While George Romero has become famous for his Living Dead series and the way it transformed the horror genre, he's also become famous for something else. The argument over whether or not he ever intended politics, let alone race politics to be part of his earlier films. At times he's insisted he didn't, at times he's somewhat coyly suggested he did. Either way, the politics in his earlier films were subdued and if any message could ultimately be taken from them it's that human beings must work together to survive. Personally I despise all the conjecture and "reading into" these or any movies at all but at times it's just impossible to avoid.
Land of the Dead quickly became one of those political snafu's. Romero blamed the studio, the studio blamed Romero, ultimately who the hell knows what really happened. Either way it led Romero to swear off big studio backing for any future entries into the Living Dead series. So what's the big deal you wonder? Will it ruin the movie for you? Read on.
The core of this film comes down to the rich taking advantage of the poor, that's not the problem. A sub plot is the desire of some of the poor to move up into the world of the rich and the desire of others to just get the hell away from the whole argument and live their lives in peace. That's not the problem either. The problem boils down to, believe it or not one annoying as hell and constantly used zombie. All the shots with this zombie who becomes the "leader" of an oddly intelligent bunch of fellow zombies were added in post production. The whole purpose was to add in an extra hint of race politics. If you watch the movie, you will instantly understand why this became a big deal. It adds an element of unbelievably cheesy stupidity to the film. It's just ridiculous.
Romero has said that he was entirely opposed to the post production changes but was given an ultimatum, do it or the studio would scrap the movie. The studio has said there was never any such argument, it was all Romero's idea and when the movie wasn't as well received as he had hoped he looked for a scapegoat, it's ironic really because it's exactly the sort of tit for tat arguing that goes on in Romero's earlier movies when the zombie outbreak is beginning.
To be honest the added scenes are so annoying that I've often considered re cutting the movie myself and for quite awhile there was a "fan" cut floating around that removed those scenes. Either way, ultimately the movie is what it is. Politics aside, silly added scenes aside it's really a very good movie with some really great acting. The writing is there, the story the direction and everything is all really top notch. Dennis Hopper plays your "greedy old rich bugger" quite well and John Leguizamo does a great job as does the rest of the cast. There's some really fantastic zombie gore to be had for all you gore hounds out there like me and that's thanks to Tom Savini. He really is a master of traditional special effects. On another note, die hard horror fans will love seeing Asia Argento in this movie as well.
All in all, Romero has done better but this is really an enjoyable film and I think pretty much anyone should have a good time watching it. Provided your a horror fan, if your not then you really should get as far away from this movie as possible. You'll either throw up or have nightmares for the rest of your life...or both.
Land of the Dead quickly became one of those political snafu's. Romero blamed the studio, the studio blamed Romero, ultimately who the hell knows what really happened. Either way it led Romero to swear off big studio backing for any future entries into the Living Dead series. So what's the big deal you wonder? Will it ruin the movie for you? Read on.
The core of this film comes down to the rich taking advantage of the poor, that's not the problem. A sub plot is the desire of some of the poor to move up into the world of the rich and the desire of others to just get the hell away from the whole argument and live their lives in peace. That's not the problem either. The problem boils down to, believe it or not one annoying as hell and constantly used zombie. All the shots with this zombie who becomes the "leader" of an oddly intelligent bunch of fellow zombies were added in post production. The whole purpose was to add in an extra hint of race politics. If you watch the movie, you will instantly understand why this became a big deal. It adds an element of unbelievably cheesy stupidity to the film. It's just ridiculous.
Romero has said that he was entirely opposed to the post production changes but was given an ultimatum, do it or the studio would scrap the movie. The studio has said there was never any such argument, it was all Romero's idea and when the movie wasn't as well received as he had hoped he looked for a scapegoat, it's ironic really because it's exactly the sort of tit for tat arguing that goes on in Romero's earlier movies when the zombie outbreak is beginning.
To be honest the added scenes are so annoying that I've often considered re cutting the movie myself and for quite awhile there was a "fan" cut floating around that removed those scenes. Either way, ultimately the movie is what it is. Politics aside, silly added scenes aside it's really a very good movie with some really great acting. The writing is there, the story the direction and everything is all really top notch. Dennis Hopper plays your "greedy old rich bugger" quite well and John Leguizamo does a great job as does the rest of the cast. There's some really fantastic zombie gore to be had for all you gore hounds out there like me and that's thanks to Tom Savini. He really is a master of traditional special effects. On another note, die hard horror fans will love seeing Asia Argento in this movie as well.
All in all, Romero has done better but this is really an enjoyable film and I think pretty much anyone should have a good time watching it. Provided your a horror fan, if your not then you really should get as far away from this movie as possible. You'll either throw up or have nightmares for the rest of your life...or both.