Pro-NRA message in Land?

[Shemp]

Political introduction: I'm a liberal, plain and simple, but I'm also strongly in support of the right to bear arms.

That said: My brother picked up something in LAND that I would have to agree is an angle in support of the right to bear arms. Notice that Cholo has to hand over his weapons to security before entering Fiddler's Green. It's safe to say that all Green residents are unarmed, and that posession of a firearm is not allowed or heavily restricted at best. When the zombies invade the Green in the films final act, the handful of armed guards are showen turning tail and running off at the first signs of trouble, thus leaving the unarmed civilians to be killed by the zombies.

Any takes on this?

[ipotts85]

don't know if i'd say pro-NRA, but i think romero may be making a statement about the helplessness of the modern american...i thought it was funny though that romero made another stab at consumerist society...all of the residents of fiddler's green are all but blind to the zombie infestation that is all around them, instead having their heads buried in their desires for material gratification...

[Eyebiter]

Not sure that I see any Pro-NRA stance in the film. If that was the case, everyone would be armed as a citizen defense force. When danger occured it would be the job of each citizen to defend the community instead of relying on a small group of Kauphman's guard or ill trained militia.

The regular Fiddler's Green guards were a poorly trained militia. While they might have carried M16 rifles and wore BDU camo uniforms, there was little if any discipline.

Witness the female guard emptying an entire magazine into one zombie on the electric fence. The two idiots wasting ammo while on guard duty. Or the fools who bailed out of guard towers to become zombie chow.

If anything Kaufman ran the city like a fiefdom. The elite guards were the enforcers to keep down dissent. The militia were tasked to guard the gates, but were not trained well enough to pose a threat to the existing power structure.

In a more realistic scenario, Kauphman's guards would crew the Dead Reckoning. While Riley and his band of misfits might still be allowed to go on supply runs, they would be used as cannon fodder. The battle truck was too important to be left in unenlightened hands.

[MinionZombie]

Hmmm, I certainly didn't see any pro-NRA stuff in there, which I'd find kinda strange as GAR doesn't strike me as the kinda chap who is into guns or would support guns, he's a mellow-man-from-the-sixties after all.

As for Cholo checking in his weapon, it's most likely standard security measures, just in case someone goes mental and starts shooting up the place, you don't want a zombie appearing within the Green having died of gunshot wounds, plus "The Green" is all about a civilised, consumer lifestyle. Or of course it could be that Cholo's "type" of people aren't trusted with weapons inside the compound and for all we know the residents of The Green could have a magnum under their pillow 'just in case'. Those are my takes on the situation...

[DjfunkmasterG]

Political introduction: I'm a liberal, plain and simple, but I'm also strongly in support of the right to bear arms.


I storngly support the right to arm bears. :p

[Shemp]

Maybe I should say it's an anti-gun control theme and not so much a pro-NRA theme. Being a liberal does not necessarily denote pro gun-control. The ACLU (widely considered a liberal organization) is in favor of the rights of citizenry to own guns. The founding fathers were in favor of this right for a number of reasons.

Two things are clear: At the very least, Fiddler's Green and the surrounding slum appears to operate under some form of government-imposed gun control. When things fall apart the unarmed citizens are pretty much helpless (recall the citizens backed up against the electric fence getting slaughtered like sheep).

The issue is there for discussion, for sure, as it was in previous films. It was rifle-happy NRA-types that accidentally rubbed out poor Ben in NIGHT, and the yahoo posse members in DAWN certainly aren't portrayed as being intellectuals, to say the least. Maybe, in LAND, we're shown the potential problems inherint with obediently handing over all of the weapons to the powers elite. Hot issues such as gun control are complex, for sure.

[AssassinFromHell]

I storngly support the right to arm bears. :p

Guns are bad! Beat the zombies with sticks! :p

[strayrider]

It was rifle-happy NRA-types that accidentally rubbed out poor Ben in NIGHT, and the yahoo posse members in DAWN certainly aren't portrayed as being intellectuals, to say the least.

