Land of the Dead was good but not in a scary way.

[Zombie369]

I've always loved zombie movies for the horror factor because I've always been a big fan of horror movies, but Land of the Dead wasn't really that scary in my opinion. However I thought it was a really cool movie because of the whole post-apocalyptic Mad Max vibe. Romero got really creative with showing the survivors of a zombie apocalypse living in their own settlement and going out into the ruins of the world to gather supplies like food, medicine, and booze. I think my favorite part of the movie was seeing the "Red Light District" of Fiddler's Green where the people were enjoying gambling, food, drinks, prostitutes, and games made out of the captured zombies. The arena where you got to see two zombies fight over food was pretty cool and that's the kind of stuff I would picture people doing in a zombie apocalypse when they're trying to rebuild society. Also even though I don't play video games anymore, back when I used to play Fallout 3 I loved Tenpenny Tower because it was obviously inspired by Fiddler's Green from this movie. It was probably my favorite settlement in the wasteland and often times I would play an evil character who murdered the ghouls trying to get into the tower so I could live there and be rich.

[Harleydude666]

I've always loved zombie movies for the horror factor because I've always been a big fan of horror movies, but Land of the Dead wasn't really that scary in my opinion. However I thought it was a really cool movie because of the whole post-apocalyptic Mad Max vibe. Romero got really creative with showing the survivors of a zombie apocalypse living in their own settlement and going out into the ruins of the world to gather supplies like food, medicine, and booze. I think my favorite part of the movie was seeing the "Red Light District" of Fiddler's Green where the people were enjoying gambling, food, drinks, prostitutes, and games made out of the captured zombies. The arena where you got to see two zombies fight over food was pretty cool and that's the kind of stuff I would picture people doing in a zombie apocalypse when they're trying to rebuild society. Also even though I don't play video games anymore, back when I used to play Fallout 3 I loved Tenpenny Tower because it was obviously inspired by Fiddler's Green from this movie. It was probably my favorite settlement in the wasteland and often times I would play an evil character who murdered the ghouls trying to get into the tower so I could live there and be rich. Funny, just saw it again on I think skinemax the other night. It was still as terrible as I saw it back in theater in 05. Hate to say it but time passed Romero by. He's done in this genre. Bad acting all the way around, bad sets, zombies who shared their feelings(I'm sorry but I just want to see them as eating machines, I don't want to be forced to feel sorry for them) and Big Daddy walking around for revenge and thinking logically??? The bad dialog, this flick was a total cheeze wiz explosion. And I was so excited waiting for the movie to get made and followed it all the way through, I was so amped up for this and wanted to like it so bad. I walked out of the theater with my wife and I just felt like crying after what we had just seen.

[krisvds]

Shrugs. Land is one entertaining throwback to eighties post-apocalypse action films with a heavy emphasis on comic book aestethics and goofy characters. I like it.

[MinionZombie]

I started off as a "Land lover" in 2005, but now I've mellowed to a "Land liker" since. Repeated viewings have shown up things that aren't quite up to my standards - in that I see something, maybe a line of dialogue, or how a certain action or scene is covered, and I think "if it had just been tweaked a smide this way, then it'd be better" ... this isn't some conversion to slamming the movie, so calm yourselves, lol, but yeah - it's certainly not perfect, but generally and over-all I still dig the flick ... even if it isn't up to Night/Dawn/Day standards.

[Mr.G]

Unfortunately it's Citizen Kane compared to his next two dead movies.

[AcesandEights]

I still think Land is pretty good, but it falls down, for me, due to a lack of dread and personal horror, some of the preachiness and hammy Big Daddy acting/direction. I definitely rolled my eyes a few times in the theater, but the scope of the film is really nice, just a lot of unutilized potential. - - - Updated - - - Unfortunately it's Citizen Kane compared to his next two dead movies. So true!

[MinionZombie]

I was in denial about "Diary of the Dead" after I first saw it, and since then my opinion has shifted wildly. It's got some fun bits, a couple of good bits, but over-the-piece it's not one that I'm eager to revisit much. "Survival of the Dead" on the other hand is lots of fun and I quite like it - but it's absolutely nowhere near the same league of Night/Dawn/Day. It's really more an 'Uncle George having some fun with zombies' kinda flick.

