Max Brooks gives his opinion of the 'World War Z' film - San Diego Comic-Con 2013

Author Max Brooks speaks on his opinion of the movie version of his best selling book,
'World War Z' at San Diego Comic-Con 2013

[@juggernaught79]

It should’ve been an episodic miniseries.

[@muffinman5741]

Miniseries? Normal series with a season for each stage of the war

[@normora877]

Faux documentary in the style of Ken Burns is how I picture the book being adapted.

[@LuisSierra42]

@@normora877 That would be awesome

[@snatchr2451]

@@normora877 Yeah this. Adapting WWZ as a linear narrative story just sounds stupid. The whole appeal is the interview style of the book. A mockumentary is perfect.

[@maadtee6281]

@@snatchr2451 or it can be like one of those ghost stories that are told

[@bouncyblight2001]

The creatures in WWZ weren’t even zombies, they just acted as a virus by biting once and moving on to the next person.

[@BeazleyStudios]

This guy definitely inherited his dad's humor and story telling skills

[@princekiro1596]

I wish I could hear Max's thoughts on World War Z the game. The game is actually more faithful to the book than the movie, despite taking place in the same universe as the movie.

[@josephdoria5237]

The game feels a lot more global, just like the book. You hear about the Battle of Yonkers in the New York section, and the relocation of Japan to Kamchatka in the Japan missions. You even get a hint about Russia’s religious awakening. I would love to see a sequel take place in other places heavily mentioned in the book, like India and China. Maybe even an underwater section in hard suits. One can only dream.

[@eduardcardenas9736]

@@josephdoria5237 india would just be hell, like 1 billon people on mostly flat terrain, it would make a perfect endless mode tho

[@sinisterskills17]

For what it is its not a bad film but for fans of the WWZ ebook like me, here is my recommendation if you haven't seen the movie yet, just pretend that its an I AM LEGEND prequel where the world falls apart while Will Smith and his dog hide in their home in New York City, that's literally what kept me from being enraged by the movie.

[@sinisterskills17]

WWZ book or ebook, whichever yall have read

[@InfinityVision]

I saw it before reading the book and just as a zombie type movie in general it was bad. The zombies in there couldn't scare a babysitter. If you're used to watching kiddie films, I'm sure it would scare you to death though.

[@princekiro1596]

The game is actually more faithful to the book than the movie.

[@Agent_Z3ro]

It was for the movie that I got interested in reading the book. So I like both film and Book

[@JAEWST]

The movie made me start hating Hollywood adaptations

[@pathfinderLXXIV]

This book would make an amazing Netflix of Amazon series.

[@trannigan3349]

WWZ the movie was a decent modern day zombie movie, it just shouldn't have been called World War Z. It should have just had 3 more big name celebs on the mainn cast and been called Left 4 Dead the Movie.

[@AussieGriffin]

Mature attitude from someone who knew what he was in for. Like this guy the more I hear from it. A.G.

[@kennethbryant5819]

such a healthy take on your work being adapted. I hope I can take this outlook on anything I could make being adapted if it ever happens.

[@JayJay-xd5lm]

Preach !

[@Randomman4343]

If they can make a faithful series for Game of Thrones, they can also make one for WWZ. Someone please make it happen.

[@jesustirado7817]

This comment didn’t age well lol

[@punchylarue106]

This aged like fine wine 😂

[@adechandrahasibuan4612]

About that ....

[@zacharysain8516]

@@jesustirado7817 I mean I’ll take a series doing an excellent first four seasons with the next four being drivel over nothing. The book is awesome, so seeing the early fuckups through the great panic would be dope

[@Lutzr2193X]

Max doesn't quiet have his dad's comedic timing but he's funny in his own way.

[@iansmith3593]

The book was absolutely brilliant. The movie was entertaining and held my interest. So yes, I enjoyed both.

[@fastony9659]

Snarky left handed comments? Yep, definitely a Brooks kid.

[@TheChatterbox1991]

LMAO! Brooks is the best!

[@killuminatoV01]

Shit movie.....Fucking fantastic book. Save yourself the misery and just read the amazingly writen book.

