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Overall Rating
  Awesome: 27.22%
Worth A Look: 48.89%
Just Average: 10%
Pretty Crappy: 6.11%
Sucks: 7.78%
15 reviews, 90 user ratings
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| Land of the Dead |
by the Grinch
"Slightly dumbed down Romero is better than no Romero at all"
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After numerous "Romero inspired" zombie flicks and even a quality remake, finally Romero weighs in with his own epic continuation..."When there's no more room for zombie movies"....I really wanted to give this film the highest rating possible, but I have to get past my own biases. I have to say that while Land of the Dead was a good movie that actually had some of the preview audience applauding during the credits, its lack of character development and plot inadequacies keep it from being a GREAT movie. This applies at least to the theatrical version, which comes in at an anemic 93 minutes. That's right, 1 HOUR and 33 MINUTES.
Unfortunately, this short running time leaves little time for the thoughtful atmosphere and setups that Romero films are most memorable for. The original Dawn of the Dead threatrical cut came in at 126 minutes, and it needed every second of it. Land of the Dead is no different, its complexities needed more time for development. I wouldn't be suprised if this weakness and other weaknesses in Land of the Dead were a result of meddling by Universal and/or the MPAA. The fact that a REMAKE of Romero's Dawn of the Dead received a bigger budget from Universal (somewhere around $10 million more) leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Romero and fx supervisor Greg Nicotero really could've used the extra dosh.
Speaking of Nicotero, he does some of his best work in this film.
The opening setup of zombies during their daily routine is impressively disturbing. I'm suprised that LOTD was able to keep an R rating based on the level of gore involved. It only makes you wonder what the impending unrated version must be like. One thing that bothered me was the overuse of CGI effects for things like blood. That's a big peeve of mine, but I understand it was necessary due to restraints on the fx team. Most people won't be bothered by it, I'm just a squib-snob/fx diva. My hope is that the action level and star power (John Legumesyamama and Dennis Hopper) will help to make LOTD a box office hit. With a bigger budget and more autonomy, Romero could really deliver.
LOTD is the most like Richard Matheson's 'I am Legend', the apocalyptic vampire novel that was the inspiration for Night of the Living Dead and countless other films. Thousands of survivors have holed up in the aptly titled Fiddler's Green, a fortressed city reminiscent of Manhattan Island in John Carpenter's 'Escape from New York'. The upper crust fiddles while Rome burns. The lesser classes are sent to forage the zombie infested countryside for supplies that mostly benefit the upper classes who live in secure skyscrapers. The city is lorded over by Kaufman (Hopper) a money-man who doesn't "negotiate with terrorists". Does this all sound familiar? The city is a neo-Gommorah, where the inhabitants have become more wicked and inhumane than the undead who only kill for survival.
The problem is the undead are evolving. They are developing reasoning skills and learning how to use tools. Like the vampires in "I am Legend', the zombies have their own story, and they begin to take exception to being attacked by the urban interlopers. Gory revenge ensues, a "Dead Reckoning" indeed. The undead evolution is spearheaded by "Big Daddy", a hulking gas attendant zombie played by Eugene Clark. This character pretty much exists to speed things up, and to make it easier for dumber audience members. Big Daddy is like a grouchy Bub.
LOTD is very recognizably Romero. There are some contemporary touches, like the non-stop "jump scares", but the framing is pure Romero. Romero even gets a jab at movies that've profited off NOTLD...one scene is almost frame by frame a scene from the Nazi Zombie b-movie 'Shockwaves'. I have to admit, there's alot of subtle humor in Land of the Dead, plenty for videonasty geeks like myself to chuckle at.I would've been perfectly happy had I paid for this screening. I can't in good conscience give Land 5 stars, but I give it 4 stars and will change it to 5 if the DVD release meets my expectations. Go out and see this movie, support artists like Romero.
link directly to this review at https://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=12288&reviewer=156
originally posted: 06/23/05 12:17:12
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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 CineVegas Film Festival For more in the 2005 CineVegas Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 Edinburgh Film Festival. For more in the 2005 Edinburgh Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
24-Jun-2005 (R)
DVD: 18-Oct-2005
UK
N/A
Australia
04-Aug-2005
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