Land of the Dead
Promotional poster for Land of the Dead
Directed by	George A. Romero
Produced by	Steve Barnett
Written by	George A. Romero
Starring	Simon Baker John Leguizamo Dennis Hopper Asia Argento
Music by	Reinhold Heil Johnny Klimek
Cinematography	Miroslaw Baszak
Editing by	Michael Doherty
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	June 24, 2005 June 24, 2005 August 4, 2005 September 23, 2005
Running time	93 min.
Language	English
Budget	$16,000,000
Preceded by	Day of the Dead
Followed by	Diary of the Dead
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Land of the Dead (also known as George A. Romero's Land of the Dead) is the fourth in George A. Romero's "Dead Series" started by Night of the Living Dead, which continued with the sequels Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... George Andrew Romero (born February 4, 1940) is an American director, writer, editor and actor. ... Simon Baker (b. ... John Leguizamo (born July 22, 1964) is an Emmy-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated American comedian, actor and producer. ... Dennis Lee Hopper (born May 17, 1936) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and film-maker. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Other Ones was a band that consisted mainly of Australians, but was based in Berlin in the late 1980s. ... Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... Day of the Dead (1985) is a horror film by director George A. Romero, and the third of four movies. ... This article is about the George Romero film. ... George Andrew Romero (born February 4, 1940) is an American director, writer, editor and actor. ... Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 black-and-white independent horror film directed by George A. Romero. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Day of the Dead (1985) is a horror film by director George A. Romero, and the third of four movies. ...

Plot

Some time ago, an unimaginable disaster destroyed much of human civilization: the recently dead inexplicably began returning to life and taking the lives of their living siblings. These "zombies" multiplied rapidly by adding to their ranks with every new victim. Many years later, the still-living in the vicinity have fled to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where a feudal-like government has taken over. Bordered on three sides by rivers and on the other by an electric barricade, the city has become a sanctuary against the undead threat. Fiddler's Green, the center of this fortress city, is where the rich and powerful live in luxury while the rest of the local survivors live in poverty around them. Paul Kaufman (Dennis Hopper), a tyrannical businessman, rules with an iron fist and overwhelming firepower. This article is about modern humans. ... Central New York City. ... For other uses see Zombie (disambiguation) A zombie is a kind of undead, or figuratively, a very apathetic person. ... “Pittsburgh” redirects here. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... For other uses, see Fiddlers Green (disambiguation). ... Dennis Lee Hopper (born May 17, 1936) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and film-maker. ...

In order to ensure his dominance and upscale lifestyle, Kaufman financed the construction of Dead Reckoning, a heavily armored vehicle that can venture out into the zombie-populated territory with relative ease. Armed with heavy remote-controlled external machine guns, missile launchers, video cameras to spot zombies on the sides, and a fireworks' launcher to distract the zombies: zombies, like humans, are fascinated by fireworks and will ignore the humans to watch them. Riley Denbo (Simon Baker), the designer of Dead Reckoning and leader of the expeditions to retrieve salvageable goods, has decided to retire and leave the safety of the city. Unlike Kaufman, Riley is respected by the citizens of the fortress city for his work to protect them from a dangerous world. However, after a series of incidents, Riley winds up in jail with his best friend Charlie Houk (Robert Joy), a slow witted member of the Dead Reckoning team who happens to be a crack shot with his old M1 Carbine, and Slack (Asia Argento), a female soldier who has been pressed into prostitution and who was almost killed in a recent cage match with a pair of zombies. The Trikke is a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) This article is about the means of transport. ... Simon Baker (b. ... Robert Joy (born August 17, 1951, Montréal, Québec) is a Canadian actor. ... The M1 Carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber . ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Meanwhile, Cholo DeMora (John Leguizamo), the cocky second in command of the Dead Reckoning team, having been denied the opportunity to buy an apartment in Fiddler's Green by Kaufman, has gone renegade. Having his dreams to live in Fiddler's Green shattered by Kaufman — for whom he has been secretly employed (one of his tasks being the disposal of the corpses of Kaufman's murdered enemies) — Cholo is out to even the score. He threatens to destroy Fiddler's Green with Dead Reckoning — which he has hijacked with some of its crew — unless his demands are met. Kaufman turns to Riley to stop Cholo, which is how Riley, Slack, and Charlie are released from prison. A trio of soldiers, Pilsbury, Motown, and Manolete, are assigned to assist them, but their mission is to recapture Dead Reckoning, whether Riley and his allies want them to or not. Manolete is soon bitten, and Motown later tries to kill Cholo only to be killed herself by a zombie, while Pilsbury changes sides and starts helping Charlie and Slack. As Riley finally catches Cholo, he convinces him to allow him to take Dead Reckoning and leave the city to head north, leaving Cholo and his "partner in crime," Fox, with a truck to go west. Shortly after this Cholo is bitten by a zombie. Rather than be shot immediately and never become a zombie, Cholo chooses to "see how the other half lives". John Leguizamo (born July 22, 1964) is an Emmy-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated American comedian, actor and producer. ... For other uses, see Fiddlers Green (disambiguation). ... This article is about the undead. ...

