MovieChat Forums > 28 Days Later (2003) Discussion > Did The Walking Dead Copy this Movie?

Did The Walking Dead Copy this Movie?

posted 12 years ago by pawson-nick
31 replies | jump to latest

sorry if this has already been covered.

i had first seen this movie long ago when it first came out as a kid and man was i terrified, but i just rewatched it for the first time and after becoming a big The Walking Dead fan, it dawned on me that TWD seems to have ripped this entire movie, which i wouldn't be surprised about at all.

wake up in a hospital during a zombie outbreak
saved by some people
goes to find family
word of a cure/safe haven
go to the safe haven, find nothing and *beep* goes awry

the first season of TWD seems, to me, to be a direct rip from this movie. it doesn't make me like either any less, just it's interesting to see how you can totally rip something, tweak it a bit and become hugely popular.

[–] ofuoku71 12 years ago

Yeah, I noticed the similarities. I don't think it's a coincidence.

[–] MixSwiss 12 years ago

I love 28 Days but well, 28 days Later is not so original itself either.. 28 Days Later was kinda reminicent of several movies like Day of the Triffids, Last Man on Earth, Dawn of the Dead 78... Other than the title character waking up in the hospital.. I don't see much of a connection bewteen 28 Days Later and The Walking Dead.. Just so you know the comic book began in 2003 ....same year 28 Days later came out. The Walking Dead tv show is basically following the comics.. some of it...

[–] StreetPneuma 12 years ago

There's a scene somewhere in the first season of The Walking Dead where Shane is physically beating an uninfected man, set against some generic alt-rock jam.

The climax to 28 Days Later includes Cillian's character beating an uninfected character to death set to John Murphy's post-rock score.

I know of the Day of the Triffids reference as well, but the opening to The Walking Dead is lazy and careless. 28 Days Later was released in November of 2002.

[–] MixSwiss 12 years ago

November 2002 in UK.. But came out in the US in June 2003.. That one scene is not original.. plenty of movies where someone is bashing someone's head in a movie. But it would not be shocking if they were paying bit a tribute to the movie in that scene.. I love, love, love 28 Days later but it ain't original.. it also took some elements fron Day of the Dead and from the 70's movie the Crazies as well.. The opening to the Walking Dead I thought was fantastic.

[–] TrueOrFalse48 11 years ago

I absolutely love The Walking Dead but the "waking up in a hospital" scene is a blatant rip-off of this movie. Either that or they were paying homage to this movie in that scene.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Platipus 11 years ago

This again? Not only was the walking dead comics made in 2003 and obviously written before that, you can probably say that it's just as likely that this movie copied that.

Then there's the fact that very little is original in these types of movies. Every writer everywhere gets their inspiration from something... stop being such simple minded fools.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] neko-neko-1 10 years ago

This movie CAN'T have copied The Walking Dead comic, it was released the year before the first TWD comic

And whilst 28 Days Later was released in the US the same year as TWD comic, there is a chance Kirkman might have seen stills from the movie or even seen the movie before it's official release in the US (DVD import, been in the UK when the movie was on general release or via other means)

Or the whole 'waking up in a hospital during a 'zombie' (technically the infected in 28DL aren't zombies as they're still alive (a lot of them are dying of starvation by the end of the film)) apocalypse could be a coincidence.

I doubt either Resident Evil or 28DL copied each other's 'waking up during a zombie outbreak' seeing as both movies came out the same year, maybe one of the later RE movies copied 28DL's 'waking up in a medical facility during a zombie outbreak' but Alice waking up during a zombie outbreak (in a medical facility or not) seems to a theme of the RE movies and the first time she wakes up in a medical facility is at the end of the first movie (scene repeated in the second one) so they can't have gotten that from 28DL

Well, at least TWD and RE gave Rick/Alice some sort of hospital gown (such as it was in Alice's case), the director's reasoning was that Jim's nakedness was to symbolise his rebirth in a new world, but come on it's highly unlikely that hospital staff would leave a patient without a hospital gown, heh, I guess staff must have been in the middle of giving Jim a bed bath when they were forced to flee

[–] israel-734-616604 11 years ago

Several people still don't know that Walking Dead DID NOT start as a TV Show. the TV Series is based off of the graphic novel/comic that started in October 2003. Yes the comic was published after the movie came out, but a deeper a deeper analysis of the show and/or the comic it came from (The comic is still in publication) would suggest that neither are copying 28 days later. perhaps some commonalities, but no copying.

[–] lycosa 11 years ago

Yeah i agree to some extent. But exactly, remember that it has different characters and some smallish plot changes still and as u said, tweaks.

Maybe they copied on purpose or maybe didn't. But yeah, dont really care if they did copy. Still like TWD

[–] LemonTastic 11 years ago

All Zombie films are similar. There's no way you can write a zombie story with all new things in it, they wouldn't be zombies then

[–] jpowers4667 11 years ago

Can't remember when the horrible Resident Evil movie franchise started, but didn't the main character do the exact same thing at the end of the first movie....leading into the sequel??