WTF is up with the ending?!?!

[MikePizzoff]

I only saw the ending once before (way back in theatres) and didn't notice this until I just watched it again...

The ending really made me go "WHAT THE ****?!?!". Dead Reckoning pulls up to the city after crossing the drawbridge and they think they're too late so they shoot the crowd of zombies munching down on people. Okay, cool.

Except, immediatly a huge group of people comes slowly walking around the corner and Asia says "You saved all these people". "Uhhh...." I dont really get how that was saving the people at all... that small group of zombies were already pre-occupied feasting on already dead humans.

But to top it off, they show Riley, outside Dead Reckoning, talking to the Irish dude... suddenly that crowd of people have weapons "Hmmm.....?" and are ready to fight. Riley gets back in the Dead Reckoning and looks at a raised walkway, directly next to where the huge group of people were... and the walkway is filled with Big Daddy and tons of zombies paying absolutely no attention to the large group of humans.

It seems like George simply ran out of ideas for the ending, or had to cut this short.

That end was just one huge pile of ****, if you ask me.

WTF, MATE???

[MinionZombie]

Hmmm...I never had any problems with the ending.

I took it that the survivors who came around the corner, had been hiding out somewhere near and after the explosions came out looking to find what was up. No doubt got the weapons from the storage place where the weapons were locked up, because all hell had broken loose.

[Philly_SWAT]

I agree with Minion's assessment of what happened. And I think that Riley really did save them as they would have probably been killed by those same zombies, even with weapons. I dont remember all of them being armed, were they? I only thought a few were.

But I am also displeased by the tone of the ending. It is a typical Hollywood ending, a "happy ending", which is not a trademark of GAR's work. Dead Reckoning leaves the city, and they all live happily ever after. They almost literally ride off into the sunset...although it is night, so they ride off into the night sky brillantly lit up by the "sky-flowers." Is life in Canada really going to be so much better than what they had there? At least they were in a fortified city, with supplies. They will either go into unfortified places that are far more dangerous, or out in the middle of nowhere where they are no zombies, and also no supplies. I doubt that life will be a dream for our Green escapees.

[MikePizzoff]

You guys are skipping my biggest point: The fact that there are zombies (along with Big Daddy) just walking up a raised walkway, next to the humans... and nobody is wasting nobody. No humans shooting at the zombies, no panic'd yells, no zombies turning around and going back down to devour the humans, nothing! Just "stenches" politely walking away.

[Philly_SWAT]

I will have to go back and look, but I dont think the zombies were walking next to the humans. They were on a different walkway. That is when they go to shoot Big Daddy and the rest, Riley stops them and says "theyre just looking for a place to go", not "dont shoot, you'll shoot those people too!".

[Deadman_Deluxe]

You guys are skipping my biggest point: The fact that there are zombies (along with Big Daddy) just walking up a raised walkway, next to the humans... and nobody is wasting nobody. No humans shooting at the zombies, no panic'd yells, no zombies turning around and going back down to devour the humans, nothing! Just "stenches" politely walking away.


Weren't they (the zombies) leaving ... of their own accord? As in ... Job's a goodun, smoke em if you got em, let's blow this joint ... kinda stylie?

[p2501]

Weren't they (the zombies) leaving ... of their own accord? As in ... Job's a goodun, smoke em if you got em, let's blow this joint ... kinda stylie?

yep they were.

i've seen the movie god knows how many times. i've never seen people walking up the entrance ramp with the zombies.

[Arcades057]

There was an ending? Personally I sat in the theater with a bewildered expression through the whole credits to see the REAL ending, only to realize I was a dumbass and what I'd already seen WAS the ending. Still waiting for the REAL ending, in fact... :shifty:

[MikePizzoff]

Weren't they (the zombies) leaving ... of their own accord? As in ... Job's a goodun, smoke em if you got em, let's blow this joint ... kinda stylie?

Ugh. That's probably the case. If that is the case... :barf: :barf: :barf:



i've seen the movie god knows how many times. i've never seen people walking up the entrance ramp with the zombies.

I said the humans were NEXT to the ramp..

[Maitreya]

But I am also displeased by the tone of the ending. It is a typical Hollywood ending, a "happy ending", which is not a trademark of GAR's work.

Day had a pretty happy ending for the most part... I'd imagine kicking it on a sunny tropical island would be pretty nice.

