Survival of the Dead - Finally watched it...

[Neil]

It's a terrible film, regardless of what it's put up against. IYHO of course... For me it was an average affair. Not as good as Romero's classics, but no where near as bad some say the recent Day remake... Just can't see how anyone can level "utterly wretched film" at something that is fairly well produced, and although clearly has faults, does have some redeeming moments

[MoonSylver]

Something can be well made, but if in the subjective tastes of the person watching it has NO redeeming moments, then they can call it "utterly wretched". Bassy & I had that exact conversation in regards to the "Star Trek" reboot. He was utterly baffled by my distain for that movie. And regardless of how "well" (ie professionally) it was made, it was utterly devoid of enjoyment for me what so ever.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I Sincerely do not understand the hatred towards diary in particular, i personally thought diary of the dead was the strongest of romeros new trilogy. Yeah i said it. Does that make it a good film? Not by a long shot, its a f*cking stinker alright... but it's head and shoulders above both survival and land at least.. I think Diary is the strongest of the new trilogy, and I do sort of like Survival Better than Land. I wish Survival would have just stuck with the Sarge and Company on the road would have been better than Romero's goofy comic book wannabe western zombie thingy he had going on. It just became to stupid with the whole Hatfields and McCoy angle, plus add in the zombie riding horse and you have the dumbest element ever put into a zombie film, next to the FRANKEN-BIG DADDY-STEIN ZOmbie thing. How do you go from NIGHT DAWN and DAY, to LAND DIARY and SURVIVAL.... YIKES!

[ChokeOnEm]

I don't imagine his upcoming Deep Red remake will be much better. This is a film that should never be touched or re-envisioned due to its utter brilliance. This isn't happening. George called Dario and was told that the remake did not have his blessing, so George backed off. The Romero/Savini remake of "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" will happen tho. -- -------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 PM ---------- What's frustrating is it could have easily have been a lot better. This is what's so frustrating about all of Romero's new dead films. After waiting sooo long for 'The Master' to return, it turns out that many fan-fiction scripts and unofficial zombie ripoffs are waaay better. "Survival" has its moments, but the script is a first draft at best. Some scenes just occur and linger with no point whatsoever - like the annoying kid confronting Jane in the woods and asking her what she would do with a million dollars. Who cares? Moreover, what purpose did the Brinks truck serve, if any? Additionally, just how cliched and lazy is the B-story line of Francisco ingesting blood. There's no suspense to be derived from the question of "will he or won't he" turn into a zombie. We've grown up with these kind of movies, and already know the answer long in advance. For whatever its worth, the RED cameras make some wide-shots look gorgeous. When Monkey Shines and Bruiser came out, fans were pining for the days that Romero would make zombie films again. Now he's back doing zombie films and fans either want him to return to non-zombie material or sadder still, retire altogether. A Fulci-like abundance of gore might've been able to save Survival, but even in this department, it's sorely lacking. What more can I say? Fuck this movie.

[rongravy]

Retire? No way. Or you could just not watch his new movies, though I still will.

[Yojimbo]

...Which is what I'm saying, Yojimbo. In comparison to the fecal matter that is Contagium (still my favorite movie to hate), Survival doesn't seem as bad. Do you not know what 'latter' means? My bad, brother blind. I should know what "latter" means, but for some reason I just misunderstood your original post. You are returned to the realm of coolness as far I am concerned if that makes any difference. Sorry again for the doubt, brother.

[shootemindehead]

IYHO of course... For me it was an average affair. Not as good as Romero's classics, but no where near as bad some say the recent Day remake... Just can't see how anyone can level "utterly wretched film" at something that is fairly well produced, and although clearly has faults... As said above, something can be "well produced", but still fall in the crap film bin. 'Survival of the Dead' is poorly written, not terribly well acted, with dreadful decisions, stupid scenarios, zero horror and awful so called "comedy". The zombies are reduced to clowns and the human dialogue (complete with ridiculous "Oirish" accents) is shite. Of course, this is "my opinion", as that's all I can write about. But seriously, if you are getting something out of 'Survival of the Dead' then that's great. I'm just not seeing it.

[blind2d]

My bad, brother blind. I should know what "latter" means, but for some reason I just misunderstood your original post. You are returned to the realm of coolness as far I am concerned if that makes any difference. Sorry again for the doubt, brother. Hey man, don't sweat it. We all make mistakes. Some more than others (blind, I'm looking at you). Thanks for your apology, anyway.

