Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Jun 25, 2005 16:12:32 GMT -5
Plot:The world has been overrun by zombies and wealthiest survivors have barricaded themselves inside a walled city to keep out the living dead. As the wealthy hide out in skyscrapers and chaos rules the streets, the rest of the survivors must find a way to stop the evolving zombies from breaking into the city.
Cast:
Asia Argento
Simon Baker
Boyd Banks
Jennifer Baxter
Michael Belisaro
Joanne Boland
Eugene Clark
Phil Fondacaro
Dennis Hopper
Robert Joy
John Leguizamo
Tony Munch
Tony Nappo
Simon Pegg
Tom Savini
My Thoughts:Romero does it again.
Review:It's been twenty years since Romeros last zombie film,"Day of the Dead" was released in 1985. There were always rumors of a fourth "Dead" film possibly being in the works. Well, that possibility is now reality."Land of the Dead" picks up where the last film "Day" left off. The United States is now overrun by zombies, and theres no safe place to go for the few survivors of the zombie menace. "LOTD" does a good job of setting the stage for the story right at the start of the film. The survivors have been relegated to living in the quote unquote slums of town,only going into the zombie ridden areas to get things such as supplies,medicine,etc. Like every Romero zombie movie before it, "Land" also has social undertones in it's story. A rich man named Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) has built a wall around the remnants of the city. Thus the rich and powerful live within the safety of their skyscrapers within the safety zone,while the poor are left to fend for themselves against the zombies outside the city.Kaufman also has a huge badass weapon vehicle called "Dead Reckoning" which is fully equipped with the necessary weaponry to deal with the zombie threat."Land" manages to blend social undertones,with great zombie vs human action and a simple but effective plot. Gore fans won't be disappointed as we get lots of nasty zombie attack scenes with limbs,entrails,and other various body parts being torn from their victims.The big part of the story is that the zombies are evolving mentally, and proceed to team up under the leadership of Big Daddy, a zombie who resembles the BUB character from "Day" with his advanced intelligence.This poses a huge problem for the last remaining humans because the zombies are now much more of a threat than they were before.The slow but sure evolution of the zombies plays a vital role in the movie, and is amazing to watch on-screen.Especially during the films huge climax.While the nitpickers may say the film is thin on plot and basically is just an another action/horror film masquerading as a straight horror movie, "Land" manages to take it's simple plot for what it's worth and use it very effectively while surrounding it with numerous action scenes where the humans do battle with the zombies. It also boasts a likeable group of characters,played by Asia Argento and John Leguizamo among others.Theres also an underlying subplot between Hoppers character and Leguizamos character Cholo, as well as the usual obligatory love story tease between Argento and the male lead which works because the audience isn't beaten over the head with it nor is it focused upon way too much,but more used within the flow of events taking place in the film.Theres also some great comedical moments strolled throught the film as well, and things get really interesting as the movie nears it's climax and the characters start making alliances and realizing who the real enemy is other than the newly evolved undead.This is one of the few horror movies I've seen this year where it doesn't go in peaks and valleys. "Land of the Dead" managed to hold my interest throughout,from start to finish.Never was there one moment where I got even slightly bored or dismayed at something taking place on screen."Land of the Dead" beats out all of the previous zombie films released in the last few years. Which include "Resident Evil 1 and 2" as well as "28 Days Later".It slightly surpasses the previous 3 "Dead" films as well in my opinion mainly because of the addition of Dead Reckoning and a more intense on screen scenario with the entire country overrun by the undead. "Land" ends by setting up another possible sequel but also leaves a few question marks to float in the wind as well. George A. Romero I'm proud to say has done it again. "Land of the Dead" lacks any flaws as a zombie movie, and beats out "Night","Dawn",and "Day", atleast in my opinion. Which isn't really a shock to me since I felt that each new "Dead" film was a slight step up from the one before it. "Land" just continues that trend. Look for some awesome cameos by Tom Savini and Phil Fondacaro, and Asia Argento continues her streak of looking hot as hell in any movie shes in.
Pros:Great performances by all the actors involved. Mainly Argento,Hopper,and Leguizamo. Eugene Clark was also awesome as Big Daddy a BUB like zombie.Great action scenes,very well done and graphic zombie attack scenes, and good blood and gore scenes.
Cons:For the first time in a long time, this is one horror film with no flaws in my eyes. and I'm not just saying that because it was a Romero movie. I honestly thought the film was perfect.Although, if I wanted to nitpick, I would say I thought Cholo should've lived.
Overall:"Land of the Dead" is definitely worth the time and cash. In this day and age of high as hell theater prices, I'd say the amount of money spent on full price tickets and concessions is well worth it for this movie. Hell see it twice, it's that good!