Chronological Possibilities with all the Spinoffs?

[Seiferboy]

Here's my first thread on the forums. Hope it's a good one! So, I've combed through the threads and haven't seen anything related to this question. Out of all the remakes and sequels, are there any you would place within George Romero's official lineup? I'm interested in watching each film in what I consider chronological order, and was wondering if anything else could work well within the story and Romero's world. It doesn't have to be from the Pittsburgh area, it could even be set in other countries. Here's the lineup of Romero films I plan to try and watch. This lineup makes chronological sense to me from a storytelling perspective. Night of the Living Dead (68) Diary of the Dead Survival of the Dead Dawn of the Dead (78) Land of the Dead Day of the Dead (85) As for unofficial sequels, I'd consider placing "Children of the Dead", after Day. If the movie is ever released, I'd place "Night of the Living Dead: Genesis", after Children. Why? Because we find out what happens to Barbra after the events of the original movie. She survives and manages to be rescued, after wandering down a road, badly injured. Judith O'dea even reprises her role as Barbra! There's a few trailers for the movie on YouTube, and I cannot wait for them to (hopefully) finally release it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41LnVpVnA3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xhUyDxdQDk Have you thought about this topic? If so, what are your thoughts? Keep in mind, it's totally fine to use a remake in place of the original. For example, Night of the Living Dead (1990) could easily replace the 1968 version with either the original sequels, or the remake sequels. Maybe a mix of them? Who knows!

[beat_truck]

Unless you are a masochist or just want to see everything remotely Romero related, skip Children all together. From what I recall from seeing it, it is truly awful. The same goes for Flesheater.

[EvilNed]

The way they fit together in my mind is; Night and Diary show us the initial reactions and the very first hours of the outbreak. Dawn of the Dead show us how society is falling apart. People abandoning their posts, fending for themselves. The collapse. Survival of the Dead depicts a post-collapse. This could very well take place the minute Dawn ends. Day of the Dead takes place months later. Society is completely gone and is no contact between anyone. Land of the Dead takes place years later. Basically people starting to begin anew. In the film they say it's been five years since the shit hit the fan, so that's a good timeframe for the other films as well.

[shootemindehead]

Diary and Survival don't fit in with the others in any way. Diary doesn't even fit with the remake of NotLD. Night, Dawn, Day, Land. That's it. And even then you have to ignore obvious problems with clothing, weaponry and other stuff.

[beat_truck]

Diary and Survival don't fit in with the others in any way. Diary doesn't even fit with the remake of NotLD. Night, Dawn, Day, Land. That's it. And even then you have to ignore obvious problems with clothing, weaponry and other stuff. I agree. Night > Dawn > Day > Land I consider Diary and Survival to be stand alone movies that don't really fit or have anything to do with the others. I also consider them to be crap, but that's beside the point.

[EvilNed]

I also consider them to be crap, but that's beside the point. Oh, I don't know... I've got a feeling it's related somehow...

[JDP]

Here's my first thread on the forums. Hope it's a good one! So, I've combed through the threads and haven't seen anything related to this question. Out of all the remakes and sequels, are there any you would place within George Romero's official lineup? I'm interested in watching each film in what I consider chronological order, and was wondering if anything else could work well within the story and Romero's world. It doesn't have to be from the Pittsburgh area, it could even be set in other countries. Here's the lineup of Romero films I plan to try and watch. This lineup makes chronological sense to me from a storytelling perspective. Night of the Living Dead (68) Diary of the Dead Survival of the Dead Dawn of the Dead (78) Land of the Dead Day of the Dead (85) This is the most appropriate chronological order when considering all that is depicted and implied in the movies themselves (regardless of what years they were made and released in or what Romero might have said here or there in some interviews, specially in his later years when his memory had gotten quite bad.) Day depicts a humanity almost gone extinct and driven underground in a world overtaken by the hordes of the living dead, which none of his other movies does, thus why it is the obvious final chapter in the saga. Entropy, folks, entropy. All the other movies are evidently taking place at earlier times during the same zombie disaster, periods of time when organized society is still managing to survive to a greater or lesser degree in the midst of the said ongoing disaster. As for unofficial sequels, I'd consider placing "Children of the Dead", after Day. No, don't... just don't. That crap doesn't belong anywhere in this topic and has not even a remote connection to Romero's movies. And most certainly even less trying to place it after Day! If you must consider any non-Romero zombie film as supposedly somehow "related" to the time-line of the same zombie apocalypse, then consider Fulci's Zombie and Mattei's Hell of the Living Dead as "prequels", actually, definitely not "sequels". Both of these movies have been attempted to have some sort of "connection" to Romero's movies (even though they really do not have any, except that they both borrow the idea of the cannibalistic zombie from them), and the only way that could ever be is by considering them as "prequels", and for obvious reasons (both movies begin in a world where the reality of zombies is totally unknown to most people, and then they gradually spread everywhere.)

