Black Summer (Netflix zompocalypse short series)

[Rogerborg]

I didn't have high hopes for this, but it surprised me.

The premise is simple enough: a group of survivors trying to get to a stadium during a zombie outbreak. Fast, instant zombies, 28 Days Later / World War Z style.

But credit where it's due, they do a damn good job of it.  It's done almost entirely as long continuous shot run-hide-survive action scenes with minimal talky exposition and some real tension because they make it very clear early on that any of the cast can check out at any time, abruptly and without warning.

Granted, the budget isn't quite there to do the job that they really wanted to do: they spend quite a bit of time running around the block in the same suburban neighbourhood.  But the commitment is strong and there are a few genuinely shocking and affecting dramatic moments.

It goes a little gun-porn toward the end, and I got quite annoyed by the "high cap" magazines and endless reloads pulled out of nowhere.

That's a minor moan though.  At only 8 jam packed episodes, I think it's well worth the time.

 

[Tackle]

it was ok, clearly very limited budget, many of the scenes, while filmed at different locations, utilized the same bunch of old cars, just placed in a different order each time, first time I spotted im like waddyaknow, by the end I was driving the missus mad with it.

I gotta get out more lol.

 

[Rogerborg]

Heh, yes, that was painfully obvious.  I got irked by them not picking up and carrying Blunt Objects, or toting any food or survival gear around as well.

But it's not Walking Dead, they chose to go a different way, and I found it quite the palate cleanser.

 

[Diemaco]

I enjoyed it. There were a few niggles, but it was definitely not the worst of the genre that I've seen.

Here's the trailer, if anyone hasn't got Netflix.

 

[Immortal]

Thanks for the headsup, I'll start watching it at sun down. ? Love these sort of shows.

 

[Tackle]

 I got irked by them not picking up and carrying Blunt Objects, or toting any food or survival gear around as well.

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Wtf was that about, never mind the complete lack of head shots, have none of them ever seen any zombie based shows or films, even when they eventually bashed a few skulls in, nobody then shouts "guys, go for the heads, that works"

And those "children of the corn" wannabes at the school, bigger pain in the ass than the zeds.

. ? Love these sort of shows.

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Been thinking about giving Z Nation another try, watched about 5 episodes in season 1 when it first came out, but it didn't "hook me", but just seen it's up to season 4 or 5 now, maybe they started doing something right ?

 

[Immortal]

Been thinking about giving Z Nation another try, watched about 5 episodes in season 1 when it first came out, but it didn't "hook me", but just seen it's up to season 4 or 5 now, maybe they started doing something right ? 

Click to shrink...

I enjoyed Z nation, quite an amusing twist for a zombie series. Had a good imagination for weird zombie hybrids.

I haven't watched it since they got to the submarine and I'm not sure how many seasons behind I am now? 2 I think.

I liked The Strain first season aswell, but that fell apart fairly quickly. I liked Dracula but they canned it too. Not sure what's going on with Fear the Walking Dead, I think they'll can that too - they shouldn't have killed off the junky son, he WAS the show. Plus the loony ranch son.

Always on the lookout for something new. ?

 

[Tackle]

wanted to enjoy FWD, watched right to the end of last season, but too much drama/love interest, & not enough actual zeds etc.

 

[Gepard]

I tried to enjoy it but just couldn't. It's shot well at times but there's a lot of scenes where it just leaves me thinking "What the fuck are you doing?". Acting or writing, a lot of the dialogue just sounds bad. The ending speaks for itself. Just terrible.

I don't think it's peaks are worth slogging through all the garbage to get to. To each their own. Glad you liked it. 

 

[Immortal]

wanted to enjoy FWD, watched right to the end of last season, but too much drama/love interest, & not enough actual zeds etc.

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Yeah, and the same now with The Walking Dead. They've got very repetitive.They've got very repetitive.They've got very repetitive. :lol:

Setup camp, go on a pretend supply run, bump into a bad group, camp compromised, token zeds deployed, camp collapses & repeat.

 

[Rogerborg]

The ending [of Black Summer] speaks for itself. Just terrible

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I enjoyed it because...

Spoiler

I found it a surprising twist.  Usually I'd be irked by it, but they'd committed strongly and consistently enough to the tone, particularly in the preceding scene, that averting it right at the end felt cathartic.

 

[Tackle]

I enjoyed it because...

Spoiler

I found it a surprising twist.  Usually I'd be irked by it, but they'd committed strongly and consistently enough to the tone, particularly in the preceding scene, that averting it right at the end felt cathartic.

Click to shrink...

Roger, you do like to chuck in some posh words just to keep us commoners on our toes, cant figure out if its:

A. Your a barrister in your day job

or

B. You bought a job lot of "word of the day" bog roll ?

 

[Rogerborg]

I'm not a barrister, but I play one online.

Or less cryptically, I work on police computer systems among other things, so have spent a bit of time reading legislation to make sure that we're keeping them right.  That's two forms of pedantic esoteric almost-English to deal with - it rubs off on you after a while.