Land of the Dead - Movie Review

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Land of the Dead - Movie Review

Posted: 6/21/2005 6:43:15 PM EDT

I saw the unrated preview tonight. What an awesome movie! Closer in tone and entertainment value to Dawn than Day, although Big Daddy lends more than a passing reference to Bub. A bit of haves and have nots commentary that doesn't go overboard and some excellent dead pan lines from Dennis Hopper.

The action is tight and the gore is excessive, just the way I like it. The characters are well drawn and acted. Charlie's preference for old school weaponry is particularly well done.

Oh, and Tom Savini with a big blade!

****1/2 out of 5 stars.

Posted: 6/21/2005 6:45:32 PM EDT

[#1]

Sweet!

What caliber for Zombies with pitchforks?

Posted: 6/21/2005 6:46:08 PM EDT

[#2]

WOW, I didn't have high hopes for that movie. Can't wait to see it now

.

Posted: 6/21/2005 6:52:35 PM EDT

[#3]

Any good firefights?

Err, ONE sided firefights? Would suck if zombies knew how to use weapons.

ben

Posted: 6/21/2005 6:54:36 PM EDT

[#4]

Excellent, can't wait to see it.

Posted: 6/21/2005 7:00:02 PM EDT

[#5]

Any boobabe leaking from Asia Argento?

Posted: 6/21/2005 7:21:52 PM EDT

[#6]

Man its getting grim.

First we just had to deal with zombies and the infection.
Then we had to worry about them gaining higher mobility and running zombies.
There was one documentary that hinted at zombies retaining a sliver of their former intelligence , but I never expected to evolve to the levels now being reported.
Now they have applied that evolution against us.

Was Omega man a prophetic piece?

I am thinking belt fed is the only way to go now.

Posted: 6/21/2005 9:18:33 PM EDT

[#7]

Make this the third movie on my have to see this sumer list.

Posted: 6/21/2005 9:38:05 PM EDT

[#8]

Cant wait!

Posted: 6/21/2005 11:18:06 PM EDT

[#9]

And you got all this from a preview?

Posted: 6/22/2005 4:31:59 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
And you got all this from a preview?

It was a preview showing, not a trailer. The movie's about an hour and a half long!

Posted: 6/22/2005 4:32:45 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Any boobabe leaking from Asia Argento?

Sorry, no joy in that department...

Posted: 6/22/2005 4:35:40 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Any good firefights?

Err, ONE sided firefights? Would suck if zombies knew how to use weapons.

ben

Many zombies gunned down most spectacularly. As for zombies with guns, well, we still got an edge there ... but it's shrinking!

Posted: 6/22/2005 4:41:17 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Any good firefights?

Err, ONE sided firefights? Would suck if zombies knew how to use weapons.

ben

Many zombies gunned down most spectacularly. As for zombies with guns, well, we still got an edge there ... but it's shrinking!

I saw the making of LOTD on IFC the other night.

Zombies can't shoot very well.

Also, IFC will be showing NOTLD and Dawn Of The Dead on Thursday night.

www.ifctv.com/ifctvflash/media/ifc_pulp_flash/dead.html
They are throwing Dead-Alive in as well. Don't really care for that one.

Posted: 6/22/2005 7:32:11 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Any good firefights?

Err, ONE sided firefights? Would suck if zombies knew how to use weapons.

ben

Many zombies gunned down most spectacularly. As for zombies with guns, well, we still got an edge there ... but it's shrinking!

I saw the making of LOTD on IFC the other night. Zombies can't shoot very well.
Also, IFC will be showing NOTLD and Dawn Of The Dead on Thursday night.www.ifctv.com/ifctvflash/media/ifc_pulp_flash/dead.html

They are throwing Dead-Alive in as well. Don't really care for that one.

Dead Alive was Peter Jacksons finest film ever. Makes LOTR look ghey. Meet The Feebles runs a close second followed by Bad Taste.

(I know those were just movies and not factual documentaries like we appreciate, but sometimes we need movies to take our minds off the impending threat)

Posted: 6/22/2005 7:36:48 AM EDT

[#15]

I have to friggin wait till FRIDAY!!!!! Grrrrrrr.......thanks for the early review, DN!!!!!! I am looking a bit more forward to it now.