[shootemindehead]

Day depicts a humanity almost gone extinct and driven underground in a world overtaken by the hordes of the living dead) Except it doesn't. 'Day of the Dead' depicts that ONE group sent underground (pretty recently too, from the dialogue, most likely a matter of months). We have no idea what's going on in the rest of the country. We don't even know what's going on in the rest of Florida. That particular group in the film are isolated and cut off and within 100 miles each way, they haven't found anyone else. But that doesn't mean that there aren't any other groups or, in fact, entire organised enclaves still left operating. We only see things from Sarah and Co's point of view. It's far from conclusive that 'Day of the Dead' is the "final" chapter in Romero's Dead series.

[EvilNed]

Let's just all agree to disagree.

[beat_truck]

Is this going to start again? Apparently, ~35 pages of the same back and forth wasn't enough the last time.

[JDP]

Except it doesn't. 'Day of the Dead' depicts that ONE group sent underground (pretty recently too, from the dialogue, most likely a matter of months). We have no idea what's going on in the rest of the country. We don't even know what's going on in the rest of Florida. That particular group in the film are isolated and cut off and within 100 miles each way, they haven't found anyone else. But that doesn't mean that there aren't any other groups or, in fact, entire organised enclaves still left operating. We only see things from Sarah and Co's point of view. It's far from conclusive that 'Day of the Dead' is the "final" chapter in Romero's Dead series. The movie very clearly implies that what is going on in Florida is also pretty much going on elsewhere. The people in the Florida bunker have only relatively recently become "incommunicado" via the airwaves. And it's not just 200 miles, they used to talk to people as far up north as at least Washington DC (that's about 1000 miles from South Florida.) And their view of the situation is absolutely grim and desperate. That implies that all the info they got from elsewhere up to that point was not good at all.

[shootemindehead]

The movie very clearly implies that what is going on in Florida is also pretty much going on elsewhere. The people in the Florida bunker have only relatively recently become "incommunicado" via the airwaves. And it's not just 200 miles, they used to talk to people as far up north as at least Washington DC (that's about 1000 miles from South Florida.) And their view of the situation is absolutely grim and desperate. That implies that all the info they got from elsewhere up to that point was not good at all. OK, I'm not going to labour this. You can take 'Day of the Dead' however you wish. But...they used to talk to Washington over the radio. They can't any more, because the relays are down. That implies a short enough amount of time after an outbreak if relay stations were in operation until recently. McDermott's radio is WWII equipment, so he says, meaning it probably can't even get a signal through to the next state on its own steam. Again, this is stating that they have a relatively small area within which to contact people over the air. They are "incommunicado", because of his "puny" signals. At the beginning of the picture it's made clear that the crew of the helicopter has travelled 100 miles each way, up the coast of Florida and found nothing. That's not a very far distance and that helicopter type has a range limit of around 300 miles. Certainly, it's not enough to be making a claim that what is happening within the radius of the group that we see in the film is indicative of what is happening all over the state, the country or the world. It's also made quite clear that they haven't done that before, because Steel is surprised that they found nobody alive. Their situation is, indeed, both grim and desperate. But that doesn't mean that they've been in operation for a lengthy period. It just means that it was hastily put together..."in a matter of days..." as Sarah says. If that's the case, it's an even stronger indication that the group in the bunker haven't been there for that long. But, as I said, you can have it your way. None of these films are truly connected anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

[EvilNed]

But...they used to talk to Washington over the radio. They can't any more, because the relays are down. That implies a short enough amount of time after an outbreak if relay stations were in operation until recently. McDermott's radio is WWII equipment, so he says, meaning it probably can't even get a signal through to the next state on its own steam. Again, this is stating that they have a relatively small area within which to contact people over the air. They are "incommunicado", because of his "puny" signals. I rewatched Dawn the other evening and in that film they do say (on the television) that they've lost communication with.. I think Detroit and a few other places. Dawn probably takes place over a period of weeks, or months maybe? You could take this as an implication that Day takes place a short time after Dawn ends - which is what I do. During Dawn radio communication is going out all over the country. Including the sever of contacts between Washington and Florida.

