Land of the Dead

[Eric Campos]

You want it, you got it! (http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/georgearomeroslandofthedead.html)

[dawgzilla67]

Good times, good times ...

[trufilm]

"Zombies..........creep me out! :)

[Pete Vonder Haar]

Wait, "an all new cycle of horror begins?" Is he starting another trilogy?

[bronsonseven]

I just wet my pants.

Fuck Star Wars.

[bcstar80]

I was a bit worried that the film was moved up from Halloween--any additional time this one has to gestate would make me feel better. But the trailer is great! I can't wait to see this one!

[Eric Campos]

Looks kind of cool, yes?

[Seedy Edgewick]

Well, the minimal footage from "Land" looks cool. As long as you don't blink; otherwise, you miss it.

It bugs me when a studio releases a trailer composed mainly of footage NOT in the film in question. I mean, I understand the concept of a teaser trailer, but I would rather see one that is 15 seconds long and contains all current footage than one that's 60 seconds long but only contains 15 seconds of current footage.

That being said, the line, "They're thinking" has me drooling.

[iEatBrainMatter]

Oh man this is gonna be awesome. If it sux I will eat the theater audiences' brains so at least they have a good story to tell....

[Jack Torrance]

The trailer kicked ass (edited by the same guy who did the TEXAS CHAINSAW and DAWN remake trailers)!

And Dennis Hopper is pure fucking class! "Zombies... creep me out..." Indeed! June 24th can't come soon enough!

[El Duderino Diablo]

Fuck yeah!

.

[Gorillaboss]

I'm not used to a Romero production looking so danged slick.

I'm as jazzed about this as can be.

[Kingmaker]

Romero created the zombie genre? What about White Zombie, Plague of the Zombies etc?

Oh well, at least the man's getting some respect after being ripped off by Resident Evil and the Dawn remake.

Sad thing is, from that trailer, Land doesn't look like anything new. It doesn't look as original a take as 28 Days Later for instance. It looks like a rip-off, not the work of an original creator. It'll probably kill off the new zombie genre: Romero has that kind of luck.

[Seedy Edgewick]

Yes, Romero created the zombie genre. Sure, there were zombie movies before NOTLD, but he is responsible for the defining characteristics we now find familiar: unstoppable hordes of mindless, flesh-eating ghouls and the inability of the living to set aside their petty differences in order to band together and combat the menace. Remember, Iggy Pop was making music before Johnny Rotten, but it was the Sex Pistols that defined the term "punk rock."

Also, Romero has always injected a healthy dose of social commentary into his zombie pics, a fact that always serves to elevate them above the imitators. NOTLD dealt with racism; Dawn attacked consumer culture; Day was an indictment of the military-industrial complex. Land is supposed to be about social apathy, according to Romero himself. All these topics are/were current for their time, and this is why I have high hopes for this latest flick. Plus, the trailer contained very little footage from the new film, so the possibilities are still wide open.

[MacReady_Mix]

It looks like a rip-off, not the work of an original creator. It'll probably kill off the new zombie genre: Romero has that kind of luck.


Yeah, well, new doesn't necessarily mean better and it's really difficult to judge the look of this film form that trailer. Probably wasn't even cut by Romero. As far as killing off the genre, if Resident Evil didn't do it, I doubt this will. Romero has a real nice since of human reality in his films, for example in Dawn, the moment where Peter has to take Roger (post bite) down in the elevator amd Peter says, "Look man..", speaks volumes about the character's relationships and makes future tradgey even harder. I'll eat my crow on this film if I have to, but I believe, judging from the trailer, that this will kick ass.

[Kingmaker]

As far as killing off the genre, if Resident Evil didn't do it, I doubt this will. Romero has a real nice since of human reality in his films, for example in Dawn, the moment where Peter has to take Roger (post bite) down in the elevator amd Peter says, "Look man..", speaks volumes about the character's relationships and makes future tradgey even harder. I'll eat my crow on this film if I have to, but I believe, judging from the trailer, that this will kick ass.

Land won't kill off the genre, but Romero's film has come so late in the present zombie cycle that audiences may have already moved on. We've already had 2 Resident Evils, Dawn remake, 28 Days later, even a zombie spoof in Shaun of the Dead. I worry that Romero is late for his own party.

I overheard a teenager talking about the Dawn remake, and saying: 'it was crap - just a Resident Evil rip off!'

I agree with you totally about the human relationships in Romero's films, but Dennis Hopper's one-liner in the trailer rings Texas Chainsaw 2 alarm bells.

Has Land got an R rating? That's probably the most important clue. Day is my favourite zombie flick, but if Romero has made another film as grim and relentless as that he'd probably never work again.

[MacReady_Mix]

Land won't kill off the genre, but Romero's film has come so late in the present zombie cycle that audiences may have already moved on. We've already had 2 Resident Evils, Dawn remake, 28 Days later, even a zombie spoof in Shaun of the Dead. I worry that Romero is late for his own party.

I overheard a teenager talking about the Dawn remake, and saying: 'it was crap - just a Resident Evil rip off!'

I agree with you totally about the human relationships in Romero's films, but Dennis Hopper's one-liner in the trailer rings Texas Chainsaw 2 alarm bells.

Has Land got an R rating? That's probably the most important clue. Day is my favourite zombie flick, but if Romero has made another film as grim and relentless as that he'd probably never work again.

Interesting viewpoint. Hadn't really considered the glut of zombies flicks of late and how it has become it's own super sub-genre. I think genre matters little if the story can rise above the particular elements of that type.

