JonOfTheShred
16-May-2010, 05:55 AM
This movie could have worked. I see a lot of good in it, but it was bogged down by equally (or more) bad that it really cheapened the product; some obvious, some less so.
The first thing one is to complain about is the CGI. It was pretty bad, I must agree. The zombie heads on sticks? The fire extinguisher kill? Or the flair gun? The head-shot with the top flap of the head falling back onto the open neck? There was some alarmingly bad CGI to be found in this. Anyone who's seen it can tell you that much, and you've heard it all before. Obvious.
There was also the zombie riding a horse. It wasn't just the fact there was a zombie on a horse, but who poorly it was handled. Maybe if the horse was just wandering around aimlessly, not running at full speed. Or if she was being dragged along, ankle tangled in the stirrups.
Above all else though, the worst aspect of the entire movie, was the score. What an unfitting, garbage sounding film score this movie got. Anything that has that 'Danny Elfman' sound is pretty irritating in itself, but in a zombie flick? Way to kill all suspense and feeling of terror. I think with a proper, menacing score alone, Survival would have been a lot better.
I thought there were some cool moments in Survival. (I turned my brain off and enjoyed the film, despite its flaws.) I thought the entire gun fight between Sarge and O'Flynn towards the start was entertaining. The swim to the ferry was intense (by this movies standards), as were the scenes in the ferry. The zombie driving the car was a pretty cool thought and 'startling' the first time, but much like the horse riding zombie, it could've been executed a lot better.
The locations of this movie were creepy and well-chosen. This creepiness would have actually been noticeable with a suiting music score. The ferry with all the cars, the woods and old buildings. Pretty cool locations.
I also didn't mind the story or characters as much as everyone else.
Preserving the zombies you know and trying to get them to eat something other than human? I can dig. A group of towns folk killing all the zombies? Great. Should've shown a few more minutes of 'zombie hunting.' Sarge and his crew looking for a thinly populated area to inhabit until things went back to normal, if they ever did? Not unreasonable.
I thought Sarge was pretty cool. The old guys were actually kinda funny in a cheesy way, with their exaggerated accents and unhealthy obsession with their families history. 'Tomboy' (aka the Lesbian) was endearing enough for me: hot chick that likes other chicks. Nice. Whats to complain about there? The guy trying to fuck her? He was funny. I guess the only character I really hated was the Justin Long from Die Hard wannabe downer kid. I hated his character.
Anyway, to sum it all up, this movie could've been pretty bad ass. More gore, no CGI, a completely revamped musical score, no zombie horse-riding, and a few other tweaks and this would've been much more enjoyable.
The first thing one is to complain about is the CGI. It was pretty bad, I must agree. The zombie heads on sticks? The fire extinguisher kill? Or the flair gun? The head-shot with the top flap of the head falling back onto the open neck? There was some alarmingly bad CGI to be found in this. Anyone who's seen it can tell you that much, and you've heard it all before. Obvious.
There was also the zombie riding a horse. It wasn't just the fact there was a zombie on a horse, but who poorly it was handled. Maybe if the horse was just wandering around aimlessly, not running at full speed. Or if she was being dragged along, ankle tangled in the stirrups.
Above all else though, the worst aspect of the entire movie, was the score. What an unfitting, garbage sounding film score this movie got. Anything that has that 'Danny Elfman' sound is pretty irritating in itself, but in a zombie flick? Way to kill all suspense and feeling of terror. I think with a proper, menacing score alone, Survival would have been a lot better.
I thought there were some cool moments in Survival. (I turned my brain off and enjoyed the film, despite its flaws.) I thought the entire gun fight between Sarge and O'Flynn towards the start was entertaining. The swim to the ferry was intense (by this movies standards), as were the scenes in the ferry. The zombie driving the car was a pretty cool thought and 'startling' the first time, but much like the horse riding zombie, it could've been executed a lot better.
The locations of this movie were creepy and well-chosen. This creepiness would have actually been noticeable with a suiting music score. The ferry with all the cars, the woods and old buildings. Pretty cool locations.
I also didn't mind the story or characters as much as everyone else.
Preserving the zombies you know and trying to get them to eat something other than human? I can dig. A group of towns folk killing all the zombies? Great. Should've shown a few more minutes of 'zombie hunting.' Sarge and his crew looking for a thinly populated area to inhabit until things went back to normal, if they ever did? Not unreasonable.
I thought Sarge was pretty cool. The old guys were actually kinda funny in a cheesy way, with their exaggerated accents and unhealthy obsession with their families history. 'Tomboy' (aka the Lesbian) was endearing enough for me: hot chick that likes other chicks. Nice. Whats to complain about there? The guy trying to fuck her? He was funny. I guess the only character I really hated was the Justin Long from Die Hard wannabe downer kid. I hated his character.
Anyway, to sum it all up, this movie could've been pretty bad ass. More gore, no CGI, a completely revamped musical score, no zombie horse-riding, and a few other tweaks and this would've been much more enjoyable.