I thought it was trigger happy law enforcment types (sheriff's posse) that rubbed Ben out.

I really don't see any pro-NRA, or pro-gun themes in Land of the Dead. There are, however, a number of anti-Conservative, anti-big business messages to be found.

Remember the scene where the two idiot soldiers were shooting at the inflatable Ronald Regan?

:D

-stray-

[Guru ofthe Dead]

Hmmm, I certainly didn't see any pro-NRA stuff in there, which I'd find kinda strange as GAR doesn't strike me as the kinda chap who is into guns or would support guns, he's a mellow-man-from-the-sixties after all.

As for Cholo checking in his weapon, it's most likely standard security measures, just in case someone goes mental and starts shooting up the place, you don't want a zombie appearing within the Green having died of gunshot wounds, plus "The Green" is all about a civilised, consumer lifestyle. Or of course it could be that Cholo's "type" of people aren't trusted with weapons inside the compound and for all we know the residents of The Green could have a magnum under their pillow 'just in case'. Those are my takes on the situation...
I must agree even though I'm a Republican the KING GAR strikes me as a someone who would choose not to have guns, but when it gets down to it he would pack a nine. And in Land it clearly shows two different societies one with no sense of reality and the ones who know that they must fight or die.:cool:

[MinionZombie]

Drugs are bad mmmkay? And alcohol too, alcohol is bad, you shouldn't drugs or alcohol, cos they're bad ... mmmkay?

At least a cricket bat doesn't need reloading, or even cleaning! :D Viva la Britain's right to wield blunt pieces of wood! Who needs big f*ck off guns anyway? :p

[Brubaker]

Not sure that I see any Pro-NRA stance in the film. If that was the case, everyone would be armed as a citizen defense force. When danger occured it would be the job of each citizen to defend the community instead of relying on a small group of Kauphman's guard or ill trained militia.

The regular Fiddler's Green guards were a poorly trained militia. While they might have carried M16 rifles and wore BDU camo uniforms, there was little if any discipline.

Witness the female guard emptying an entire magazine into one zombie on the electric fence. The two idiots wasting ammo while on guard duty. Or the fools who bailed out of guard towers to become zombie chow.

If anything Kaufman ran the city like a fiefdom. The elite guards were the enforcers to keep down dissent. The militia were tasked to guard the gates, but were not trained well enough to pose a threat to the existing power structure.

I could be wrong but I think the guy who started the thread was referring to the rent-a-cops who were wearing the police uniforms. The ones who said "Oh ****" (or was it "Holy ****"?) as the horde crashed through the glass doors. Like the type who showed up after the man hung himself in the Green. Weren't they just carrying small handguns? I'm not sure he was talking about the actual militia guys in the streets.

[Angry312]

.. but that isn't the point I want to present.

When they had the gun-check at Kaufman's hacienda, that's just good business sense -- do not arm people you are about to meet and likely piss off frequently. Ergo, gun-check for Cholo.

When the dynamic duo of Charlie and Riley wandered into the town itself, they were both still armed. Notably, they had a pistol and a rifle, which as far as I recall, both count as guns.

The citizens not having guns doesn't tell me that they were disarmed and therefore helpless but that over time, they'd figured they both didn't need one for day-to-day carry (if you're working on cars, packing a Glock is a bit much, but if you work at a bar, its slightly more sensible) and that the 'trained professionals' would either bail them out or arm them, if the chips were down.

Doesn't make them right or wrong for not owning their hardware and packing it every waking moment, but it does speak of their basic status as civilians: most people don't carry a gun they own, and those who do carry one, one is more likely to find them in a uniform than out of one.

Just my thoughts.
:evil: Angry312; "Webley .447 -- Accept No Substitutes." :evil:

[jim102016]

Wow, although LOTD was not my favorite, I've seen it maybe 8 or 10 times. The NRA never came close any of my thoughts, but it’s an interesting angle. One does notice that discipline does stink with Kaufman's so-called soldiers...or shall we call them...dressed-up, mentally scarred civilians? After having the world fall apart in front of them, I'm sure many of them having the "flight" portion of 'fight or flight' set on auto pilot. They're clearly not real soldiers; I'd say 99.9% of the U.S. military personnel were killed pretty early on. Just look at the idiots who jump out of the guard tower when Big Daddy comes running thru the fence...if you slow the picture down....you can clearly see there is an M-60 machine gun in the tower!
What the @#$@#$#??? Exactly!

