Blu-ray Review: Land of the Dead (2005)

(aka Big Daddy's House.)
Release Date: June 24th, 2005.
Country: USA.
Rating: R.
Written by: George A. Romero.
Directed by: George A. Romero.
Starring: Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper. and Asia Argento.

Big, polished, gory, and as socially-relevant as ever, Land of the Dead is our favorite of George Romero's zombie flicks.

Cast stones at us if you will (you wouldn't be wrong to do so), but we just can't help but love this entry in the "Dead" series above the others.

Even after Zombie Apocalypse, leave it to we humans to still live divided as a society; the rich elite get a privileged life in the lavish high-rise community of Fiddler's Green, while the poor and less fortunate live in the filthy ghettos below. And no, there is no middle class, because that shit never existed to begin with.

THE RICH: KEEPING THE POOR MASSES DISTRACTED BY BRIGHT SHINY THINGS SINCE FOREVER.

From on high, the ruler of Fiddler's Green, Kaufman, sends the expendable losers of the ghetto below out into the word to forage for supplies and such; after all, the poor exist to augment the lives of the rich. That's what they're there for. At least Kaufman has given them a heavily-armored battle wagon called the Dead Reckoning to make their jobs easier though... because if they die, who will ensure that the rich and well-to-do are able to maintain their lives of privilege?

THAT THING'S GOT MISSILES!

Unbeknownst to Kaufman (and everyone else), the undead are becoming smarter. They're learning to reason, communicate, and to do simple tasks, all of which are bad things for the humans; the dead are tired of being held down by the living man, and so they're off to take Fiddler's Green for themselves, and eat everyone who crosses their path while doing so. Class warfare ensues.

GUESS WHO WINS?

If you were to rank George Romero's zombie movies from best to worst, you'd probably have to put Land of the Dead behind Night and Dawn, at least; those two movies were so influential and important to the Horror genre (and to movies in general), that it would be disingenuous to rank any of the later "Dead" movies ahead of them.

If you're talking about which George Romero zombie flick that we enjoy the most though, and which one that we could watch over and over again without getting tired of, then Land of the Dead would be number one with a bullet.

For reasons that I can not explain or justify to you, or even to myself, George Romero's Land of the Dead is our favorite entry in his Dead Universe of films. I honestly think it's because LOTD feels like it's his most polished and complete zombie effort to date. All of the familiar biting social commentary and insane gore gags are there, and it's got a budget bigger than all of his other Dead movies put together (and then some), and it really shows. Whatever the reason, Land of the Dead just clicks on all cylinders for us.

CHOLO.

This movie also has Dennis Hopper playing the bad guy, and does it get any better than Dennis Hopper playing the bad guy in a zombie flick? No, it does not. Speaking of the cast, John Leguizamo and Asia Argento add a further level of legitimacy to the proceedings, and even Simon Baker was a solid choice to play the lead.

And in all honesty, Big Daddy is one of the most interesting zombie characters to ever appear in a movie. We loved how Romero toyed with the idea of the undead getting smarter in Land, and Big Daddy was the perfect "man" to lead the zombies into battle against the entitled humans. Bub (Day of the Dead), Tarman (Return of the Living Dead), and Big Daddy are probably the three best zombie characters of all-time.

THE SIMON PEGG & EDGAR WRIGHT CAMEOS WERE SUPER COOL TOO.

Even after Zombie Apocalypse, there's a huge divide between the Have's and Have-not's of the world. How shocking.

"POOR PEOPLE, MAN, THEY CREEP ME OUT."

The guy who was wearing his headphones and riding a skateboard while being all alone at night in the middle of a zombie-filled area. That's exactly the kind of idiot who deserves to die in these films.

AND HERE WE THOUGHT THE UNDEAD WERE BRAINLESS.

George Romero + zombie movie= plenty of excessive gore. You definitely want to watch the Unrated Cut to get the maximum amount of gore though.

"YOU'RE EMBARRASSING YOURSELF."

A topless dancer in a strip club, and Asia Argento changing clothes, and that's it. Romero movies have never been all that heavy on the nudity, and this one is no exception.

SORRY, ASIA. NO NUDITY FOR YOU THIS TIME.

After five decades in the business, Land of the Dead shows that Romero still has it in him. Also, 20 years after her feature film debut, so does Asia Argento.

...AND THEN SOME.

Of all of Romero's "Dead" films, Land of the Dead will always be our favorite. Maybe it's because with Land, we finally got to see what Romero is capable of with a big budget, or maybe it's because we love the cast so much. We can't honestly say. Favorite or otherwise though, this is one slick, blood-soaked sequel that is deserving of any zombie lover's affection, or at the very least, attention.

A

Land of the Dead is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD.

Asia Argento is a classic.