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Fallout is considered by many to be one of the best video game series ever made. The origins of the franchise began in 1997, when the first installment made millions fall in love with it. Now, after so many years, the world is getting a TV series adaptation on the Amazon Prime platform. The two responsible for transferring the game universe to film language are Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.

Adapting video games is difficult, and in most cases these attempts end up failing. But not here. The filmmakers have created a brilliant piece of work based on contrasts perfectly understanding and transferring the portrayed world. They perfectly captured the atmosphere from the games. Thanks to this, the production is captivating from the first seconds and does not lose the attention of the viewer even for a brief moment.

The World of Fallout

After the discovery of nuclear energy, humanity fell into a fascination. They began to use nuclear energy to create technology unachievable with other sources of power. Life completely changed. All kinds of devices and vehicles could now run much longer and more efficiently. Flying robots appeared in homes, doing people’s daily chores. Capitalism was flourishing. The US political system began to transform into a gigantic structure resembling a capitalist market based on competition. All this as a retrofuturistic concept based on visions of the future from the 1950s and 1960s.

The only concern that remained for humanity was the resources required to maintain this state of affairs. This made political forces become possessive and hostile to each other. It caused a Cold War that lasted much longer than the one we know. From time to time, smaller and larger armed conflicts broke out and humanity lived in constant fear of nuclear war.

But such a state of events did not bother the people in power in America. War turned out to be a great business. Military equipment companies were making money on the army thanks to the power armors – massive exoskeletons that greatly increased the combat capabilities of soldiers. Vault-Tec made a fortune by selling housing units in vaults spread across the US. The aforementioned fear of atomic bombs proved to be a great marketing device.

This lasted until 2077 when the worst happened. A nuclear war wiped out the world and wiped out most of the population. Only a handful of people survived on the surface. Years passed and the world began to rebuild. Dirty, cruel, full of degeneration and the worst behaviors of humanity. It became a place of many dangers. The flora and fauna now included giant, mutated beasts and creatures. Bandits, bounty hunters and slave traders roamed the wilderness. Out on the burned land and among the ruins of old buildings, new military forces began to form.

Meanwhile, wealthier citizens fled to shelters prepared to provide all their needs for hundreds of years. They became a post-nuclear aristocracy, privileged but detached from real problems. Behind the vaults, however, stood the hidden intentions of performing tests on the residents. These, however, lived in blissful ignorance in artificially created communities.

Vault Dweller

200 years have passed. In one of these vaults, numbered 33, we meet the first of our three main characters – Lucy. Her worry-free life as if from the American dream is interrupted when her house falls under attack from the bandits. They kidnap her father, who was the vault overseer. As a result of these events she decides to embark on a rescue mission into the dangerous wasteland, leaving the world she knew behind.

It is through her eyes that we get to know this world. At first we get a vision of an exaggerated anti-utopia, by viewing her life in the crypt. Later, we get a glimpse of the realm of the post-apocalypse, as she sees for the first time the terrifying landscapes of the devastated surface.

From the first minutes it is impossible not to like her character. Like all characters in the series she is multidimensional and complex. Great credit for this goes to an actress Ella Purnell. Lucy is a heroine with a heart of gold. Filled with optimism and idealistic values. She is also naive because of this. Initially, these qualities are shown as her weaknesses. As the plot progresses, however, they turn into her strengths. The protagonist adapts to life in the wilderness but does not submit to its cruelty. Thus, she becomes a steadfast character unique to this world.

Such construction of the character makes it possible for the creators to brilliantly confront her vision of the world with what it really looks like.
Thus, they brilliantly show the brutality but also the richness of this world. It’s with her that we first get to see the breathtaking work of the set designers as she travels through the ruins or arrives at newly established towns. Through her interactions with the crypt dwellers as well as with the people she meets on the surface, we learn how brutal but also how absurd this world is. Together with her we realize that the nuclear holocaust has changed nothing in humanity and the newly formed factions know only one way to solve problems – war.

Brotherhood of Steel

One of these fractions is the Brotherhood of Steel. A paramilitary organization based on the structure of knights and squires. They hail themselves as defenders of civilization. So they try to seize for themselves all the old world technology that is left. We get to know the inside of the broderhood thanks to the second main character – Maximus. In this role Aaron Moten. He is a young squire inspired by the ideals presented to him by the fraternity. He is the second naive hero after Lucy. He has heard of the outside world only from stories while growing up in the closed environment of the barracks.