For some Americans, the stereotypical dumb country redneck in his flannel shirt with his double barrel shotgun is always going to be associated with the term "gun owners". Having grown up in the northeast, I've meet thousands of people like this who refuse to get off their asses and see the forest for the trees (or god forbid, leave the northeast for a while!) And, if it were up to them only the criminals would have guns and we'd be stuck with one hell of a problem on our hands. They want to rely on everyone else for everything...the government, the police, etc...they have no concept of taking care of themselves. If anything like the living dead did roll around and society fell apart, the people with the best chance of survival wouldn't be the cricket-bat owning deadbeats in the cities. You can bet your ass it would be some guy with the best means to defend himself once he realizes the police have their hands full and aren't ever coming to help him or his children.

[TheWalkingDude]

I storngly support the right to arm bears. :p

No arming bears......There bad enough as it is

[MinionZombie]

Oh come on ... Paddington Bear with a 12 guage strapped to his back and a AK-47 in his marmaladey paws would be friggin' awesome! :cool:

[TheWalkingDude]

Oh come on ... Paddington Bear with a 12 guage strapped to his back and a AK-47 in his marmaladey paws would be friggin' awesome! :cool:

Ok ok lol but i draw the line at Winnie the Pooh running around like Rambo killing off Piglet and Owl and the rest lol

[Angry312]

As a supporter of Stephen Colbert, I can not abide any decision to put guns into the paws of these horrible, disgusting creatures.

Bears are the number one threat to America.

:evil: Angry312; "Colbert -- It's French, Biiatch." :evil:

[TheWalkingDude]

Just in....... there is a bear uprising in the north west. Be aware and on guard:p

[Khardis]

Political introduction: I'm a liberal, plain and simple, but I'm also strongly in support of the right to bear arms.

That said: My brother picked up something in LAND that I would have to agree is an angle in support of the right to bear arms. Notice that Cholo has to hand over his weapons to security before entering Fiddler's Green. It's safe to say that all Green residents are unarmed, and that posession of a firearm is not allowed or heavily restricted at best. When the zombies invade the Green in the films final act, the handful of armed guards are showen turning tail and running off at the first signs of trouble, thus leaving the unarmed civilians to be killed by the zombies.

Any takes on this?

Well, its like GAR said, this film was about ignoring the problem, most people think of that as in a social scoop, as in Ignoring the homeless etc. The theme though permiates the entire film. This example you brought up rings true on that as anything else. These people secluded themselves in the green so they can live life as if the zombie plauge never happend. They ignored the issues of the day, and as such were caught with thier proverbial pants down when a zombie came up and bit them on the ass.

I wont deny that it can also be seen as a pro 2A lesson too. People who pretend that they are safe and who pretend that they dont need arms because the government will protect them usually die 1st or easiest. Look at half the murders in the country, they could easily have been defended against if the victim had been packing heat. But I dont think Romero meant for that to be the main issue personally. He said it a lot, that the issue was ignoring the problem, which is kind of shaky for a theme, but he set it as such anyway.


Wow, although LOTD was not my favorite, I've seen it maybe 8 or 10 times. The NRA never came close any of my thoughts, but it’s an interesting angle. One does notice that discipline does stink with Kaufman's so-called soldiers...or shall we call them...dressed-up, mentally scarred civilians? After having the world fall apart in front of them, I'm sure many of them having the "flight" portion of 'fight or flight' set on auto pilot. They're clearly not real soldiers; I'd say 99.9% of the U.S. military personnel were killed pretty early on. Just look at the idiots who jump out of the guard tower when Big Daddy comes running thru the fence...if you slow the picture down....you can clearly see there is an M-60 machine gun in the tower!
What the @#$@#$#??? Exactly!

