War. War never changes. On April 11, the Fallout universe series was released. And fires are smoldering everywhere — the fan community is divided again. Some criticize the series for desecrating the canon laid down by the “founding fathers.” Others call it the best video game adaptation. They are all right in their own way: the Fallout series is a bright adventure with a touch of British absurdism, created for fans of Todd Howard’s “new wave.” So, how did “Fallout 5” from Jonathan Nolan and Amazon turn out?
The project was instantly dubbed “one of the best video game adaptations ever made.” And you know, it’s hard to argue with that. Does that mean the series is that good, or are all the others that bad? Let’s try to figure it out together, and also talk about its problems and prospects.
From fans for fans
The trend of filming game series has been gaining momentum in recent years. Any self-respecting game studio strives to expand its influence and attract “fresh blood” to the gamer audience in order to more easily recoup the inflated budgets of video game blockbusters. However, every time the industry steps on the same rake – film adaptations are done by people who are not familiar with games at all or are indifferent to them. Which often leads to failure. The Fallout series has become a kind of exception. And here’s why.
The Fallout universe is close to its thirtieth anniversary – the first part of the game series was released in 1997. During this time, many bright minds have thought about a film adaptation, but even at the time when the franchise was already in the hands of Bethesda, Todd Howard in every possible way denied the idea of filming “nuclear fallout”. Why did this finally happen?
Jonathan Nolan took the lead role in the production of the Fallout universe TV series. Christopher Nolan’s younger brother is known not only for his work with his elder brother. Among his projects, we can find, for example, “Westworld”, “Peripherals” and others. But the main trump card in Jonathan Nolan’s sleeve is his love for westerns and the Fallout series of games from Bethesda. In one interview, he even admitted that because of his excessive passion for Fallout 3, fans had to wait so long for “The Dark Knight Rises”.
He approached the production of the Fallout series with great enthusiasm, calling the film adaptation literally a “non-interactive” version of Fallout 5. Todd Howard later confirmed that the events of the series are part of the official canon of the Fallout universe. And it was not for nothing that I mentioned that Nolan is a fan of games from Bethesda.
The series mainly tries to convey the spirit of the Bethesda games, while at the same time arbitrarily dealing with the canon of Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas. This has become the main stumbling block when discussing the series in the fan community. The fans of the “new wave” put it on a pedestal, while the “oldfags” spit and turn up their noses at the “crafts” of Todd Howard and, accordingly, the series. However, even Tim Cain, one of the creators of the original Fallout, spoke positively about the film adaptation and called on fans to be kinder to each other and not argue about which game is better – they are all good in their own way.
I will say for myself that when watching the series you feel that it was created with love and attention to detail, which we will talk about later.
Act I. And from the ashes of a nuclear explosion a new civilization was reborn
Since Jonathan Nolan claimed that this is a “non-interactive” Fallout 5, let’s try to look at the series from that side.
The opening scene shows us a world on the brink of nuclear disaster, against the backdrop of a children’s party. This is the entire aesthetic of Fallout – an apocalypse with a nervous grin on the face and a raised thumb. This takes us back to the Cold War, when similar sentiments were tried to be imposed by government media in the United States. However, the domestic audience is also familiar with the theses about “those who end up in Paradise.”
The year is 2077. Cyberpunk never happened. The energy crisis has reached its peak. The US and Communist China exchange multiple nuclear strikes, and within hours, most of the earth is a scorched wasteland. A select few survive, sheltering in Vault-Tec shelters. Then we jump forward 219 years to 2296. Based on official canon, this takes place 12 years after the events of Fallout 4.
One of the central characters is Lucy MacLean, played by Ella Purnell, a girl who grew up in Vault 33. She knows almost nothing about the world outside the Vault, and her key skills are Repair, Speech, and Science. She also has good shooting and athletic skills, and her Luck and Perception are above average.
Lucy has been a maid for too long, it’s time to think about a family. In order to diversify the gene pool and avoid imprinting, Lucy applies for a marriage exchange with Vault 32. However, the first-class inseminator arriving for the wedding ceremony turns out to be a member of a group of raiders from the surface. Having plundered Lucy’s “shelter”, the newly-made husband and his gang, led by a woman named Moldaver, kidnap Lucy’s father.
At this point, the main quest appears in Lucy’s quest log: “Find and save your father.” Sound familiar? There’s more to come. The girl sets off to explore the Wasteland, full of dangers and unknown secrets.
During the adventure, we meet two other key characters who, in the context of the game, would easily pass for companions with a deep backstory: an unlucky squire from the Brotherhood of Steel and a ghoul marksman driven by the goal of finding his family.
Maximus (Aarn Moten) survived the destruction of Shady Sands and found himself in the Brotherhood of Steel. All his life he dreamed of trying on power armor, but fate had another destiny in store for him – serving the knights-paladins.
Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) is a ghoul gunslinger who roams the Wasteland with one goal: to find his family. A character with a difficult fate, whose backstory is given to us in small portions in “flashbacks” showing the world before the nuclear catastrophe. It was he who became the very “Vault Boy” with a wide smile showing a thumbs up on the advertising posters of the Vault-Tec company – his prototype formed the basis for the mascot.
By coincidence, the kidnappers of Lucy’s father are in dire need of a certain scientist from the secret organization Enclave, but the Brotherhood of Steel and the ghoul-shooter are also eager to get him. Thus, the paths of our heroes cross. Lucy will be able to exchange the scientist for her father, and Maximus will earn the trust of the Brotherhood members.
During the “main quest,” the characters constantly communicate with different characters and are distracted by side “missions.” In this regard, the series really does resemble a “non-interactive” version of the game. Here it is — a new generation of “soap movies.”
And as a “DLC” we have the story arc of Lucy’s brother, Norm. After his sister’s failed marriage, Norm realizes that something is wrong in Vaults 32 and 31 and sets off on his own investigation.
Act II: If War Never Changes, People Must Change
The creators of the series managed to show a plausible world after a nuclear apocalypse. There are flaws in the overall logic and questions like: “Why does the world look like the disaster happened last week after all these years?” They certainly arise, but they were also about the games. In my subjective opinion, there are fewer such complaints about the series. The film crew successfully maneuvers between logic and adding references to mechanics from the games, for example, stimulants and the SPECIAL system
As a result, it feels like the world in the series is more developed in terms of internal logic than Bethesda’s games – we just didn’t have time to demonstrate this fully within the season. Fanservice is used here as a seasoning to add additional shades to the dish and does not draw all the attention to itself.
Ella Purnell did a great job as a naive girl who finds herself on the surface for the first time. Accustomed to the strict rules and safety of the Vault, the girl is completely unsuited to surviving in the Wasteland. Her limited knowledge of the outside world serves as fertile ground for comic situations in which Nolan’s “British trace” is felt. Many saw the main character as an agenda even before the series came out, but I think that choosing a girl for such a role is an incredibly successful move. To see this, just swap Norm and Lucy. You wouldn’t want to watch that. Ella Purnell, by the way, is quite an attractive person, don’t be strict with the girl.
The ghoul-shooter deserves a separate spin-off. This is “our answer to Deadpool” from Jonathan Nolan. Through his past, the viewer is shown the backstory of the world and sheds light on the affairs of the Vault-Tec corporation in particular. Walton Goggins is the main reason to watch the series in the original: you can take the actor out of Birmingham, but you can never take Birmingham out of the actor. In the series, he is responsible for all the bloody scenes and black humor, and also acts as a wise (very long life) teacher for our “simpleton from the Vault”. There is a special chemistry between the characters, and ultimately, watching the duet of Goggins and Pernel brings genuine pleasure.
But the squire Maximus is a fly in the ointment of the cast (I condemn him). His role in the story can be torn to shreds, if there is a desire. Perhaps the problem is that the character as a whole is not written deeply enough or the actor is inexperienced, but you don’t believe in him at all, and sometimes he only gets in the way. I understand that the Brotherhood of Steel side is obliged to be present in the narrative, but the representative for this is frankly unsuccessful. Like Lucy, Maximus is poorly informed about how the world around him works. However, when he gets into comical situations, it seems that this happens only because he is an idiot. It remains to be hoped that his character will receive due development during the second season and will not evoke associations with working off an “agenda”.
As a result, our trio’s hunt for the local “MacGuffin” forms an interesting adventure, filled with black humor, references, and most importantly, not devoid of logic. Additional episodes from the past, and the investigation of Lucy’s brother, competently complement the picture of the world. At the end of the season, even a viewer unfamiliar with the games of the series will not be left perplexed. All questions posed during the course of the narrative are given clear answers, leaving intrigue hanging in the air, prepared for the continuation.
Act III. The uncle groaned, looking at other people’s lids.
In the games of the series by Todd Howard, the events took place on the East Coast of the USA, while the West Coast remained the fiefdom of the founding fathers of the series. However, the events of the TV series adaptation take place in the western part of the USA. Perhaps, inside Bethesda they are thinking about the fact that the next part of the series will send players there, or perhaps Jonathan Nolan’s love for Westerns and the aesthetics of the Wild West played a role.
Either way, the world of the Wasteland turned out to be colorful and believable. Like his older brother, Jonathan prefers to avoid CGI where possible. For this reason, the series was filmed in the abandoned mining town of Kolmanskop, located in the middle of the Namib Desert in Africa. This allowed for added realism to the overall picture, and, according to Nolan, it was easier for the actors to imagine themselves in the middle of the Wasteland, because they were already in the desert.
