Decay and Time.

[Angry312]

Ah. Therein I see my original error; I had based my own assumption that it was a defended point that the progression was from Night, Dawn, Day to Land. My own mistake, made glaringly obvious. In which case, they wouldn't sequels; they'd be their own movies. So, why are they referred to as 'sequels'? Why would we expect to see recurring characters, if they're stand-alone movies? Regarding James Bond: big fan. I just try not to hit their forums terribly often. Got my own limits on my fandom status. Then again, I did work for an RPG company. Angry312; "So, They're Not Sequels."

[Danny]

In which case, they wouldn't sequels; they'd be their own movies. So, why are they referred to as 'sequels'? Why would we expect to see recurring characters, if they're stand-alone movies? because when films have the same basic name and witer and director and storyline thats based off the previous work in the series its usually called a sequel, see romero stuck to this that other bloke whent to return series and changed it ,people prefered this plus it was called a dead film in the title, yknow night...dawn...day, theres a clue in that title somewere...

[Philly_SWAT]

Dont know if this helps you or not Angry312, but you can not use items in the GAR movies such as clothing, arcade games, cell phones, belly button rings, etc. as time markers in the GAR universe. A lot of what you say is true, like a particular gun model that did not exist until so many years after 1968 would make no sense in a movie set to take place three weeks after events that happened in 1968. However, GAR made a purposeful decision to have the entire series be "timeless", and make commentary on the times in which they were made. The only valid area of discussion in the "time arena" is what time frame do the movies take place in relation to each other, not how they relate to "real time". GAR is not using dress habits, music, technology, etc. as timestamps in the movies. He is only using what exists in the real universe at the time he is making the current movie. The movies are meant to be "timeless", re: the events within take place in our timeframe, whenever that happens to be. Fifity years from now, when a young teenager is watching Night for the first time, it would be a falicy for him to think "Hmmm, these events take place in 1968, since the movie was made then and they are wearing clothing styles from 1968". He should think "OK, even though this movie was made in 1968 and now it is 2056, the timeframe of this movie is in my present timeframe, clothing styles aside". Another way to look at it is this... in Star Trek the original series, the deck of the Enterprise looked like a bunch of cheap cardboard boxes with flashing lights on them (because that is what it was). As a viewer of the show, you should disregard this lack of production value, and accept it for what it is suppose to be. Was Gene Rodenberry making a statement that many years into the future, he thought computers would look like that? No.

[Brubaker]

Apparently, Angry 312 hasn't watched the James Bond movies. When it comes to timeline, the Dead series go through what I like to call "The James Bond effect" I recently found that there's actually a name for this type of rare movie phenomenon, it's called "retconning." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retconning You also see it in the Ernest P. Worrell movies. Just once, in one of those later day direct-to-video Ernest titles, I would have liked to see Jim Varney make a joke that referenced an earlier movie, like "Didn't I save a summer camp once?" or "Didn't I save Christmas once?" Seriously, though, I don't see where decay would even be an issue. Even in Day and Land, there would have been enough new people being bitten every day and coming back as zombies that decay wouldn't have helped shift the balance in the favor of the survivors. Right now, there is a whole city full of rich folks from the Green who were newly bitten in Land roaming the landscape. Even if there was noticeable decay, there would have been enough zombies left over where the surviving humans would have never totally eradicated them.

[Danny]

You also see it in the Ernest P. Worrell movies. damn that takes me back ,isnt that the dude who spent a movie with his ass stuck in a cannon?

[Brubaker]

damn that takes me back ,isnt that the dude who spent a movie with his ass stuck in a cannon? Yeah, Ernest Rides Again, I think. The first few ones did pretty well in the theater but after awhile they started going straight to video. I commented on them only because someone made the Bond reference. Out of all the Ernest movies, none of them had anything to do with each other. Even though Jim Varney spit out a new movie every year featuring the character, they were not really sequels in any way. Back On Topic: Until you see any real reference to a character from a previous (or later) movie, you have to concede that the four movies are totally different entities. A timeline doesn't make the grade. And I don't count stuff like the last name Cooper coming up in both Night & Day or the fact that Savini's leatherclad zombie shows up in both Dawn and Land. The former was probably to see if any fanboys were paying attention or it might have even happened purely by accident. The latter, from my point of view, was a tribute to a good guy and something to get the older fans talking.

[bassman]

Until you see any real reference to a character from a previous (or later) movie, you have to concede that the four movies are totally different entities. A timeline doesn't make the grade. My thoughts exactly. They were never meant to be connected except in name only. Even that almost ended had "Land" been called "Dead Reckoning". Ernest! "Know what I mean, Verne?" "Camp", "Scared Stupid", "Saves Christmas", and "Goes to Jail" were all the theatricals, I believe. They even had some that were TV movies("Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain" ) You know that character started off as a commercial? *sigh*....I miss Jim Verney.

[radiokill]

Varney he was a funny guy. used to watch the ernest tv show every saturday morning. that was a crazy show for kids.

[Brubaker]

My thoughts exactly. They were never meant to be connected except in name only. Even that almost ended had "Land" been called "Dead Reckoning". Ernest! "Know what I mean, Verne?" "Camp", "Scared Stupid", "Saves Christmas", and "Goes to Jail" were all the theatricals, I believe. They even had some that were TV movies("Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain" ) You know that character started off as a commercial? *sigh*....I miss Jim Verney. "Rides Again" hit theaters for about a week or two. Other than that, a few of the direct-to-video ones in later years were "Goes to School", "In the army", "Goes to Africa" and "Slam Dunk Ernest." Slightly lower budget, but overall they were still entertaining assuming you were a fan of his. I remember some interviewer had the nerve to ask Jim V. once that, with the other work he'd done, if he was embarrassed to be associated with the character. He laughed it off fairly well and said "No." I remember the year he died, I was somewhere watching the Academy Awards and just about every actor, well-known or obscure, who passed away that same year got mentioned during the show but him. That made me a little angry.

[bassman]

"Rides Again" hit theaters for about a week or two. Other than that, a few of the direct-to-video ones in later years were "Goes to School", "In the army", "Goes to Africa" and "Slam Dunk Ernest." Slightly lower budget, but overall they were still entertaining assuming you were a fan of his. I remember some interviewer had the nerve to ask Jim V. once that, with the other work he'd done, if he was embarrassed to be associated with the character. He laughed it off fairly well and said "No." I remember the year he died, I was somewhere watching the Academy Awards and just about every actor, well-known or obscure, who passed away that same year got mentioned during the show but him. That made me a little angry. Yeah....I was quite sad when I heard he passed. I guess that's what happens when you're a heavy smoker for your entire life. I believe he passed shortly after or just before "Toy Story 2" was released(he was the Slinky Dog....in case you didn't already know).

[Blackdragon6]

i'm assuming romero retconned the series with land of the dead.as far as the time line goes that is.so instead of being a late 60's pandemic its a 21st century pamdemic.so theoretically the original might be set in the late 90's instead of the late 60's.