(Credit: Amazon.com)
Directed by:
George A. Romero
Starring:
Simon Baker……….Riley
John Leguizamo……….Cholo
Dennis Hopper……….Kaufman
Asia Argento……….Slack
Robert Joy……….Charlie
Eugene Clark……….Big Daddy
Joanne Boland……….Pretty Boy
Tony Nappo……….Foxy
The Movie
Way back In 1968 George Romero and his crew set out to film a horror movie in rural Pennsylvania not expecting to make anything more than a movie they loved. With a meager hundred thousand dollar budget (which by todays standards probably wouldn’t even cover kraft services on a Steven Spielberg picture) he not only created one of the greatest zombie movies of all time, he created his own sub-genre of horror.
Since then many directors have come and gone who have tried to recapture what George put on celluloid, few have managed to reach such heights with their movies. This is most noticeable with the recent onslaught of low budget zombie and zombie-esque movies like 28 Days Later the two Resident Evil movies and the remake of Georges very own Dawn of the Dead. In fact the only movie that managed to make a real name for itself was Shaun of the Dead. Luckily now due to all those movies there is once again a demand for zombie flicks, and Romero can finally show all the younguns how things are done properly.
While a timeline is never brought up in any of the dead movies it’s easy to get an idea of where things have gone. Dawn of the Dead followed right after the events of Night of the Living Dead while Day of the Dead was based in a more later time period, Land of the Dead can be placed in or around the same time as Day. Whenever the movie may take place, things are looking grim. The world is in shambles and those still alive have barricaded themselves in a city guarded by rivers and electric fences.
Things aren’t too despairing as there is some resemblance of a society buried within the city. People are given jobs to go out into the zombie infested world to search for goods and then bring them back where the material gathered is sold to the “citizens”. Now while the idea that money has any sort of meaning in a world like this is far fetched, it’s really more of a message of people taking more interest in wealth over more important necessities.
When out scavenging for recourses the workers travel in a tank known as Dead Reckoning which is esentially a giant armor plated reconnaissance vehicle. While out gathering food and medicine we are introduced to some of our main characters both of whom are on their last day of work. First we meet Riley a no funny business guy who wants the night to just be over with already so he can finally leave the city, and head up north with hopes that things will be better off for him there.
Then we meet Cholo who also see bigger and better things in his future, he finally has enough money stashed away to buy his own living space at the grandest building in the city, Fiddler’s Green. Fiddler’s Green is a combination mall and condominium tower where the highest class with the most money have managed to set up shop within the fortified city. While the rest of mankind is forced to scrape by living on the streets and back alleys.
Thing’s escalate when Cholo is told he isn’t good enough to reside in Fiddler’s Green, and to take action on that he steals Dead Reckoning with the intent to destroy the one thing he can’t have, a home. With missiles locked in on Fiddler’s Green it’s up to Riley who has been recruited by the cities pseudo-leader Kaufman to go find the tank before Cholo does anything to endanger the city.
Riley may have been recruited to find Dead Reckoning before Cholo does the unthinkable but he really doesn’t care that the tank was stolen, nor does he care what Kaufman wants him to do. He see’s this task as one more obstacle in the way of him leaving the city. Only once he finds out Cholo intentions does he find the need to intervene on the plans. Because taking down the tower would leave to city in shambles and take away the one thing people have left, hope. That is unless the zombies don’t take down the city first.
Romero’s other Dead movies showed that horror movies can be more than gore effects, they showed they can have a story with subtext. Which isn’t surprising since George’s Dead saga takes place in contemporary America and covers important issues of the time period. Land of the Dead is no different, no matter where you look in the movie it’s hard to not find some form of social commentary.
Acting in the movie is on par with that of most movies in the genre but is by far the best cast Romero has ever had the pleasure to work with. Everyone involved is on top of their game, Baker comes off a little bland when we first see him on screen but he does become likeable as the movie progresses. Leguizamo has the stand out role with his Cholo character, every time he’s on screen he demands your attention with his performance.
Universal was out of their minds releasing this during the summer leaving it to fight against the big boys. Released in between both Batman Begins and War of the Worlds (not to mention Star Wars Episode III and Mr. & Mrs. Smith still doing well) it really didn’t have a fighting chance. This would have made them their money back and then some if it were released as scheduled which was mid to late October. With Halloween slowly getting closer Land of the Dead would have cleaned up at the box office. So if you managed to miss out on this during it’s theatrical run now is the perfect time to see what you missed out on.
Score: 8/10
The Video
(Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen)
The transfer for the movie is acceptable, most scenes take place outdoors at night and black levels stay steady through out the film. Only when watching indoor scenes with fully lit sets we begins to see the level of grain on the print, and there’s a lot of it.
Score: 6/10
The Audio
(English Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1)
With horror movies sometimes a film can live or die by its audio track. It can enhance the viewing experience, this movie does a great job of that. The rear channels are given a nice workout and both 5.1 tracks are thoroughly enjoyable.
Score: 8.5/10
The Extras
Feature Length Commentary – George Romero, producer Peter Grumwald and editor Michael Doherty are included on the track and for the most part it’s a bland listen. The majority of the time is Romero telling us how cold it was shooting up in Toronto while Peter and Michael find it necessary to point out every single CGI shot in the movie. This doesn’t even come close to the commentary track recorded for Anchor Bay’s Dawn of the Dead Divimax DVD.
Undead Again: The Making of Land of the Dead (12 mins) – This is your standard EPK making of feature with the cast and crew saying how much they love everything. For once I actually believe everyone professing their love of the movie. Romero talks a lot during the piece and comes off as a real modest man, still doing something he loves after almost 40 years.
A Day with the Living Dead (7 mins) – John Leguizamo takes us on a tour around the set showing us a magnitude of things. Like the kraft services trailer, a look at the make-up department, and a quick discussion with both Dennis Hopper and director George Romero. Nothing is covered in much detail, but Leguizamo does provide a few chuckles.
Bringing the Dead to Life (9 mins) – Special effects guru Greg Nicotero talks about how 30 years ago he got a chance to work on Dawn of the Dead and now he once again gets the chance to work with George on Land of the Dead. Here they show their work on the practical effects of the movie along with some of the make-up stuff.
The Remaining Bits (3 mins) – 5 scenes are included and what’s here is exactly where it should be, on the cutting room floor. Some scenes have audio drop out because the scenes were never finished with audio effects.
When Shaun met George (13 mins) – Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright who made Shaun of the Dead got the chance to do cameos in the movie and this feature documents their adventure. For the most part it’s a fun watch but doesn’t hold much replay value.
Scenes of Carnage (2 mins) – As the title implies, this is a montage of scenes with gore. There’s no new content and if you’ve watched the movie you’ve seen what’s included here.
Zombie Effects from Green Screen to Finished Scene (3 mins) – Much like the Scenes of Carnage featurette this simply shows before and after shots of CGI scenes. Nothing is talked about during it and it isn’t very entertaining.
Bringing the Storyboards to Life (8 mins) – Just like the two featurettes above, this is more filler. It’s simply showing you the storyboards for a scene first and then plays the final cut of the scene from the movie. It’s a nice comparison piece but this DVD already has enough of those.
Scream Tests: Zombie Casting Call (1 min) – This may be the strangest thing I have ever seen pawned off as a special feature. It’s a one minute long CGI shot of around ten (not even fully rendered) zombies mimicing the dance steps from Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video. This sort of stuff should be put on the disc as an easter egg, not an actual bonus feature listed on the DVD packaging.
Score: 5/10