Due to the fact that there is little computer graphics in the project, there are no unnecessary problems with it. Unlike the Halo series, the creators of Fallout do not have to disguise the lack of budget for CGI behind choppy editing, which makes the overall impression even better. Perhaps there are not so many combat scenes (as if there were many in Halo), but they are made simply and tastefully. This is reflected in the competent selection of angles, the use of “slow motion” where appropriate and, of course, in the abundance of “meat and blood”, which they are not at all shy about here.
There are questions only about the scenery. The definition of “atompunk” is more appropriate to describe the aesthetics of Fallout than retrofuturism. This is because the world of “nuclear fallout” followed the path of developing nuclear energy, not microelectronics, which affected the appearance of household items, electrical appliances and cars. However, in the series we are greeted by ordinary retro cars, and the Art Deco architectural style, characteristic of “atompunk”, is simply “microcrocodile”.
Many of the decorations are too “new”. The Pip-Boys used by the vault dwellers also look like they just came out of an assembly line, rather than being passed down from generation to generation for two hundred years. Billboards and metal objects have only been lightly retouched to give an “antique effect”, and in some places the paint shines as if it was applied only a week or a month ago.
In turn, the Brotherhood of Steel power armor does not look very convincing and smells like cheap plastic. Moreover, literally one set of armor was used in the filming, since you can see that the effects of “wear” such as scratches, etc. are absolutely identical on each armor that appears in the series.
Also a bit disappointing is the image of the ghoul, who may have rotted over the years, but continued to visit the beautician regularly. The creators of the series justify this by saying that it was easier to convey the actor’s performance, and I am even ready to agree with this. And yet, the guys should take a few lessons from the makeup artists of “The Walking Dead” in preparation for the next season.
Despite all of the above, the picture in the series is pleasing to the eye, everything is in its place and only the most ardent fanatics will start shouting that even the caps from the “Nuke-Cola” are not the same as in the game. Do not forget that the scenery is an integral part of the budget and here it was mastered at a decent level. After all, Jonathan is the youngest of the Nolans, and therefore no one allocated money for real nuclear explosions
The musical component can only be admired. Ramin Djawadi, being a recognized master of the industry, combined his signature style with recognizable notes of Fallout and the aesthetics of the Wild West. All this perfectly complements the visual component of the series and creates a unique atmosphere. It is also great for listening in the background, while writing reviews (which is what I am doing now).
Act IV. The Hidden Threat of the Grey Cardinal
Shortly before the release of the first season, it became known that Amazon had already greenlit the production of the second. I really liked the story that was started in the first season, but there is something that worries me. The name of this threat is Lisa Joy. Jonathan Nolan’s wife is known for her sympathies to woke culture and has been caught more than once throwing the agenda into various projects. Fans of “Westworld” have a lot to say about what happened to the series when Lisa Joy took over.
The agenda is now easy to find in almost any project financed by Western companies, but in my opinion, in the first season it takes extremely harmless forms. Interracial relations are observed here in all fields, but at least they are all traditional. There is a girl with a “surprise”, but she appears on screen only twice, and the domestic viewer will not notice this “they/them” if he watches the series with Russian voiceover.
After the success of the first season, I would like Amazon to allocate a larger production budget so that the film crew could implement everything they had planned and not lower the quality bar, but work on the mistakes and improve it.
I hope Jonathan Nolan’s energy is enough for the series’ future work, and we don’t stop at the Blue Oyster on our way to New Vegas. I would have liked to attend the psychic meeting to find out what the second season of Fallout will be like, but it was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances – we’ll have to wait with you.
Diagnosis
The creators of the series have made great efforts to introduce the viewer to the characters and tell a coherent story within eight episodes. It is interesting to watch the development of events and relationships between the characters. You truly believe in this world. In the finale, all the storylines come together at one point and receive a logical “ellipsis”, since we will see their continuation in the second season. The project has both pros and cons, but one thing is undeniable – almost all of its SPECIAL points went to Charisma, which makes it impossible to remain indifferent.
We recently reviewed the Halo series , which after two seasons hasn’t been able to decide what audience it’s for. In this regard, Fallout is firmly on its feet. It’s a series that can capture the attention of both fans of Todd Howard’s games and not-so-ardent supporters of the original games in the series and New Vegas.
Fallout is a rare example of a successful video game adaptation that can be interesting not only to gamers, but also to any viewer who is not indifferent to the aesthetics of the post-apocalypse and the Wild West.
In the original version of the review, I wrote that I didn’t want to label it as “the best video game adaptation ever,” since there’s always room for improvement and development. However, rewatching some scenes while writing the review, I simply can’t ignore the obvious. Fallout is a good, solid series among all the variety of them today. But Fallout is also the best video game adaptation, at least in recent years.