[@nicolajohnson1887]

The book would be better served as a tv show rather than a movie.

[@TheDarkkirb]

he is his fathers son

[@muhammadrifqiharazi1531]

No shit

[@smokeypillow]

@@muhammadrifqiharazi1531 hahahaha

[@jessea4438]

He is actually writing the next movie, with David Fincher directing it and Brad Pitt returning. The sequel might actually be better (considering how astounding the book was and how great Fincher's movies are, also Brad Pitt is not only a great actor, he was the best part of the first movie)

[@Jackson-fs9wq]

Jesse A not anymore sadly

[@TrustedOne143]

This didn’t age well

[@jessea4438]

@@TrustedOne143 sadly not...

[@MasterTopHat]

It’s been 3 year a

[@photomitron]

4 years later and we're still waiting hahaha

[@joesavoie3312]

Only good part of the movie... was the kickass video game that came from it. The game is so much fun. Now I want an HBO series about the BOOK. You could make an 3 episode or arc for each part and each person's story. Would be really great

[@princekiro1596]

And surprisingly, the game manages to be more faithful to the book than the movie. The chapters (minus Jerusalem) are based off scenarios from the book like New York retelling the Battle of Yonkers (though changed to The Bronx), Moscow with the Russian army using a Soviet weapon against the zombies, the Japanese evacuating tbe country to Kamchatka, France going on defense against the undead in medieval fortresses (though it is set in Marseille instead of Paris), Rome's chapter being based on the UK with humanity going on the offense, and Kamchatka being based on Xu Zhicai's interview. Even the characters themselves like Bunko being an American gender-swap of Kondo Tatsumi and Arnetta being Mary Jo Miller.

[@halliep-s6880]

watching this six years later-still disappointed in what could have been. i’d love to someday see it turned into a tv show or miniseries though. i think the format of the book would translate really well into that

[@Memelord4dayz]

I agree man, something with the quality of the walking dead.

[@starpaladinnelaj]

Just got done reading the book for the 5th time and yeah, i can't help but hope that someday, this book gets the treatment it deserves

[@shadowwatcher3957]

@@starpaladinnelaj In Mockumentary style!

[@omotaraibiloyetwentyninete6279]

this cannot be the man that wrote world war z..whole time i was reading the book i had this image of max brooks being some 60 year old plus man...come to think it's pretty much a bro with an excellent sense of humor..amazing

[@swrennie]

I recommend the full cast audiobook. Very good.

[@JnEricsonx]

I have probably listened to that a dozen times. I mean, when you have MARTIN SCORCESE and Frank Darabont among others doing the dialogue....

[@thelordofforeheads2839]

It would have been nice if some kind of tv series was made every time interviewing the different characters like in the book, but they decided to make it a movie

[@JnEricsonx]

It would be interesting, but a LOT of the sections of the book though wouldn't translate as well to live-action, per se? I mean, show me the battle of Yonkers, holy shit, or the two stories set in Japan, but others....

[@thelordofforeheads2839]

Jon Ericson yeah that’s what I meant, have the guy being interviewed explain the background then fade to the live action scene

[@JnEricsonx]

@@thelordofforeheads2839 Fair enough, just saying some of the stories are more interesting reading, than seeing them live, or, if so, some of those stories would be only a few minutes long.

[@futurebillionaire0]

it was a decent movie, but it certainly bore noooo resemblance to the book, which is way better

[@FelisDestructicus]

this is like watching someone take a love letter and turning it into a porno

[@djkaibaxter419]

Lmao

[@AltbinariesPPK]

This guy's a pretty cool dude

[@mountainmamma1643]

I love him so much more after this

[@DB8U]

If they didn't make the main character, Israel, and the end so foolish, it would be great. The main character's plot armor was just insane. Israel managed to prepare for the how virus and don't prepare for people being loud. The whole "world ending disaster" is resolved by the end of the movie is poor writing.

[@virgogaming6488]

This movie is the reason why my brother never goes out to see movies anymore, being a fan of the book.

[@clydemarshall8095]

It was a decent movie. I personally prefer the book.

