If they replaced the Dark Seekers with underground creatures, is it still a zombie movie? What if they were exactly the same, but came from space. Is it still a zombie movie? What if they were flat-out vampires? Werewolves?

Yes, yes, yes and yes, given they were still in the massive numbers and zerg-rush tactics they employ in the movie. Of course, the zombie in "zombie movie" is a very loose term. Warm Bodies, for instance, has a lot of zombies, but I don't really consider it a zombie movie (except for the threat of those weird bone things, but they're minor).

So, well, that's kind of what I'm picturing when I use the term "zombie movie".

The Descendants in Uncharted are the inbred and mutated offspring of the Spaniards that were infected by the rage-like virus contained within El Dorado. They wear loincloths and tribal markings, and are stealthily hunting the armed soldiers that have invaded the island (using the same complex traps that many indigenous cultures still use. It's not until El Dorado is found that they become hyper-aggressive and launch an all-out attack on the invading forces).

Still, I went about this the wrong way. The onus was on Cody to explain why The Descendants in Uncharted are zombies.

So what makes them zombies to you?

And furthermore, what makes a "zombie movie" to you, if "The Descent" and "I am Legend" are zombie movies?

I don't expect Cody to be able to answer this, as I'm Still waiting on that previous explanation that he promised me. Don't think I've forgotten, Cody...

To put another twist to things, the upcoming movie "Cell" is about living humans who have had their brains rewired, making them aggressive, but still alive (and also psychic). That's definitely a zombie movie either way.

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

Come on. You can call a rose a tulip but it's still a rose, and it still has thorns.

By your standards, "The Descent" and "I am Legend" are just zombie movies, since the creatures in both were very similar to the Descendants in Uncharted (Except that the Descendants had their own customs were smart enough to build traps... that could also capture any wandering Will Smiths)...

Wait... you DON'T consider "I Am Legend" to be a zombie movie?

I consider Zombies as a movie theme to be an encroaching threat. The constant pressure pushing in on the last bits of humanity (which is often the metaphor for the character interactions). Zombies are mindless, which is why they're more of a faceless threat.

You said (in a later post) that there are movies with sentient zombies. So... which is it? Mindless, or sentient?

Initially I was talking about zombies as a movie theme, specifically with regards to I Am Legend (you asked if I didn't consider it a zombie movie). I wasn't talking about zombies themselves. The key thing is that despite being sentient, the zombies in the films that I mentioned are undead people; they died, then came back from the dead as moving corpses. Zombies.

In I Am Legend, the vampires/Dark Ones are used more as a metaphor for guilt and alienation. They are sentient, and they hate/fear the protagonist, but are only a threat at night. They have their own "civilization", which the protagonist threatens (he abducts and experiments on them, always leading to their deaths). It's not a zombie movie in any sense, literal or metaphorical.

Um... except for the 'afraid of the light' stuff, none of this is in the movie, just the book. I was under the impression we were talking about the movie (because you specifically say 'zombie movie' above). In the movie, they're zombies. Maybe enhanced zombies... but they're zombies.

We must have watched different movies, then. In the film, the so-called Dark Seekers are just mutated people with an extreme form of Erythropoietic Protoporphyria (a real-world sunlight allergy). They are still thinking creatures (the protagonist even points out his surprise that one of them consciously exposed himself to sunlight) that live together, have societal relationships, hunt, set lures and traps, and have a survival instinct. All of this is pointed out and shown in the film (heck, they even keep dogs as pets).

They are not zombies in any sense of the word. Heck, in one of the endings, the protagonist directly interacts with them in a non-violent way:

And that's separate from calling the movie a "zombie movie".

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

Come on. You can call a rose a tulip but it's still a rose, and it still has thorns.

By your standards, "The Descent" and "I am Legend" are just zombie movies, since the creatures in both were very similar to the Descendants in Uncharted (Except that the Descendants had their own customs were smart enough to build traps... that could also capture any wandering Will Smiths)...

Wait... you DON'T consider "I Am Legend" to be a zombie movie?

I consider Zombies as a movie theme to be an encroaching threat. The constant pressure pushing in on the last bits of humanity (which is often the metaphor for the character interactions). Zombies are mindless, which is why they're more of a faceless threat.

You said (in a later post) that there are movies with sentient zombies. So... which is it? Mindless, or sentient?

In I Am Legend, the vampires/Dark Ones are used more as a metaphor for guilt and alienation. They are sentient, and they hate/fear the protagonist, but are only a threat at night. They have their own "civilization", which the protagonist threatens (he abducts and experiments on them, always leading to their deaths). It's not a zombie movie in any sense, literal or metaphorical.

Um... except for the 'afraid of the light' stuff, none of this is in the movie, just the book. I was under the impression we were talking about the movie (because you specifically say 'zombie movie' above). In the movie, they're zombies. Maybe enhanced zombies... but they're zombies.

Well, that explains a lot.
I'd hate to be the type of person to distill everything down to a basic black and white explanation. I'd be surprised if you can tell who the enemies are in games, since none of them are twirling their moustaches these days...

For me, a 'zombie movie' can encompass quite a few things. It's not black and white.

I'm far more inclusive than you are.

Clearly. Your arbitrary beliefs and refusal to acknowledge the validity of perspectives contrary to your own totally screams an inclusive, open viewpoint.