For some Americans, the stereotypical dumb country redneck in his flannel shirt with his double barrel shotgun is always going to be associated with the term "gun owners". Having grown up in the northeast, I've meet thousands of people like this who refuse to get off their asses and see the forest for the trees (or god forbid, leave the northeast for a while!) And, if it were up to them only the criminals would have guns and we'd be stuck with one hell of a problem on our hands. They want to rely on everyone else for everything...the government, the police, etc...they have no concept of taking care of themselves. If anything like the living dead did roll around and society fell apart, the people with the best chance of survival wouldn't be the cricket-bat owning deadbeats in the cities. You can bet your ass it would be some guy with the best means to defend himself once he realizes the police have their hands full and aren't ever coming to help him or his children.

Hear hear, I am form Connecticut, you dont get any more Yankee, New Englander than that. And I exercise my 2A rights often. I buy a new gun every 4th of July, why? Because I can and its my right to do so. And I think its more fitting tribute to those who died so I can have those rights than setting off a few firecrackers made in China.

[Brubaker]

Just look at the idiots who jump out of the guard tower when Big Daddy comes running thru the fence...if you slow the picture down....you can clearly see there is an M-60 machine gun in the tower! What the @#$@#$#??? Exactly!.

If the number of zombies that showed up were able to take down that fence, I imagine they could have knocked over the guard tower. Especially if Big Daddy had "ordered" it or "led the charge." Those guys were down. Besides, there is no reason the men on the ground couldn't have abandoned post and retreated.

[jim102016]

Ok, I popped the DVD in last night and watched it again. That fence was not strong to begin with. It was already on its last leg...look at the stress the fence took in Day'? The fence in LOTD literally started swaying when they first touched it. Clearly those idiots out there had some piss poor security measures in place. The guy in the tower had an M-60 machine gun, I fired one in the service, he sure as hell didn't make effective use of it. Then he jumped out of the tower from the front with rope into the arms of the zombies! Perhaps that goes back to the argument of these guys not being disciplined...or real soldiers. You get a real good view if you slow down the playing of the scene.

It looked like a pretty solid tower to me, with two other buddies in it with me, I wouldn't have jumped out. They could have waited up there for help. Someone across the river would surely have heard a machine gun cutting lose. The only access to the tower was a ladder in the back.

These guys had no idea that Big Daddy was a bit on the 'smart' side. Hell, maybe they have ceased fire and played dead. Except for a few stragglers, Big Daddy was insistent on moving along before any of his followers had a chnace to dine. Matter of minutes.

My point is they pretty much sacrificed theyselves and every advantage they had by leaving the tower...had they stayed put, they odds at least would have gone up.The tower is still the safest place out there with the fence down.

[Brubaker]

Ok, I popped the DVD in last night and watched it again. That fence was not strong to begin with. It was already on its last leg...look at the stress the fence took in Day'? The fence in LOTD literally started swaying when they first touched it. Clearly those idiots out there had some piss poor security measures in place. The guy in the tower had an M-60 machine gun, I fired one in the service, he sure as hell didn't make effective use of it. Then he jumped out of the tower from the front with rope into the arms of the zombies! Perhaps that goes back to the argument of these guys not being disciplined...or real soldiers. You get a real good view if you slow down the playing of the scene.

It looked like a pretty solid tower to me, with two other buddies in it with me, I wouldn't have jumped out. They could have waited up there for help. Someone across the river would surely have heard a machine gun cutting lose. The only access to the tower was a ladder in the back.

These guys had no idea that Big Daddy was a bit on the 'smart' side. Hell, maybe they have ceased fire and played dead. Except for a few stragglers, Big Daddy was insistent on moving along before any of his followers had a chnace to dine. Matter of minutes.

My point is they pretty much sacrificed theyselves and every advantage they had by leaving the tower...had they stayed put, they odds at least would have gone up.The tower is still the safest place out there with the fence down.