Posted: 6/22/2005 7:53:07 AM EDT

[#16]

yep, know what i am doing friday afternoon

Posted: 6/22/2005 10:30:53 AM EDT

[#17]

BTW, Pillsbury ROX!

Posted: 6/22/2005 10:35:57 AM EDT

[#18]

Dark Nite, thanks for your review!

Quoted:
I have to friggin wait till FRIDAY!!!!! Grrrrrrr.......thanks for the early review, DN!!!!!! I am looking a bit more forward to it now.

Desertmoon, I really want to read your review before seeing it. Very entertaining!

I've gotta' ask though....

did you like "Team America"?

Posted: 6/22/2005 10:39:21 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Any good firefights?

Err, ONE sided firefights? Would suck if zombies knew how to use weapons.

ben

Many zombies gunned down most spectacularly. As for zombies with guns, well, we still got an edge there ... but it's shrinking!

I saw the making of LOTD on IFC the other night. Zombies can't shoot very well.

Bub did all right.

And how can one not appreciate the lawnmower scene from Dead Alive?

Posted: 6/22/2005 1:19:10 PM EDT

[#20]

Re: LOTD

Them zombies really like tounge.

Posted: 6/22/2005 1:29:00 PM EDT

[#21]

All hail the return of good zombie movies!

Posted: 6/22/2005 2:37:19 PM EDT

[#22]

Watching the previews has left me concerned about this movie. In the previews it looks like there is a head zombie, or zombie boss if you will.

This guy...

I guess I just always think of zombies as the shuffling (or sprinting) horde. They act like an amoeba moving toward food. There isn't a leader, just a drive to consume.

Well, that's what my doctoral courses in necrobiology tell me anyway.

(granted the dead guy looks like a freaking badass)

Posted: 6/22/2005 8:55:35 PM EDT

[#23]

Romero brings his zombie hordes back to life
.
.
.
Each film has been a product of its times.

After an early career in commercials and industrial films, Romero shot "Night of the Living Dead" in stark black and white with a documentary style that fit the naturalism overtaking American cinema in the 1960s. The tale of bickering people trapped in a farmhouse surrounded by hungry zombies reflected the decade's social unrest.

"Collapse of the family unit, lack of communication, people not being able to get it together. 'Should we stay upstairs or go down to the basement?' Instead of trying to really sort of pull together and address the problem," Romero said. "Just missed opportunities. The '60s in a nutshell."

"Dawn of the Dead" was a perversely funny condemnation of mall culture, featuring survivors who take refuge against zombies in a shopping center. When zombies manage to get inside, they passively ride escalators and mindlessly window shop for savory morsels - essentially, the same thing they did while living.

" 'Dawn of the Dead' is bawdy. It's this comic book, and it's in your face with the criticism of consumerism," Romero said. "It was the beginning of logo shirts and murder for Nikes. It was that period in time."

"Day of the Dead" reflects the cold opportunism of the 1980s, centering on scientists and military officers performing experiments on zombies in a bunker, where humans begin devolving amid the new world order of the undead.

"Land of the Dead" is a have and have-not story - timely, given the current focus on the chasm among classes in the United States. An elite few live the good life in a skyscraper while the masses suffer in squalor. Mercenaries scour the suburbs, gunning down zombies and foraging for groceries for the urban privileged.

The wealthy use fear of zombies to control the living population, an angle Romero uses to comment on the post-Sept. 11 world.

"Since 9/11, a fear came into it, and people have capitalized on how productive fear can be as a device," co-star Baker said.

Romero doubts he ever will do a movie resolving his zombie-vs.-human scenario but he thinks his films have been moving toward some degree of peaceful co-existence between the living and dead.

"When you think about how do you solve this problem, there has to be some degree of that," Romero said. "But the zombies also have to cooperate with that. I think one of the things is, they have to learn to eat something else."

