MovieChat Forums > The Girl with All the Gifts (2017) Discussion > Is this just an adaption of 'The Last Of...

Is this just an adaption of 'The Last Of Us'?

posted 8 years ago by MikeRydal
10 replies | jump to latest

I did enjoy this movie, but there was something all too familiar.

The plot for the PlayStation game 'The Last Of Us' is set in a dystopian city scape, after a mutated fungus infects humans with a zombie-like effect, several militarized zones are built to protect the uninfected. There is a young girl who possibly holds the key to curing the infection, thus needs to be protected by fleeing the city. There are also themes of airborne spores that affect the atmosphere, making breathable air infectious.

It's exactly the same plot...sure, a few alterations but almost identical.

Given that 'The Last Of Us' was released in July 2013, and the book 'The Girl With All The Gifts' was released six months later in January 2014 (ample time for literary treatment)...I can't help but call plagiarism.

TGWATG is a decent movie, I wouldn't knock the film, but I can't accept the fact that it does not share the same universe as 'The Last Of Us'

Did anyone else notice this?

[–] dani3po-1 8 years ago

Yes, I noticed it too. Very similar in many ways. But the book was an adaptation of a short story, "Iphigenia In Aulis", published in an horror anthology in 2013 (or maybe before that; the first reference I can find is this interview with the author) http://www.thebookseller.com/profile/mike-carey-interview

[–] oscar_ray2_jimenez 8 years ago

Yeah, but The Last Of Us was in development for a long time and lots of details about the plot, characters, production designs, etc. were known to the general public way before 2013. During 2012, in fact, there was a true media avalanche of details about it coming up in a semi-regular basis week in, week off.

[–] aimesuk 8 years ago

It was literally my first thought when I read the synopsis even though I'm an Xbox player!

[–] neolestat 8 years ago

It was literally my first thought when I read the synopsis

This ^
----------
"Nulla injuria est, quae in volentem fiat"

[–] doodoohead 8 years ago

I've only seen the trailer, but it looks a lot like TLOU!

[–] rabbitmoon 8 years ago

Massively.

The whole eco-development (sewer overflows leading to vegetation on building) must have been directly copied from the ideas behind TLOU, as well as fungus attacking the brain, the standing zombies.

Many of the outdoor shots and atmospheres feel EXACTLY like TLOU.

They may as well have called it The Last Of The Fireflies.

[–] BigRich 8 years ago

That story/game is just another adaption of The Omega Man (1971). Neither story is original. If I had more time, I'm sure I could find at least 3 more movies where the protagonist has some sort of "cure" in their body that can save mankind, and that the rest of the world is made up of zombies or mindless people eating freaks.

Army doctor Robert Neville struggles to create a cure for the plague that wiped out most of the human race.

If you recall The Omega Man, even in that movie, the children were immune up to a point.

_
Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.

[–] The_Gribbler 8 years ago

Just finished the game recently and watching this now, agree with all your points. As said by others, the core story is fairly generic but this movie particularly seems to copy a lot of specific elements from the game.

"I watch a lot of movies" - Me.

[–] raf-33 8 years ago

Cordyceps is a very scary organism that has had people talking for decades about it's freaky properties, to have it used as a plot device in multiple things is not plagiarism. That would be like someone saying "This movie had vampires in it.. hasn't that been done before?"

A recent (shyte) British movie called something like Hangar 21 also used Cordyceps as a plot device.

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. -Isaac Asimov

[–] AngryAfghan 8 years ago

Given that 'The Last Of Us' was released in July 2013, and the book 'The Girl With All The Gifts' was released six months later in January 2014 (ample time for literary treatment)...I can't help but call plagiarism.

That is not enough time to write a novel and get it published, not by a long stretch, but as has already been pointed out the novel is itself based on an earlier short story by the same author. I think what you are confusing is the imagery used in the film and the novel. The film certainly resembles The Last of Us, and I would agree that it seems too obvious to ignore, but you seem to be judging a book (have you even read it?) by its film adaptation, and that's pretty sloppy. In fact, its comments like this which make me glad that the message boards are shutting down and nobody will even read my comment.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix