Video-game adaptations are mostly bad, so bad they’re good, or lucked into some cult following. Thankfully, we’ve now had the amazing The Last of Us release, and Fallout just knocked it out of the park, which will hopefully break the curse of bringing games to film and TV.
Adaptations of any popular media are guaranteed one thing: intense criticism from very vocal people online. The reasons vary, but the hope is those shows or movies can rise above the lashings to wider appeal or critical success.
The Last of Us rose above despite some nitpicking online, and there will certainly be people upset at some choices or depictions in Fallout, but it’s also just such a great show that those folks will be drowned out.
These two great shows also couldn’t be further from one another in the types of stories they’re telling, the worlds they’re set in, or even just the general tones they’re going for.
The Last of Us is a prestige drama meant to tear at your emotions the more you invest in the plight of its main characters.
Fallout is an action-filled sci-fi adventure colored by absurdist, satirical humor, with some old school Western trappings.
Despite their stark differences, they share a lot of the same qualities when it comes to their philosophies on making their respective shows.
Embrace the Universe
The most important thing, and something that is bafflingly disregarded or deemed insignificant by so many lately, is a genuine embrace and understanding of the series’ universe.
The big miss on this recently is of course Halo, where the creators almost proudly announced they didn’t play the games and have seemed to largely have missed the mark with critics and fans alike, though the tides may be changing.
The Last of Us is just about pitch perfect in adapting the grounded and intense atmosphere of the game, where Fallout straddled the complicated line of telling compelling, character-driven stories with its irreverent humor and satire.
As a matter of fact, I think Fallout is the first adaptation to capture the spirit of the absurd type of violence you can wreak in a video game. The gore and blood will remind you of The Boys, but the crazy weaponry and antics on display will likely remind you of scenes you played out yourself somewhere in the Fallout games.
In a more broad sense, translating combat to the screen in the form of violence like the Fallout show is often poorly handled. So many shows either miss the mark completely or use the scenes to poke fun at just how ridiculous (how juvenile) games are.
What’s interesting is how this absurdity, when derived from a game, is met with more pushback when seen in a film or on TV.
Somehow as viewers we have a firmer boundary on our suspension of disbelief, or willingness to go along with the surreal. That’s despite the fact that movies can be, and are often just as, absurd as games.
As a viewer, we feel we need some convincing before we accept whatever nonsense is being pushed at us. Games have a leg up in that there’s already some sense of buy in due to their interactivity, creating some sense of ownership of what happens on screen.
Because there is an irreverence in the Fallout games that the show embraces earnestly, it was perfectly set up to make those insane scenes more palatable to some, too. In the same vein, the brutality in The Last of Us reinforces its themes of violence and just how depraved humanity can be.
Respecting the Source Material
It’s easier to point this out with The Last of Us, as there are few games more primed for a phenomenal TV adaptation, but Fallout is another great example of respecting the source material.
Fallout isn’t a retelling of any game in the Fallout series but a whole new story in the established universe. It’s a series with strong theming, messaging, and tone, all of which shine in the show.
It would have been easy to tell a new story with some Fallout-themed sets and clothing, but not much else. Instead, the show obviously has a deep knowledge of what makes Fallout popular and how the universe works, even expanding the lore in phenomenal ways.
Too many adaptations just use the power of a name and established IP to sell a product. You may not remember the Monster Hunter movie that came out not long ago or, hey, remember Need for Speed?
Strong Creators with a Specific Vision
What helps combat that cynical cash grab in the cases of both The Last of Us and Fallout is something else they have in common: established creators with a strong vision.
Craig Mazin created The Last of Us for TV after making the incredible Chernobyl series on HBO back in 2019. Fallout has Jonathon Nolan, who co-wrote several movies with his brother Christopher Nolan, like The Dark Knight and Interstellar, and created Westworld.
Well-known creators don’t guarantee success, and there are of course many more people involved in what makes all their projects great, but creating the idea of a show or movie obviously brings with it important creative pillars the project will be supported by.
It is in sketching out these ideas that whatever inspired them to adapt a particular setting comes out. In other words, that’s likely where the decisions of just how important certain aspects of a universe are over the type of story they want to tell.
How important is Fallout’s satire to the series? How present should the infected or clickers be in The Last of Us?
I just hope more people with strong visions like Mazin and Nolan are given projects like this in the future, or these sorts of pitches are given more credence.
Again, that’s not to say someone new to the scene can’t make something great, but projects of this size often have too many people with input on what the show should be. Veterans like Mazin and Nolan have more means to protect their vision (like being an executive producer) and likely the confidence to do so.
Sentiment from what can feel like a somewhat pretentious community in filmmakers seems to be changing as they realize the great source of worthwhile material in video games. Hopefully that means we'll see more projects like The Last of Us, Fallout, Arcane, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Even though it’s been rocky for quite a while, at least we’re not having to live through more movies from Uwe Boll.
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Andrew is the Editor in Chief at TechRaptor. Conned into a love of gaming by Nintendo at a young age, Andrew has been chasing the dragon spawned by Super… More about Andrew
