PARAseek.com - STAFF MOVIE REVIEWS - Land of the Dead (Director's Cut)

PARASEEK : STAFFMOVIE REVIEWS : LAND OF THE DEAD (DIRECTOR'S CUT)

LAND OF THE DEAD (DIRECTOR'S CUT)

Warning, possible spoilers below...

For an indepth review on this film please click here for our screening coverage in New York.

Justin time for the Halloween season, Universal releases a two pronged,Land of the Dead DVD assault of Romero madness with a tame

R-version and the unrated director's cut. Our thoughts are, whywould a horror fan buy an R-rated version in the first place? It's azombie movie. Clearly they wouldn't. And due to this, we canrightly assume that having the R-version is just a marketingploy. It's like Disney releasing a PG version of the LittleMermaid and adding a bit of blood in the water. Your unlikely tosee very few copies of LOTD-R in stores.

Unfortunatelythere is no significant additional movie content here, which explainswhy on the DC DVD jacket there is no mention of an "additional 10minutes you can't get elsewhere", cause you can't get it anywhere,period. The footage doesn't exist. Scenes are just extendeda few seconds here and there, which in this case gives you better looksat the carnage, which by the way is spectactular. Ofcourse, if you've seen this movie already and you're buying it, youalready know that LOTD is a masterpiece, so you don't have to get moreto be happy.

Thereal value here come in the special features which are pretty extensivefor a one disc set. We're pretty sick of companies making DVDreleases look better than they are by making the jackets fatter orputting two or three special features on a second disk when we knowwell there was plenty of room left on the first.

For starters, a full commentary lights the way with direct insight from Romero himself, a rare look at a master.

Thedeleted scenes consist of a half a dozen unfinished shots, most withoutsound, which add no plot points. All in all its just 5 minutes ofnothing. They could be ignored entirely if not for a scene withthe memorable Pillsbury. There he crunches zombee fingers througha grate. Its worth a quick click of the remote.

Theshining star here is a documentary called WHEN SHAUN MET GEORGE, allabout Simon Pegg's (creator of UK's SHAUN OF THE DEAD) successfuleffort to get a cameo in Romero's film. Is Pegg the mostdocumented extra in the history of horror films? Maybe. It's unclear whether his effort to get in LOTD was a labor of love orjust a publicity stunt, or maybe a little of both. Figuring thatout is your homework assignment. Remember, any promotion is goodpromotion!

Allin all, if your a horror movie fan, this belongs in your library. A great flick with just enough fillers to make your credit card billlook a it smaller. (-William J Piniarski-)


	PARASEEK : STAFFMOVIE REVIEWS : LAND OF THE DEAD (DIRECTOR'S CUT)
	LAND OF THE DEAD (DIRECTOR'S CUT) Warning, possible spoilers below... For an indepth review on this film please click here for our screening coverage in New York. Justin time for the Halloween season, Universal releases a two pronged,Land of the Dead DVD assault of Romero madness with a tameR-version and the unrated director's cut. Our thoughts are, whywould a horror fan buy an R-rated version in the first place? It's azombie movie. Clearly they wouldn't. And due to this, we canrightly assume that having the R-version is just a marketingploy. It's like Disney releasing a PG version of the LittleMermaid and adding a bit of blood in the water. Your unlikely tosee very few copies of LOTD-R in stores. Unfortunatelythere is no significant additional movie content here, which explainswhy on the DC DVD jacket there is no mention of an "additional 10minutes you can't get elsewhere", cause you can't get it anywhere,period. The footage doesn't exist. Scenes are just extendeda few seconds here and there, which in this case gives you better looksat the carnage, which by the way is spectactular. Ofcourse, if you've seen this movie already and you're buying it, youalready know that LOTD is a masterpiece, so you don't have to get moreto be happy. Thereal value here come in the special features which are pretty extensivefor a one disc set. We're pretty sick of companies making DVDreleases look better than they are by making the jackets fatter orputting two or three special features on a second disk when we knowwell there was plenty of room left on the first. For starters, a full commentary lights the way with direct insight from Romero himself, a rare look at a master. Thedeleted scenes consist of a half a dozen unfinished shots, most withoutsound, which add no plot points. All in all its just 5 minutes ofnothing. They could be ignored entirely if not for a scene withthe memorable Pillsbury. There he crunches zombee fingers througha grate. Its worth a quick click of the remote. Theshining star here is a documentary called WHEN SHAUN MET GEORGE, allabout Simon Pegg's (creator of UK's SHAUN OF THE DEAD) successfuleffort to get a cameo in Romero's film. Is Pegg the mostdocumented extra in the history of horror films? Maybe. It's unclear whether his effort to get in LOTD was a labor of love orjust a publicity stunt, or maybe a little of both. Figuring thatout is your homework assignment. Remember, any promotion is goodpromotion! Allin all, if your a horror movie fan, this belongs in your library. A great flick with just enough fillers to make your credit card billlook a it smaller. (-William J Piniarski-) \| copyrightPARAseeek.com, 2005 \|