The Land Of The Dead

Trailer for Land of the Dead

I haven’t seen Land of the Dead Yet though it is on my to see list, and due to review I read in Chadzilla Roars it has just gotten higher priority…

The story line is pretty simple. Evil and danger in the form of zombies surround a small enclosure of safety, that is divided into two - Fiddlers Green, a luxurious tower from which the rich business man Tyrant Kaufman (Dennis Hopper)runs the rest of the tattered city, and of course - the rest of the tattered city.

The two main Characters Riley (Simon Baker) and Cholo (John Leguizamo) job is to venture out into the world and collect supplies for those who live in the green and in the streets around it.
Riley, wants to leave, but isn’t allowed to, and Cholo wants to live in the green but he to is denied his wishes…
Of course the Zombies start evolving some form of previous intelligence and try to invade the safe area…that is the plot in a nutshell.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to see where the film is going from here and according to Chadzilla there is a lack of dramatic force to the film because the Romero didn’t really have time to build any depth into the characters before having to ship them of to the end. One critic said that this film has a beginning and an end but no middle - apparently an important character building scene was cut but can be viewed on the Unrated/Directors Cut.
Although the film is week dramatically it seems to be very astute in political commentary, and this following quote is why I will push the movie up on my to see list.

So strong is the commentary that when I read Naomi Klein’s article Disaster Capitalism in an October 2007 article of Harper’s Magazine, I could not help but think of Romero’s film:

“Not so long ago, disasters were periods of social leveling, rare moments when atomized communities put divisions aside and pulled together. Today they are moments when we are hurled further apart, when we lurch into a radically segregated future where some of us will fall off the map and others ascend to a parallel privatized state, one equipped with well paved highways and skyways, safe bridges, boutique charter schools, fast-lane terminals, and deluxe subways.”

That is the world of Land of the Dead and that is why, despite its weak story elements, I give the film a strong recommendation. Watch it and know that is exactly what is happening right here, right now, today.

Doesn’t that make you curious?