Ah well, they'll have plenty of time to think about that as they spend an eternity wandering around that little post, considering Riley only shot the zombies that were currently moving. He didn't take into account the people being eaten who would be up and walking an hour or two after he left to go grab Dead Reckoning.

What I found kind of dumb was that they only showed the feet of most of those soldiers, meaning that while the zombies were attacking, you saw them eating somebody but never usually saw their face.

[jim102016]

Good point, there had to have been close to a dozen guys out in that fenced in motor pool? With the quickness that Big Daddy and his friends knocked the fence in, took some bites out of the men, and then took off....Brubaker is not the only one that will be rising. How about the one guy who's getting his back eaten by the guy with the beret on? He looks intact, why hasn't he risen yet? You're correct, Riley only shot the ones that were moving. I'm sure within 15 or 20 after his leaving, some more were up and walking around. I'm surprised that none were shown when cholo was brought back in the woody to get some payback on Kaufmann?

[darth los]

Or of course it could be that Cholo's "type" of people aren't trusted with weapons inside the compound and for all we know the residents of The Green could have a magnum under their pillow 'just in case'. Those are my takes on the situation...


The term "type" used in the context that it was is loaded at best. Do you think that he meant cholo's type as a minority or economically challenged or both? At first i thought it was the latter but it could mean either one. I didn't see any other minorities there except ina subservient role.

[Khardis]

The term "type" used in the context that it was is loaded at best. Do you think that he meant cholo's type as a minority or economically challenged or both? At first i thought it was the latter but it could mean either one. I didn't see any other minorities there except ina subservient role.

I thought he meant his class. Hes basically part of the working class.

[darth los]

I thought he meant his class. Hes basically part of the working class.

Since there's no concrete evidence to support either theory to be accurate i guess that either could be true. However, all the elements are there for it to be construed as a racist comment as well. It wouldn't be the first time that happened in one of gar's dead films.

[MinionZombie]

Type in terms of either/or/all:

1) Class
2) Personal demeanour
3) Race

Most likely the first two, as he's an employee he is essentially clocking in and out, if he's crossing into "the promised land" then he has to be civil (but he ends up standing out like a sore thumb due to his clothes and the fact he pours champage in a whiskey glass - brilliantly subtle touch there I thought, summed the situation up perfectly).

If they're milling around in the slums then they're fine to have guns as the only people they'd shoot is each other, no "cross contamination" between the two classes in the film essentially...

[darth los]

Most likely the first two, as he's an employee he is essentially clocking in and out, if he's crossing into "the promised land" then he has to be civil (but he ends up standing out like a sore thumb due to his clothes and the fact he pours champage in a whiskey glass - brilliantly subtle touch there I thought, summed the situation up perfectly).


Lol. That's true.

Did ya get a look at hopper's face? it was priceless. Like, " OH HELL NO, YOU DIDN"T JUsT DO THAT!!"

[Mark Reynolds]

I don't think the indiscipline of the guards is too surprising when you start thinking of Kaufman's priorities.

Kaufman was convinced that the zombies were incapable of launching an organised attack or breaching the city defences. He therefore assigned his least dependable soldiers to gate duty.

Kaufman's political support came from being able to promise a high standard of living - Cholo made it clear that this was his only motivation for working for Kaufman. This means that his best soldiers would have been assigned to duties like protecting the electricity and water supplies and scavenging the luxury goods to fill up the shopping malls. The chances are that there were multiple scavenger groups working for the city, although we only saw the one group in the film. Some scavenging trips would take days as the luxury goods on sale in Fiddlers Green would not be available in the average small town store.

I think that there were strict gun control laws even in the slum - there was a shot of a slum dweller being frisked for concealed weapons. The people don't need to be armed as the city defences are impregnable :D

As the scavengers were both government employees and combat veterans, the guards were probably relaxed about their carrying guns in the slums. They probably only had to hand over their guns when entering Fiddlers Green because Kaufman wanted to maintain the illusion that the comfortable world its inhabitants had known still existed.

