, Sam and David these characters have to be done right.

 

[PeteWorrell]

I disagree. If the outcome works and is good, ultimately, it is completely irrelevant whether or not something is 100% faithful to the source material, and if the outcome is bad, it wouldn't matter even if it was super faithful. I understand having some skepticism that something unfaithful has a lower chance of being as good if you happen to put the original thing up on a pedestal, but anything more than that seems needlessly rigid and narrow to me, personally.

It's not like Joel's look and voice are necessarily essential components of the story anyways-- they're just an aesthetic. He's not really a deliberate representation of an American or anything like that-- he's just deliberately a tough-guy dad. I don't remember if Henry and Sam's race actually plays into their role, but the same might apply there if it doesn't.

If you're just saying that they would need to be totally faithful in order to please the hardcore fans, I wouldn't disagree with that. However, I don't agree that those types of views from hardcore fans are the right way to look at things or should be the be all end all for what they should do, personally.

By definition, every adaptation wouldn't exist with the original, and yet total faithfulness has never been a prerequisite for them being successful or good.

There have been so many bad adaptations of video game and anime properties that people will not tune in if it is done poorly. That is why those usually flop because the moment that there are some indications that it is not good then no one even bothers. So the odds are really stacked against this show so yes they are under some pressure to deliver.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

There have been so many bad adaptations of video game and anime properties that people will not tune in if it is done poorly. That is why those usually flop because the moment that there are some indications that it is not good then no one even bothers. So the odds are really stacked against this show so yes they are under some pressure to deliver.

Not to mention the Last Of Us 2 pissed off half the fan base so you probably don't want to do that again

 

[Shareefruck]

There have been so many bad adaptations of video game and anime properties that people will not tune in if it is done poorly. That is why those usually flop because the moment that there are some indications that it is not good then no one even bothers. So the odds are really stacked against this show so yes they are under some pressure to deliver.

I feel like this doesn't contradict much of what I said at all. "Delivering" is a quality/sensibility/effectiveness thing, not a faithful recreation thing. I agree that the odds are stacked against it and they have a lot of pressure to get it right, but I think that's true whether they're technically faithful to every little thing or not. Getting it right does not mean making it exactly the same, especially on a superficial level.

 

[PeteWorrell]

I feel like this doesn't contradict much of what I said at all. "Delivering" is a quality/sensibility/effectiveness thing, not a faithful recreation thing. I agree that the odds are stacked against it and they have a lot of pressure to get it right, but I think that's true whether they're technically faithful to every little thing or not. Getting it right does not mean making it exactly the same, especially on a superficial level.

When there is such a bad track record; making changes is already seen as a bad sign. Every time you see creators says that they only made a few changes and then turns out it's completely different and it's poorly received and it bombs. How about sticking to the original story and keep it simple for once to show what they can do and then they can maybe try to bring in changes. Even when they have such an easy set-up for a story; they feel the need to meddle to make it "better".

Not to mention the Last Of Us 2 pissed off half the fan base so you probably don't want to do that again

I agree with you but i won't touch that poop.

 

[Shareefruck]

When there is such a bad track record; making changes is already seen as a bad sign. Every time you see creators says that they only made a few changes and then turns out it's completely different and it's poorly received and it bombs. How about sticking to the original story and keep it simple for once to show what they can do and then they can maybe try to bring in changes. Even when they have such an easy set-up for a story; they feel the need to meddle to make it "better".

We're not really talking about pivotal story changes though, we're talking about someone not looking 100% like the character does in another medium. I don't see a trend where adaptations with a character looking exactly the same tend to be good and adaptations where the person looks a bit different tend to bomb. Typically it just comes down to how strong the performance is, and how fitting everything is to the story.

If the argument were instead that Pedro Pascal doesn't look tough enough to fit the role or something, and the character being tough was essential to the story, I would see a rational concern there, but the difference is instead very superficial in this case. I'm not really aware of anything in Joel's American-ness that is relevant to anything that matters about the game.