I like the "Resident Evil rip-off" comment as it points out how old favorites are viewed by a new generation (I saw the original Dawn when it came out in 1978, the TV commerical with the zombies in the elevator used to scare the shit out of me).

The Hopper line does seem a bit cute, but it'll be interesting to see if it's in the final cut or in context. The rest of the trailer looks anything but camp to me.

Haven't heard if it has been rated yet, but seeing that it is a Universal film, doubt seriously that it would get anything harder then a R. As far as Day goes, these are different times and what was dark and relentless then in 85, is more exceptable now. The trailer looks very dark, literally and figuaritively, actually more intense then I'd expect from a studio film.

Why do you think zombie films are so popular right now, besides the financial bandwagon?

[Eric Campos]

There's nothing really hokey about zombies, unlike, say, vampires. Plain and simple - zombies are fucking cool and people and the masses are finally coming around to that fact.

[The Baron]

Why do you think zombie films are so popular right now, besides the financial bandwagon?

Go to a shopping mall, or a civic center. Look around.

There are your zombies.

As time goes by, I see that Romero's vision is true, on so many levels. Mob mentality of any kind equals zombiedom. (Or is it zombiehood? I don't know... I'll have to look into that...) These people around us... (you know, like the ones who voted for Bush... TWICE...) are walking corpses. Their bodies are alive, but their minds ceased to operate some time ago. Look at the glazed-over expressions, the lifeless eyes. In the immortal words of Mantan Moreland, in King of the Zombies, "I is now a zombie. Move over, boys. I done joined de club."

Like Bowie said on the Diamond Dogs album:

"Because of all we've seen,
"Because of all we've said,
"We are the dead."

[Kingmaker]

There's nothing really hokey about zombies, unlike, say, vampires. Plain and simple - zombies are fucking cool and people and the masses are finally coming around to that fact.


Zombies are just as hokey as vampires. I mean, they're dead: just how do they get the strength to rip people's guts open? Or to pull the tops off their heads? How do they even see?

Their appeal's probably more to do with the fact that zombies represent other people. Vampires are special, they're larger than life, they're individuals, they're immortal, they're better than us. Zombies are stupid, they're the crowds, they have no personality, they're worse than us. This is the message we want to hear today. It's that old Sartre line: hell is other people.

[saccharine]

Haven't heard if it has been rated yet, but seeing that it is a Universal film, doubt seriously that it would get anything harder then a R.

i read somewhere where romero was saying that theres no way its getting an R but its going to have to get an R, and and that there will be a much more graphic dvd coming out.

[MacReady_Mix]

Yes, yes, thank's for the answers. Had my own, but wanted to hear what you folks thought.

Eric, hokey zombies? I've seen silly zombies (one of the brillant bits about the original Dawn, how Romero could make the zombies look silly, vulernable and even sympathic one minute and the next deadly) but you are correct sir, never hokey.

King- hell is other people is one of my favorite quotes.

Baron- yeah man, you are reading my mail.

Sac-- good news about the DVD. Wonder if they'll milk it as hard as the Kill Bill disks? The theater release, then the uncut version, then the director's cut, on and on and on. Imagine sitting in the cutting room while Romero figures out how and what to cut to get that R?

My feelings are closests to Baron's in that the mindless mob mentality seems to get worse everyday. I avoid malls for that reason. I think it's interesting how in tense times the films get more apocalyptic. Between War of the Worlds, which looks very dark and Land of the Dead, we will all get a chance to experience on the screens what we dread in reality (metaphorically not zombies or alien invaders specifically).

[Kingmaker]

Yeah, R for theatrical and unrated DVD makes sense. Thanks to DVD, and the example of Lord of the Rings, it doesn't matter so much if it goes out as R, as long as there's the promise of unrated, and Universal support that.

I think we'll see the milking of different versions become standard practise.

Good point about apocalyptic movies that fit the times: I watched Sin City, and thought the same. It's the perfect 'war on terror' movie.

[ignatz]

Yikes, did one of the characters in the trailer say something about the zombies communicating with each other? Scary flashbacks to the velociraptor debacle from JP2. MY fingers are crossed though, Romero's the man.

[saccharine]

Imagine sitting in the cutting room while Romero figures out how and what to cut to get that R.

i would imagine he's had enough experience with this all ready that he pretty much knows how to play this game. with him it probably goes along the lines of what Matt Stone and Trey Parker go through with theirs... send a cut, get denied, cut some more, and do it again. doesnt the MPAA let them know what they want them to cut to get a specific rating?

[MacReady_Mix]

i would imagine he's had enough experience with this all ready that he pretty much knows how to play this game. with him it probably goes along the lines of what Matt Stone and Trey Parker go through with theirs... send a cut, get denied, cut some more, and do it again. doesnt the MPAA let them know what they want them to cut to get a specific rating?

I don't think the MPAA is that clear cut, otherwise Parker and Stone would only have to send it in once. Personally I like to imagine Romero puzzling out the question, "Is this too much intestine?", Seems the ratings standards change over time.

[Gorillaboss]

The trailer has changed for Land of the Dead.

Gone are the clips from Dawn and Day--now, there's only snippets from Night.

And they've added some extra action and city shots, but they're so inconsequential that I don't know why they bothered.

[Seedy Edgewick]

They bothered so people would notice the change and generate more traffic to the website as people navigate over there to see the "new" footage.

Viral Marketing 101, man.

[Rory L. Aronsky]

All bow down to Seedy. He knows all! :D

[Seedy Edgewick]

That I do.

Unfortunately, all knows me as well and won't return my phone calls.