The OaO "Land of the Dead" talkback thread

[Gary Floyd 0]

Well, it's official, Land of the Dead is now upon us. Seen it? Going to See it? Talk about it here

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I am going to smoke a 2 paper blunt beforehand and let George do his thang. Should be delicious.

[Darthtiki 0]

I saw a sneak of it on Tuesday and thought it was ok, once again Asia Argento is smokin', the dead attacks were pretty sick especially near the end.

[dubq 0]

Even though the cast is ass, I'm going to see it at 8:15 PM EST this evening. Here's hoping it doesn't disappoint. Though, I have to say that I'm oddly not even close to being as hyped for this as I was for the Dawn of the Dead remake.. which is very wierd since I'm a Romero mark.

[Red Baron 0]

Whats the difference between Land of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

[cabbageboy 0]

Dawn of the Dead was a remake of sorts, Land of the Dead is a part of the series Romero directed that the original Dawn was a part of.

 

The Dead movies are kinda confusing in that regard, I thought for years Return of the Living Dead counted in the series but it really doesn't.

[Insane Bump Machine 0]

Ebert's review:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...S/50614001/1023

[Ripper 0]

John Legizamo(sp) will be reason enough to watch this movie acting wise. Asia Argento for the visuals. SO it all works out.

[Placebo Effect 0]

That was a fantastic review from Ebert.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Just saw it, and it's awesome. When you hear reviews that say "Romero shows them how it's done" it's damn true. This movie is tied with "Batman Begins" as the best film of the summer, IMO.

[{''({o..o})''} 0]

I liked it alot, but the ending left me a bit flat. Loved the

oral attack

though and marked for Savini. Still too fresh to make a concrete placing, but I imagine it will rank ahead of Day at least.

[AndrewTS 0]

Definitely seeing it. I'm a fan of the old flicks, watched them recently, and had visited the mall where (I think) they filmed Dawn last week (Monroeville, PA). Going with a friend tomorrow.

[chirs3 0]

I thought it was pretty dull. Not scary, not funny, and there's nothing new. Just a bunch of people going through familiar zombie movie motions.

 

I was interested to see how they'd play the "zombies get smarter" thing, but it ended up being pretty weak.

[NoCalMike 0]

I thought it was pretty damn good, although I wonder how much had to be cut(not just Gore, but storyline and character development too) because Romero was dealing with hollywood with this flick.

[Downhome 0]

I saw it, loved it, but after my first viewing I'm left with the feeling that something was missing. That feeling is likely to go away after I see it again though.

 

If you love zombie flicks, especially Romero's work, you'll more than likely be pleased with this one.

 

Am I just crazy, or did I read somewhere that this is the first of a possible new trilogy?

 

I don't know about everyone else, but I really, really like Dennis Hopper. I think one of the things that left me with a feeling that something was missing is that he didn't really do a whole lot of anything in this movie. I wont spoil anything, but I almost didn't really see the point of his character, they seriously didn't really do shit with it, and that pissed me off. His storyline with Legizamo just felt tossed in for the hell of it, without much meat at all to it.

 

I think you are right NoCalMike, I felt like a LOT was missing (cut) from the final print. I'm sure the DVD will either be an extended version of the film, or will at least have tons of deleted scenes.

 

That would be my only complaint, everything else was pretty much perfect for a flick like this.

 

So who was able to catch Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright? I wasn't able to, but I saw their names listed in the credits as the "photo booth zombies".

 

I think I'm going to watch it again to see how everything sits with me again, but I think I'll still have the same main complaint.

 

All of that said, everyone who is a fan of this sort of thing should go see it. It does indeed feel like GR was reinventing the genre he created...that is NOT just hype, trust me. There were also a few "new" types of deaths and attacks, so even the deaths and the such felt fresh for the most part.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Holy shit, I obviously noticed this when I saw the film, but I didn't even know it was him (Simon Pegg)!

 

[Anya 0]

I thought it was kind of boring. Just the same old characters and situations in all other zombie movies. No real good scares and not enough humor. The worst part is how much time they spent on set up and exposition. By the time the zombies were invading and they were trying to get the truck back it was almost over. The ending was so anticlimatic , it felt like the movie was just picking up and then it ends.

[dubq 0]

Saw it. Didn't love it. But it was passable. I also agree that it felt like a lot was left out and a lot of stuff went unexplained. I'll see it one or two more times in the theatre, but that's about it. It definitely does not come close to topping Batman at all.

 

I also think that if Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright got to be zombie extras, than Nick Frost should've been in there too! ;p

[Downhome 0]

I also think that if Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright got to be zombie extras, than Nick Frost should've been in there too! ;p

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I've read that he was actually, but I can't say for sure which is why I didn't mention him in my post.

 

Can anyone confirm that Nick was in there also?

[dubq 0]

Also, from the LA Times:

 

Romero is busily assembling the unrated DVD edition, so although the R-rated theatrical release has plenty of the crunchy, squishy, visceral extravagance that is the hallmark of a "Dead" movie, the carnage will linger a bit longer for home video.

