Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Land of the Dead (2005) Directed by George Romero.


Mike: “They're pretending to be alive... “
Riley: “Isn't that what we're doing? Pretending to be alive?”

The Night of the Living Dead has turned into the Year of the Living Dead, and a group of survivors have retreated to the Security of Fiddler’s Green, a gated and walled high security compound where the rich live in luxury and the poor live in squalor, and there is no middle class, unless it is the procurers. These are the people who go out and scavenge the supplies that keep civilization moving.

While out on a run, they notice a disturbing pattern. The dead are trying to pick up their lives where they left off. Riley (Simon Baker) is the leader. His constant shadow is Charlie (Robert Joy) a mentally deficient man who is also a crack shot and a good soldier. On his team is Cholo (John Leguizamo) a morally deficient man who can fight, but makes a poor soldier because his greed and ego get in the way.

Riley and Cholo are both looking for a way out of their current lives; Riley wants to buy a car, be independent, travel north to where the dead freeze in winter. Cholo brings in black market supplies, booze and cigarettes, much in demand by the privileged elite. Both find their hopes of independence crushed by the golden rule; he who has the gold makes the rules. It is in Kaufman’s (the leader of Fiddler’s Green) (Dennis Hopper) best interest to keep them on the job. So he has Riley’s car stolen, and orders Cholo back on the job. He’s not the best judge of character….

Cholo steals Dead Reckoning, the main armoured assault vehicle they use to retrieve supplies. With several of his teammates, they leave the city to carve out a new place for themselves in the world. Kaufman sends Riley after him to bring it back.

And in the mean time, the dead are regaining more and more of their skills, like using tools, using weapons, working together…and they are marching of Fiddler’s Green.

Nobody does Zombies like Romero. He started the genre, and he still rules. And the Zombies keep getting better as the special effects improve. This movie is quite grizzly…I have to applaud anything that can stir my jaded senses. Yerk!

And like many disaster movies, it is a study in how people react in a crisis. Scratch the surface, and civilization is whisked away, revealing the angry reactionary greedy monkey beneath.

And therein lays the problem with this movie. It lacks a truly sympathetic hero. Riley is too jaded and cynical to really rise above what has been done to him. He is a merc with a mission. He is noble, but not valiant. Charlie is pure, but with problems. Everyone else… well, the noblest character in the movie was the black gas station Zombie who got the rest of them organized. That’s the flaw. You should not be tempted to cheer for the army of the undead.

The movie is very well made from a technical stand point, excellent cinematography, editing, pacing, music, and most especially the special effects. Nope, the movie only fails on the human level, because the characters have sunk beneath it.

Still, while it does not rise anywhere near the level of Night of the Living Dead, its an enjoyable movie, and if you want an action/horror flick with no redeeming social value, hey, this is the movie for you. It says a lot about a film maker when even his mediocre efforts are superior to his imitators.

This review is lean-n-mean, meaning it is under 666 words to promote concise writing.
Sleeper54 created the style. This one ways in at 631 words.

The Dead Shall Walk the Earth!

Romero: Father of Zombies.
Night of the Living Dead
Diary of the Dead
Land of the Dead

Another kind of "Zombie" Movie:
28 Days Later
28 Weeks Later

England's first true Zombie Movie:
Shaun of the Dead

Resident Evil:
Resident Evil
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Resident Evil: Extinction
Resident Evil: Afterlife


Resident Evil: Degeneration



Assorted Flavors of Shamblers:

ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction!
Survival of the Dead.
Creatures from the Pink Lagoon
[REC]
The Zombie Diaries
Boy Eats Girl
Dead Meat
Day of the Dead-The Need to Feed.
Flight of the Living Dead
Dead Snow
The Crazies
Return of the Living Dead
Edges of Darkness
Zombieland
Tokyo Zombie
Dead Space: Downfall

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age