Snyder's Army of the Dead (Netflix 2021)

[bassman]

Remember when Zack Snyder used to say he had an idea for a quasi-sequel to Dawn04 called Army of the Dead but then nothing ever came of it? Well, it starts shooting this summer with a ninety million dollar budget from Netflix: https://www.joblo.com/movie-news/zac...my-of-the-dead Synopsis: set amid a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, during which a man assembles a group of mercenaries to take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantined zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted Comments from Snyder: I thought this was a good palate cleanser to really dig in with both hands and make something fun and epic and crazy and bonkers in the best possible way. I love to honor canon and the works of art, but this is the opportunity to find a purely joyful way to express myself though a genre. It will be the most kick-ass, self-aware — but not in a wink-to-the-camera way — balls-to-the-wall zombie freakshow that anyone has ever seen. No one’s ever let me completely loose [like this]... I love big action, I love big sequences. My movie brain starts clicking around and I was like, ‘We need to be shooting this now!’ Constructing these sequences really fired me up. I’m flabbergasted how this is coming out of nowhere after fifteen years! But hey, Snyder could probably use some more fun in his life after the last few years have been quite rough on him, both personally and professionally. I wish them the best and look forward to seeing what they do!

[EvilNed]

Probably hoping to ride on the expected mega-blockbuster that is Fincher's World War Z 2.

[JDP]

From the description he himself makes, this just reeks of "kwel!" stuff; you know, with a certain demographic primarily in mind. Expect protagonists defying the laws of physics and kicking CGI "enhanced" zombie ass, all while they get extreme close-ups and deliver "clever" one-liners, plus zombies that can participate in a decathlon competition. Shit, I miss Romero, Ossorio, Grau, Fulci, even hilariously inept hacks like Bianchi and Mattei. In their heydays they all made way better zombie stuff, and with shoestring budgets, to boot!

[Skinrash]

Not a fan of the Dawn remake and if Snyder insists on using screeching, hyperactive runners again then I'll pass on it.

[MinionZombie]

Like you, bassman, I wish him well after the rough few years he's had. It really does sound like he's found a new lease of life after all that strain. Now, I wasn't much of a fan of the Dawn remake ... for one thing it was a remake of a classic of cinema (and one of my favourite movies), but it lost all of the subtlety and intelligence of Romero's flick and it just dumbed everything down to running, screeching banshees with woeful character development (some of them literally have no name, or have no purpose, and even the smart ones make some of the dumbest decisions). There's things I like about it, but there's a lot I really don't like about it as well. I've not seen it in a very long time, so maybe one day I'll dust off the DVD and have a looksee again. As for this new flick, perhaps it'll feel better as it's more its own thing, but I'm still no fan of 'raptor zombies'.

[bassman]

Agreed, MZ. You and I both had negative reactions to Dawn04 all those years ago, but I’ve lightened up as time has passed. I still wouldn’t call it a good zombie film, but viewed under the right action movie mindset, it’s passable. “It is what it is”, as they say. However, since then Snyder has learned a lot, so perhaps this could be less music video and more Watchmen/Man of Steel? I hope so. Besides, with a wealth of zombie-related material these days, unlike the early 2000’s, maybe we could use a bit more good action to balance the scales? This time I’m more mature and willing to wait and give it a chance until I’ve seen it. Also....in the end it’s “free” on Netflix, so that may help soften the blow a bit. If someone isn’t into it, they can literally hit the back button and get something slower and more dramatic with Walking Dead, plus countless others.

[Neil]

Yeh, not a fan of the Dawn remake TBH. Too many ninja zombies screaming like raptors for me, along with character behaving in odd/clunky/daft ways... But the film was generally watchable and OK. So hoping this new one is a step up from the Dawn remake...

[bassman]

I wonder if the news of this film could possibly draw DJ and Lou back to the forums? After all, Dawn04 was loved by them, so they’d likely be thrilled with this news. It’d be great to see them again!

[bassman]

Probably hoping to ride on the expected mega-blockbuster that is Fincher's World War Z 2. As I always feared would happen, Fincher is out of WWZ2. Likely due to his own demands on script and budget. I don’t know if they’ll make their release date now. It’s the first film all over again... https://www.joblo.com/movie-news/par...-world-war-z-2

[MinionZombie]

It was bizarre in itself that Fincher was going to do a WWZ sequel, so it's not surprising that it's all come apart at the last minute over budget and such. Hopefully Fincher doesn't take too long to make a new movie, mind you. The man's a masterful filmmaker and it's sad as a film fan to see a master craftsman not making movies because of this that and the other, you know?

[bassman]

As much as I would have loved to have seen Fincher’s zombie film, you have to admit that from a business standpoint, this film can’t be a 200+ million investment for Paramount. They’d rather do something smaller and that’s wise. The first film was a moderate success at best, general audiences don’t know or care about Fincher, Pitt probably doesn’t have the same appeal as he did years ago, etc. Sure, zombies are in style, but Paramount is one of the “small guys” now after the Disney/Fox merger. If they’re putting down that amount of money, it’s on their hits like the Mission Impossible’s. This is exactly why the Star Trek film series is hanging in the wind at the moment.

[MinionZombie]

I wouldn't say that audiences don't care about Fincher because he's done a series of very well received and well known films (including Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room, The Social Network, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl), so he's front and centre on the films he makes. Pitt is moving into a different stage in his career now. He's still super famous, but he's not so much in the 'media inferno' as other young actors are melting under that heat right now. He'll still have plenty of heat and light surrounding him, but it does feel like he's being able to move into a slightly calmer atmosphere perhaps. Quite right on budget. WWZ kinda scraped through once you factor in the likely advertising budget doubling the whole expenditure. Hell, Fincher didn't get to continue to the Dragon Tattoo franchise for similar reasons - while his film made a modest profit, it just wasn't a risk worth taking for studios, which is a damn shame as he made a damn fine film. English Language remakes tend to skew towards being worse or even downright awful, but Fincher's TGWTDT was superb. Anyway, getting way off topic here, haha!

[bassman]

Perhaps it depends on what sort of audiences you’re around? Certain screenings or just certain audience members are cinephiles and will no doubt know who Fincher is, but in my experience at least....aside from trailers that have the text, “from the director of such and such”, in which the audience says “ohh I liked those!”, they generally don’t pay attention to the creative minds behind the scenes. So it all varies, of course. Either way....no matter how great Fincher is, he’s probably not “200 million dollar sequel to a poor film” great. He’s no Spielberg or Abrams as far as recognition, that’s for sure.

[Moon Knight]

Aside from the zombies, I loved Dawn 04. It was mindless fun and didn’t take itself too seriously. I just hope we get characters we like. I’m down for this. Why not.

[beat_truck]

Aside from the zombies, I loved Dawn 04. It was mindless fun and didn’t take itself too seriously. I just hope we get characters we like. I’m down for this. Why not. I'm glad someone here besides me likes Dawn '04, despite it's cringe worthy moments. Hopefully this new movie will be as good or better than Dawn '04. I always hoped for a direct sequel, but this will be better than nothing I guess. As an aside, I can't believe it's already been 15 years since it came out.