Land of the Dead (2005) (1 Viewer)

[Colton]

The 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake is so much better than this lackluster Land of the Dead movie. I like my zombie movies to be terrifying with the feeling of hopelessness. Land of the Dead could have been really good, but the elements of doom aren't grabbing at you. The main characters are as soulless as the zombies - where you don't care if they live or die. In the 2004 DOTD, your at the edge of your seat when they flee the mall in the armored trucks to make it to the docks, but in LOTD you aren't really concerned about the rich citizens of Fiddlers Green - in fact, they aren't even introduced to the audience. We see Dennis Hooper and his CEO's who run the show at Fiddlers Green and how they use the lower-class security guards to run errands for them. As for Riley, Cholo and the other team members - they treat it as business as usual. You can't connect with them. Why do they stay there? Where is the character development?

Now the zombies, they looked great! The staggering ones of the old Romero days are even more as ugly and rotted from previous films (NOTLD & DAWN) - I would even say the makeup is on par with the 2004 DOTD, but damn, they aren't the same zombies we have all come to know and fear.

If you want a zombie movie with some comedy and a few shocking surprises - watch Land of the Dead. It's worth a watch. Bring a date. You'll see zombies holding hands. It's cute. Your girlfriend will love it.

For those who like their zombies movies with the feeling of dread and a terrifying psychological survival rollercoaster ride, turn off the lights and watch the 2004 Dawn of the Dead (Directors Cut) again.

- Colton

 

[aaron campbell]

Colton, I couldn't have said it better.

 

[RobertR]

You'll see zombies holding hands.

Sounds like we're meant to feel more for the zombies than the living. I'll pass.

 

[Tim Mauldin]

^ You're on to something there Paul.

In DOTD Dr. Frankenstein was killed with a machine gun, but he never came back. At least if he did, it was wasn't shown on screen.

 

[Andy Sheets]

Sounds like we're meant to feel more for the zombies than the living.

Is this really so surprising considering the cynicism towards humanity that Romero's other films show? I mean, I liked Ken Foree and what's-her-name in Dawn of the Dead, but there's never been any doubt in my mind that Romero roots for the zombies.

 

[Matthew_Def]

Well Colton I can't disagree with you more on the Dawn remake. It did nothing for me. There was no hopeless feeling cause the characters were all so stupid, uninteresting, and undercooked. There was nothing terrifying about the film because the zombies were not believeable. I don't really have a problem with running zombies, but I saw sprinters in makeup. They didn't move like dead beings brought back to life should. I can't be terrified by a film that is inconsistent, and lacks so much logic. This all made so especially terrible because it is so obvious that the film was trying to go for such a scary and hopeless feeling.
I tried watching it again, hoping that maybe something better was there. Nope, it just got worse. When they brought in the big fat lady, and Sarah Polly was like, "let's help her". I had to shut it off(i did eventually finish it). I'm sorry but in a world were the dead are coming back to life, and you have a person that looks as terrible as that, helping them is the last thing you should do. She looked just like a zombie. Hello, any sirens going off?
You criticizes Land for character development. The remake was terrible in that department. So many one dimensional characters. Sarah Polly never changed, she always was headstrong and stubborn and willing to help, so was Ving Rhames for that matter("I gotta go find my brother"...yech). Jake was always the calm, level-headed guy. I mean how can I sympathize with people so stupid as to not realize zombies can make it to an island, or have been inhabiting it? They were building this these tank buses for a while, and they never consider how silly their island idea is? How did the dog lady just plow through the parking lot to andy's store, yet these tanks get stopped? Why didn't they use the sewers in the first place? How can rotten flesh move so quickly and not just start falling apart. By the end of the film, they should have all been walkers. How in the first place did a legless zombie get on the cieling? It was really just a poor put together script.
Don't get me started on Andre, and the terrible accent his wife had. What a waste of a side story. Easily the worst thing about the film. The film might have been a lot better without those two characters. I mean where did he get all those straps for her? And how did no one even notice what a creep he was being. Look if I am trapped in a mall, I would want to make sure everyone is cool. If he is not showing us his wife and we need to make sure everything is cool. I am forcing him to show us. I am not letting anyone screw up the great situation we have. Then there was the shoot out between him and the old lady, was so atrocious. The slow motion was just awful, as it was in the rest of the film.
Look if Land is a stinker I will admit it. I was very hopeful about the Dawn remake(saw it on the first day and everything). A new zombie film is always great to see. But that doesn't mean they will all be good.
Sounds like the original Dawn to me. I love zombies that have personality. Something the Remake lacked so much.
John I really don't know what you are talking about with Romero. He has never, ever, stated he is above the horror genre. What I meant by my comments is that Romero doesn't make scary movies. His films aren't really scary. Not that he is above that, just that his films aren't scary. There are scary moments sure, but his films do not rest on that. He has humour, gore, action, and scares. Plus there is very ignorable social commentary. His films are layered. That is my whole point. He doesn't make a horror films strictly so he can scare. That is not what he does. Part if may have to do with that fact that he doesn't think he is very good at it.
Edit: I am shocked by some of these comments here. To me the Dawn Remake represents everything wrong with the horror genre. It is trying so hard to be hip and cool, rather then just trying to be what it is. To me the Dawn remake was so prententious. It took itself so seriously, and failed with every turn it made.
Now Land could change this, but Romero always seemed to make the film he wanted. He didn't give shit about what way the genre was going. He wanted to do what he wanted. Even with Day, his compromise was still what he wanted. To me Day is so incredibly modern, and so far ahead of other 80s horror flicks. It was the time of sequel after sequel mimicking what he last did. Romero couldn't have gotten further away from Dawn with Day, and that makes me happy.
With that said, we all have opinions, and I respect that. I certainly wish you guys had different ones in some cases, but hey whatever. I am not going to get bent out of shape over them.

