Land of the Dead

[Super Christ]

So, here we go. The first zombie movie that Romero's made since, 1984 I think? (I understand he was only peripheral in the remakes of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.) Who's seen it? As the man who created the zombie genre as we know it, how do you feel about the direction he takes it in this movie? Well, granted, he *began* to take it in this direction 20 years ago in Day of the Dead, but takes it much further in this movie. So yes. Thoughts on the movie? Comments? Bets on how long it will take for this thread to die? (Pun only partially intended.)

[Erdrick Holmes]

How do all of these people become zombies in the first place?

[gokufusionss1]

They smoked

YOU WERE WARNED

[Captain Maxx Power]

It's a zombie flick, and it's by Romero. What's not to get butt-clenchingly excited about?

[Super Christ]

How do all of these people become zombies in the first place?

Given that this is the fourth movie in a series, it all happened before the movie takes place, starting in Night of the Living Dead. And the cool thing about Romero zombies is, you only need one and a handful of people that don't know what's going on before you have the beginnings of an undead army.

I thought it was awesome; after all, this is the first zombie movie Romero's done since I was a toddler, and even then I didn't begin to appreciate horror movies (and zombie movies, in particular) until a few years ago.

[Yuffie514]

horror movies are the best. i'm not sure about this one. all the zombie movies are just like Dawn of the Dead remakes. same here, same there.

[Madame Adequate]

It's a zombie flick, and it's by Romero. What's not to get butt-clenchingly excited about?

QFE.

I can't wait to see this. I shall have to make plans.

[XxSephirothxX]

I generally hate horror movies, but I saw Day of the Dead a few months back and was genuinely impressed. It's really not a horror movie at all--it's a movie about people and the problems of society, the military, etc. There just happened to be zombies. Anyway, after seeing it, I really respect Romero as a director. Probably won't see Land of the Dead in the theatres, but I wouldn't mind. I'll definitely rent it in a few months.

[Super Christ]

horror movies are the best. i'm not sure about this one. all the zombie movies are just like Dawn of the Dead remakes. same here, same there.

If you're referring to the Dawn of the Dead I think you're referring to (the one that came out last year), <i>that was a remake itself</i>.

Seriously. George Romero <b>invented</b> the zombie genre as we know it in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead. Before that, anything involving zombies was strictly people controlled by powerful voodoo priests to act as servants. Romero made a sequel, Dawn of the Dead, in 1978. Then Day of the Dead in 1986. This is the first zombie movie he's made since then, so there's reason to be excited. Granted, they remade Night of the Living Dead in 1990 and Dawn of the Dead last year, but as I mentioned before, I understand that Romero was, at best, peripheral to their creation.

If Romero does another zombie movie, it'll be interesting to see what the setting is like then - his movies have most certainly not been carbon copies of each other. Night of the Living Dead takes place at the very beginning of the outbreak, and establishes the basic rules concerning them - that they eat the living, and can only be defeated by destroying their brain. He doesn't really bother to reiterate this every movie - those that didn't get it in the first one are dead in the subsequent ones. At the most there's very short mention of is while characters are discussing why this is happening. Dawn of the Dead takes place with the outbreak well underway - martial law has already been declared, television stations are being shut down, and so forth. The movie ends, I think, months later; I think even close to a year. Day of the Dead takes place somewhere between months and years after the whole thing started. He seems to have made it a point that the calendar you see at the beginning of the movie, and at the end, both lack the year, and days - they just say the month. This is the one where he introduces the idea that maybe the zombies have a modicom of intelligence, as one of the scientists at the facilty actually trains one not to attack humans, and inarguably demonstrates that it retains at least some vague memory of its life. Land of the Dead takes this further, as they begin communicating in some rudimentary way, and learn to use tools.

I'll grant that I didn't really spot much of the social commentary in Day of the Dead that you mentioned, Azar; but Land of the Dead is full of it. Fiddler's Green makes a great plot device, filled with people largely unconcerned that civilization has effectively ended, and who do not care about the huddled masses sitting just outside their door.

And, like all three of Romero's other zombie movies, this one has a really cool black guy in it. Only this time, he's a zombie.

[Shoeberto]

Then Day of the Dead in 1986.

I thought Day came out in '83.

I want to see Night. I started watching Dawn (the original) but it was pretty slow and boring. The remake was more entertaining. Day was alright but too talky. I'm a big fan of zombie horror, and I aknowledge and appreciate all he's done for the genre, but the films I've seen so far of his were just kind of boring. I'll see this one eventually, I just hope it's a little more fast moving.

[BatChao]

Dude... I just saw Land... it was pretty damn awesome. Totally different than what I expected. I expected to see a pretty good zombie action movie... instead, what I got was a zombie movie that's actually character driven instead of action driven! And social commentary in it too! Hmm... a zombie movie that makes you think... Romero is da man!

[tan]

Land of the Dead was okay. The end was completely retarded tho.

[Super Christ]

Then Day of the Dead in 1986.

I thought Day came out in '83.

I thought it came out in '84, but the copyright date on the back of my DVD says '86... not that it matters much anyway, it's still almost 20 years old.

[lordblazer]

the thing that bothers me about zombie movies is how do the zombies appear

.I'm just wondering i havent seen this movie yet but i;m wondering if someone can pm me a spoiler on how the zombies appeared in this movie.

[The Shoeless Hobo]

Land of the Dead is one of the 'Must-See' movies for me to go to this year. I can't wait. Dawn of the Dead made me the kind of zombie fan I am today.