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Thread: George Romero disses 'The Walking Dead'

  1. #1
    Just been bitten Zombie Snack's Avatar
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    George Romero disses 'The Walking Dead'

    I saw this article this morning and thought I would share for any who missed it, sorry if it has already been posted elsewhere on the site.

    George Romero Disses 'The Walking Dead,' Calls It a 'Soap Opera'
    By Kimberly Potts | Yahoo TV

    Oh no you didn’t, George Romero! The legendary horror filmmaker of “Night of the Living Dead” told a British magazine he said no to an offer to direct episodes of the AMC mega-hit “The Walking Dead” because the drama is “just a soap opera with a zombie occasionally.”

    “They asked me to do a couple of episodes of ‘The Walking Dead,’ but I didn’t want to be a part of it,” Romero said in the Halloween edition of The Big Issue. “Basically it’s just a soap opera with a zombie occasionally. I always used the zombie as a character for satire or a political criticism, and I find that missing in what’s happening now.”

    Romero, the father of zombie cinema whose seminal “Night of the Living Dead” is in the National Film Registry, also seems to have an issue in general with modern film and TV zombies and the pace at which they try to track down their human snacks.

    “I guess Zack Snyder started that with the remake of ‘Dawn of the Dead’ — fast-moving zombies — but the zombies in ‘World War Z,’ my God, they’re like army ants! But in all the [advertisements] here, they never called it a zombie film,” Romero said.

    He also never referred to his zombies as "zombies" in “Night of the Living Dead,” he pointed out. “I never thought they were zombies. To me back then, zombies were those voodoo guys who were given some sort of blowfish cocktail and became slaves. And they weren’t dead, so I thought I was doing a brand new thing by raising the dead. Not that the dead haven’t been risen before… It goes back to Jesus, doesn’t it?”

    “The Walking Dead,” which airs the fourth episode of Season 4 this Sunday, certainly isn’t hurting for viewers. “Dead” is far and away the number one series on cable, and one of the top-rated series in the 18-49 demographic amongst all broadcast and cable shows.

    So we’re guessing the “Dead” folks won’t take the remarks by Romero — who’s also expressed his disapproval of “The Da Vinci Code,” the level of Ron Howard’s passion for filmmaking, and “Saw III” in the past — to heart.

    Still, it is fun to think about a Romero-directed adventure with Rick Grimes, Michonne, Daryl, and The Governor…

    http://www.bigissue.com/mix/news/318...asional-zombie
    D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

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    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
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    Not sure if I agree with George here. Sure some episodes are more character/drama based than others. But some our certainly darker and more action based too.

    I'm sure they could find an episode that would fit him perfectly! Even if it was a webisode with a more self contained story/theme!

    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

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    Walking Dead Legion2213's Avatar
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    I'd rather watch TWD than modern era GAR rubbish anyway, glad he refused to direct and I hope it stays that way.
    Oblivion gallops closer, favoring the spur, sparing the rein - I think we will be gone soon

  4. #4
    Desiderata Satanicus Andy's Avatar
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    The old hack is just jealous of TWD's popularity due to the fact he hasnt made a good movie since 1985.

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    Team Rick MinionZombie's Avatar
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    A 'soap opera'? Clearly he's not paying any real attention to the show. You couldn't just have running around shooting zombies for 16 episodes a season. There's a vast difference between a 90 minute movie and a 16 episode season.

    Also, he made Diary of the Dead, which was drivel ... check yourself before you wreck yourself, George. Annnnnnd - Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead - a bunch of directly opposed parties screaming at each other in a confined environment ... could you not lazily label that as 'soap opera'? I would never call those films 'soap opera', and likewise I'd never say that about TWD, because it just doesn't make sense at all.

    I'm a huge fan of his work, and I like the guy in interviews etc, but I don't know what show he's watching. I agree with some of the points he makes about general horror in that interview, but he's rather wide of the mark on TWD. I wonder how Greg Nicotero would feel about that comment from GAR?

    Back to Diary - I kidded myself into liking it when I saw it in the cinema, and then my opinion of it went absolutely all over the place on subsequent viewings (there's still parts of it that I like ... parts), and I've not seen it in a long time. Watching 'Monster Madness' on Cinemassacre the other day - one film addressed was Diary - reminded me of just how much bullshit there is in Diary of the Dead. Survival was much better by comparison (and I quite like Survival to this day), but it's not a patch on his earlier work by any stretch of the imagination ... but Diary? Christ...
    Last edited by MinionZombie; 01-Nov-2013 at 11:07 AM.

