The Last of Us HBO series teaches ‘Hollywood’ a lesson

The Last of US show on HBO is doing numbers and many believe it's because it follows the source material very closely. What do you think?

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SOURCES

[Deadline] The Last of Us HBO series is doing well

[Launcher] Washington Post review of The Last of Us show

[Kotaku] The Last of Us game intro versus the show

[Chartable] Apple Podcast to rankings

[Collider] Why no spores in The Last of Us show?

[Gamespot] Gamespot’s The Last of Us show review

[YouTube] theRadBrad Last of Us Part 1 gameplay

[zamatallica]

Who would have thought that sticking to the original source material that, had ALREADY been proved successful, would turn out to be as equally as successful if not even more. Mind blown!

[isaacswarts]

The show had to take longer to set up the world and have you start empathizing with her. The game had the advantage of being able to do that faster by having you control her first so you start to relate to her. Show is a lot better than I expected definitely going to finish the season.

[foxmind]

When the T.V. Series finally gets to the “Winter” chapter, the internet will catch fire if the show does it right. That entire chapter STILL gives me the creeps…

[MaestroOblidemon]

I'm happy with the "no spores" choice. I'd rather miss the spores than have mumbly dialogue because of all the masks.

[CUSTODYIN]

This is what adaptations should strive to be, it may be retelling the same story, but they expand on that story and characters and their interactions that makes your relationship with them that much deeper. I don't mind when adaptations try and do their own thing or make their own interpretation of the story, but most divert way too far from the source or just butcher it beyond recognition *cough* Halo *cough*.

[legion]

They should have kept the spores. It added to the threat level of living in the Last of Us and makes you realize how dire humanity's situation is. Not to mention, why Ellie's immunity is so important. Without the spores, it leaves the series that much closer to just another zombie series... And I understand they didn't want to obstruct the actors' faces, but they could have just made a rule that there are only spores in confined areas, or in underground locations specifically, so the use of a mask is rare.

[traviscue]

The Spores makes a lot more sense to take out in the show.. They don't want the characters putting on gas marks everytime they enter a location to hide the actors faces.. And in a world like that you would put a mask on everytime you entered an area, not when you think you see Spores. But the spores did make it unique.

[ragnarok]

I want more animated shows like castlevania and cyberpunk.

[diegelassenheit]

I’m sad to see Arcane gets overlooked in these discussions about video game adaptations. I holds a 100 % critic score and a 96 % audience score at rotten tomatoes - thus holding the record for video game adaptations so far.

[remidee]

Fallow the source material! That’s the Hollywood lesson. Witcher could’ve been incredible.

[GobiSubramaniam]

I was wondering why there is not spores as well. Instead, those root-like structures were new and welcome addition. It allows the infected to grow in the soil just as a normal fungus could take root.

Well, I guess the TV show can leave the spores out. In the game, the spores added a sort of camofludged region for the player to traverse - it usually underground, dark, damp and the spores made it hard for anyone to see. In the TV show, you not going to need that element.

[thegameslave]

Oh, I was wondering why they weren't wearing gas masks during that underground scene. The spore thing slightly bothers me, but other than that, it was a good 1st episode, and I loved the beginning, and liked what they added to it, showing the daughter's day, and all the subtle stuff leading to the apocalypse. The 1st initial scene with the old lady, before everything goes down was real creepy too, and the way the infected moved was perfect. I'm looking forward to seeing more. More studios need to learn to not change/fix what isn't broken. There's a reason why so many games/books etc are loved, and when newer adaptations try and change to formula, like they do so often, we can see constant examples of how it can tarnish something that was already good. Just stick to the source material. My mom doesn't play games, and that was her 1st look at TLOU and it was a good 1st impression for someone who doesn't play video games, and we're gonna keep watching it together. I would never show her the Halo show, though. I'd rather she watch Forward Unto Dawn or something.

[GregBourne]

Even the slight changes they made I liked, the way Joel and Tommy get into a wreck in the game was always a little hoaky. Even though the show version is over the top it explains why nothing happens to them through a few minutes of exposition and dialogue.

[litneyloxan]

that bloater/infected horde scene was more than I ever could have imagined they’d pull off

[alexwaddington]

I mean, it's a lot easier to make a show with a shooter visual novel than a 2d animated Italian plumber.

[gabbybob]

I never understood the whole spore thing in the game, to be honest. It bothered me and broke that suspension of disbelief when they walk through a cloud of the spore stuff with a gas mask and be fine the second they stepped put of it and removed the masks.

The spore thing in general was neat, but I also didnt like it.

[iamafish]

Sonic and his fanbase understood it doesn't have to be 1:1 to work. As long as the adaptation understands the characters.

[steven]

No spores makes sense.
It's the same reason iron man has an in-helmet view and opens his helmet for most scenes...because the actor's face is an important part of the film; it conveys emotions unspoken, and it helps the audience to engage more since they see a familiar face.

[DMBLaan]

I'll wait to hear more about how good or bad the idea was, but personally I feel like removing the threat of spores just moves the show closer to a standard zombie show.

[Upioornica]

1:00 The tomatometer for the Witcher is suprisingly good, seeing how the writers completely butchered the story into something almost unrecognizable. Taking that into consideration, I'm not that impressed for TLOU having a score of 99%, even though I do agree it's a great series.