[MissJacksonCA]

While its a superb observation I wouldn't say its pro NRA. I think the reason for Cholo having to check his weapon upon entry is for the safety of the wealthy residents and Dennis Hopper. I sincerely doubt the residents of the building were also subject to the no weapons upon entry rules because they lived there they were already a member and were no unreasonable threat to their fellow residents. Further... anyone with a half bran can recognise that a gun isn't the only weapon available to residents of Fiddlers Green but it could well be a useless weapon in no time because hey... how long til you're outta bullets and backup ammo? Its not like you're going to have a small arsenal packed onto your seguay personal mover. Besides who would have anticipated that the zombies would compromise the security of FG? The security guards running was simple human nature... you're not likely going to stand there to put up a good offense when they've got the run of the city already... you're better off saving bullets and running...

[ProfessorChaos]

After watching Land again last week, I think that I might have came up with a solid "message", but I'm not sure if it's just due to my classes at the university leaking their way into my down time.

To me, it seems that Romero is making a statement about the ongoing fight against illegal immigration and the assimilation of cultures in America. As of recent years, this has become a topic of much focus, particularly in the southwestern U.S.

Anyone else see any of this? Or is my education soiling my mind and making me find connections that aren't really there?

[SRP76]

After watching Land again last week, I think that I might have came up with a solid "message", but I'm not sure if it's just due to my classes at the university leaking their way into my down time.

To me, it seems that Romero is making a statement about the ongoing fight against illegal immigration and the assimilation of cultures in America. As of recent years, this has become a topic of much focus, particularly in the southwestern U.S.

Anyone else see any of this? Or is my education soiling my mind and making me find connections that aren't really there?

Uhh....what?:confused:

What scenes in the movie indicate this? It might help if we know exactly what you're looking at.

[ProfessorChaos]

dude, i can't recall any specific instances, but to me, romero's messages aren't always easy to grasp, and i've never really seen anything in lotd that even came close to any kind of message. i don't really feel that the "messages" from any of the original trilogy were easy to pick up on either, though...but until recently, i felt land wasn't even worth looking that deeply into.

however, i am in a few classes this semester that deal with politics, economics, and the americas (not all in the same class, mind you) and as i was sitting through lotd again, it just kinda clicked...maybe dude's trying to make a statement about the immigration debate. seems to be more solid than any other theory i've stumbled across.

the fact that dennis hopper's character resembles a modern-day greedy, anti-immigration white elitist conservative who is trying to keep the wrong people (non-whites, such as cholo, and of course, the living dead) from coming into his idea of utopia, thus denying them of the luxuries he and his peers enjoy seems obvious enough to me. even though clear borders are constructed, there is always going to be people getting through.

also, i guess that maybe there's some hinting at what john edwards called "two americas", which is the expanding divide between rich and poor within the boundaries. this is pretty obvious now that i think about it, but didn't strike me until now.

i don't know, but that's the only things i can see as a social commentary in this film.

[SRP76]

I see what you're saying now. But I figure the Fiddler's Green vs. ghetto conflict more represents the rich vs. poor thing, than anything else.

As far as the zombies go, it would be a stretch to cast them as "immigrants", illegal or otherwise. I've never heard of a Mexican crossing the border for the express purpose of eating me.:D

If that was what Romero was shooting for, well, I disagree with him for that reason. The dead, no matter how much they are put in a "sympathetic" light, get no sympathy from me. They exist solely to munch on the living. I see absolutley zero "no harm intended" in that.

[SymphonicX]

i don't get how anyone can claim thmselves as liberal then condone the right to shoot other people.

self defence, blah blah blah....i heard it all before.

