LAND OF THE DEAD (DVD Review) - 4/1/07

I had the great pleasure to meet the Director of this film a couple of years back when this film first came out and was rather awed at just how quietly spoken and self-effacing George A. Romero was. Having talked to him about this film and all the usual "Hollywood" bullshit that he was quite happy to not get involved with made me think even more of him as a Director. Rightly acknowledged as the Grand Master of the Zombie format with his ground breaking films "Night Of The Living Dead" and followed by both "Dawn Of The Dead" and "Day Of The Dead" this fourth film in the series carries the plot further - I even had a hint from him that he would be quite happy to do a fifth film in the series as his enthusiasm for the genre clearly shines through which isn't all that bad for a guy in his late sixties. Wearing his heart on his sleeve we even get a nice little nod to "Shaun Of The Dead" in the form of cameos from Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright as the Photo Booth Zombies and they also stand in awe of the man when you can watch them in a Special Feature called "When Shaun Met George" and they love it!

Filled with gratuitous gore and guts the humour flows like the fake blood and the Rating jumped from 15 to 18 only because of the Unseen Footage and Additional Material being classified at a higher certificate than the main feature. The make-up effects and general SFX for what is essentially a "B" Movie are stunning with a sort of 80's feel to the overall product. In the story the zombies have now taken over the whole world and large human enclaves holding them back with electrified fences and gun emplacements have a different world of the haves and the have nots - Whilst money speaks at the top; the rest of this society is now the dregs, scratching a living from what they can scavenge. Things turn nasty as the zombies take a step forward in their evolution and once again the status quo shifts.

A fairly unknown cast is well lead by Dennis Hopper as Kaufman and joined by a looney-tunes performance from John Leguizamo as Cholo. SPECIAL FEATURES: Consist of Undead Again: The Making Of "Land Of The Dead" with an on set Featurette entitled A Day With The Living Dead and Greg Nicotero's SFX Workshop Featurette. The previously mentioned When Shaun Met George and Deleted Scenes in the form of The Remaining Bits. Bringing The Storyboards To Life, Scream Tests: Zombie Casting Call & Scenes Of Carnage. Zombie Effects From Green Screen To Finished Scene and a Feature Audio Commentary.

Subtitle Tracks: English SDH & also on Bonus Features. Soundtrack: English 5.1. Dolby. Regions: 2,5 PAL. COLOUR - Anamorphic Widescreen: 2.35:1. Rating: 18 (UK) Overall Category raised to (18) due to additional material being classified at a Higher Certificate then the Main Feature (15). Runtime: 1Hr. 33 Mins Approx. DVD Extras: 59 Mins Approx. UNIVERSAL 2005. 823 684 0 / ISBN # 5050582368406>