Film: Land of the Dead

[axl blaze]

I still enjoyed it, but I honestly thing that Romero was overwhelmed with the big budget he got, he didn't know what to do with it. Sadly, I think I liked the Dawn of the Dead remake better.

first Romero most certainly wasn't overwelmed with a big budget... Universal gave him 20 mill which pales in comparasin to DOTD re-make. which received 30 mill. and you could definetely presume the only reason Romero got 20 in the first place because DOTD re-make was so successful.

a lot of BLers didn't seem to like this movie. the other message board I frequent (http://www.allthingszombie.com) actually gave it pretty decent reviews from its members. I thought the gore "gags" were great (I. E. the zombie biting the chick's navel piercing, the snapping head zombie, the drawbridge coming down on a zombie head).

somebody said because they waited around a year, their expectations were high and they weren't exactly met. well, this is somewhat my case too but I was waiting around 2 or 3.

I will re-post later with a better analysis/critique of this movie that I've seen twice so far.

 

[psychetool]

hmmm, i'll watch it tonight and report back.. i might be biased though, i'm a sucker for those DEAD SEXY zombie bitches!

 

[cydonorb]

OK

I thought the film was OK. There are improvements over previous DEAD films, namely the acting. Man, it says a LOT about Romero that he actually got both Dennis Hopper & John Lequizamo to tone it down!

Still the film didn't wow me the way the original DAWN OF THE DEAD did & I like LAND only slightly more than I like the DAWN remake.

OK, here's a bit of trivia that you have to be a doofus film geek like me to get: in LAND there's a scene where a bunch of zombies rise from the water. This shot is an homage to what even Romero calls the "very first moden zombie film", 1962's CARNIVAL OF SOULS. The zombies in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD are "inspired" by the zombies in CARNIVAL OF SOULS, but NIGHT isn't a rip off of CARNIVAL or anything like that, its just the look of the zombies that inspired Romero. Now almost 30 years later he includes a shot that is a direct copy of one from CARNIVAL OF SOULS, but its done in a way that is an honest homage & NOT a rip off. If you want to see an atmospheric & creepy moody horror flick check out the Criterion Collection DVD of CARNIVAL OF SOULS--but only get that version. As COS is now in public domain there are many lousy transfers out there so go for the Criterion Collection edition which not only perfectly restores the films beautiful picture, it is the only one that is complete as they were able to get copyrights to the 10 minutes that was in the theatrical version but went missing from the TV edit (anything other than the Criterion disc is the TV edit).

 

[axl blaze]

I thought Hopper did a pretty good job acting. the acting over all was pretty good for a zombie film.

I think that the opening sequence to the movie was the strongest part of it. it definetely set the scene for a creepy, erie, zombie infested world.

 

[Pander Bear]

The idea in 28 days later was that they were infected with a disease called "The Rage". Wouldn't be much of a 'rage' if they were stumbling about like a bunch of valium addicted housewives.

Now there's a film I want to put into production. We're already in discussions with the estate of Ann Bancroft to see if we can get her reanimated, pumped full of diazepam and gin, and wander around looking for brains and boys half her age to seduce.

 

[Yakuza]

i was bored, the acting sucked, plot was crap, and the characters were terrible.

 

[Perpetual Indulgence]

Yuck! It followed the dull format of action flicks I despise. Machismo, gratuitous tittie shots, tough chick, underlying sexual tension betwn main characters, ridiculous dialogue.

I know they had to do something to make it different but zombie leader? I liked it when they were stupid.

We left 3/4 of the way through. Our luggage was found after being lost for 4 days. We got the call and thought nothing of leaving.

Although, I didn't dig it, could someone PM the ending to me? Thanks.

Now Devil's Rejects....there is a movie I have a feeling that will please me.

 

[jpgrdnr]

there wasnt a whole lot of substance to the movie...I went for entertainment
and was wrecked out of my skull (saw the preview for the Devils rejects and it looks cool)...I thought it tried to be more than a B grade flick and failed.
The acting was so so. It was nice to see Hopper in a flick being somewhat evil.

I thought it was pretty hilarous tho in parts. I wasnt scared. It was fairly predictable. The Samoan jokes were spot on...!!!

The nails snapping off that girls hand though when she tried scraping the wall...wow that was clever...disgusting!!!