  6. #6
    Walking Dead Legion2213's Avatar
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    I always feel a bit sad when I lay into GAR, his original trilogy of dead films are still the benchmark and I love them to bits, but honestly, his later work is piss poor, he could take a few pointers from TWD and films like "The Dead" if he ever makes another zombie movie, and he should certainly not be attacking TWD, which is a fantastic series.
    Oblivion gallops closer, favoring the spur, sparing the rein - I think we will be gone soon

  7. #7
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by minionzombie View Post
    .. But diary? Christ...
    lol!!
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

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    Dead Craig's Avatar
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    I love Romero's original trilogy and the I've appreciated the themes and satire, particularly of Dawn, for as long as I've been old enough to understand it. For me, though, it's the human aspect of the genre that I've found the most interesting (aside from the guns and the gore). The Walking Dead has its issues for sure but right now it's about as good as it gets for my taste, i.e. the dead rise and this provides a backdrop for the human survival story.

    The walkers in TWD aren't solely there as a threat or an excuse for gore, they also serve to question the morality of the human characters and what is humanity 'after the turn'. Rarely an episode goes by without someone fretting or outright refusing to take down walkers. Michonne's chained pair, Milton's test subject and the Governor's daughter are a few of the zombie characters that serve this purpose.
    Last edited by Craig; 01-Nov-2013 at 12:34 PM. Reason: Repeated word

  9. #9
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
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    Just gone out and bought "The Big Issue" to get the article Will add it to my box of zombie stuff!
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

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    Just Married AcesandEights's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zombie Snack View Post
    Still, it is fun to think about a Romero-directed adventure with Rick Grimes, Michonne, Daryl, and The Governor…
    "No, Michonne. Let the Governor go...he's just looking for a place to store his fish tank."

    "Men choose as their prophets those who tell them that their hopes are true." --Lord Dunsany

  11. #11
    Walking Dead Moon Knight's Avatar
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    Good ol' George seems bitter here. It's sad seeing one of my heroes hit rock bottom like this that he would actually insult a show that clearly pays homages to him and his films whenever possible.
    "That's the deal, right? The people who are living have it harder, right? … the whole world is haunted now and there's no getting out of that, not until we're dead."

  12. #12
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Moon Knight View Post
    Good ol' George seems bitter here. It's sad seeing one of my heroes hit rock bottom like this that he would actually insult a show that clearly pays homages to him and his films whenever possible.
    I don't think he's bitter... just not keyed up enough to see it... Christ, can you imagine him working with Greg Nicotero (KNB) again!!!

    If he didn't like the story line(s) I'm sure a self contained webisode would have solved the problem, or indeed a more standalone episode with strangers who the group find/encounter at some point?

    Christ the story could be completely self contained, with our main characters just turning up in the last 30 seconds to find what's left of the story. eg: A body of one of the characters left in a strange way, explained by the events of the previous 40 mins...
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  13. #13
    Feeding shootemindehead's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neil View Post
    Just gone out and bought "The Big Issue" to get the article Will add it to my box of zombie stuff!
    Does the box have "Neil's box of zombie stuff" written on the lid in crayon?
    I'm runnin' this monkey farm now Frankenstein.....

  14. #14
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shootemindehead View Post
    Does the box have "Neil's box of zombie stuff" written on the lid in crayon?
    Don't be stupid! Felt tip!
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  15. #15
    Chasing Prey MoonSylver's Avatar
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    Mm. I think maybe the point he was trying to make, in a backhanded & dismissive way, is that TWD is more of a character driven drama, with zombies. Ie, a "soap opera" Interesting that he's still so fixated on the damn "social commentary" aspect, that he fails to realize that some of the best parts of the 1st three Dead films is the character driven, human drama elements.

    The survivors trapped in the farmhouse, the interactions between Roger & Peter, Peter & Stephen, Stephen & Fran, John, Sarah, & McDermont's scenes together in Day. All character driven drama, no social commentary there.

    Frankly, TWD is better off for focusing on the survivors, & their issues, & the insights into the human condition & human drama, & just let the zombies be zombies.

    Quote Originally Posted by shootemindehead View Post
    Does the box have "Neil's box of zombie stuff" written on the lid in crayon?
    Last edited by MoonSylver; 01-Nov-2013 at 04:48 PM. Reason: in/on

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