George Romeros Land Of The Dead...

[Thurston_Whore]

Glad its not just me who gets frustrated by the crips eaters at the cinema

[thorn]

i mean hmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmm...

[lamestain]

I got this on DVD the day it came out this past week & I hadn't seen it in theatres, so this was the first time I saw it, & in my professional horror movie guru opinion it is....
AWESOME.
George A. Romero will never let me down. Absolutly amazing. 5/5 stars. Perfect. If you haven't seen this yet, rent it or buy it.

[Smallstone]

Lamestain - hey man - glad you dug the film. Is the DVD good? Good extras? I'm gonna buy the DVD when it comes out as I love Romero - but I was still dissapointed by the film. Quite a lot:(
Did you like the Dawn Of The Dead remake?
I think thats a better film.
I think Land of the Dead is really flawed and would only rate a 3/5 at best
But there you go!

[lamestain]

LOTD has some pretty good extras. Great behind the scenes type stuff & how they did the effects. Be sure to get the unrated director's cut!

As for the Dawn remake, not bad, but rotting corpses should not be capable of running & such. That's my major complaint about that remake. Otherwise it was alright.

So, in what ways was LOTD flawed in yr opinion?

[Smallstone]

LOTD flaws are just about everything in the film in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong I am a BIG Romero fan. I love all of the films I've seen of his - Night/Dawn/Day of the Dead. The Crazies. Martin, Creepshow. Dawn of the Dead would be in my top 5 films! I realy love it. So when I wasn't blown away by Land Of The Dead I was really dissapointed.
As I've said I think the story was awful. Just so dumb (even for a 'zombie' film....) for want of a better word. The whole Fiddlers Green tower (9/11 analogy etc). The rich against poor/have and have nots in society sub text.
Zombies learning skills REALLY quickly. All of that.
Added to this terrible casting. John Leguizimo can't act. Who the hell was the lead dude? No charisma at all. Asia Argento was awful in it too. That whole zombie cage thing just looked so cheap like an 1980s cheap rehash of Mad Max or something.
Then Dennis Hopper...... jesus. Always be afraid that a film has him in it. But fair do's he wasn't that bad.
I didn't think the special effects were all that good. Dawn Of The Dead remake effects were much better AND it was better filmed. Cheesey cameos - Tom Savini biker zombie etc
I actually liked the fast moving zombies in the re-make - it adds to the tension. Go fast zombies!! The 1st 10 minutes of the DOD remake are INCREDIBLE!! So much tension, so much action!! Sarah Polley is a great actress!! It was REALLY scary!! Nothing in Land Of The Dead scared me much. Romero has lost the knack of building tension.
Those are my problems with it really.
HUGE dissapointment.
If there are any more Whatever Of The Dead films I hope they give it over to someone else to make.
But I'll still be buying the DVD like the sucker I am....

[lamestain]

smallstone said:

As I've said I think the story was awful. Just so dumb (even for a 'zombie' film....) for want of a better word. The whole Fiddlers Green tower (9/11 analogy etc). The rich against poor/have and have nots in society sub text.

I didn't have a problem with the story. Romero has always made social statements with his films & I think this one is just as applicalbe. His social statesments imbedded in the characters & interactions are what make his movies more than just zombie movies.

smallstone said:

Zombies learning skills REALLY quickly. All of that..

Well, LOTD is set years after the original zombification & there have been hints & examples of zombies acting on distant memories & instincts going all the way back to the original Dawn. I think it's a pretty reasonable step in the direction started more specifically in Day of the Dead.

smallstone said:

Added to this terrible casting. John Leguizimo can't act. Who the hell was the lead dude? No charisma at all. Asia Argento was awful in it too. That whole zombie cage thing just looked so cheap like an 1980s cheap rehash of Mad Max or something.
Then Dennis Hopper...... jesus. Always be afraid that a film has him in it. But fair do's he wasn't that bad.

I'll admit, when I heard Leguizamo was in it I immediately thought of "The Pest" like I do everytime I hear his name. I actually enjoyed the casting though. I loved Hoppers deadpan asshole character. Well done I thought. And Asia is a horror b-movie star & being the daughter of Dario, her inclusion seemed fitting to me. Same with Savini's appearance. I thought that was great!

smallstone said:

I didn't think the special effects were all that good. Dawn Of The Dead remake effects were much better AND it was better filmed.