On a positive note it was probably the most gory movie Ive seen in a while.
Lots and lots of gore.

I laughed my ass off when there were big explosions and people flying every where. Too fake. Too fun.

Also if anyone is a gun fan or remotely knows anything at all about guns...dont see this movie. The gunplay was entirely FAKE. People making shots that you couldnt do. Generally hilarity like people licking their sights on a bolt action rifle...etc etc...

I would agree that it follows the formula of the action flick...

just another glitzy hollywood flick...


Oh yeah the script sucked!!! Lol some of the worst writing evar!!!

The more I think about it the more I like the movie based on its complete failure to be anything worthwhile. Its an entire cliche unto itself. If you went into this thinking its a clever comedy/satire then you(I?) would've turned out alright.

 

[twominds]

I was really waiting in anticipation for this release. Being a fan since first seeing "Dawn of the Dead" (not in 79 but about 2001) Which I think was his best film. After the impressive remake last year I remember how much I enjpyed the 'zombie genre' When hearing the 'godfather' of zombies was getting behing the camera again I was eagar for the result.
I saw this film today, along with a total of 6 other patrons! While taking no notice of the papers review of 1 & half stars have to admit they weren't far from the mark.
The only pros were the effects used to destroy the zombies, nice gore. Decapitations etc. And Dennis Hopper.
But my favourite element was the inclusion of the hottest chick on the planet!! in Asia Argento. ") Who unfortuanly kept her clothes on!!! I would give it a 2, 3 if Asia got rowdy or/and naked.

 

[twominds]

^^Just another quick comment. It's pleasing to see the zombies have kept a few extra brain cells and now have a little intelligence and have gained some speed. Although not full on run attacks such as in 'dawn remake' and '28 days later.' I think it'll be hard to keep audiences entertained and in fear of the slow moving off-balanced zombies that languidly stumbled across the screens in the 60s & 70s.

 

[T-rav]

Romero created the genre. PERIOD. I thought land was allrite, and I know I'm not the only one. Shit Tarentino offered to fund this if Universal wouldn't come through with the $$$ so it was gonna get made eitheir way. These fast zombies are for the birds. BOOOOOO the Dawn remake was ooooooookkkkkkk. but paled in comparisin to the original. And I liked Day better than the remake of Dawn. 28 days later was ok, but still not Romero or Fulci.

But I'm a horror movie geek!!

 

[xena]

i'm a huge fan of zombie movies, even though it's pretty easy for them to turn out really lame.

i really liked land of the dead- the storyline was decent, the action was there, the characters were there, the gore was there, etc. i gave it 4 stars b/c for a zombie movie, it really was quite good.

 

[silvia saint]

i loved the war on terror symbolism idea but i think it could have been done much better, the most i got out of it was the whole invading the zones "owned" by the zombies to steal the much needed resources ala america invading nations to steal their oil. i was really looking forward to this because i love the cast but their talents were not utilised that much and the film seemed over before it began. it's a shame because i expected it to be great, which i don't think it was, which is ironic because i expected the remake of dawn of the dead to suck yet it was fantastic.

 

[psychetool]

Good idea, but it didn't translate out so well on the screen IMO.

 

[goatofthenever]

Great movie, the fact that the zombies(or was it just one zombie?) were using weapons did not hurt it at all. I liked how the plot was basically the rich vs the poor mercinaries vs the main character, and the zombies are just a kind of universal problem that all sides must deal with.
In that sense it is fairly different than the other movies, except day of the dead somewhat.


The only problem I have was at the very end when the main character stoped the guy fom shooting the zombies because "they are just looking for a home". Wtf was that about?

 

[lostpunk5545]

^ I don't know how you managed to miss it but there was a whole subplot dealing with the fact that the zombies were also just victims of circumstance and trying to deal with their situation. That's what "they are just looking for a home" was about.

 

[psychetool]

bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaahhahaaahahaha. i'm gonna watch it again just for comedy and zombie heads exploding 'their just looking for a home'. hahahahahahahahahahaa.

 

[ClubbinGuido]

I hate zombies.

 

[mariacallas]

^^^Me too. Zombie movies annoy the fuck out of me. I'm a hardcore horror film buff and zombie movies just never scare me at all. NEVER. Bor-ing.
Carry on.

 

[psychetool]

Not even dawn of the dead ?