Survival vs Diary

[Shawn Wilcox]

Ok so I just seen survival of the dead for the first time and needless to say it was the worst GAR dead film ever. I haven't seen diary of the dead yet and wondering if I should even bother, I love the first four films and yes I include land of the dead as well. Anyway any thoughts?

[Zombie Snack]

My opinion, both are bad movies, but for me Diary of the dead was the better of the two films. The best of the worse if you will.

[Shawn Wilcox]

Yeah I wish they had a double pack with both so I don't totally waste my money. I have the first four original films and I'm content with that at the moment!

[AcesandEights]

I actually liked Survival better than Diary. I get what Diary was trying to do, but it didn't really do it for me. Survival, while having some whacky parts and downright poorly thought out characterization and plot elements, also had a few decent little hints at what could have been a great zombie film. In the end, neither really delivered for me and both remain, in my opinion, plain ol' bad.

[shootemindehead]

There's no "verses"...they stand arm in arm, locked together in terrible unison, on the large pile of crap that Romero's career has become. Hopefully, if there is to be a new film from Geroge, he can get it together and produce something good again.

[facestabber]

If you could sit through Survival you can sit through Diary. The magic of Romero ended with Day.

[MoonSylver]

I liked Diary. I didn't really care for Survival as much, though I warmed to it slightly over time. Of the two I think Diary is much better & not as bad as some would have it, whereas Survival probably does deserve some to most of the lumps it gets.

[Danny]

I tried rewatching both recently and survival is a better movie. Neither of the day/dawn standards but iary is this preachy, condescending mess of a film where its so cheesy at points - thought lacking romeros trademark charm with cheese- that it feels like this is the other cabin in the woods group that failed to show up on time or something. Survival on the other hand, for all its faults just feels like george wanted to make a zombie movie again. Its not as good as his earlier ones but its about the characters, not some subtextual message. Its two feuding groups in an isolated location in the zombie apocalypse. thats a proper romero zombie flick. the zombies are just this natural disaster and george shows us how different kinds of people deal with it. Its not amazing but there is some of the earlier romero in there as well as certain bits like the final shot of the two dead patriarchs firing off empty guns at dawn to illustrate how pointless and futile the whole thing was. Its a far better ending shot than the film deserves and leaves you thinking its less of a shameless cash in like diary and more "romero had an idea and just went with it". Like i said neither is amazing, but diary is really. really bad. worse than survival, worse than land. Go back and rewatch it. Its cringeworthy at points.

[MoonSylver]

Go back and rewatch it. Its cringeworthy at points. Meh. I've seen them both plenty of times. Opinion still stands. Honestly, they're BOTH cringe worthy at times. I'll totally give you Diary's heavy handed social commentary. But Survival is so full of dumb gags and daft ideas it makes my brain hurt.

[Danny]

Meh. I've seen them both plenty of times. Opinion still stands. Honestly, they're BOTH cringe worthy at times. I'll totally give you Diary's heavy handed social commentary. But Survival is so full of dumb gags and daft ideas it makes my brain hurt. For me nothing compares to dairies scene where they drop everything, point the camera at the main dude and start screaming some piss poor imitation of blair witches "NOBODYS GONNA SAVE YOU, WHATS YOUR MOTIVATION!" scene, but trying to make it into some "EASY TO WATCH THIS HAPPEN BEHIND A LENS GUY WE ALL VENOMOUSLY HATE FOR NO GOOD REASON!". Its just so up its ass about trying to convey an on the nose "our reliance on technology and social media detaches us from real events" message that i honestly cringe at that point.

[Buzzbomb]

I thought Diary was pretty good overall, and well worth watching - a damn sight better than most zombie fare. Survival on the other hand just didn't gel... the idea of the 'cartoon' style-gags was something that just didn't work, and there were plenty of flaws.

[Ragnarr]

Hmm... which turd did I like better, which turd did I like better... Well with the first turd, I think I ate too much protein the night before because of its darker color. The next day's turd reflected a bountiful dinner at Red Lobster, so it's really difficult to distinguish between the two turds. I wholeheartedly recommend flushing them both and never look back. Gawd those two movies blew!

[MoonSylver]

For me nothing compares to dairies scene where they drop everything, point the camera at the main dude and start screaming some piss poor imitation of blair witches "NOBODYS GONNA SAVE YOU, WHATS YOUR MOTIVATION!" scene, but trying to make it into some "EASY TO WATCH THIS HAPPEN BEHIND A LENS GUY WE ALL VENOMOUSLY HATE FOR NO GOOD REASON!". Its just so up its ass about trying to convey an on the nose "our reliance on technology and social media detaches us from real events" message that i honestly cringe at that point. Did I mention that I agreed on the social commentary point? Sorry Danny boy, but even with all it's flaws, I still like it better that Survival, becuase Survival was just that muchbignotgood in my book.

[JonOfTheShred]

I haven't seen either in at least a year, probably longer. I remember enjoying Diary, despite it being a rather hokey flick. I certainly remember enjoying it more than I did Survival. Survivals biggest downfall is that music soundtrack. The filmscore for Survival should have been a Spaghetti Western meets Horror Soundtrack vibe. That Undead Nightmare DLC for Red Dead Redemption? PERFECT representation of what should have been used in Survival. Instead, it sounds like a Danny Elfman score, which totally ruins the mood of the entire movie, turning into a light-hearted romp. Both movies had potential, but had their short-fallings. I'm pretty forgiving with zombie movies, so while neither are my "favorite," I'd say they're both worth a watch every few years.

[Trin]

Both movies were sucktastic to the extreme. Preachy and/or stupid and/or poorly written. Zombies gags became more important than plot and plausibility. But you have to watch them.