[shootemindehead]

I rewatched Dawn the other evening and in that film they do say (on the television) that they've lost communication with.. I think Detroit and a few other places. Dawn probably takes place over a period of weeks, or months maybe? You could take this as an implication that Day takes place a short time after Dawn ends - which is what I do. During Dawn radio communication is going out all over the country. Including the sever of contacts between Washington and Florida. You could say that from Night to Day, it's a been period of 8 or 9 months. Babs says in NotLD that "They ought to make the day the time changes the first day of Summer..." and Steel say that "It's going to be a long winter." in DotD. Dawn is somewhere in between.

[JDP]

OK, I'm not going to labour this. You can take 'Day of the Dead' however you wish. But...they used to talk to Washington over the radio. They can't any more, because the relays are down. That implies a short enough amount of time after an outbreak if relay stations were in operation until recently. McDermott's radio is WWII equipment, so he says, meaning it probably can't even get a signal through to the next state on its own steam. Again, this is stating that they have a relatively small area within which to contact people over the air. They are "incommunicado", because of his "puny" signals. What is left of the government could have been maintaining the relays for months and even years, no way of knowing. What we do know for a fact is that they "used to talk to Washington all the time" until relatively recently, that's why they are pressuring their radio man to attempt to reestablish contact, which is why he complains that the equipment at his disposal is not adequate to do that. These guys have not been in such isolation for a very long time, they were up to date on what was going on in other places up until relatively recently, and their outlook on the situation is a very pessimistic one. Obviously the feedback from their bosses in Washington was not encouraging at all. At the beginning of the picture it's made clear that the crew of the helicopter has travelled 100 miles each way, up the coast of Florida and found nothing. That's not a very far distance and that helicopter type has a range limit of around 300 miles. Certainly, it's not enough to be making a claim that what is happening within the radius of the group that we see in the film is indicative of what is happening all over the state, the country or the world. It's also made quite clear that they haven't done that before, because Steel is surprised that they found nobody alive. That's the first time they explore that particular area by helicopter, that does not mean that they haven't been doing other explorations, either by chopper or on land (they got plenty of land vehicles at the base.) We can easily deduce that they in fact have been doing just that. When they arrive at the base after visiting the dead city, Miller sarcastically remarks: "another waste of time, huh?", to which John replies "got that right, man!" From their previous explorations, Miller already anticipated that this one was also going to be a failure. Also, when they are at the dead city, John tells McDermott that: "It's a dead place. Like all the others, you know". Again implying that they have been looking around, but have found nothing but zombies. Their situation is, indeed, both grim and desperate. But that doesn't mean that they've been in operation for a lengthy period. It just means that it was hastily put together..."in a matter of days..." as Sarah says. If that's the case, it's an even stronger indication that the group in the bunker haven't been there for that long. But, as I said, you can have it your way. None of these films are truly connected anyway, so it doesn't really matter. The operation itself was put together hastily, but that doesn't mean anything regarding how much time it has actually passed since the events in Night, though. Their bosses in Washington could have planned it in just a few days but many months or even years ago! Sarah is referring to the fact that the operation itself was not well thought out and put together in a short time, she's not saying that they only have been there in the bunker for a few days. Also, considering how many zombies they had captured and brought down to the cave area, I would say that it in fact took at least several months to actually accomplish just that task alone! They had to go up to the surface, round up, capture and restrain zombies that were roaming free, then bring them down and free them in the cave system. Before that, they obviously also had to make sure that the caves were isolated from the main underground complex and also eliminate any other possible exits (minus the missile silo, since zombies are too clumsy to climb such a tall ladder, so no need to block that one), otherwise the zombies would have found their way out. When you consider all such details, it becomes pretty obvious that these guys have been in this bunker for a good while.