[AndrewTS 0]

Enjoyable movie, but ain't touching the old trilogy. However, makeup/effects/acting/writing was pretty strong, but the ending seemed a little mucked-up and confusing.

 

I've heard conflicting things in interviews from Romero about whether or not that "messages" in the trilogy were intentional (I recall he flat-out denied the Dawn/consumerism theme, but on the widescreen special edition of Day, the back of the sleeve directly quotes him as saying it was intended). However, it's definitely intentional here, and sounds really forced and heavy-handed. Worst is when the script throws in political buzz phrases that make little sense in context, it's just there to be "relevant" (The placing/use of "jihad" is a particular groaner).

 

Other than that, enjoyed it a lot. I got Simon Pegg's cameo, and was surprised to see Savini in as "Machete Zombie." They even reference my area ("How was Uniontown?" "It was dead"). I guess it was supposed to be Pittsburgh (although filmed in Toronto).

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

There were only 5 1/2 minutes cut from the movie that will be added to the DVD itself. That is straight from Greg Nicotero who does the Special FX from LOTD. I really enjoyed the movie and thought that Romero kept a decent amount of gore in the film as well. At least there was a lot more than I expected going into this one so it's a "hard R". It's probably the worst in the "Dead" series alltogether because it's running time is a bit short and the character development falls short because of it. It's still not a bad movie at all and there is a possible sequel to this where we may find out a lot more about things (I would explain more, I just don't want to spoil anything) and I enjoyed it more upon a second viewing myself.

 

I also talked with several people at the Pittsburgh Premiere (Greg Nicotero, Quentin Tarantino, and several actors from other Romero movies) and they all enjoyed the film. Some of the hardcore fans that I met there weren't as happy about it, but most that I spoke with enjoyed it. More than anything though I'm happy seeing Romero get the credit that he deserves.......

[cabbageboy 0]

I thought it was real good, in fact I liked it better than the Dawn remake. I'm not a big fan of the fast moving zombies however, and besides if you don't have a biker gang, it ain't Dawn of the Dead.

 

In this it seemed like the biker/mercenaries from Dawn were our heroes, which I found amusing.

 

I think people tend to like Day of the Dead simply because it completed the original trilogy. It has some decent stuff in it but there are some VERY boring stretches of rambling talk that make it weaker than this film.

[Gary Floyd 0]

I thought it was real good, in fact I liked it better than the Dawn remake.  I'm not a big fan of the fast moving zombies however, and besides if you don't have a biker gang, it ain't Dawn of the Dead.

 

In this it seemed like the biker/mercenaries from Dawn were our heroes, which I found amusing. 

 

I think people tend to like Day of the Dead simply because it completed the original trilogy.  It has some decent stuff in it but there are some VERY boring stretches of rambling talk that make it weaker than this film.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I actually don't mind the bits of conversation. I think that they helps set the tone and atmosphere of the film. "Day Of the Dad" isn't a "Rambo" style war hero flick; it's a study on the dark nature of the human spirit, and on the increasing Militarism of the U.S. If anything, it's the anti "Rambo"

[AndrewTS 0]

I like Day a lot too, and I originally saw it before Dawn. How can you not love Dr. Frankenstein, Steel, the utter asshole that is Rhodes, and of course BUB?

 

However, something that's been bugging me about Land--why the hell don't the guys sent out to forage keep some sort of heavy blade on hand if they need to amputate a limb? If you get nipped on the finger, you're screwed? Come on, now! I'm assuming all of the rules established thus far still apply--so if you quickly wrap a tourniquet above the bite and hack it off, you should make it.

[Ted the Poster 0]

I liked the movie, but only one thing stuck out to me: Asia Argento is a terrible actress, judging from what I've seen.

[dubq 0]

I liked the movie, but only one thing stuck out to me: Asia Argento is a terrible actress, judging from what I've seen.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

She also has a terribly ugly face.

[Downhome 0]

She looks a lot like Uma Thurman to me.

[Vyce 0]

This movie is tied with "Batman Begins"  as the best film of the summer, IMO.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You got to be shitting me.

[Gary Floyd 0]

This movie is tied with "Batman Begins"  as the best film of the summer, IMO.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You got to be shitting me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I ain't shittin' ya. "Star Wars" just didn't do it for me, "High Tension" was great, but the ending was a letdown, and I have no interest in "Fantastic Four" or "War of the Worlds" (Though "Dark Water", albeit a remake, looks good). So basically, "Batman Begins" and "Land of the Dead" are the best movies I've seen this summer so far.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Pretty disappointing. I enjoyed most of the setup, but hell never broke loose in an interesting or new fashion. The growing sense of despair that characterizes nearly all apocalyptic/zombie films is one of my favorite things about the genre and one of its greatest strengths, and there was little new here in that sense, except maybe the scene involving the electrified fence. It's all rising action and then a dull plateau to finish things off, and the entire proceedings never feel close to as intense as they should. It wasn't really funny at all either, which is another great hallmark of these pictures. Shaun of the Dead is actually more stimulating and horrifying than this, which is kinda sad for Land of the Dead.