[Morto Vivente]

On the whole I don't hate the movie, it's got some great sequences and definitely the best of the" latter dead trilogy". My major gripe is the reasoning power of several of the hero zombies. I didn't like the exaggerated ant colony vibe; their ability to take cues and learn from one another, and even follow orders. In Day, Bub and Logan are interacting as zombie-student and human-teacher, there's a process going on between them as the living and the living dead. The character of Cholo in Land dies and reanimates as an "instant-smart-zombie"; just add revenge. There's no recollection process of his former life at all, it just doesn't work for me. Is it possible that GAR was being pressurized by the studio for "Bubism" to take a quantum leap? IMO it hamstringed the movie. I prefer to see Bub as a rare anomaly not an inevitable outcome of "zombie evolution". The plot of Land could have followed a similar route relative to Fiddlers's Green by using more cogent methods rather than the preposterously excessive re-humanization of the zombie legions. Land isn't total crap it just isn't that great, a shame really I enjoyed a couple of the characters, particularly Charlie . On the other hand "Big Daddy" for me is just as damaging to the genre as runners. Look at "Zone 261", now the undead don't just run they can strategize and form attack squadrons........Total shite. BTW is "Zone" still in production? I sincerely hope not!

[Neil]

I agree with the general comments here; Since Night 90 Romero hasn't really been involved in a zombie film I can really appreciate. Land had a few moments, but that's about it for me

[krisvds]

The thing is: it's not really part of the original trilogy, nor has it got anything to do with the two films he did after. If I recall correctly he never intended to name it '... of the dead' (that was studio interference) but 'Dead Reckoning' instead. Would have worked better IMO. I revisit now and again and find it a very fun, tongue in cheek, film. It's very far removed from the quality of the original trilogy but that doesn't really matter.

[Zombie369]

Yeah I understand what you guys are saying. Land of the Dead didn't have anywhere near the effect that Romero's first four Dead films did (original and 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead). But I liked it for being good campy fun. He made a post-apocalyptic zombie world look fun to live in. Also I agree that Big Daddy was nowhere near as good as Bub. I kind of wish that Riley allowed Pretty Boy to blow him and his zombies up in the end instead of letting them go.

[shootemindehead]

I kinda like 'Land of the Dead'. It's a fitting entry to the original series, even if it suffers from anachronisms (especially with weapons). It's certainly better than the two reboot efforts that came after, that's for sure. I actually think 'Survival of the Dead' is probably one of the worst films I've seen. It's a terrible load of rubbish. It's just too idiotic to enjoy. It was like Romero just didn't care any more.

[Zombie369]

Yeah I didn't like Diary of the Dead, it's like he tried to do a Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity thing with his zombies but it just didn't work. I think because what made those two movies so great is that they tried to convince some people that they were real, and there's no way you could have taken his fauxumentary seriously. Maybe if instead of the world-wide outbreak he tried to have the setting in an isolated area infected with zombies so that it could have been a prequel to how the world became infected with zombies. Well even though his two newest movies sucked I still like all the ones he made before them and he will always be one of my favorite directors because of that.

[JonOfTheShred]

I always loved Land of the Dead. Aside from Big Daddy and zombies "evolving," I liked the intentionally comic book cheesiness. Almost like Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead in a way. There was some great zombie moments (some awesome feasting...loved the flashlight feasting reveal section, and also all the yuppies from the Green getting chewed on in massive numbers) and Dennis Hopper as an evil CEO type caricature was pretty rich. There could have been more horror moments, but it was still stronger than Diary and Survival, both of which could have been a lot better. (As far as I remember, Diary wasn't as good as Land, but not terrible. And Survival was ruined by corny music and crappy jokes.)

[Zombie369]

I think my favorite character in the movie was Cholo because of the fact that when he got infected he decided to see what it was like to become a zombie instead of choosing to take his own life like most of the characters in Romero's movies. That's probably something I would do if I became infected. I just wish that he got to live longer as a zombie.