MovieChat Forums > The Walking Dead (2010) Discussion > Not buying the ''virus'' aspect

Not buying the ''virus'' aspect

posted 6 years ago by kellycallie (728)
19 replies | jump to latest

Inspiration was drawn from 28 days later of course to create the walking dead comic and series, so they borrow some aspects of the movie including the ''virus'' aspect. But those people were not ''dead'' they were infected with the rage virus and in a rabid-like state.

The situation is different when applied here.There is no virus that can reanimate the dead and even if there was they wouldn't have this ''super strong'' bite force as the human jaw and teeth are pitiful at biting and they would simply decay not posing much threat after a few years. Forget about ''TS-19'' (this wasn't even included in the comics either).

What made the walking dead so scary in its earlier seasons (or for some even now) is the unknown aspect of these creatures. They never die, they keep going, their bites defy anatomy and they almost always overpower (all you can do is run). Obviously this is purely supernatural.

[–] brux (14724) 6 years ago

I agree, but just noticing that now?

[–] BenStrousers (790) 6 years ago

Welcome to the lame world of zombie lore.

[–] DarthJJ (341) 6 years ago

Girl with all the gifts has the best Zombie cause since its based on real life. Ophiocordyceps is a fungus that takes over ants brains and makes them climb and attach themselves to leafs. Then the fungus "eats" the ants and releases its spores. In the book and movie it somehow mutates and crosses over into taking over people.

[–] brux (14724) 6 years ago

I think they are going to make a big mistake if they try to get too specific on what causes the zombies. This show is so inconsistent, it's better to just go with what they have already told us.

[–] DarthJJ (341) 6 years ago

That is why I like Z-Nation, it's stupid as fuck, but they do have some crazy different Zombies to liven things up each week.

[–] brux (14724) 6 years ago

I saw that ... it was funny, but it got old fast as well.

[–] DarthJJ (341) 6 years ago

Check out Girl with all the Gifts (book or movie) it the only Zombie movie where the Zombies have a purpose in the end.

[–] replicant4 (219) 6 years ago

I wish the TWD had considered (early on...in S1 or S2) the whole notion that animals could be affected as well. Can you imagine how freaky THAT would be? However, that probably would have ballooned the budget quite a bit, having to create the affected animals. But I do agree with the "inconsistency" of the walkers. Does anyone remember in S1......the walkers seemed to display basic problem solving skills, like picking up an object (rock to break glass).....or, in one scene....they actually started CLIMBING a FENCE! LOL

Ahhh, well. Even with its flaws, I still think this is a great show. It will be an EPIC show if Rick finds his way back to his group in the final episodes of the last season.

[–] TJLamb0518 (3316) 6 years ago

Well, in Night of the Living Dead (the gold source for this type of fiction) we see the ghouls picking up bricks, rocks, table legs...even using a trowel to stab someone. So the problems you see in TWD are hardly new.

[–] replicant4 (219) 6 years ago

It's more the inconsistency of it. If they had (some) basic problem-solving skills in S1, why did that all go away? (No more fence-climbing walkers, for example). Certainly not a big deal. Just an inconsistency.

[–] TJLamb0518 (3316) 6 years ago

Because....they were dead?

I mean, the easy answer is that those simple skills eroded as their minds and bodies decomposed.

[–] replicant4 (219) 6 years ago

That's kind of the cop-out answer people tend to default to. It works just fine.

[–] TJLamb0518 (3316) 6 years ago

We're talking about a show where the dead rise, anyone can pierce a skull with a screwdriver like it's made out of wet cardboard and housewives, kids and priests can not only shoot well, but get a head shot a large majority of the time.

A show where the normally sparsely populated countryside is now home to zombies in numbers that outweigh the formerly living population by thousands.

The whole show is a premise that requires a lot of copping out. It's called suspension of disbelief.

[–] winslow (1318) 6 years ago

The true reason for it is they changed showrunners partly because there were disagreements about what they wanted the zombies to be able to do.

[–] Ldlamb (639) 6 years ago

I enjoy storytelling....this obsession with picking apart everything with a demand for “realism”, especially when it’s a story like this, I’ll just never understand.

[–] FifthFreedom (196) 6 years ago

You could consider it a Resident Evil style virus if that helps. I imagine the virus gives the zombies a small degree of superhuman strength and keeps them from fully decomposing... and zombies aren't dead, they're undead, kinda like vampires.

[–] brux (14724) 6 years ago

> here.There is no virus that can reanimate the dead and even if there was they wouldn't have this ''super strong'' bite force as the human jaw and teeth are pitiful at biting and they would simply decay not posing much threat after a few years. Forget about ''TS-19'' (this wasn't even included in the comics either).

I totally agree with your logic here ... but this genre is "horror" and as we know the rules of a horror story must have some logic for the reader to ascribe meaning to, but do not need to parallel the real world's physical laws. If they did no one would have watched the walking dead past the first episode, let alone the first season.

I don't think they should mess with the fundamentals of the show, as it is not really about zombies but about how human beings interact with each other. In that regard it is pretty lame, so I wonder what the pay-off of watching this show really is for different people.

If I was orchestrating the show I would be less concerned with cliff-hangers and more concerned with making it thoughtful and interesting ... but it may just be me that likes that, I know my taste in movies is anything but mainstream; not that I cannot enjoy a blockbuster now and then.

TWD is aimed at a low mentality, and I am always lobbying for something more inspirational and uplifting ... even if it has to be in the horror genre.

[–] replicant4 (219) 6 years ago

You're correct in saying the show is less about zombies than about how people react (and devolve) when the world goes to shit. In that regard, it's a few steps above just a zombie show. As has been said by others, it's more like a western. But with the ZA....that just puts an extra challenge to things. It created their predicament. Even more so than a war or plague could have done. In this regard, the idea and the story are quite intelligent and compelling.

[–] Moonglum9 (11275) 6 years ago

If you combined the walking dead zombies with 28 days later zombies, that seems like the only realistic way that zombies would overrun the whole planet: They'd have to be slow turning, fast moving zombs. Slow moving (whether they turn from a bite fast or slow) zombies wouldn't really be able to take over against organized military and police forces. And fast moving, fast turning zombies like in 28 days later would only be able take over whatever land mass they were on, but would be stopped by oceans and geographical barriers. If they were slow turning, instead of the instant change, some infected people could travel to other regions on the planet before people knew they were infected and then the whole planet could be affected.