Meanwhile, the zombies are beginning to regain pieces of their former lives: a brass band blows ineffectively on their aging horns, a cheerleader carries her pompoms, a dead couple walk hand-in-hand, and a gas station attendant with the name tag "Big Daddy" lumbers out every time someone trips the pump bell. Big Daddy is particularly intelligent for a zombie (in a continuance of the "Bub" plot-line from Day of the Dead), quickly learning to operate a stolen firearm and becoming the undead protagonist amongst his fellow zombies. He also overcomes the effect of the fireworks, which the other zombies also do after being exposed again. Directing his fellow zombies, Big Daddy leads an attack on the human city in retaliation for the constant raids carried out by Dead Reckoning. With the electric fences proving impregnable to the zombies: Big Daddy realizes that they can simply walk across the riverbed without drowning. Day of the Dead (1985) is a horror film by director George A. Romero, and the third of four movies. ...

The center of the carnage takes place at Fiddler's Green, where the zombies converge. Kaufman witnesses his kingdom disintegrating before his very eyes as the zombies overcome the humans in a bloody massacre. As the zombies overtake the city, the humans discover the electric fence defenses used to keep the zombies out have become walls preventing their escape.

As retribution after being shot by Kaufman, Big Daddy trails the fleeing despot to an underground garage where Kaufman plans to escape. Big Daddy finds Kaufman locked in his car next to a gas pump and, in a moment of undead "revelation," begins pumping gas into the cab through a hole in the windshield. Apparently satisfied, he lumbers out of the garage.

Now a member of the undead, Cholo has located Kaufman. Cholo shoots at Kaufman (poorly) before grappling with him. However, Big Daddy returns and once again displays his intelligence by rolling a burning road flare toward Kaufman's gasoline-soaked vehicle. It explodes, hurling Kaufman and the undead Cholo away from the blast.

Meanwhile, Denbo and Dead Reckoning have fought to free the inhabitants of the now-overrun city. At the electric fence, the crew discovers a massacre; with nowhere to run, the citizens fell victim to the zombies. After destroying the fence, the crew is now despondent, since it appears as if the city has been wiped out. However, most of the city's lower-class inhabitants emerge from the carnage: while many had simply ran, they hid, and hence emerged unscathed. With the destruction caused by the zombies, the class system no longer exists, leveling the playing field for the lower-class. The zombies withdraw instead of attacking them.

Riley orders Pretty Boy (Joanne Boland), the navigator of Dead Reckoning to refrain from shooting Big Daddy with the vehicle's weaponry as the zombies leave, because he realizes that, like them, he's "just looking for a place to go." Riley and his friends leave the city in Dead Reckoning, striking out for the north. As they leave, they fire all of Dead Reckoning's fireworks in a display of celebration.

Cast

Simon Baker (b. ... John Leguizamo (born July 22, 1964) is an Emmy-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated American comedian, actor and producer. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Robert Joy (born August 17, 1951, Montréal, Québec) is a Canadian actor. ... Dennis Lee Hopper (born May 17, 1936) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and film-maker. ... Marshall Eugene Clark (born December 13, 1951, Los Angeles) is an American film and television actor. ... Pedro Miguel Arce sometime credit as Pedro Arce is a film and television actor. ...