anyway back to the topic, no I don't think there's a Pro NRA message. The series has nothing really to do with guns, self defence etc those things are a given in this situation....it goes MUCH deeper than that and Land is more of a commentary on our inability to work together - hence why the lack of trust for even the LIVING extends so deep that the citizens of the green are kept in a secure environment. its also a commentary on how a misguided and evil leader can wrap his people around in a blanket of false security, one where everyone feels that they're safe from the impending doom outside - but as the situation always goes, what keeps the zombies out keeps the living IN (ie: electric fences) and when it goes tits up, they have nowhere to go and are eaten. The last 20 years have seen our modern, western societies being more and more happy to enclose themselves in little boxes, living in complete ignorance and refusing to accept the impending dangers that threaten our lives - (terrorism, climate change) this is reflected in Land with the idea that terrorism, outwardly perpetrated by the living dead, is in fact a smokescreen for the real danger which lies a lot closer to home - big business, multinationals, arms trades etc etc all factor into Dennis Hopper's character with his portrayal of this villain having a lot in common with Dick Cheney (Romero even said that himself). In short, the REAL danger isn't the terrorists, its the people supposedly fighting against the terrorists yet still making the world a much unsafer place for everyone - hence the rebellion of Cholo and the line "I'm gonna start a jihad on his ass"...if Hopper's character had made the right moves, instilled a land of respect and equality, then the disgruntled attitude of Cholo might have been just a criminal mind which would easily be quashed in a moral and ethical society existing to survive with everyone getting a fair share.

There's also an argument for Climate change being on the agenda in this movie - the acceptance of Riley towards the undead hails a small nod to the changing environment around them, their inability to change things because of past mistakes and their acceptance of a new world and new responsibilities. The "climate" is the social element of the film, with the overall message that if nothing is done at the start of this problem, we'll have to live with it til we are all dead.

The gun element is just a natural thing to have in a zombie movie...if there were no guns it'd be a bit boring I reckon.

(edited to add a few more thoughts)

[bassman]

The gun element is just a natural thing to have in a zombie movie...if there were no guns it'd be a bit boring I reckon.



About 90% of Shaun didn't have any guns. Only the Winchester at the end and when the military arrives.

Just wanted to say that...

[SymphonicX]

hahaha yeah and to break a cardinal rule - 28 days later didn't have guns until the last act...but that's not a zombie movie!! lol

yeah you're right about Shaun, but it wasn't serious so it doesn't apply.

[Wyldwraith]

Hmm,
Honestly I think Romero sets us up. He makes the statement he's about social commentary (the power of suggestion), and then he gives us the plot-message in inkblot form. You see what you're predisposed to see while hunting for HIS commentary.

If so it's genius really. Our imaginations can make one inkblot into like 50-60 different objects depending on when, how, in what mood, under what emotional conditions, at what level of fatigue/eye strain etc etc. Why can't a movie director employ the same principle to his own benefit?

Something like that HAS to be going on, or new angles like this wouldn't keep popping up from a movie that remains precisely the same. Moreover I would venture that the very act of watching it repeatedly primes you to see something different because of the way perception works. People get bored focusing on precisely the same thing when in front of them are so many other alternatives to focus on. I think most of us unconsciously shift our focus as the mind's way of forming new connections in processing stimuli which we already have several repetitions of stored in our memories.

Maybe our brains are just trying to squeeze something new and potentially worthwhile out of already-processed stimuli we insist on re-subjecting it to. Sort of like the body making use of as much of the organic material we consume as it can, before excreting the rest.

That's just my half-baked theory. I just watched Land again to try and prove/disprove it and something I noticed was with the preconceived idea that my focus might be shifting unconsciously I actually felt like I was working harder to focus on some of the scenes I typically lean forward and get into. Other scenes I generally tend to go glassy-eyed during seemed to hold my attention more this time around. The power of self-suggestion perhaps?

At any rate, I didn't see anything specifically pro/anti-gun control in the movie. That might be because no matter how hard I try I keep getting caught up in my frustration and irritation at what a buncha sheep 99.9% of the city's inhabitants were. For God's sake, at least TRY to fight back..don't just herd together in groups too dense to even dodge a zombie attack in. Grab a friggin 2x4, SOMETHING.

LOL, that's one thing Land is always guaranteed to suggest to me. In the words of Tommy Lee Jones in MiB "No sport, a person can be smart..people are dumb as a box of wet hair".

[clanglee]

YES!!! I like the way you think man. How did all of those wussys survive that long anyways?