Review of Land Of The Dead (Director`s Cut)

Introduction

The world is awash with zombies, the dead have arisen and have a taste for warm human flesh. A number of humans have sought refuge in a city, but here the age old inequalities have arisen yet again. Most humans live on the street level, relying on their wits to survive, whilst the rich live the life of Riley in a luxurious skyscraper called Fiddlers Green run by capitalist Kaufman (Dennis Hopper).

Riley (Simon Baker) leads a small band of troops who go out into nearby infested areas to gather up supplies or anything useful for the city inhabitants, using a combination of sky flowers (that`s fireworks to you and me…) and guns. Zombies are drawn to the bright lights as they explode and handily stand mesmerised while the humans shoot each one in turn. The sky flowers are launched from Dead Reckoning, an armoured vehicle under Riley`s control but provided by Kaufman. Riley`s second-in-command is Cholo (John Leguizamo), but the two fall out when Cholo`s greed and carelessness get a young man killed.

Cholo believes that his service to Kaufman over the last few years (including some extra services that no-one is aware of) will enable him to buy a place in Fiddlers Green, although Kaufman soon puts him right on that score. Smarting from being excluded on class grounds, Cholo steals Dead Reckoning and threatens to blow up Fiddlers Green unless Kaufman hands over a small fortune, proving that even in post-apocalytic times that money still talks. Kaufman doesn`t `negotiate with terrorists` though and arranges for Riley to be released from his imprisonment (oops, did I forget to tell you about that bit?) and bring Cholo to heel. Riley takes along erstwhile companion Charlie (a disfigured Robert Joy) and new found friend, hooker cum fighting machine, Slack (Asia Argento).

Meanwhile over in Zombieland, the zombies are showing signs of intelligence. A black petrol attendant zombie called Big Daddy (it was in the subtitles, okay?) is outraged by the incessant slaughter of his dumb companions and grunts out a plan to his band of merry (?) men. Learning to work in groups and handle rudimentary weapons, the zombies manage to infiltrate the city and cause havoc. Rich and poor alike are being slaughtered and only Riley can save them all from certain zombification (or something…).

Video

Sharp but dark picture. Lots of gore, for those who like that sort of thing, plenty of innards being ripped out and chewed, lots of blood being spilled and a few very funny takes on the zombie genre with a couple of neat zombie with rather different attack methods than normal. The first shot of Big Daddy emerging from the water is pure Apocalypse Now, but Romero is not content with just one so does it again with a few more of his compatriots.

Audio

An immersive (i.e loud but atmospheric) 5.1 soundtrack, not DTS though. Good subtitling as well.

Features

Commentary - interesting observation and comment from Romero, producer Peter Grunwald and editor Michael Doherty.
Undead Again - 12 minute EPK Making Of featurette

A Day With The Living Dead - a 7 minute amusing look behind the scenes with John Legoland, erm Leguizamo …

Bringing The Dead To Life - a look at the work of SFX guru Greg Nicotero, a Romero protégé.

The Remaining Bits - 3 minutes of unused footage, nothing particularly special.

When Shaun Met George - featurette following Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright on their trip to meet George Romero and cameo in Land of the Dead. Their cameo is quite funny but also a satire on modern commercialism.

Scenes of Carnage - short sequence of zombies pulling victims to shreds set to an operatic soundtrack.

Zombie Effects - a selection of continuous shots over a period of 3 minutes that show before and after pieces, proving just how much digital makeup a modern genre film gets.

Bringing The Storyboards To Life - 8 minute run of storyboard comparison to finished shots.

Scream Test: Zombie Casting Call - not sure if this was titled incorrectly as a joke. This is an animated short of dancing zombies that is almost a parody of Michael Jackson`s Thriller set to a harmonica backing track.

King Kong & The Skeleton Key trailers - at least you have to select these so you can just ignore them if you wish. That said, King Kong looks mightily impressive.

Conclusion

I`m not a massive zombie flick fan, but I`ve seen Dawn of the Dead and know of Romero by reputation. I`m also aware that those films were made on a small budget and have also made a lasting impression on genre fans everywhere. So I was quite intrigued as to what Romero could do with a larger budget. Well, he doesn`t disappoint. He keeps within the accepted rules of the genre, well other than adding the sky flowers, and the intelligence shown by Big Daddy is a characteristic already seen in Romero film.

As is his trademark, this film contains lots of gore and also biting observations on modern contemporary culture. His major target seems to be the Bush administration and Donald Rumsfeld in particular. Romero makes the comment that Hopper`s character is based and played as Rumsfeld and his line `We don`t negotiate with terrorists` is quite amusing in the middle of a post-apocalyptic crisis. Romero also makes the point that even in the middle of a great human crisis (i.e zombies threatening to overrun the world), there are still those who seek to gain advantage over others. Money still talks and those that have it attempt to live in a cocoon and ignore the dangers around them. Ultimately it all comes home to roost, and proves that in the end all that happened was that they lived in a little luxury but still died in the same way and at the same time as everyone-else.

This is ultimately a modern take on Romero`s legacy by Romero himself. He deserved the chance to resurrect it after the recent interest in it through a raft of films and remakes (some good, some bad). Good stuff, a fantastic romp and a good way to waste a couple of hours.