Reaction

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars for what he considered its skillful and creative allusions, something that he argued was pervasive among Romero's previous three installments that contained numerous satirical metaphors to the reality of American life. In this installment Ebert noted the similarities between the fireworks mesmerizing the zombies and the shock and awe tactics applied during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and the movie's distinction between the rich and poor, those that live in Fiddler's Green and those that live in the slums, something he considered Romero's take on the rising gap between rich and poor in America. Michael Wilmington of Chicago Tribune awarded the film four stars, writing, "It's another hard-edged, funny, playfully perverse and violent exercise in movie fear and loathing, with an increasingly dark take on a world spinning out of control. By now, Romero has become a classicist who uses character and dialogue as much as stomach-turning special effects to achieve his shivers." Roger Joseph Ebert (born June 18, 1942) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American film critic. ... This article is about the undead. ... Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming decisive force, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of power to paralyze an adversarys perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight. ... The subject of this article is the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... // The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois and owned by the Tribune Company. ...

Overall critical reaction was mostly positive; the film received very favorable reviews from The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Premiere (magazine), Variety, Slate and Los Angeles Times. The film earned a 74% positive rating at the Rotten Tomatoes movie-review compilation website (though the "Cream of the Crop" critics' reactions were slightly more mixed, giving the film a 68% rating overall).^[1] The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Premiere is an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Médias, beginning publication in 1987. ... Variety is a daily newspaper for the entertainment industry. ... Slate is an online news and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley and owned by Microsoft (as part of MSN). ... This just IN !!!:paris hiltons new dog. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Rating

It is the first movie in the series to receive an MPAA rating for its theatrical release. Romero had said for years that he would film two versions; an R rated cut for the theatres and first DVD, and an unrated cut for the second DVD release. Both DVDs were released in the U.S. on October 18, 2005. Rumors suggested that Romero shot alternate, less explicit, gore scenes for the theatrical release, but this is not entirely accurate. The more extreme instances of gore (e.g a woman having her navel piercing graphically torn out by a zombie) were obscured by foreground elements filmed on bluescreen, so that these overlayed elements could be easily removed for the unrated DVD. Other ways to obscure blood in order to get an R-rating were achieved by simply trimming the grislier shots by a few seconds, by digitally repainting blood so that it is more black than red, or by digitally painting the blood out altogether. The Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario gave both the theatrical version and DVD version a rating of 18A, though it was only given a 13+ rating in Quebec. In the UK the BBFC gave it a 15 certificate for both the theatrical version and the unrated version. (The UK "Director's Cut" DVD was rated 18 due to extras being rated higher than the feature itself). In Germany, both the theatrical and unrated versions were rated 18, rendering the purpose of the cut theatrical version redundant. As such, only the unrated version was widely available in Germany. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A motion picture rating system categorizes films with regard to suitability for children and/or adults in terms of issues such as sex, violence and profanity. ... Size comparison: A 12 cm Sony DVD+RW and a 19 cm Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. ... The bluescreen setup. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour Without Sunset (diminishment)) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo - Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 36 - Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area  Ranked 5th - Total 944,735... Motto: Gloriosus et Liber (Latin: Glorious and free) BC AB SK MB ON QC NB PE NS NL YT NT NU Capital Winnipeg Largest city Winnipeg Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor John Harvard - Premier Gary Doer (NDP) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 14 - Senate seats 6 Confederation... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English (de facto) Government - Lieutenant-Governor David C. Onley - Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 106 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area... , Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Official languages French Government - Lieutenant-Governor Pierre Duchesne - Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 75 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area  Ranked 2nd - Total 1,542,056 km² (595... British Board of Film Classification logo The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), originally British Board of Film Censors, is the organisation responsible for film and some video game classification and censorship within the United Kingdom. ...