[MinionZombie]

Indeed, only zombies were walking up that walkway...and it was all a part of the ending which led to the ultimate illustration of GAR's idea of "ignoring the problem" ... as if humans and zombies are starting to live side by side in some form of perverse symbiosis, or at least as neighbours that don't like each other ... and occasionally bite/shoot each other.

It's also a bit pointless, kill a few zombies on a walkway, but there's a buttload more "out there". But it's mainly about the similarity between humans and zombies, zombies gaining more human traits - remembering their previous lives etc, and humans becoming less and less human, losing their identity.

I think Land is an excellent film (as I'm sure you all know), the amount of theories about life and death you can get into from this movie are great. It's ultimately almost as mind bending as eating a couple of funky muffins and then getting into a discussion about where the universe and everything ultimately came from, if it wasn't the God that you don't believe in anyway...(done that actually, lol).

[creepntom]

wasn't it the "street" people who came out of the woodwork? the people Kaufman had been trying to eliminate?

IIRC, it was the higher society people being devoured. the street clan would have been able to survive better than those who were dependant on the armed forces to protect them IMO.

i'll agree tho, those lines in that scene were kinda off sequence or something. how can you be too late then you save "all those people", or whatever the line was :confused:

[Brubaker]

You guys are skipping my biggest point: The fact that there are zombies (along with Big Daddy) just walking up a raised walkway, next to the humans... and nobody is wasting nobody. No humans shooting at the zombies, no panic'd yells, no zombies turning around and going back down to devour the humans, nothing! Just "stenches" politely walking away.

Big Daddy and the zombies must have known that they could not hurt Riley in Dead Reckoning. He was smart enough to not get himself or the other zombies killed by attacking the machine.

It does seem odd, though. You know that Big Daddy and the zombies would attack any humans they run into wherever they end up going. It doesn't matter whether they are provoked or not. For that reason, the responsible thing to have done may have been to waste them. Let them wander around long enough and they will probably get hungry and/or find more humans.

[jim102016]

Yeah, if I remember anything from the first time I saw that movie it was that I was staring at the credits in disbelief as well. Perhaps turning Big Daddy and his friends into a pile of smoldering **** would have made things a bit better....because you know damned well they're going to kill anything that jumps out in front of them. And being the fine leader that he is, his gang is only going to multiply into the thousands. With that smart noodle of his...he'll be restarting a power plant or flying an airplane before we know it!

As for the potential sequel....I can live without Big D' and the gang....

[MinionZombie]

Exactly, in fact, Day had a happier ending than Land did.

Soaking up the sunshine on a beach on an island is a pretty sweet deal ... Riley and co, what do they get? Shambling around ghost towns and zombie infested cities for the rest of their days...grrrrrreeeeaaaaat. :p

[zombiegirl]

I took it as Big Daddy had a major jones for fiddlers green. Once he got what he wanted he was done.
Maybe he was off to find some smokes. :p

[bassman]

I love the entire ending of "Land". It worked great with the commentary in the film on how the world is today. "They're only looking for a place to go"......if only everyone in the world had that sort of mentality. I love that line....I know alot people hated it, though.

Although the ending of "Land" is short...it's probably my favorite of the entire series.

And for all you people complaining about the ending of "Land"(Dead Reckoning driving off from the city they no longer want to be in)......what's so different between that and the ending to "Dawn"(helicopter flying off from the crowded mall that they no longer want to be in)?:rockbrow:

[MinionZombie]

what's so different between that and the ending to "Dawn"(helicopter flying off from the crowded mall that they no longer want to be in)?

Damn straight, that's surely the more 'hokey' ending rather than Land ... Dawn has an actual sunrise they flat out fly into! :lol:

[TheWalkingDude]

Well just a thought but maybe they did have a sequel in mind for it and thats why they left it the way they did. GAR did comment that he was giving thought to maybe doing the sequel.

[MinionZombie]

Indeedily-doo, roll on "World of the Dead" says I! Maybe after something new happens to the world it'll come around, as well as when GAR has had a chance to blow off some steam back in the indie world ... damn "the system". :mad:

[Danny]

i think this is like the third time im posting in a land thred and ill say this, how else could they have done it?, they beat all the zombies and live happily ever after?, dead films never, NEVER have a happy ending.

