George A. Romero's Land Of The Dead [Combo Format]

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Back in the late Sixties, George A. Romero and a few friends each put roughly ten thousand dollars each into a small venture to produce a low-budget horror film in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. When their film was released in 1968, they never anticipated the film to become a cinematic classic, nor did they expect their project to define and entire genre. Now, nearly forty years later, "Night of the Living Dead" is still the most influential and arguably best zombie picture ever created. There have been remakes, imitators and homage galore since Romero made his name. To this day, he is still considered the master of the genre and "Night of the Living Dead" is still the example to follow. Oddly, it wasn´t until the fourth film in Romero´s "Living Dead" series, 2005´s "Land of the Dead" that the word ´zombie´ was even muttered by a cast member.

There were twenty years before the third film in the "Living Dead" series was released. This was 1985´s "Day of the Dead." It had appeared that Romero had given up on making zombie movies and moved onto film´s riddled with social commentary and unusual stories. Never having much interest in making large-budget Hollywood blockbusters, Romero remains known to the public almost exclusively for the first three zombies movies. Many had always hoped for a fourth film and there were rumors over the years that he would bring the dead among the living one more time. Finally, Romero made it official that he would return to the genre that he defined and that had made him famous. Various stories were published claiming to know the plot details or other information. One such rumor had the dead living in a manner similar to today´s homeless and simply ignored by the living. A working title was "Dead Reckoning" and that title itself spurned wild and crazy concepts regarding the film´s direction and story. A lot of anticipation was quickly built by Romero´s fan base.

"Land of the Dead" is the most grandiose and ´big-budget´ feeling of Romero´s four zombie pictures. Dennis Hopper, John Leguizamo and Asia Argento lend star power to the film, something Romero did not previously have in his "Living Dead" series. Filmed in the familiar location of Pittsburgh, the film formed a tale of human survivors living in a fortress city and protected by a large armored battle truck called the Dead Reckoning. Romero delivered a picture that was chocked full of thrills and chills, but also with the trademark social commentary that the director is known for. In "Land of the Dead," there are social tiers that are clearly defined and closely resembles those of our modern times. The rich find themselves living in a huge tower that has all of the amenities that were available before the dead began to walk the Earth. Those that served the rich directly were a middle class, but not allowed to mingle or exist with those in the Ivory Tower. The lower class is the survivors who are the poor and homeless and they live and survive on the streets of the apocalyptic city. Finally, the zombies formed the lowest social tier. Though they still possessed some human traits, they were used as freakshows and killed for sport. They were a menace, but also the drudge of society.

Dennis Hopper assumes the role of Kaufman. He runs the show and is the king of his ivory tower. Kaufman is the king. He is the pope. And he is the godfather. Whatever it takes to remain the wealthiest and to stay in complete control of society is fair game for Kaufman, regardless of the cost is has upon others. One of the soldiers that raid zombie infested towns to acquire supplies for Kaufman is Cholo (Leguizamo). Cholo is looking to retire after saving enough money from his raids and military experience and hopes to reside in Kaufman´s ivory tower. His belief is that he has served his master well enough that he deserves a cushy and plush domicile to spend the rest of his days in. Unfortunately for him, Cholo is viewed as lower class by Kaufman. Cholo´s hopes are dashed and Kaufman throws him to the street.

Riley (Simon Baker) is the inventor and creator of Dead Reckoning. He is also the best soldier Kaufman has. His mentally slow sidekick is Charlie (Robert Joy), who may not be the fastest thinker, but he is the best shot around and he loves Riley like a big brother. When Cholo steals the Dead Reckoning and intends to bring down Kaufman´s tower, Riley is sent to stop him and bring Dead Reckoning back. Riley leaves to hunt down his mechanical beast with a former prostitute that was to have died in a zombie bloodsport event that mixed violence with gambling. The prostitute is portrayed by the lovely Asia Argento, daughter of Romero´s colleague and fellow horror master Dario Argento.

"Land of the Dead" is a fine film and a worthy entry in Romero´s long running zombies series. It is the best of the four films as far as production values go, but is perhaps too glossy and too polished to properly sit among its kinfolk. "Land of the Dead" contains a few jumps and frights, but the tension and unknowing of the previous three movies is lost. Expectations are given and the zombies that are slowly regaining some form of humanity are not nearly as menacing as what we have come to expect from Romero. Whereas the previous three films were true horror films that left you wondering if anybody could survive, "Land of the Dead" is a more modern horror film that has you wondering how the main characters will survive, as there never seems to be any expectation of death. The idea of a zombie army that is lead by Big Daddy (Eugene Clark) is a different approach than the impending zombie horde that plagued the survivors of the previous films. The city falls under siege, but the siege mentality that kept viewers on the edge of their seats is gone.

The social commentary by Romero is fairly heavy in "Land of the Dead." In the film, the rich get richer and are the only ones improving in their quality of life. The middle and lower class suffer greatly and cannot get the quality food rations possessed by those in the tower, nor any medicine or care they desperately need to survive. They are pulled from the streets to entertain the wealthy with horrendous bloodsports featuring the zombies that are kept outside the city walls. Kaufman is a spineless and cruel leader that puts policies in place that will only benefit him and those he deems worthy, while constantly repressing the majority of the population. Taxes and healthcare concerns of today´s modern world come to mind as you watch "Land of the Dead" and I´m sure it wasn´t accidental on Romero´s part.

Romero has produced a fine film that doesn´t have quite the same feeling as the older three films, but after twenty years of time has passed, one would expect plenty of change. The grander visuals and settings of "Land of the Dead" show through, as the film is still a relatively low-budget movie, but has far more backing than previous films. Dennis Hopper plays the role of Kaufman in a very familiar manner. I love Dennis Hopper as an actor, but sometimes, he seems to go into auto-pilot and this movie is one of those instances. "Speed," "Waterworld" and a few others all have the same basic character as what we see here. Leguizamo has perhaps the best role he has ever been offered and he is quite properly unlikable in the film, which nicely echoes my personal feelings towards the actor. The rest of the cast does a great job and I loved the cameos by the filmmakers of "Shaun of the Dead." The familiar faces was a first for a Romero zombie film and part of me wishes the director had kept to his roots in the series and not cast anybody that we are overly familiar with.

If you loved "Night of the Living Dead," "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead," then there is absolutely no reason to not love this one. Big Daddy is a less charismatic, but modern version of "Bub" from "Day of the Dead." He doesn´t brush his teeth or try to talk on the telephone, but Big Daddy shows the ability to solve simple problems and brandish weapons. Riley and Charlie are great heroes and nicely matched with Asia Argento. The few moments where scares are delivered by the film are among the better ones of the series, but most of these are jump frights or quick to happen. There is no slow build and burn as there was in the previous films. The film has its flaws and by being ´bigger and better´ than the first three entries, part of its soul feels to be missing. Romero is still the master and nobody makes a better zombie movie than what the Pittsburgh native can. I eagerly await the fifth zombie film, "Diary of the Dead" and hope that the master keeps going for as long as he is still inspired.

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