Do you think a western can be feminist?

Yes.

That a romantic comedy can shun monogamy?

Definitely.

That science fiction can take place in the past?

Absolutely!

If so, you have to admit a zombie movie doesn't have to be about an encroaching threat.

Not sure what that has to do with your "inclusive" opinion, though I never said that Zombie movies could only be about an encroaching threat. I was comparing zombies to the creatures in I Am Legend, which are vastly different from zombies, right down to the themes in the movie. If you look at films like "My Boyfriend's Back" and "Warm bodies", the zombies there are sentient, and aren't used to portray an encroaching threat, and that's okay!

Either way, it does nothing to support your own statement. According to you, anything that is a human/human-like creature behaving aggressively is immediately a zombie. So by that logic, Fury Road, Signs, and The Avengers are all zombie movies.

Well, that explains a lot.
I'd hate to be the type of person to distill everything down to a basic black and white explanation. I'd be surprised if you can tell who the enemies are in games, since none of them are twirling their moustaches these days...

For me, a 'zombie movie' can encompass quite a few things. It's not black and white. I'm far more inclusive than you are. Do you think a western can be feminist? That a romantic comedy can shun monogamy? That science fiction can take place in the past? If so, you have to admit a zombie movie doesn't have to be about an encroaching threat.

I'm not a big zombie fan to be honest. The more magically undead they are, the less I like them.

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

Come on. You can call a rose a tulip but it's still a rose, and it still has thorns.

By your standards, "The Descent" and "I am Legend" are just zombie movies, since the creatures in both were very similar to the Descendants in Uncharted (Except that the Descendants had their own customs were smart enough to build traps... that could also capture any wandering Will Smiths)...

Wait... you DON'T consider "I Am Legend" to be a zombie movie?

I consider Zombies as a movie theme to be an encroaching threat. The constant pressure pushing in on the last bits of humanity (which is often the metaphor for the character interactions). Zombies are mindless, which is why they're more of a faceless threat.

In I Am Legend, the vampires/Dark Ones are used more as a metaphor for guilt and alienation. They are sentient, and they hate/fear the protagonist, but are only a threat at night. They have their own "civilization", which the protagonist threatens (he abducts and experiments on them, always leading to their deaths). It's not a zombie movie in any sense, literal or metaphorical.

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

Come on. You can call a rose a tulip but it's still a rose, and it still has thorns.

By your standards, "The Descent" and "I am Legend" are just zombie movies, since the creatures in both were very similar to the Descendants in Uncharted (Except that the Descendants had their own customs were smart enough to build traps... that could also capture any wandering Will Smiths)...

Wait... you DON'T consider "I Am Legend" to be a zombie movie?

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

Come on. You can call a rose a tulip but it's still a rose, and it still has thorns.

By your standards, "The Descent" and "I am Legend" are just zombie movies, since the creatures in both were very similar to the Descendants in Uncharted (Except that the Descendants had their own customs were smart enough to build traps)...

That's correct.

Well, that explains a lot.
I'd hate to be the type of person to distill everything down to a basic black and white explanation. I'd be surprised if you can tell who the enemies are in games, since none of them are twirling their moustaches these days...

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

Come on. You can call a rose a tulip but it's still a rose, and it still has thorns.

By your standards, "The Descent" and "I am Legend" are just zombie movies, since the creatures in both were very similar to the Descendants in Uncharted (Except that the Descendants had their own customs were smart enough to build traps)...

That's correct.

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

Come on. You can call a rose a tulip but it's still a rose, and it still has thorns.

By your standards, "The Descent" and "I am Legend" are just zombie movies, since the creatures in both were very similar to the Descendants in Uncharted (Except that the Descendants had their own customs were smart enough to build traps... that could also capture any wandering Will Smiths)...

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

Come on. You can call a rose a tulip but it's still a rose, and it still has thorns.

I don't think I'll finish before 4 comes out!

Uncharted 2 is easily twice as long as the first one. You have eight days, godspeed.

I hope there are no zombies in either of them.

Implying that there were any in the first one... There weren't.

I hope there are no zombies in either of them.

It should be noted that, despite my knowledge of the Star Wars universe and countless hours playing the X-Wing PC game and Rogue Squadron, she beats me 90% of the time.

Out of my local circle of friends I'm definitively the biggest Star Wars and space-fighter sim nerd*. And yet when we play X-Wing or Armada more often than not I lose. Heh, makes one wonder if the more you care about the subject matter the more likely you are to be defeated. :P

Hah, there have been a few times where, as my Falcon exploded, I thought, "That's not what would have happened..."

*Case in point, Dash Rendar didn't fly the Outsider, he flew the Outrider. :}

NOOOO. One little typo and my reputation has been destroyed!

It should be noted that, despite my knowledge of the Star Wars universe and countless hours playing the X-Wing PC game and Rogue Squadron, she beats me 90% of the time.

Out of my local circle of friends I'm definitively the biggest Star Wars and space-fighter sim nerd*. And yet when we play X-Wing or Armada more often than not I lose. Heh, makes one wonder if the more you care about the subject matter the more likely you are to be defeated. :P

*Case in point, Dash Rendar didn't fly the Outsider, he flew the Outrider. :}