[Philly_SWAT]

And for all you people complaining about the ending of "Land"(Dead Reckoning driving off from the city they no longer want to be in)......what's so different between that and the ending to "Dawn"(helicopter flying off from the crowded mall that they no longer want to be in)?
Damn straight, that's surely the more 'hokey' ending rather than Land ... Dawn has an actual sunrise they flat out fly into!
To me, the difference is that in Dawn, it was not a happy ending. Flyboy had just died, came back as a zombie, and Peter had just blown his brains all over the wall, right in front of the woman carrying Flyboy's child. Peter just moments before contemplated suicide, and the chopper they were in was low on gas, neither was that familiar with it, and they left with no plan, only two people (one a pregnant woman), and a fair to good chance of crashing, either due to Fran's limited flying experience, or the fuel running out. And the sun was rising, not setting, which metaphorically, the setting sun is used to show a happy ending. Peter and Fran were not leaving filled with joy and hope in their hearts, only desperation. Riley and the gang were leaving with hope of a better life, in a well armored land vehicle, a lot more people (most experienced in combat situations), and created their own "sunset" with the skyflowers.

[TheWalkingDude]

The ending was how it was so we could all ask WTF's up with the ending lol

[Graebel]

Ambiguity rocks!!!!

[Brubaker]

To me, the difference is that in Dawn, it was not a happy ending. Flyboy had just died, came back as a zombie, and Peter had just blown his brains all over the wall, right in front of the woman carrying Flyboy's child. Peter just moments before contemplated suicide, and the chopper they were in was low on gas, neither was that familiar with it, and they left with no plan, only two people (one a pregnant woman), and a fair to good chance of crashing, either due to Fran's limited flying experience, or the fuel running out. And the sun was rising, not setting, which metaphorically, the setting sun is used to show a happy ending. Peter and Fran were not leaving filled with joy and hope in their hearts, only desperation. Riley and the gang were leaving with hope of a better life, in a well armored land vehicle, a lot more people (most experienced in combat situations), and created their own "sunset" with the skyflowers.

Safe to assume Riley and his gang have a long life ahead of them. Peter and Fran were probably zombified within a couple of weeks :D

[Maitreya]

i think this is like the third time im posting in a land thred and ill say this, how else could they have done it?, they beat all the zombies and live happily ever after?, dead films never, NEVER have a happy ending.

Never ever? Once again... I'd say Day's pretty happy. Unless you don't really consider that a dead movie.

Like MZ said, it's WAYYY happier than Land. They're on an uninfected tropical island with not a care in the world... Riley's stuck inside a metal tomb that constantly needs to be refueled.

[Eyebiter]

There was an ending? Personally I sat in the theater with a bewildered expression through the whole credits to see the REAL ending, only to realize I was a dumbass and what I'd already seen WAS the ending. Still waiting for the REAL ending, in fact... :shifty:


Agreed... the movie seemed like it was only half over when Dead Reckoning went on the road.

[Danny]

yeah i agree stunk of hollywood 'part two' movies to me.:bored:

[hseiken]

has anyone come up with a plausible timeline to all of the events potrayed in the dead films? Sorry for being off topic, but the mentioning of endings to previous movies keep coming up, so i'm just wondering.

[Philly_SWAT]

I disagree. Day is not a happy ending at all. Yeah, for the time being they're on an uninfected tropical island, which is certainly far better than being in a missle shaft full of zombies, but what next? They will never read a book, never see anything but that island, have a bland diet, if they can even catch enough fish to survive, never talk to another soul but the other two, etc. There will be no deodorant, no tampons, (no condoms :) ), no coffee, no aspirin which Sarah ate like candy. No doctors, dentists, shoe salesmen, etc. I bet that John was re-thinking his wish to "spend what time we got left soaking up some sun", with his dark skin, and no A/C. How about Billy? No more alcohol for him. Sarah, no Miguel. Pure survival does not make for a happy ending in my book.

[MinionZombie]

*sigh*

For the love of GAR ... let's not have another poll...:eek::lol::eek::|

[Danny]

very true, ...until they find the hatch!:lol:

[darth los]

They could have very well been hiding in the shadows with the weapons but just refused to help the yuppies that were keeping them opressed all these years. They were probably glad to see the aristocracy go. I know it's terrible but they are after all human.