[@topgun9686]

+Clyde Marshall it is sooo long as you dont think its based on the book >>

[@loki_l_1380]

Honestly think it would be a masterful animated series. Literally just animate all of the experiences from the book in order and treat it like its a project created in universe to as a historical piece.

[@JnEricsonx]

Keep the audiobook cast as well.

[@richardbakermcelroy3456]

Exactly my take on the movie!

[@Stoner075C]

I guess for those who didn't know the book, the movie may be good or at least entertaining. I knew the book, which I find superb, and to be sincere I found the flick severely lacking and worst of all, tedious.

[@jtbarbat]

Movies because of their medium are notoriously different from the books that inspire them. This novel written from the interviewers/primary character/narrator's notes of a recent apocalyptic past World War Z, spells out the intimate details a movie could never afford which is what makes the novel good/interesting. The Movie has to take a singular peek at the momentary actions of the characters and the forces they battle to impart the story. They are joined by the single concept that all municipalities are cataclysmically affected by this problem. The book details in rich pros what the movie shows in a handful of disturbing scenes. both are good and essentially saying the same thing. the not so subtle changes in the movie... the movements of the running zombies may have been conceived to help conceptualize the enormous numbers of zombies the book portrays. I wonder if the film maker was as unsettled during his first viewing of this change in zombie behavior and ability as all of the patron viewers of the movie... Excellent book and movie!

[@michaelflury4434]

minus one line used in the movie, just some random locations used in the movie was used in the books also.

[@londomollari1082]

3:21 What is he saying there?

[@ethanbox2010]

I feel like we just got screwed out of a movie of the book. That's all the WWZ movie did for fans.

[@alancarmine9313]

¿Alguien que hable español que resuma todo lo que dice Brooks?

[@nolanhewitt2563]

It was a good film me and mom loved it I'll begin the audiobook tomorrow

[@JnEricsonx]

I have listened to the audiobook probably 5 times just due to the cast.

[@MaximumMadnessStixon]

I've never read the book, although it's on my "to read" list. I did see the movie though. I didn't particularly like it. It had a lot of really cool ideas, but I found the execution lacking. (The best analogy I can think of is that the film was an archer aiming for a bullseye, before accidentally the target altogether and shooting the arrow to the side- it just sort of somehow misses the mark and doesn't work.) That being said, I don't think it was terrible. Just heavily, heavily flawed.

[@wyolaskan1868]

Well, you won't have to worry about spoilers. As he said here, the only similarity is the title, really.

[@JonyTony2018]

Book and the movie have zero things in common. Even zombies are different

[@Memelord4dayz]

Hey have you read the book yet my guy?

[@clementmwangi464]

it could have been awesome if they followed the book detail by detail

[@samsquanch197]

should have sold the rights to warner brothers lol

[@ramO-jp8tp]

Should have called it I Am Legend 2

[@AJTComicsBrand]

If he didn't like the film why did he sell the rights then????

[@WormholeJim]

The book and the movie are both awesome, they are just two different things, is all. Worse have happened: Just take "I am Legend" - the movie is sort of bland completely missing the point of the title. Read the book instead and get blown away.

[@Void_tear3123]

I wonder what he thinks about the game

[@jtbarbat]

One last thought to so many negative comments about the movie. The movie went bigger than they had ever dreamed and the author of the book said despite the movie's decided differences from the book, he loved it. The Zombies portrayed in the movie haven't been seen before. The immediate sense of terror incited by the aggressive behavior of these zombies is brilliant. In the first ten minutes of the movie, viewers are grappling with the catastrophic dilemma today's society would be facing. The book spells this out in the details a movie couldn't. Likewise I believe the zombies in the movie would have had little affect to the written story.

[@arturodejesuscruzcasab9502]

+JT Barbat I actually feel much more intimidated by the 28 Days and Dawn of the Dead (2004) , and you know why? Because they at least kill people. Really, all the WWZ movie zombies do is bite and run.

[@jtbarbat]

Arturo Casab what happens to them after they are bitten is what is so desturbing and horrific about the wwz zombies.... And once bitten of course they do die. They are dead running corpses...

