Decay and Time.

[Angry312]

Basically, to go all off-valknut here, what is the consensus of decay and its effect on the mobility/viability of the zombies of the Romeroverse? Judging by Land of the Dead, it looks like they decay to around a few weeks, then level off for roughly twenty years. This sound reasonable? Maybe its me, but nothing in nature stops decaying unless something severe occurs; trapping it amber, injecting it with formaldehyde, dessicating the tissues ala desert mummies or the bog mummy phenomenon. Additionally: would the insects which feed off of corpses go into a holding pattern, continue eating or just avoid the ones who walk too much? I have a personal theory I'll posit for this, which I'll arbitrarily place in an arid environment (for no particular reason): Hour zero: guy drops off over from bite's effect/negative chi/tofu poisoning. Hour one: blood pools on the lowest edges of the body, 'bruising' the skin. Hour two: anerobic bacteria become active, beginning the body's 'rot'. Hour three: body is now into rigor, stiffening beyond mobility. Hour four: insect have taken hold of the corpse by this point; battle for food. Hour five: bodies now beginning to bloat slightly; this will worsen over time. ... we can skip the highlights, and move on to... Hour seventy-two: body exits rigor. If it goes mobile immediately, it doesn't skip rigor. I'll qualify it with: "After a body has died, the chemical reaction producing these energy molecules is unable to proceed because of a lack of oxygen. The cells no longer have the energy to pump calcium out of the cell and so the calcium concentration rises, forcing the muscles to remain in a contracted state. This state of muscle stiffening is known as rigor mortis and it remains until the muscle proteins start to decompose." -- http://www.deathonline.net/decomposi...gor_mortis.htm Whatever reanimates the bodies must be able to stop rigor from hitting; I don't remember anything in the Romeroverse mentioning boo-radley about there being a 72 hour waiting period on undeath. So, we're either accepting that rigor is ignored indefinitely (which means either the bodies are no longer moving according to human physiology or the tissues are inherently immune). In either case, that revivification stuff has to be fairly potent; perhaps it is one of the reasons they seek the living for food -- calcium. Just a thought. Angry312; "Meat... It Does a Body Good."

[creepntom]

um, huh?

[DJ.doucheBAG]

lol

[Deadman_Deluxe]

Judging by Land of the Dead, it looks like they decay to around a few weeks, then level off for roughly twenty years. This sound reasonable? Ok, maybe not a good idea to "judge" anything by Land of the Dead, especially tinpot theorys which are barely even touched upon in that movie. Try listening to the Doctor in Day of the Dead for more on that particular tinpot theory regarding the potential lifespan of the undead's motor function. And how did you get to twenty years post clinical death using Land of the Dead, when Land of the Dead is set only three years post clinical death? I think it goes without saying that the virus IS responsible for a drastic reduction in the speed of cellular breakdown, but everything else, including a definitive lifespan, is open to speculation.

[Angry312]

Development of the Steyr AUG (used by 'Big Daddy'): 1978. So, we add 10 years to 1968. Reagan inflatable shot during the guard montage; elected to public office as Governor in California in 1967; minus one year. So, unless its an uncanny likeness of a then-two-year gone public figure on the opposite coast, its an anachronism. Unless, of course, its a reference to his term as president in 1981 to 1989, which would make sense.. by basic math, placeing the average time displaced at ... ten to twenty years. Believe the cellphones and belly button piercings settles the remainder. There a lot of that running around in 1972? The reference to the videogame by Motown to the hooker, in Dead Reckoning.. what in the Hell is a 'video game'? Lot of upright consoles in 1969 to 1972? Additionally, there's this: "This is the fourth film in George Romero's zombie series, which Romero says takes place after Night of the Living Dead (1968) with no specific time frame. The last zombie film he wrote and directed was Day of the Dead (1985), which was released nineteen years before "Land.".." http://imdb.com/title/tt0418819/trivia I can accept the idea that the events are supposed to take place during position 'X' on the GAR timeline, but cutesy details which destroy the continuity of the illusion sort of run akin to the Battle of Thermopolyae taking place near the Golden Gate Bridge, the crossing of the Rubicon on speedboats or Abraham Lincoln being assassinated with a Glock. The idea that the cell death rate is slowed, I'll buy; at substantial difficulty, but I'll buy it. The idea that the corpse-eaters of the insect world hold their meals off, I'll likewise buy... stretching of personal belief. But an AUG minimum nine years prior to its development, no. Cellphones in 1969 smaller than a briefcase? No. Magnavox's Odyssey, the first home video game system, is showcased at a convention in Burlingame, CA, and is released to the public later that year. The date: May 24th, 1972. First cellphone: Motorola Communications Systems Division, April 3rd, 1973. http://inventors.about.com/cs/invent...tin_cooper.htm Just my thoughts. Angry312; "The Man That Time Forgot."

[Deadman_Deluxe]

I think perhaps that you are the only one who can understand yourself.

[Angry312]

I'll sum it up a bit more. Judged by the evidence I cited in my post, the 'official' timeline that Land of the Dead takes place three years after Night of the Living Dead is *wrong*. It's easier to accept that GAR might have made a slight miscalculation with the timeline than the aforementioned evidence is off-base; he made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Alternately, his timeline is accurate, the scriptwriter went off-course; the props department went off-course. The set designer went off-course. The editing teams reviewing the dailies from the shoot made collective off-course errors. The post-production unit went off-course. If that's the case, I'm off-course, as well. Or, GAR made the mistake. No big deal. Just my thoughts. Angry312; "To Err is Human. To Forgive, GAR."

[tju1973]

Development of the Steyr AUG (used by 'Big Daddy'): 1978. So, we add 10 years to 1968. Reagan inflatable shot during the guard montage; elected to public office as Governor in California in 1967; minus one year. So, unless its an uncanny likeness of a then-two-year gone public figure on the opposite coast, its an anachronism. Unless, of course, its a reference to his term as president in 1981 to 1989, which would make sense.. by basic math, placeing the average time displaced at ... ten to twenty years. Believe the cellphones and belly button piercings settles the remainder. There a lot of that running around in 1972? The reference to the videogame by Motown to the hooker, in Dead Reckoning.. what in the Hell is a 'video game'? Lot of upright consoles in 1969 to 1972? Additionally, there's this: "This is the fourth film in George Romero's zombie series, which Romero says takes place after Night of the Living Dead (1968) with no specific time frame. The last zombie film he wrote and directed was Day of the Dead (1985), which was released nineteen years before "Land.".." http://imdb.com/title/tt0418819/trivia I can accept the idea that the events are supposed to take place during position 'X' on the GAR timeline, but cutesy details which destroy the continuity of the illusion sort of run akin to the Battle of Thermopolyae taking place near the Golden Gate Bridge, the crossing of the Rubicon on speedboats or Abraham Lincoln being assassinated with a Glock. The idea that the cell death rate is slowed, I'll buy; at substantial difficulty, but I'll buy it. The idea that the corpse-eaters of the insect world hold their meals off, I'll likewise buy... stretching of personal belief. But an AUG minimum nine years prior to its development, no. Cellphones in 1969 smaller than a briefcase? No. Magnavox's Odyssey, the first home video game system, is showcased at a convention in Burlingame, CA, and is released to the public later that year. The date: May 24th, 1972. First cellphone: Motorola Communications Systems Division, April 3rd, 1973. http://inventors.about.com/cs/invent...tin_cooper.htm Just my thoughts. Angry312; "The Man That Time Forgot." You lost me on this whole topic.... unless that was your goal..

[Deadman_Deluxe]

I'll sum it up a bit more. Judged by the evidence I cited in my post, the 'official' timeline that Land of the Dead takes place three years after Night of the Living Dead is *wrong*. No one, with the exception of some lost bumblefcuks, ever seriously thought that LAND took place three years after NIGHT. LAND takes place three years after the initial outbreaks and not three years after the initial outbreaks seen in NIGHT ... it really is as simple as that. Same universe, same guidelines, different take.

[bassman]

... it really is as simple as that. That's classic.....

[radiokill]

Since there's probably only going to one zombie-led holocaust in this universe, I like to think that all the movies are related to the same event. The anachronisms caused by the technology are irrelevant to this because they simply serve to help a present movie theatre patron to become immersed in story and be able to relate to what we seen on screen. Don't forget Romero is all about social commentary - discussing the present society. I don't view the films as different takes on the same event, but I see it as if there's title at the beginning of each sequel (except land) that reads "Elsewhere...". Also about the bugs and decay (I view the zombie phenomenon as a virus), if a virus is complex enough to reanimate dead tissue, I'll bet it will want to perserve its host by killing bugs and producing fluids to perserve tissues.

[Danny]

i think you are forgetting his films dont say in em what year it is in any of em right?, not to my knowledge at least, thsi explains away the sets, the mall was there because of the consumerism of the time, the others i cant be arsed to post but george allways put social commentary in his films so wether there was a game gear in the films background or something, who cares?, its a series of films ,i couldnt give two ****s if there was a group of cybermen in the background of fiddlers green its still a movie , and if it followed natural laws zombies woudlnt get smarter in about a few months theyd be multch enough not to walk but would that make a good film?, hell if it followed natural laws it would be "NIGHT OF THE QIUET NIGHT IN LISTENING TO THE RADIO THEN GOING TO SLEEP" , so dont question stuff like that cus it doesnt matter. just enjoy the movies man.

[bassman]

i think you are forgetting his films dont say in em what year it is in any of em right?, not to my knowledge at least, thsi explains away the sets, the mall was there because of the consumerism of the time, the others i cant be arsed to post but george allways put social commentary in his films so wether there was a game gear in the films background or something, who cares?, its a series of films ,i couldnt give two ****s if there was a group of cybermen in the background of fiddlers green its still a movie , and if it followed natural laws zombies woudlnt get smarter in about a few months theyd be multch enough not to walk but would that make a good film?, hell if it followed natural laws it would be "NIGHT OF THE QIUET NIGHT IN LISTENING TO THE RADIO THEN GOING TO SLEEP" , so dont question stuff like that cus it doesnt matter. just enjoy the movies man. I agree, man. They're just films.....what does it f*cking matter how the timeline lays out. There's no timeline anyway. They're all seperate films. None of them are intended to be tied together..... But Hellsing......if it followed natural laws, wouldn't the dead stay down and dead?

[radiokill]

yeah...but people who can't suspend their disbelief must rely on the imaginations of others to enjoy films like George's.

[Crow T R0bot]

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