Starring Brad Pitt as United Nations Employee Gerry Lane, World War Z is based on the apocalyptic horror book written by Max Brooks in 2006. Gerry finds himself traveling the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is crushing governments and armies, threatening to eliminate all humanity.
World War Z is based 10 years after Max Brooks 2003 novel, “The Zombie Survival Guide” and is a collection of individual accounts of the decade long war against the zombies. We hear about personal, religious, political and environmental changes that various nations experience.
Brooks, as an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission, describes the history of 'World War Z'. Although the origin of the zombie pandemic is unknown, the story begins in China where a young boy becomes the pandemic's "patient zero". The Chinese government attempts to contain the infection and concocts a crisis involving Taiwan to mask their activities. The infection is spread to other countries by the black market organ trade and by refugees, before an outbreak brings the plague to public attention.
As the infection spreads and the world recognises the true extent of the problem, a "Great Panic" begins. Following the loss of New York City, the U.S. Army sets up a high-profile defence at Yonkers, New York State, from which the U.S. military wields anti-tank weapons and demoralisation through wounding; but these prove ineffective against zombies, which "can't be shocked and awed", have no self-preservation instincts, and can only be stopped if shot through the head. Other countries suffer similarly disastrous defeats, and human civilization nears collapse.
The solution to the Zombie problem must be a global one. Throughout the film, we witness various governments devise plans and weapons to defeat the active zombie population, but they must work together if they are to be successful. Despite featuring a fictional zombie population, there is a large dose of reality when it comes to the global political atmosphere and the need for a collective solution.
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