Posted: 6/23/2005 5:10:17 AM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
Watching the previews has left me concerned about this movie. In the previews it looks like there is a head zombie, or zombie boss if you will.

This guy...
www.cinema.com/image_lib/9222_lotd003_thumb.jpg

I guess I just always think of zombies as the shuffling (or sprinting) horde. They act like an amoeba moving toward food. There isn't a leader, just a drive to consume.

Well, that's what my doctoral courses in necrobiology tell me anyway.

(granted the dead guy looks like a freaking badass)

One of the themes in this movie is how the zombie threat is evolving. Their IQ is slowly increasing...

Posted: 6/23/2005 8:29:33 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
All hail the return of good zombie ~~movies!~~documentaries

sorry for the edit.

Posted: 6/23/2005 9:20:18 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

****1/2 out of 5 stars.

that's all?

Posted: 6/24/2005 11:25:25 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
Quoted:

****1/2 out of 5 stars.

that's all?

I have seen better movies!

No. Really.

Still, it's awesome to have the Romero aesthetic back in a zombie movie. I liked the Dawn remake a lot but it's in another place from the Romero universe. And don't get me started on the retarded Resident Evil movies.

This movie is downtown Romero-ville!

Posted: 6/24/2005 11:37:09 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Quoted:
All hail the return of good zombie ~~movies!~~documentaries

sorry for the edit.

hahahahahaha

"necrobiology"!

Posted: 6/24/2005 12:54:31 PM EDT

[#29]

Land of the Dead is getting good reviews from Ebert and the NYT!

Posted: 6/24/2005 1:51:45 PM EDT

[#30]

Okay, I saw it this afternoon. It was fun, but I was a wee bit disappointed.

I was hoping for a horror movie, not an action film. Too many explosions, WAY too much full auto spraying (hard to believe that you wouldn't have to conserve ammo) and an overwrought soundtrack.

My biggest problem, if this makes any sense, was that the scale of the thing was just way too big. A lot of the real horror element that the first three films had came from the whole rat in a trap feeling. It's hard to convey that sense of helplessness with you're dealing with a whole city.

You couldn't care about the characters very much. And Big Daddy just didn't look, well, very dead.

But Asia Argento is hot, and the Simon Pegg/Edgar Wright cameos were cool.

It was well worth seeing, and I'll certainly buy it when it comes out on disc, but it's not the film I hoped it would be.

Posted: 6/24/2005 3:15:21 PM EDT

[#31]

It ws ok but Im not going call it the most powerful one.

The head zombie "muthafucking Raqeem" kinda ruined it.

Posted: 6/24/2005 5:04:27 PM EDT

[#32]

Did anyone else notice Tucker from DOTD 2004 was the zombie with the butcher knife in LOTD?

Posted: 6/25/2005 12:17:28 PM EDT

[#33]

I definately would not give it 3 1/2 stars.Maybe 2 at the most.Did you notice how many zombies went down from just body shots?When they would shoot one up close it was always a head shot like you're supposed to do,but when they would shoot the M60 from the armor truck then just chest shots would kill them.False info like this is going to get a lot of people killed when the infestation comes to your town.

Remember,only head shots kill.

Posted: 6/25/2005 12:31:01 PM EDT

[#34]

This is probably the most flawed documentary yet. Zombies do not commuicate. They do not have leaders. They do not think. I'm starting to wonder if Michael Moore is the real director behind this documentary.

***SPOILER WARNING***
Some words from IMDB.com:

i happen to think otherwise. i can't help but feel disgusted by this movie. i felt cheated out my time and money when i left the theater. by far it is in the top 3 worst movies EVER!!!!!!

I felt it needed more meat (No pun intended) to it.. more storyline.. I realize there is only so much you can do in a zombie movie.. I really enjoyed John Leguizamo.. He is actually coming to be a pretty good actor... However, it needed something a little extra... I can't quite put a finger on it! But I did enjoy it, despite the younger crowd acting really stupid and immature.

I have mixed feelings about it. I thought it was pretty cool, but at the same time it just didn't seem to fit in with the previous movies in the series. It was by far the goriest movie i've ever seen which is good.

