Max Brooks

Movie Review: World War Z

Peter Germany Movie Review, Movies, Zombies , , , , , , ,

***Minor Spoilers***

Hey guys I just thought I’d share a few quick thoughts on World War Z. It was good, but don’t go into it expecting to see a movie with lots of blood and guts and any real reference to the book. As I watched it I noticed a couple of minor references to the book. It felt like they were after thoughts to be honest. If you’ve read I Am Legend by the late Richard Matheson and then seen the Will Smith movie of the same name you’ll know what I mean.
They is no Raj Singh, no Yonkers or the floating cities. There is a snippet with a doctor examining a young man like in the book but I can’t really recall many other references to the book. I’m sure if I listened to the book again and watched the film a couple of more times then I’d notice a few more references but I’ll have to wait for DVD.

Enough moaning about the lack of reference to the book. It is a film I enjoyed, it kept my attention on the screen. The story is okay, although I won’t sure about the way it was wrapped up. The visuals are good and the characters are okay, if cliched. Brad Pitt is Brad Pitt, he does what he does best. I’m not his biggest fan but he is a decent actor and does a steady job here.
The movie starts off quickly before the pace eases off a little and then levels out okay. Brad Pitt’s character has to find the source of the outbreak but instead finds something else.

Do I recommend seeing World War Z? Yes. Despite the lack of reference to The book by Max Brooks and a weak ending its an entertaining movie, great for if you want to chill out and not think too much about it.

Book Review: World War Z

Peter Germany Book Review, Books, Movies, Short Fiction, TV, Writing, Zombies , , , , ,

Okay so it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these where its not just s couple of lines in a bigger post, lets see how much of a pigs ear I make of it! Lol

World War Z was not what I expected at all, if fact I not sure I know what I expected. This book by Max Brooks has a man who works for the U.N. going across the world collecting stories from some of the many people who survived the Zombie war. From speaking to a doctor who recorded an early case to the deep sea divers who are searching the oceans for the zombies down there. Each story is very different.

My friend Mike had said to me the night before I started listening to it (I’ve got the audiobook) that he had started reading it but put it down because he couldn’t get along with it. I can see what he means. If I had it as a an actual book and not audio then I think I would have given up with it. It started off very slowly, and the format was off putting at first. It’s really a collection of short stories as opposed to a normal book with a start, middle and end. It got better though. It was fascinating to see how the world fell to pieces and got put back together. Brooks doesn’t leave anything unthought of in this book. The zombies are the kind that don’t stop, they keep going but they as not the smart ones etc. if you can think of a survival story involving zombies then its in this book. There’s the military point of view and the everyday person point of view. Governments, hired guns and each point of view comes from a different person, in a different country.

It’s a very well thought through and written book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am a little interested in how they have put the movie together because there is no real protagonist. Personally I think a TV series would have complimented the format of the book better but we’ll have t wait and see.

Once past the slow start I well and true fully fell in love with this one 🙂

After A Slow Start

Peter Germany Uncategorized , , , , , ,

I said recently here and on Facebook and Twitter(links to the right of the screen) that World War Z had a really slow start and its taken up to about the four hour mark (I’m listening to the audiobook) to get interesting. I’m now about seven hours into it and I can see why it’s such a popular novel. The ability that Max Brooks has is quite impressive seeing as he’s telling so many different stories. It’s more of a collection of short stories (the book tells the stories of the people that survived the Zombie Apocalypse like they are being interviewed) rather then a novel which follows one main character. This, at first made it difficult for me to get into the book and I would have definitely given up if I was reading and not listening to it.

It has given me a lot to think about too, I am going to be working on a zombie story at some stage in the next year or so and where this covers so many countries and people its hard not to learn something from it.

If there is a zombie apocalypse, this book should be in your survival gear!

I should be finished this one today and I’m keen to see how Brooks brings the novel to its end.