[LivingDeadBeat]

I quite liked the ending, I like the sense of peacefulness (you get what I mean...) in Big daddy realising that he has no chance against Dead Reckoning, so he leads his 'stenches' elsewhere to see if they can find their true place or purpose. One thing that did bother me was the fact that only Big Daddy and his crew seemed to adapt; the other groups of zombies just acted in the usual 'kill to eat' behaviour, and had no common sense.

[darth los]

the other groups of zombies just acted in the usual 'kill to eat' behaviour, and had no common sense.


Which is the way it should be. :D

[LivingDeadBeat]

Which is the way it should be. :D

I agree with you there :D
I just don't get why some adapt and others don't considering the adaptation of the zombies was the whole kinda point of the story.

[EvilNed]

To me, both the Day and Land endings were very cheesy.

The Day ending? She wakes up on a tropical island while John is fishing and McDermott is laying around jerking off (probably felt up Sarah while she was sleeping). Anyway, the whole iconography of it just SCREAMS CHEESE whereas if the film had ended in a similar manner to Dawn, where we don't really know where they end up, would have made a much stronger impact on me. Day is my favourite film amongst the four, but that ending should have been cut short. Too cheesy "oh happiness!" for my tastes.

Same goes for Land. Them driving off into the night, with Riley making two very stupid decisions in the course of the last two minutes:

"They're just looking for a place to go." - Ok so you've survived four years, constantly killing zombies so that you can provide help to a few struggling humans, but during the course of two days he develops feelings for them?

And firing off the skyflowers. Why? Better have it and not need it than need it and not have it. But both of these decisions were made, to me, to give it a happier feel.

[darth los]

Same goes for Land. Them driving off into the night, with Riley making two very stupid decisions in the course of the last two minutes:

"They're just looking for a place to go." - Ok so you've survived four years, constantly killing zombies so that you can provide help to a few struggling humans, but during the course of two days he develops feelings for them?

I don't like the film personally, but i think the reason why he developed "feelings" for them was because he saw that hey evolved and weren't much different than him,. That's something he didn't feel before. It's much easier to kill something when they're painted as inhuman. Much like we do to the terrorists, we're good, they're evil nd of story, nice and neat.


And firing off the skyflowers. Why? Better have it and not need it than need it and not have it. But both of these decisions were made, to me, to give it a happier feel.


Definitely a good point. It was apparent that not all of the zeds had evolved just those that had come in to contact with big daddy. In another region they might have found them useful. Better to have them than not. Even if it only bought them a few seconds it could mean the difference between life and death.

[EvilNed]

Yeah, exactly. I mean, if he goes up to Canada, the zombies there have probably not been exposed to fireworks yet. So they'd fall for it, wouldn't they? In anyway, shame to waste them.

[bassman]

I don't like the film personally, but i think the reason why he developed "feelings" for them was because he saw that hey evolved and weren't much different than him,. That's something he didn't feel before. It's much easier to kill something when they're painted as inhuman. Much like we do to the terrorists, we're good, they're evil nd of story, nice and neat.


I agree. Most people don't like the fact that Riley understands the Rebelious zombies, but I think his compassion is a great part of his character. BUT....I wouldn't say that he gained this compassion over the course of the movie. I think he had it from the start("isn't that what we're doing...pretending to be alive") but the only reason he went out in Dead Reckoning was to gain supplies for his fellow survivors back in the streets of Philly.

Actually, now that I think about it......why do people complain about Riley not shooting the zombies at the end of the film, when he and Big Daddy clearly make eye contact at the very beginning of the film?:rockbrow: Riley chose not to shoot BD then just as he chose not to at the end. That's his character....he only shoots the zombies for protection of himself or those around him.

[darth los]

I agree. Most people don't like the fact that Riley understands the Rebelious zombies, but I think his compassion is a great part of his character. BUT....I wouldn't say that he gained this compassion over the course of the movie. I think he had it from the start("isn't that what we're doing...pretending to be alive") but the only reason he went out in Dead Reckoning was to gain supplies for his fellow survivors back in the streets of Philly.

Actually, now that I think about it......why do people complain about Riley not shooting the zombies at the end of the film, when he and Big Daddy clearly make eye contact at the very beginning of the film?:rockbrow: Riley chose not to shoot BD then just as he chose not to at the end. That's his character....he only shoots the zombies for protection of himself or those around him.


That's a very good point that i had not contemplated before. Also on the point of riley saying that they were pretending to be alive. Don't you find that eerily similar to fran's sentiments in dawn after they spend a few months in the mall?