I had mixed feelings as well. I didn't think Big Daddy was a great zombie. The scenes where you see the silloette of the violence came off good but I couldn't help but think that maybe they were there to help lower the Rating to R

I was overall disappointed, it was a alright movie, but the zombies didnt feel like zombies anymore, they just felt like corspey looking people, they had bats n guns n such...i want the mindless zombies who dont care about weapons n stuff but rather just realllllly want to eat the living crap out of the people, which is what this had, but the zombies thinking concept was just disappointing.

In respect to the other three, I'll say this is in the middle.

The gore is by far the very worst. In Night, the movie proved more atmospheric without the gross-out gore but they were still gutsy in some shots (barbecue scene). Dawn and Day both had absolutely amazing special effects. With Tom Savini being the head creature/gore effects man it would of course be so ahead of its time. But Land of the Dead was nothing, save a few shots I'm looking forward to in the un-rated DVD, but mostly CGI, bad CGI at that. CGI is fine with some movies but a zombie movie should have nothing do to with CGI, especially a "Dead" movie.

However, what got me so much with the movie that left me wondering "which Dead movie is in second place?" (night is by far the best) was the story line. The story was absolutely amazing. The characterization of a slow moving, flesh eating, mute Zombie may prove difficult but Romero, being the genius of using the Zombie and state of the world to utilize a viable political message, pulled it off so well. The whole movie took such a rip towards capitalism. The downtrodden, working-class zombie leading the others on a revolt towards the Tower of the capitalist suits. There was a wide array of symbolism that one can't help but feel agitation towards the suits at the end. Perhaps one of the only zombie movies up for analyzation.

So, in short, the gore effects are god-awful but the story is the best in any dead movie.

I had some problems with it:

1. Too much of a modern action film not enough of that old Romero UMPH! to it.
2. The socio-political commentary (if you can even really call it that) is really just a short series of (very) thinly veiled remarks. "I'm gonna go Gihad on your a s s" or something to that effect. Very hacky.
3. The ending...I don't know where to start with that. "They're just looking for a place to go."? Yeah, alright.

I'm focusing here on the things that I personally disliked about the film. There are so many good things about it, that it may be tough to list them all. The gore and effects were beautiful. Barely got that R-rating Not to mention that it's a new ROMERO ZOMBIE MOVIE.

From what I hear the DVD version will be at least six minutes longer.

"3. The ending...I don't know where to start with that. "They're just looking for a place to go."? Yeah, alright."

SPOILER: there were survivors out in the open, but the zombies weren't going after them any more. I think they figured if they attacked, they might be putting other people inside at risk. They also didn't know how many were left around or how smart the others besides Big Daddy were. It could have been a tactically bad move because these were essentially a new enemy who people didn't know too well and they no longer appeared to be attacking. That's how I read it, anyway. What bugged me was how innept the soldiers were.

More spoilers: I liked the opening, where it showed all the zombies hanging out by the graveyard, like they knew that was where they were supposed to be.

Posted: 6/25/2005 12:33:46 PM EDT

[#35]

I could have done without the social commentary. Also, the 'future' Pittsburgh took away a lot of the realism and scare of it.

I think a lot of the pucker factor from the previous zombie documentaries came from the fact that all was normal, then the zombies came. The initial confusion and paranoia is what is terrifying. The undead were nothing more than a fact of life in this one.

Also, they kept slamming that rich asshole who built Fiddler's Green... I wonder if those who hated him so much would have rather took their chances outside the fence rather than living on the streets inside the fence. Yeah he was a rich, corrupt idiot... but what's the options? I didn't see anyone else building a zombie-safe haven.

Posted: 6/25/2005 12:42:31 PM EDT

[#36]

Romero can f!ck off and die.

Posted: 6/25/2005 5:40:55 PM EDT

[#37]

movie blows. Why would you climb off a tower to fire full auto at the chest of a zombie.

Posted: 6/25/2005 5:43:39 PM EDT

[#38]

I do know what I want as my Zombie SHTF bug-out vehicle.

