it is a thrill to see a horror movie concerned with more than how many cool ways they can gross us out
George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (2005)
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Reviews Counted:166
Fresh:123
Rotten:43
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: George A. Romero's latest entry in his much-vaunted Dead series is not as fresh as his genre-inventing original, Night of the Living Dead. But Land of the Dead does deliver on the gore and zombies-feasting-on-flesh action.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive strong violence and gore, language, brief sexuality and some drug use
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Jun 24, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $20,433,940
Synopsis: It has been two decades since master filmmaker GEORGE A. ROMERO's zombies have stalked the screens of motion picture theaters. For years, fans around the world have been eagerly awaiting his... It has been two decades since master filmmaker GEORGE A. ROMERO's zombies have stalked the screens of motion picture theaters. For years, fans around the world have been eagerly awaiting his return. And now that day is here. An all-new chapter of horror is about to begin… George A. Romero's Land of the Dead is the acclaimed director's long-awaited return to the genre he invented, beginning with the seminal Night of the Living Dead and continuing with Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. In Romero's harrowing newest vision, the world (as humankind has known it) is merely a memory. In its place is the never-ending nightmare existence of us—the living—versus them—the "walkers." What's left of mankind is cordoned off behind the walls of a fortified city while the walking dead roam the vast wasteland beyond. The few wealthy and powerful try to maintain an illusion of life as it was, dwelling high above the city in the exclusive towers of Fiddler's Green, the last bastion of the ruling class. On the streets below, however, the remaining, less fortunate of the city's inhabitants eke out a hard-scrabble life, seeking what little solace they can in the vices available—gambling, flesh trade, drugs—anything that offers even a fleeting respite from the hell their lives have become. Both the lofty heights of Fiddler's Green and the demoralizing lows of the city below are lorded over by a handful of ruthless opportunists, led by Kaufman (DENNIS HOPPER), who keeps his hands in everything, from real estate to less above-board pursuits. To bring food and other essential supplies to the occupants of the city and to allow the Green's well-to-do to acquire the scarce luxury items to which they were once accustomed, a hardened group of mercenaries—headed by Riley (SIMON BAKER) and his second-in-command, Cholo (JOHN LEGUIZAMO)—run retrieval missions outside the city, protected by their massive armored vehicle, Dead Reckoning. Riley and Cholo, like Kaufman, are in it for the money, which they hope to use for their own escapes— Riley to the North, with promises of "a world without fences" and freedom, and Cholo to the luxury of Fiddler's Green, far away from the violent life he has known. While Kaufman and his employees concern themselves with commerce, life is changing both within and beyond the walls of the city. Unrest and anarchy are on the rise among the city's disenfranchised and outside, the army of the dead is changing, evolving, learning to organize and communicate. When Cholo commandeers Dead Reckoning, intent on extorting millions out of Kaufman and his cronies, Riley and his ragtag group—including Slack (ASIA ARGENTO) and Charlie (ROBERT JOY)—are called into action to stop Cholo and, in the process, protect the city and its population from the growing army of evolving zombies storming its weakening perimeter. Universal Pictures and Atmosphere Entertainment MM present A Mark Canton-Bernie Goldmann and Romero-Grunwald Production, in association with Wild Bunch: George A. Romero's Land of the Dead, starring Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy and John Leguizamo. Written and directed by Romero, the film is produced by MARK CANTON (Taking Lives), PETER GRUNWALD (Monkey Shines) and BERNIE GOLDMANN (Taking Lives). Joining Romero behind the camera are director of photography MIROSLAW BASZAK (Picture Claire), production designer ARV GREYWAL (upcoming 16 Blocks), editor MICHAEL DOHERTY (New Blood), costume designer ALEX KAVANAGH (upcoming Saw 2) and composers REINHOLD HEIL and JOHNNY KLIMEK (Shattered Glass). STEVE BARNETT, DENNIS E. JONES, RYAN KAVANAUGH and LYNWOOD SPINKS serve as executive producers. -- © Universal Pictures [More]
Starring: Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy
Starring: Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, John Leguizamo
Director: George A. Romero
Director: George A. Romero
Screenwriter: George A. Romero
Producer: Mark Canton, Bernie Goldmann, Peter Grunwald
Composer: Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Reviews for George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
Romero’s satiric cultural slant has never been as finely tuned and elevates just another chapter into something deeper and scarier.
For some of us, every day is a good day for zombies, and Land of the Dead lets their primary wholesaler do what he does best.
The social commentary isn't subtle, but Romero delivers the goods so effectively that many won't even notice.
George A. Romero's Land of the Dead reveals that Romero remains the master of a genre he reinvented.
The acting is sloppy, the story convoluted, the finale anticlimactic. But because this is not just a zombie movie, but one made by the undisputed zombie master, it's easier to forgive the lapses.
After a 20-year hiatus, George A. Romero, who practically invented his own creepy cinematic genre with 1968's Dawn of the Living Dead and its sequels, returns with his most ingenious and ambitious zombie film yet.
Land of the Dead proves the most socially trenchant, irreverent and politically daring of the series, the one with the most food (and gore) for thought.
With Land of the Dead, Romero shows he still has the talent to scare us (and gross us out) in creative ways.
...zombies are now the new bottom of the class system, subject to indignities which enrage their leader, Big Daddy (Eugene Clark, a Black man, taking Romero full circle...
Romero still has a gift for expressive carnage and for turning zombies into something more than mindless, festering, plague-spreading viscera-chewers.
There's no real joy in this undertaking, which seems to prize grossing out the members of its audience above freaking them out.
Gritty, dark and unapologetically violent, Land of the Dead is a solid, serious zombie movie.
Romero delivers the satire and the gory action...[but this] isn't the masterpiece the posters claim. Still, lackluster Romero is better than no Romero at all...
Land of the Dead may not be the 'masterpiece' its promoters claim, but it is the work of a master.
It's good to see [Romero] back in the genre he invented with Night of the Living Dead, and still using zombies not simply for target practice but as a device for social satire.
Nothing more than a zombie movie, but it's a first-class zombie movie, good, ghoulish fun, staged with skill and a nicely twisted sense of humor.
Latest News for George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
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