 

[Will K]

Sounds like the original Dawn to me. I love zombies that have personality. Something the Remake lacked so much.

Though I enjoyed the Dawn remake, I have to agree with this statement. Everybody remembers the nurse zombie in the original Dawn, as well as the Hari Krishna zombie, and the fat one bumping into the glass. Sitting here writing this, I honestly cannot recall any specific zombies in the remake that etch themselves in my memory.

 

[Robert Anthony]

I honestly cannot recall any specific zombies in the remake that etch themselves in my memory.

there was ...uh... that one that fell down when the horde of zombies rounded the corner after the first truck tipped over. That one. I only remember him because he biffed it hard and got trampled by all the other zombies.
But to use my earlier comparison--does anyone really remember any of the individual Aliens in ALIENS, either?
But I am looking forward to seeing the evolution of the Bub-Zombies in this movie. I'm REALLY looking forward to it, actually.

 

[Colton]

"Sitting here writing this, I honestly cannot recall any specific zombies in the remake that etch themselves in my memory."

Oh, come on. You saying the 2004 DOTD "Actor Look-a-like Shootout" wasn't memorable? The look-a-like Jay Leno and Burt Reynolds? That was brillant! The undead baby should definately be remembered. Watch it again and let me know.

- Colton

 

[RobertR]

there's never been any doubt in my mind that Romero roots for the zombies.

Well, this Romero has never rooted for the zombies in a Romero film.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I've got to get involved in this! The Dawn remake is an example of a horror film that not only breathed new life into a classic story, but also infused it with the kind of kick-ass adrenalin found in such classic action films like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon.
The charactors in the remake are every bit as fleshed out as anything seen in the original, Polly, Rhames, Weber and the rest of the cast all turn in fine performances that do resonate emotions that we all might feel if faced with that situation. Ving wanted to save his brother, so what, wouldn't you? Polly is a nurse and a good person, so naturally she wanted to help, Andre wasa product of the streets, a troubled punk who just wanted to start over with his new family, but sadly never got the chance, the plague dealt him a particularly harsh hand and he couldn't handle it, and Weber was just an everyman, a nice guy who has risen to the occasion and found within himself the strength to lead others and think straight in a pinch. His time for panic is over, and now he faces the new world as it is. And I cannot say enough about the charactor of Andy, just one cool cat riding out the storm and having some fun while he's at it.
Zack Snyder just went for it, he set out to make a rip-roaring horror thrill ride that just tore your balls off with no apologies and I admire the hell out of that! Bottom line for me, not since Return of the Living Dead have I had such an utter blast watching a zombie flick, and it has taken it's rightful place right next to that classic on my dvd shelf. His directorial debut was a smashing one.
Travesty? Hardly.
And as for memorable zombies, how about the little girl, Luda, Lewis, the fat lady (agreed that they should have thrown her ass out the door as soon as they saw her), the skinny one that scared the crap out of Andre at the door, Ben Kozine, yes, the baby zombie has earned it's place in horror history, and of course, we can't forget poor Andy.
Any film that makes me care about a man that we never even meet close up has done it's job in spades. Plus, and i've said this many times, despite tradition, despite logic and the way things SHOULD work, running zombies beat the living daylights out of lumbering one's in the threat department!
If I encountered an entire group of Romero's zombies, i'd probably be alarmed and quicken my pace a little because I would know that simply walking fast would be sufficiant to lose them, now if I saw just ONE of Snyder's zombies, I would haul ass for the hills and pray to the Lord above that I make it without being chased down like a rabid dog and ripped to shreds! :frowning:
Matthew,
it's cool, it wasn't your post, in fact I think I agree with your assesment of Romero. However he has stated that he doesn't make scary zombie films, which he clearly does IMO. Maybe that isn't his intent while making them, who knows, but he sure shoots and structures them to scare people, and has for decades.
Bottom line, if he's trying not to make scary zombie film's, he's been incredibly unsuccesful in his goal. I don't really care about the social commentaries in these films, they are intriguing i'll admit that, but I go to see zombies and to be scared with the world that Romero presents to me for 90 minutes.
This particular issue is very complex, let's just let this one go shall we?
By this time tomorrow, i'll know.