Posted: 6/25/2005 6:34:58 PM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:
A lot of the real horror element that the first three films had came from the whole rat in a trap feeling. It's hard to convey that sense of helplessness with you're dealing with a whole city.

I think you hit it right on the head.I felt like I was watching...

A Movie.

Posted: 6/26/2005 12:25:20 PM EDT

[#40]

Very dissapointed.The remake of dawn was far superior, LOD felt like a comedy.

Posted: 6/26/2005 1:52:41 PM EDT

[#41]

What a stupid ending.

Ok flick. But cmon.

TXL

Posted: 6/26/2005 3:12:59 PM EDT

[#42]

OK flick, but it was too pat for most of the stuff. Not scary at all, and the gore was just window dressing in most cases.

And you would think that after dealing with a world full of undead, the troops would remember one important fact:

SHOOT THEM IN THE HEAD

One shot, one dead zombie; none of this full-auto BS. And this is coming from someone that really likes to rock and roll

Posted: 6/26/2005 3:31:29 PM EDT

[#43]

I think for shock factor the next one will have to go for zombie/human sex scenes.

Maybe a zombie will "evolve" an urge to get busy with his rigor mortis stiffy and go after some human squeezebunnies. Or maybe some lowlife human loser will capture a former-hottie-now-zombie and tap some zombie ass.

Yeah, that would be cool.

Posted: 6/26/2005 3:36:51 PM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:
Or maybe some lowlife human loser will capture a former-hottie-now-zombie and tap some zombie ass.

Yeah, that would be cool.

Cool how? That would turn my stomach. Necrophlia? Gack! The pictures of the evolution of meth addicts gives you soem idea of what it would be like having sex with a zombie.

Posted: 6/26/2005 4:07:05 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Or maybe some lowlife human loser will capture a former-hottie-now-zombie and tap some zombie ass.

Yeah, that would be cool.

Cool how? That would turn my stomach. Necrophlia? Gack!

Cool like in giving birth to a zombie in "Day of the Dead".
Cool like in seeing Ray Liotta being fed his own brain in "Hannibal".
Cool like in seeing an obese guy tied to a table and force fed until he dies in "Seven".
Cool like in watching puppet-sex in "Team America".
Cool like in seeing a guy take a shit in a store in "Jackass".
Cool like in seeing Tom Green stroke a horse's penis in "Freddy Got Fingered".

You know, like Bukkake-cool. Tubgirl-cool.

Don't you know cool?

Posted: 6/26/2005 4:39:45 PM EDT

[#46]

Quoted:
[Don't you know cool?

I guess my definition differs.

Posted: 6/26/2005 8:06:17 PM EDT

[#47]

I liked it. I thought it was a good mix of zombie movies and Mad Max.

Spoiler Warning
And quite possibly the most optomistic ending I have seen for a zombie movie.

Posted: 6/26/2005 8:10:16 PM EDT

[#48]

Good movie: I'd give it a 90%. Romero meets modern movie making. Top notch stuff. Good moves on only using a few special effect. Remember, they are special, not to be used in every scene. I really like the fact he avoided using them where he could have or where others would have. Good acting and excellent make-up and non-graphical special effects made it glow and polished the movie nicely.

Romero is not a lazy ass like everyone else in Hollywood.

Posted: 7/8/2005 1:02:00 PM EDT

[#49]

Just got back from seeing it. Wasn't as good as I thought it'd be. It wasn't bad, but I don't think it was true "Romero" zombie awesomeness.

The fact that it had somewhat of a plot was certainly not in keeping with the other movies: Get the big pimped out truck back for the big mean man in charge. Save the pathetic low-lifes that are the ones who keep the walled in city functioning.

I thought the whole thinking zombies would be stupid, but it wasn't too terrible. At least they didn't have them talking or anything.

Burnt-faced retard sidekick with amazing marksmanship = dumb

I already said in another thread that having modern technology and weapons is frickin' stupid and definitely a serious continuity flaw in this movie. I mean, the guy had a frickin' GPS PDA.

Overall... it had zombie, human eating-goodness so it wasn't a complete wash.

.5

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Land of the Dead - Movie Review

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