I agree with your opinion about book of eli xD.. but yeah the post-apocalyptic scenery is nothing new, or nothing fallout out came up with.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned who the writer of Book of Eli is.

Gary Whitta the writer, was also the editor in chief of PC gamer magazine for several years. So yea, I wouldn't be quick to dismiss that the movie takes some queues from post apocalyptic games.

As for the discussion regarding Eli being blind? I seriously doubt he is, because Eli is Denzel Washington.

What does Denzel have to do with Eli being blind you ask? Consider this for a moment, Denzel is an oscar winning actor who's been in dozens of high grossing movies. There is no doubt as to how talented he is. If he is to be portraying a blind man in Book of Eli don't you think he would put a little effort into trying to ACT blind? Instead he makes perfect eye contact with whoever he's talking to, looks at items as he reaches for them.

If you guys think Eli is supposed to be blind, then Denzel's acting ability completely went out the window. He got out-acted by some unknown lady who we KNOW is blind in the movie.


OH btw, watch A Boy and His Dog if you haven't already.

Uh, Eli's blindness was supposed to shock you - that's why he doesn't "act" blind. That would have killed the surprise. He's blind b/c he's a prophet - there's a traditional linkage between being a prophet and being blind.

A boy and his dog was okay in my opinion.

"The Road" was much better than Eli or Boy and his dog, although it was downer.

A bboy and his dog are much closer to fallout then mad max or the road in my opinion.

Just imho, I loved Eli. Thought it got the "feel" of FO3 down (especially if you're a player who wanders the wastes and squats in abandoned buildings), especially in the beginning of the film. Once he gets to the town there's definitely a Mad Max feel to it. Overall I loved Eli, and FO3 for that matter. I didn't mind the religious/Christian themes in Eli, but I'm a Christian. I can understand how someone from another faith tradition would be bothered by it. In any case, Eli made me go home and play FO even more, so good times.

What you call snarky, I call hilarious.

My warn status remains at 0.00.



I'll continue to rely on my own judement thank you very much. B)

Minor correction: Cannibalism CAN transmit a prion disease like K-JD (also called BSE in cows, or "mad cow disease"), Kuru or other diseases that tend to share the common symptoms of loss of motor control (IE "shakes"), eventual paralysis, ect. But that requires brain-to-blood contact with an infected person. It did happen among some cannibal tribes (the kuru outbreak ended the practice, and almost ended the tribe), but I wouldn't say it's common.


Though did anyone note the minor cross-reference potential in-joke with the guy by the Vegas gate? talking about his dad the butcher and his competition giving people the shakes? I found it funny in a gruesome way.


Also, on the topic of other movies, I think they're all drawing from the same well. Fallout was essentially the unofficial followup to Wasteland, which drew inspiration from A Boy and His Dog and Mad Max (which in turn also drew inspiration from A Boy and His Dog). Book of Eli is just one more in that long tradition.

You know what I want to do? try tracing the true originator of the genre, Wasteland was probably the first post-apoc video game. Mary Shelly's "the last man" might well be both the first sci/fi and first post-apoc book, but it didn't have all the elements (raiders, ect) and lacked the atom bomb because it predated the manhattan project by over a hundred years.

The problem is most of those early works either lack the elements of the fallout-style post-apocalypse: Raiders, radiation, scavengers, ect. or are of the "cozy catastrophe genre where the focus is on a small invariably W.A.S.P. types rebuilding society without the hardscrabble survival elements that define the genre as well.

I really don't have it in me to read through all 100+ posts in this thread and edit out every single off-topic or forum-inappropriate post in here, right now. If I later come to regret that decision, warnings will be handed out. Here are some ground rules to remember, from the Forum Rules:

Now, given that this is talking about a movie that deals with religion as a central plot element, it's understandable that occasionally discussion might veer toward inappropriate subjects. So far, I'm going to let what has already been posted slide (though I do reserve the right to change my mind later on...)

That said - the topic of this thread is the movie's similarities to Fallout. Getting into a religious discussion - regardless of the connection to the film - is technically off-topic in this case. So keep on-topic, people.

Eli is blind, its obvious in many parts, him stumbling, over processed sound effects, hell if you listen sometimes you hear him clicking with his mouth like a bat.

also either the writer or the directors confirmed he was blind, can't remember which.

Lol my thoughts exactly. I was really enjoying it, but then when the religion thing begun I was like "Okay... I'm sure it will blow over soon...". But it didn't. Turns out the whole damn movie was religious. I was the one who suggested it to my group, and I had bear the embarrassment of apologizing to everyone for wasting our time with that silly thing.

Or if it had been some fantasy fictional deity instead????? Instead????? Is that not what God is anyways?!

Religion is to blame for near 90% of all wars, conflicts etc in history.

Anyways, back to the OP. When i first saw the movie i did think it resembled Fallout. And thats kinda why i went to see it. But i agree with the others on here, BLIND?!! WTF, shooting like that!!!

Only opinions, and i stand by them.

Book of Eli might've been good movie if it had at very least 40 minutes of more length as added depth to the characters and the central storyarc - I don't care about the religious twist (not a particularly good nor bad call), in fact I thought it could've worked if the whole thing was otherwise done "properly". As it is, it's.... an indifferent movie that doesn't really offer anything that it would also leave shorthanded and shallow. I didn't regret renting it, but I also didn't remember it anymore the next day.

The Road, however, felt almost like an artmovie - it gave some similiar vibes at times as Tarkovskys Stalker, though Ther Road wasn't as stretching, abstract and difficult to explain. But there was this sad and desperate vibe in both along with the exremely slow pace. Good movies.

This. In fact, I felt the whole religious aspect added to the atmosphere and Eli's purpose in the movie. I too am an atheist and next to Star Wars, The Book of Eli is my favorite movie.

I'd be okay if the motivation the characters were religious, but the constant implications that his powers or whatever came from god in a real, tangible sense, just blew it and turned the movie into stealth preaching.

I don't remember them mentioning it. It's not hard to believe a man would be extremely 'adjusted' over many years and calling it 'divine powers'. The thing I find interesting about Book of Eli is all the complaints about religion in it. It was about him delivering a bible, he had a dream. Besides overall it was a good movie.

Of course! Eli must have a hidden pip boy under his sleeves because during some of the shooting scenes its like he is using vats.

I would just like to point out something about the movie...

Malcom Mcdowell was in it (he played the guy at the end who transcribed the bible)

Malcom Mcdowell=voice of John Henry Eden in Fallout 3

Where am I going with this you say?....

One could say that Eli found a sanctuary at the end....an isolated safe-haven in a destroyed world.....an Enclave one might say.......

The road was very religious, it just didn't have the bonus of being an awesome movie. I loved Book of Eli, and it's very Fallout ish. The road svcked :/

anyway....yah...lol

Uhm, just wondering...How was The Road religious? The only thing I remember being a remotely (as in very, very far away in the distance) religious comment was the father telling his son that they 'carry the flame'. They weren't on their way to some safe haven or protecting religious artifacts, they were just on the move to survive and reach places a little more hospitable.

I agree...I didn't see any real connections with religion in the road. If anything the book of Eli was more religious.

Personally I liked them both but I sort of felt The Road had a better overall story to it.

I watched the movie. It was pretty Okay, except for when Eli shot an arrow through a rapist's genitals :confused: . He probably used VATS during that scene.

Sweet! :biggrin: