The fourth of the Romero zombie films, it came out 20 years after his previous one, Day of the Dead. Land of the Dead feels different, looks very modern, and has a couple of big names in it like Dennis Hopper and John Leguizamo. Also, Tom Savini makes an appearance, so that’s ALWAYS a plus in my book.
The story is that in Pittsburgh, the city has 2 walls and an electric fence, plus the rivers. Fiddler’s Green is a beautiful high rise for the wealthy while the rest kinda live in the slums area. There is Dead Reckoning, which is this badass armored vehicle that can go outside city walls and destroy whatever is needed. Riley was the designer of Dead Reckoning, and he can control it. Riley is always accompanied by Charlie, who is a little slow but is loyal and a helluva good shot. They save Slack (Asia Argento) at some point, who is in a cage fighting for her life against two zombies. She had upset Phil Fondacaro, who you would know from Seinfeld and Bordello of Blood, among many other things, as he is very short. Paul Kaufman runs Fiddler’s Green and is played by the great Dennis Hopper. He’s a rich asshole. Then there is Cholo (John Leguizamo), who has worked with Riley in the past but ends up stealing Dead Reckoning after Kaufman refused Cholo’s request to live in Fiddler’s Green. Cholo and his group gave him a deadline for $5 million or they would blow up Fiddler’s Green. Kaufman hires Riley to reclaim Dead Reckoning. Riley, Charlie, and Slack are joined by Pillsbury, Manotete, and Motown. These names are fabulous. Oh, and there’s one more thing. Big Daddy zombie has somehow become a leader of the zombies and slowly gains an army that follows him to the city to take over. It’s as ridiculous and awesome as it sounds.
This is all about the struggle of the poor versus the rich. A classic tale, in that regard. I really enjoyed the characters, the story, and the acting. Dennis Hopper is at home with this role. This is also one of Leguizamo’s better roles. He was quite good. Eugene Clarke as Big Daddy Zombie was by far my favorite character, and I do consider him redemption after a lackluster black lead in Day of the Dead. Big Daddy is just a great character. I also want to say that Robert Joy, who plays Charlie, probably was the best actor of the bunch. He shouldn’t have been credited under Asia Argento, but she has the more recognizable name and tits.
I liked that the story was very simple and easy to follow. Riley was the white knight, Cholo was the grey knight, and Kaufman was the black knight. Cholo was the most complex character, but you totally understand and appreciate his motives.
The most interesting aspect is the zombie army. They are starting to learn, which is something that they explored in Day of the Dead. I loved how he taught the cheerleader to use a gun. He got the butcher to use his knife, and so on. Plus, how badass was it when they entered the water and then slowly came out? That was the best fucking scene. Also, Tom Savini as a zombie with a machete. So happy.
I have been meaning to gripe about this before, but why is it that everybody wastes so much ammo in Romero’s movies? The trained guys should know the scarcity and importance of ammo. So why are you wast 6-10 bullets per zombie at times? It drives me nuts.
Rating: 6.5 – I really liked this one a lot. Yes, more than Dawn. I know, I know. There wasn’t much to dislike here. This was very enjoyable.
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
- Universal Pictures (presents)
- Atmosphere Entertainment MM (presents)
- Romero-Grunwald Productions (production)
- Wild Bunch (in association with)
- Rangerkim (in association with)
- Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) (with the assistance of)
- Exception Wild Bunch
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