» Sun Oct 10, 2010 4:36 pm
The things that people keep pointing to as similiar (broken overpasses, washed-out color palette, lots of desert, etc,) are things I don't find terribly particular to Fallout, in general. Sure, Fallout has all of those things, too - but so does literally anything post-apocalyptic in the first place. I saw an article over on G4 talking about the similarities between Book of Eli and Fallout 3; and he seemed to have came to the same conclusion - it's far more likely that both are coming from the same sets of influences rather than that one has any clear influence over the other.
On the other hand, apparently the director or writer of the movie (or something) has a bit of a background in videogames; so I wouldn't rule out some of the art direction being influenced by playing Fallout, etc. Sure, Fallout as a whole has been a popular game, with a unique spin on an aesthetic that was pretty well established by the time Fallout 1 came out - it's not impossible that it's going to influence other works in the same genre.
On the other hand - I was already a bit of sci-fi nerd with a real affinity towards the post-apocalyptic genre well before Fallout 1, even (which is what drew me to the game in the first place, back then.) The only thing that really speaks to me as unavoidably Fallout is it's particular retro look. Without that specific styling, any time I see a new post-apocalyptic movie or game; I'm more likely to be reminded of A Boy and His Dog, or (of course) Mad Max more than I am to think it's got any clear connection to Fallout.
If there comes a time where I see a movie coming out that looks like it's set in the post-apocalyptic remains of a utopian society as envisioned by pulp writers of the 1950's - then I'll be the first to go "Hey, that looks a lot like Fallout!" But other than that, it's going to take more than a crumbling overpass (which isn't terribly specific to Fallout in the first place,) to make me see an definitive connection.