WHAT? Sorry man, I gotta totally disagree. The effects were amazing!

smallstone said:

I actually liked the fast moving zombies in the re-make - it adds to the tension. Go fast zombies!! The 1st 10 minutes of the DOD remake are INCREDIBLE!! So much tension, so much action!! Sarah Polley is a great actress!! It was REALLY scary!!

I can agree with all of that, except I just don't like fast zombies - it doesn't make sense to me. You're right, Sarah Polley is a great actress! One of my favorites is "Go."

smallstone said:

If there are any more Whatever Of The Dead films I hope they give it over to someone else to make.

Someone other than Romero?!?!? Blasphemy!

smallstone said:

But I'll still be buying the DVD like the sucker I am....

Hahaha. Maybe it'll sit better with you a second time around in all of it's uneditted glory.

[h8kurdt]

I still haven't seen it. The remake was pretty amazing. Alot of fanboys of romero hated it by saying it had no social commentary. Fucking hell whats wrong with a dumb (kick ass) zombie film?

The fast zombies sure did add to the tension. The slow zombies...jeez my grandma could crawl faster than them things.

[Smallstone]

Nice thread this!! OH I started it - sorry - but it's nice to have a discussion anyway - thanks Lamestain!!!! It's good to ealk about this stuff - my wife won't even watch the films! I had to go to the cinema on my own
I think maybe I am being harsh but the towers - 9/11 thang is ok I guess and I know Romero always does the social commentary angle - and respect to him for that - Night Of The Living Dead = fear of communism/US racism/Vietnam War
Dawn - consumerism etc BIG TIME anti consumerism..
Day - military madness/aids/fear of zombies
I just found this film a little laddled on with the social commentary - I'm glad Romero does this though... but hey there you go.
As for the skills issue - I'm down with it and yeah technically 'some' years have passed - but like how many? I accept that zombies can learn skills and who knows would if god forbid the dead ever did rise and take over - but they seem to pick them up quickly during the film. The double edged sword scene with the river/moat around the city is a case in point. Great scene but they appear to SUDDENLY lose their fear of water.... anyway you get me drift.
Sorry I think the casting could have been better - compare the performances in this to the casting of relative unknowns in Night/Dawn and Day. Much better. I don't think Hopper would have been Romeros choice. I like Asia Argento (and her Dads films I just don't think her character was very interesting or plausible - or that she's that great an actress..... think she's cool though - know what i mean.
Savini's appearance was just cheesy. Not like the cameos in the Dawn remake which were cleverly done!
As for the effects - ok I'll back track - they're ok - BUT I think the filming and cinematography of the Dawn remake is VASTLY superior to Land.
Lamestain - you're right Go is a great film and Polley - wow!! she's cool I recently read an interview with Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth who stated that Polley was her favouite actress and that she would like her to play her in the Sonic Youth bio-pic!!! (if there was one!! - ha ha ha)

Now fast vs slow Zombies. It's a hot potato alright! Ok I'm gonna sit on the fence and say I like both! Hows that?
Dawn remake was so good as it kinda didn't explain what causes the outbreak and it's more like a 28 Days Later scenario - a rabid like frenzy disease that makes the victims become homicidal eating machines.
I guess zombies in Romero's world (does he ever really use the term zombies I think he prferes the walking dead or ghouls..) are more trad. re-animated corpses who just stumble around looking for food. You're only gonna get eaten up if you get over powered by enough of them or you're injured. Er....... jesus I sound like a sad Zombie fan boy...ha ha ha.

I kinda hope that the dude who made the Dawn remake takes the story on a bit - he was good...
I'm kinda intrigued about watching it again - course I am.
Have you ever read the comic Walking Dead? It's amazing. It's on about issue 21 now. Amazing comic - the first 15 issues are gathered together in 3 books. If ya dig Romero and or zombies check it out!

[lamestain]

You make valid points sir. This has been a great discussion indeed! I'm just happy that we share an interest in watching films in which zombies, fast or slow, eat people.