Sequel

• Romero has expressed an interest in making another trilogy picking up after the end of this film (with the rumored title Road of the Dead).^{[citation needed]}
• Simon Baker, who starred in Land of the Dead, has expressed interest in returning for a fifth film.^{[citation needed]}

Simon Baker (b. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items into other sections and removing inappropriate items. (June 2007)

• Earlier script titles included Dusk of the Dead, Dead City and Dead Reckoning. Romero said in an interview [1] that one of the first potential film studios (20th Century Fox) wanted the film to be titled Night of the Living Dead. He refused, wanting to use the title Dead Reckoning, and the studio then wanted to title it Night of the Living Dead: Dead Reckoning. It turned out that Fox sought to own the rights to Night of the Living Dead, and Romero decided not to do business with them.
• Asia Argento, who plays Slack in this movie, is the daughter of the famous Italian horror movie director Dario Argento, who was also the producer of Romero's second Dead movie, Dawn of the Dead.
• Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have cameos as the photo zombies, due to Romero's love of their affectionate zombie send-up Shaun of the Dead. They also appear on the official movie poster and Director's Cut DVD.
• Tom Savini can be briefly seen as a zombie (credited as "Machete Zombie"), reprising his character Blades from Dawn of the Dead. This marks the first time an actor has reprised a role in a Romero zombie movie.
• It could also be argued that the Santa zombie seen briefly outside Dead Reckoning near the end of the film is the Santa biker from Dawn of the Dead, as Romero alludes to on the DVD commentary.
• Gregory Nicotero, who is the second unit director, make-up artist and special effects supervisor for the film, also belongs to the small elite of people who have appeared in more than one of Romero's zombie movies. He is the bridgekeeper zombie in Land of the Dead, while playing Private Johnson in Day of the Dead.
• Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green, a video game based on the movie was released for Xbox and PC on October 18, 2005.
• At the 16th edition of Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights in 2006, a show featuring the vehicle Robosaurus borrowed heavily from the film, including the use of fireworks to distract approaching zombies and the words "Dead Reckoning" painted on the side of Robosaurus.
• Director George Romero's voice can be heard as one of the puppeteers in the "Punch & Judy" stand in the village, shouting "Take that, you smelly zombie!"
• Dennis Hopper's character, Paul Kaufman, is named after fellow director Lloyd Kaufman of Troma studios fame.^{[citation needed]}
• George Romero's daughter, Christina Romero, makes an appearance as a soldier and is credited as the "High noon soldier"
• Romero used the Universal logo of the 1930s as a way of paying tribute to the classic Universal horror films of that period.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Dario Argento (born September 7, 1940) is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Simon John Pegg (born 14 February 1970 in Gloucester) is an English comedian, writer and film and television actor. ... Edgar Wright at Comic Con in San Diego Edgar Wright (born 18 April 1974 in Poole, Dorset) is an English film and television director. ... Shaun of the Dead is a zombie-themed romantic comedy (or rom zom com as it dubs itself) or zombie comedy released in 2004. ... Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American actor, stunt man, director and award-winning special effects and makeup artist. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Gregory Nicotero (born March 15, 1964) is an American special effects creator and actor. ... Day of the Dead (1985) is a horror film by director George A. Romero, and the third of four movies. ... The Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. ... A personal computer (PC) is a computer whose price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals. ... Introduction Universal Orlando is a joint partnership between Universal Studios and The Blackstone Group. ... Halloween Horror Nights is one of the largest Halloween events in the U.S., presented annually at Universal Orlando Resort. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robosaurus is a transforming robotic dinosaur created by inventor Doug Malewicki in 1989 and is currently owned and operated by Monster Robots, Inc. ... Dennis Lee Hopper (born May 17, 1936) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and film-maker. ... Lloyd Kaufman Lloyd Kaufman is an American film director, producer, and documentarian. ... Troma is a film production and distribution company, started by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz that, since 1974, has been producing low budget independent movies non-stop. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

See also

• List of zombie films

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 28 Days Later (2002) 28 Weeks Later (2007) After Death (1988) (Zombie 4: After Death) The Aftermath (1982) Alien Dead...

References

External links

• The Official Land of the Dead Website from Universal
• Land of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
• Land of the Dead at FilmSpot
• Land of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
• Land of the Dead at Metacritic
• Land of the Dead at Box Office Mojo
• Land of the Dead at StillTwitching.com
• Sequel Talks
• Land of the Dead Fictional Book includes quotes from actual Land actors
• George Romero interview for Land Of The Dead