After twenty years, Romero reloads his cameras and brings the dead back to life, but with mixed results.
Video:
"Land of the Dead" has been around for a little while on HD-DVD now and it took me some time to finally sit down and review the film. I had already watched it twice on standard definition and saw the film theatrically, so it kept getting bumped for newer and less familiar titles. The standard definition release was disappointing, as it was soft and lacked the deep black levels that were necessary for a film that spent most of its time in the dark. As numerous very high-quality releases have shown incredible clarity on HD-DVD, I was very pleased to discover that "Land of the Dead" was far more detailed than the disappointing standard definition release and had far truer black levels and shadow detail. There have been a few films released on HD-DVD that are severed head and toes above their standard definition variants and I´m happy to report that "Land of the Dead" is certainly one of them.
The 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is delivered in 1080p/VC-1 high definition. Detail is exceptional in more than a handful of scenes and though the film takes place mostly among the shadows, the colors are well saturated and properly contrasted. When the fireworks light up the night sky, the film´s contrast between lights and darks is very good. One advantage the high definition transfer has over the standard definition release is the amount of detail and clarity in the shadows. Some scenes were muddy and hard to differentiate images on the older release, but all of the gore and glory come across sharply and crisply on HD-DVD. The transfer is very clean. There are no flaws to be found in the source materials. Gone are the days of reel change markers and dirt on a DVD transfer. Nearly gone is film grain, as it is hardly noticeable thoroughly this film, even during the darkest moments.
Sound:
Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtracks are available in both English and Spanish. Both languages also are supported by subtitles, as well as French subtitles. "Land of the Dead" is not an overly aggressive soundtrack, but is not afraid to use the technology that is available and quite commonly uses the rear surrounds and .1 LFE channel to good effect. Zombie moans and groans can be heard from every direction when the film´s heroes are surrounded by the walking dead. When the fireworks are shot into the air by Dead Reckoning, you can hear the ´rise´ as the sound nicely moves from front to back. Gunfire erupts nicely and there are plenty of atmospheric and environmental effects to be found from every direction. The film´s dialogue is never betrayed by the technology and every spoken word is easy to comprehend and understand. The film´s theatrical soundtrack is rendered nicely, and though it takes a backseat to the action that occurs on-screen, it is delivered nicely by the Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix.
Extras:
Universal´s Combo-Format releases have been disappointing in the number of supplemental materials when you stack them up against the studio´s HD-DVD only releases. Ron Howard´s "The Grinch" is a prime example of the subpar quality of the more expensive Combo Releases when you look at what the studio does with the HD-DVD transfers that we are really thirsting for. The good news for "Land of the Dead" is that the studio has supplied a nice number of extras to enjoy. The bad news is that most of these bits of value added content are forced onto the standard definition side. I remember when I first pulled the HD-DVD casing from the mailer and did so in a manner that the rear facing of the packaging was the first thing I saw. The list of supplements was plentiful and featured very small print. This is usually a good sign. I was quite surprised when I saw the number of extras and then saw it was a Combo release.
Though these zombies have a bit more bark than bite and when you actually sit down and partake in the extracurricular material, you quickly discover it is not as impressive as it looks. Regardless, the supplements are very nice to have included on this two-sided release. The HD-DVD facing of the Combo Format release features a Feature Commentary track. Director and creator George A. Romero, producer Peter Grunwald and the film´s editor Michael Doherty all take part in the commentary. Previous DVD releases of the first three films had some very fun loving commentaries and I looked forward to listening to this one. I was disappointed. It was overly tame, quite technical and lacked the spunk of previous tracks for the older films. Of course, I know what is missing from this commentary – Tom Savini.
The old-fashioned side of the disc features the majority of the extras. First up is Undead Again: The Making of Land of the Dead. The title refers to Romero returning to the genre that made him famous and I expected a bit of retrospective on the older films, his reasoning for returning and other juicy and fleshy morsels on the making of the fourth film. However, with running for only around thirteen minutes, this was your typical electronic press kit featurettes that is neither insightful nor exciting. A Day with the Living Dead is an improvement over the first feature. Leguizamo gives a quick five minute tour of the set and though short, I found this inclusion fun. The third bonus on the second side is The Remaining Bits. At a disappointing three minutes, these extra moments of gore are nice, but do not live up to the billing on the packaging that claims they "are definitely not your average leftovers."
Simon Pegg is the man. "Shaun of the Dead" was highly entertaining and brilliant. Romero invited him to take part in this film and he accepted. His experience is recounted in the eight minute long When Shaun Met George and this is bar none the best supplement on the disc. I highly recommend this one, as Simon Pegg is a helluva guy and just commands the screen with his performance on this DVD extra. Bringing the Dead to Life features longtime horror effects maestro Greg Nicotero detailing how he made some of the gory effects in the film. Scenes of Carnage is a "killer music video" that is a collage of gory effects from the film. Gore lovers will enjoy this, while others may not find it all that special.
Three additional supplements round out the extras on the second disc and bring the overall running time of the bonus materials to roughly an hour in length. Zombie Effects: From Green Screen to Finished Scene looks at how CGI technology accentuates the zombies and gore and help give the film the more polished look that it possesses. Bringing the Storyboards to Life looks at Romero´s storyboards and the finished product and was relatively entertaining to behold. Finally, Scream Tests: Zombie Casting Call shows a mix of real-life zombie extras and CGI extras mingling as they "strut their stuff" for the cameras. This was an interesting, but extremely short feature.
Closing Comments:
I really enjoyed "Land of the Dead" and expected it to do better at the box office than it did. It pretty much tanked and I´m not talking Dead Reckoning tanking. I´m talking Dead on Arrival tanking. Fellow Pennsylvanian George A. Romero is the true father of zombie films and his first movie, "Night of the Living Dead" defined, if not created the zombie genre. After twenty years, Romero reloads his cameras and brings the dead back to life, but with mixed results. The film is visually pleasing and looks very polished. It is clearly a higher budgeted film than the previous three. I would place it slightly behind "Day of the Dead" in overall storytelling quality, but neither that film or this one touches the classic nature of the first two entries in the series. It´s good, just not brilliant as some of the previous entries were. The HD-DVD features a greatly improved set of visuals and certainly delivers the gore in this "Unrated Director´s Cut." The sound is pretty good and considering this is a lower budget movie, it nearly rivals many of the uber budgeted summer tent poles out there. The supplements have a few gems among the plentiful list, but they are far too sterile after the fine quality offered on some of the previous DVD releases featuring the older films in the series. The bottom line is that fans will love this one, but others may find themselves on the fence. I think the film should have been a bit lower in budget and without some of the gloss and familiar faces. I like the film, but do believe it could have been better.
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[release]20558[/release]