[AcesandEights]

The poll wouldn't particularly bear this out - those that "Liked It" are clearly in the majority out of all options. Yeah, but I've heard a number of those of us who 'liked it' admit that it was graded heavily on a curve. For example, I 'liked it' in comparrison to Diary. I 'liked it' about on par with a cheesy sci-fi made for tv film (albeit a better than crap sci-fi made for tv film, and not one of the worst ones).

[Tom Price]

"The Romero/Savini remake of "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" will happen tho." Personally I would think Savini won't touch it or help in any shape or form judging by Romero's TRIFECTA of FAIL. IE: His last 3 movies. I PEED MY PANTS x 8 "anyone got a dry pamper? "

[ChokeOnEm]

Retire? No way. Or you could just not watch his new movies, though I still will. I NEVER said he should retire. However, given just how mind-numbingly awful his films have become, it may become necessary to have a self-appointed Romero movie watcher - much like the royal food tasters of medieval times. Thank you for volunteering. -- -------- Post added at 10:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 AM ---------- "The Romero/Savini remake of "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" will happen tho." Personally I would think Savini won't touch it or help in any shape or form judging by Romero's TRIFECTA of FAIL. IE: His last 3 movies. Romero didn't the write the script, so it could be solid. Savini talks about it briefly in the new Fangoria out now.

[Trin]

Yeah, but I've heard a number of those of us who 'liked it' admit that it was graded heavily on a curve. For example, I 'liked it' in comparrison to Diary. I 'liked it' about on par with a cheesy sci-fi made for tv film (albeit a better than crap sci-fi made for tv film, and not one of the worst ones). Yes, exactly. Run Survival on the heels of Day after a 20 year wait and the WTF rating would've been sky high. But after Land and Diary have set the bar down a few notches and sure, it's not bad. @Moonsylver - I HATED the Star Trek reboot... I'd love to rant for an hour with you about how shee-ite-e it is. An hour might not be enough. I hated Diary. Gimicky and preachy and implausible and lame. I think I actually like Survival more than Diary. At the least the message in Survival was confused enough it didn't feel like a sledgehammer hitting me scene after scene. I hate to say it, but as much as I bashed Land after it came out I freakin love Land now. So Cholo was an idiot about money, there were no zombies around, and Big Daddy was a horrible direction to take zombies... those faults seem minor compared to Jason and his stupid camera, Muldoon vs. O'Flynn, horse eating, zombie horse riding, ingestion of zombie blood causing infection, etc.

[bassman]

I hate to say it, but as much as I bashed Land after it came out I freakin love Land now. So Cholo was an idiot about money, there were no zombies around, and Big Daddy was a horrible direction to take zombies... those faults seem minor compared to Jason and his stupid camera, Muldoon vs. O'Flynn, horse eating, zombie horse riding, ingestion of zombie blood causing infection, etc. Yeah, the last two films have only helped Land, imo. I enjoyed Land when it was first released but considered it a sort of bonus chapter to the original three. Not on the same level, but a decent effort. As time has passed and Romero released the last two, I'm starting to see Land as the only true entry out of the modern films. The other two are just.....bah....I dunno. I'm kinda trying to act as if they didn't happen. But Land has definitely climbed the ranks since 2005 and has just about earned it's spot with the first three...

[darth los]

Yeah, the last two films have only helped Land, imo. I enjoyed Land when it was first released but considered it a sort of bonus chapter to the original three. Not on the same level, but a decent effort. As time has passed and Romero released the last two, I'm starting to see Land as the only true entry out of the modern films. The other two are just.....bah....I dunno. I'm kinda trying to act as if they didn't happen. But Land has definitely climbed the ranks since 2005 and has just about earned it's spot with the first three... Agreed. As long as that spot is number 4.

[Mr.G]

Yeah, the last two films have only helped Land, imo. I enjoyed Land when it was first released but considered it a sort of bonus chapter to the original three. Not on the same level, but a decent effort. As time has passed and Romero released the last two, I'm starting to see Land as the only true entry out of the modern films. The other two are just.....bah....I dunno. I'm kinda trying to act as if they didn't happen. But Land has definitely climbed the ranks since 2005 and has just about earned it's spot with the first three... Agreed! Maybe GAR needs someone in 'corporate' to tell him what is a good or bad idea. The last two could be seen as GAR having total control and nothing but 'yes' people hanging around. Any chance to see the old Image 10 or Laurel group getting together and trying to make one more classic?