His plot is, similar to the image of the crypt, an extremely nuanced and intelligent critique of cults, sectarianism and the use of religion to control people. It is a satire of fanaticism and the corruption of ideals. The filmmakers also use images to show the horror and pathology of military camps and the very idea of the military. Through this they demonstrate and mock the extreme vision of the world of toxic masculinity.

Thanks to the story of Maximus, we can admire the enormous amount of work put into the props and costumes. Armors and uniforms were created with extreme care, conveying the designs from the games in every detail. The biggest “wow” effect is provided by the aforementioned Power Armors. The large exoskeletons were made fully practically and were physically present on set. Together with great sound design, they perfectly reflect their massiveness and weight known from the game.

Overall when it comes to the technical side the series stands at a really high level. As I mentioned, the sets and costumes are perfect. Pulled out straight from the world of the games. The fact of building so many elements on the set guaranteed extraordinary immersion. As for the cinematography, this element of the production is also terrific. Both in detail and in the wide shots, you can appreciate the enormity of the work. In addition, the colors and lighting are perfect and enhance the atmosphere. Only in a few shots I felt that they were too dark and the light contrast was too low. But this is such a minor detail that it would be a harm to the series to complain about it.

Feo, Fuerte y Formal

The last of the characters is The Ghoul, portrayed by Walton Goggins.
He is the victim of a radiation-induced mutation. He gained longevity and endurance through it but paid for it with a terrible, obscure appearance. He is the only one who remembers the pre-war era.

Scenes with him are divided into two separate plot strings. The first is a flashback to the world before the bombs. Goggins’ character is former soldier and well-known Western actor Cooper Howard. He has a key role in the vaults promotional campaign. He gets entangled in an intrigue through which he becomes aware of conspiracies of people in power. The actor gives an amazing performance here, nuanced, full of well-played microemotions and reactions. His storyline shows on how many levels institutions in the US were rotten. The filmmakers have created a brilliant psychological thriller about a conflicted man trying to do the right thing in a world where it is not possible.

The second story line is the “present day”. Turned into a Ghoul, he walks through the wasteland as a ruthless bounty hunter. His image of an undead gunslinger is unforgettable. This character doesn’t just end with his appearance, but also carries over to the directing of scenes with him. They combine westerns and horror films to create a one-of-a-kind brilliant mix. Already the first scene with him causes shivers. It combines elements of Clint Eastwood’s cowboy films with themes associated with, for example, Sam Raimi’s horror pictures. Personally, it bought me right away and perfectly hit my sense of aesthetics and visual expression.

Ghoul is a most aware character. For over 200 years of his life he has seen all the worst traits of humanity. First, these hidden behind the mask of bureaucracy, before the apocalypse. Then, the visible to the naked eye symptoms of the bestiality of those who survived. It drastically affected him. Despite the skills and experience that he gained, he lost one important trait: humanity. Through the story, however, thanks to several impulses, we see how it starts to revive within him.

The Beginning at The End

The series is inspired by the pulp stories on which american culture has grown. The artists behind the series use the tools this gives them. They create stories and plots that are much deeper and more nuanced than the traditional tales associated with this style.

In a split second we go from a violent scene to a joke created with a situation or comment from one of the characters. And we have a great time watching it. Not once does it feel fake or that it knocks you out of the immersion. This shows the great preparation of the creators and their familiarity with the source material.

This knowledge of the world presented is revealed in every second of the story. The series is filled with non-obvious references and elements from the games transferred in the smallest detail.

The creators skillfully use black humor known from the games to build a unique atmosphere. The charm of the world of Fallout comes from the contrasts. The story is full of commentaries on the problems and issues that affect our everyday life. In the series, however, they are shown in a twisted style. This allows directors to point out the stupidities and absurdities of our world even more sharply. There are terrible and frightening things going on here, served, however, in an envelope of satire. This creates an unusual mixture that shocks and gives a lot to think about.

But Fallout is, above all, a brilliant story with a multi-layered, intertwining plot. A piece of cinematography that is competent in every way. The creators show only the fragment of the world needed to tell their story, leaving the rest to be expanded in future seasons.