 

[Rich Romero]

I disagree with every single "point" made in the previous post. The Dawn remake WAS a travesty and completely missed the idea of these films.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Cool, Rich, you win, I mean who am I to argue with your location file?
Have a nice discussion guy's, i'll see you all in the Official Review Thread for the film.
First show tomorrow, i'm there. I hope for the best.

 

[Shawn_KE]

Huge fan of Romeros Zombie flick, but the Dawn remake did kick some ass. I don't see how a zombie fan could not like it. And because of that good movie, Land is going to have to live up to it.

 

[Robert Anthony]

This might be too late--but can we get this thread title changed to the actual title of the movie?

 

[Travis W.]

I feel the same way as Colton. To say I am a fan of the Dead films is an understatement. I've been anxiously awaiting Land for what seems to be an eternity. There was just not enough story, not enough involvement with the characters. The zombie effects were great but I just didn't care about what happened. I can only wonder what could have been if that October 21st release date would have been kept.
Definitely the weakest of the series...and it hurts to say that.
:star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[AaronMan]

Romero's slow zombies are more interesting to me because ultimately, they will win in the end. Sure, you can get by if you run, but that's what makes it so tantilizing to try and escape! You try to get away in your car. The car runs out of gas. Then, oh shit, your trapped outside with 50 or 100 zombies. How do you get away then? Start running? You will get tired. Then you will be eaten alive if you don't commit suicide first. You know its only a matter of time. Its inevitable. This is the feeling of dread. Its in every scene, in the back of each character's mind. They know they are ultimately screwed. The remake of Dawn had none of this.

In the remake, there was a pregnant woman. And since this is a by-the-numbers Hollywood movie, they had to give us a birth scene. Wow, didn't see that coming. Oh, and its a zombie baby. Oh, and it looks stupid, too. Fran was also pregnant in the original. But, it was just something else they had to deal with everyday. They spared us the obligatory birth scene. And we're left wondering how that eventually turned out...

Watch Night, Dawn and Day again. If the zombies are so easy to defeat, why does society collapse so quickly? Just send the military out to kill them all. Didn't work, did it?

When Peter and Fran "escape" in the helicoptor at the end of Dawn, they have little to no fuel left, and limited ammunition. Peter rolles his eyes. He knows they won't survive long. This is not a happy ending. We figure this out whithout it being smacked in our faces like the remake did. The movie realizes the audience has a brain and doesn't insult their intelligence.

See what I mean? The remake lacked all of these elements. But, like David Lee Roth vs Sammy Hagar, slow lumbering zombies vs Carl Lewis zombies will forever be debated.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Definitely the weakest of the series...and it hurts to say that.

I kind of figured that would be the case. I haven't been a fan of Romero's work in a long while, and the trailers looked about on par with his more recent efforts. The whole project has seemed shaky since I first read about it years ago, but I'm sorry to see those fears were more or less realized.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Aaron,
I must say that while your post brings up many good points, those points weren't lost on me, the distinction here lies in the fact that none of the things that bothered you about the remake bothered me. The original is a classic and one of my favorite films and will remain so. I mean even though I feel that the remake is a better film, it in no way invalidates the original for me.

However you are of course, in turn, free to completely disagree with me. See, unlike Rich I don't see my opinion as a hard and unshakable fact, and I would never hurt your feelings by dismissing what you have to say as absolute nonsense not worthy of my time, that's just not the kind of guy I am.

8 hours and counting until the film and i'm actually feeling nervous, it's been a good while since anticipation of seeing a film has made me feel like that. I would describe the feeling as excitment mixed with a generous amount of caution.

 

[Amy Mormino]

The critical consensus seems to be pretty decent on this one so far. Metacritic has the current average review at 79, which is higher than Cinderella Man and Revenge of the Sith got! The weird thing is that the biggest raves have come from some of the most prestigious outlets (The New York Times, Chicago Tribune), which is very unusual for horror films.