[@arturodejesuscruzcasab9502]

JT Barbat Yes but they only bite you. In any toher zombie movie they at least try to kill you but in this movie it's tag and run.

[@jtbarbat]

If one is intent of seeing only brutal carnage and human dismemberment, they might altogether miss the overall concept and disturbing reality of such events in this story. What made the movie so striking was not the goriness of the individuals and their ability to demonstrate human carnage, rather it was the producers ability to create a scenario that parrots the average daily life we all know and identify with, and subject that to these suspenseful and horrifically disturbing events depicted in the movie. The reality that human existence is changing in seconds and all one can do at that moment is try to run like hell and somehow avoid it is what insights the horror in this story. To add more carnage would likely detract from the movies impact.

[@arturodejesuscruzcasab9502]

JT Barbat If that's what you wanted, then trust me, the book does it way better than the film. For starters, human existence changed a bit, yes, but it also got sorted out in a couple weeks tops. In the book, nations crumbled, goverments fell and human race united to fight their extinction for over 10 YEARS.Now that was change.

[@rickyjoehand3589]

Movie is okay. The book is better without question

[@Jeffrey314159]

I did not read the book but I do know of the movie's original ending. Brad Pitt was right to change it as the first ending was to depressing and ambigious. Most Americans would not have liked it. So Brad does have boxoffice smarts. Best action film of the year.

[@fullmoonsociety7463]

He's pretty funny tho

[@mikehuly4208]

this guy is like jon cryer

[@ElectricProductions2]

World War Z the movie shouldve been called something else because it wasnt world war z at all but still a good movie

[@Vollification]

It really wasn't... If Brad Pitt dropped out this movie would have never happend. This movie is at best "straight to VHS"-level and not in the "it's so bad it's funny" way.

[@SandmansHate]

Max is saying this so he doesn't get blowback from Hollywood big leagues. Fuck being politically correct,the movie was a pile of shit compared to the book. They used the name for hype,and shit all over the premise.

[@LINKTheReaper]

he can say what ever he wants about the movie, paramount isnt going to do anything if he says he hated the movie. they just bought the wrights to make a film based off his book. and if he really wanted to have his ideas be put into the film he could have held on to the wrights and waited for a different offer, just like GRRM for game of thrones

[@SandmansHate]

LINKTheReaper Before throwing around your opinions,maybe learn how to spell the word "right",correctly.. dipshit.

[@LINKTheReaper]

mad hatter sorry english is my 2nd language but maybe you should check my comment again because yours is wrong... but you have great spelling atleast!

[@ChefMattReviews]

read it or listen to the 5 hour audiobook on youtube. trust me when I say you will hate the movie even more, after you do so.

[@ThePlur427]

ChefMatt Reviews I tried it and just listening to the description of patient zero had me shook.

[@jarhead21100]

Well, how did you like the audiobook?

[@zootycoon2king]

It was a good movie watched it last night even though it bears few similarities to the book it was awesome and I loved it

[@rigsby1454]

It’s an enjoyable film but has nothing to do with the book

[@KyleG0692]

Why the fuck are people laughing

[@deypajo5523]

Winner of a video, I've been looking for "indie band survival guide" for a while now, and I think this has helped. You ever tried - Ryanzon Survival Genie - (search on google ) ? Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my buddy got excellent success with it.

[@SSJSasuke777]

The Movie Sucked. End of Discussion.

[@tdon39]

This guys a geek

[@BorgKing001]

It did suck and i hated it. Haven't read the book yet, want to.

[@robertwalker6684]

too bad they paid a crap load of money for what amounts to a title

[@mrxtra8789]

Movie sucked.

[@donjorge8329]

The movie is total CRAP.

[@Vollification]

It's worse. Crap movies can be fun. This was just "boring".

[@malachitlonborne5071]

WWZ is a GREAT pandemic movie. Its a fucking shitty zombie movie. Just look at it in that light.

[@GhostOfReachB312]

I mean his book was bullshit about going back to napoleon tactics.

[@johnbaker6572]

Brad Pitt saves the world again!