George A. Romero's Land Of The Dead: Unrated Director's Cut: HD DVD And DVD Combo Format Disc Review

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Title: George A. Romero’s Land Of The Dead: Unrated Director’s Cut: HD DVD And DVD Combo Format

Media: HD DVD/DVD Hybrid

DVD Side Region: One

Genre: Horror

Stars: Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, John Leguizamo, Eugene Clark, Tom Savini, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright

Writer: George A. Romero

Director: George A. Romero

Feature length: 1 hour and 37 minutes

Extras: Feature Length Audio Commentary With Director George A. Romero, “Undead Again: The Making Of Land Of The Dead” Featurette, “A Day With The Living Dead” Featurette, “The Remaining Bits – Deleted Scenes”, “When Shaun Met George” Featurette, “Bringing The Dead To Life” Featurette, Scenes Of Carnage Music Video, “Zombie Effects: From The Green Screen To Finished Scene” Comparisons, “Bringing The Storyboards To Life” Comparisons, “Screen Tests: Zombie Casting Calls”

HD DVD Side Languages: English and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

DVD Side Languages: English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

HD DVD Side Subtitles: English Subtitles For Deaf And Hearing Impaired, and French and Spanish Language Subtitles

DVD Side Subtitles: English Subtitles For Deaf And Hearing Impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Elite Red HD Case

Chapter Stops: 21

HD DVD Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

DVD Sound: DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2005/HDVDVD and DVD Combo Format Release: 2006

Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

After twenty years, George A. Romero finally released the fourth film in his “Living Dead” series that began with “Night Of The Living Dead” in 1968. The exact amount of time after the third film in the series, “Day Of The Dead,” is not made clear since each film in the series focuses on a different group of characters trying to cope and survive in a world where the dead are coming back to life and feeding on the flesh of the living. If you have seen any of the previous films, you don’t need to know the rules that have developed as a sort of mythology for the series, but for those who have yet to see a George Romero zombie picture the basic facts are that a few years ago a plague of zombies began to appear. It is now a fact in this world that after you die you will rise again unless your brain is destroyed, which is the only way to kill a zombie. The reason for why this has occurred has become obscured between rumors as diverse as some strange radiation that showered down upon the Earth from a space probe returning from Venus, a virus, or a curse upon humanity. The early attempts to contain the epidemic failed because anyone who survives a bite from a zombie will become one in a short span of time, which could be a matter of hours or days. In addition if a zombie victim’s brain remains intact enough following an attack, the victim will reanimate too. Eventually panic and a failed attempt at martial law caused a complete breakdown in society and the zombies overran the Earth in a tidal wave of anarchy. Attempts at trying to discover a cure or way of controlling the zombies also proved futile. The surviving humans spread out wherever they could find some form of sanctuary from the undead. Wealthy profiteers who set up fortified cities soon recruited groups of raiders to go into the undead wastelands to secure supplies and luxuries from the old world and soon a new class system emerged - the rich, the poor, and the undead. Somehow these cities have been able to maintain some form of contact and commerce between the citizens of each settlement so money is still used in exchange for goods.

In a city, which happens to look a lot like George Romero’s hometown of Pittsburgh, Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) rules from the top of a towering building known as Fiddler’s Green. There the blue bloods live in a façade that mirrors the world of the past and allows the inhabitants to ignore the poverty and threats that exist outside of Fiddler’s Green. Kaufman has fortified the city with a standing army that includes the Dead Reckoning, an armored all terrain vehicle armed with missiles, guns, and enough sophisticated technology to keep both the living and the living dead at bay in an attack. Within the city, but outside on the streets that surround Fiddler’s Green, the poor and homeless are given all sorts of vices to keep them occupied and under control. It would seem that under these circumstances, Kaufman could keep this racket going on indefinitely for as long as he keeps the poor untainted humans occupied and keeps the undead out of the city, he practically rules unopposed. However within the span of 48 hours everything he has will soon be torn apart. The zombies are becoming sentient and learning to use the tools they once facilitated in their previous lives. One zombie with a gas station attendant’s uniform that says “Big Daddy” (Eugene Clark) has not only become self aware, but he has developed a compassion of sorts for his fellow undead and a deep resentment for the raiders that enter his suburban town and loot it, blowing away zombies in their path. Big Daddy leads by example and his drive takes him and an army of the undead all the way to Fiddler’s Green, which he sees as the source of the raids. Within the city, dissidents calling attention to Kaufman’s underhanded regime are rounded up, questioned, and often killed by the same people Kaufman sends out into the wastelands to keep his empire going. When Kaufman double-crosses one of the mercenaries (John Leguizamo), he places the city in double jeopardy because as the zombies attack the military compound that exists across the river from the city, the Dead Reckoning is stolen and Kaufman is given an ultimatum. Either pay out five million dollars or watch his city crumble under the weaponry of the Dead Reckoning. Refusing to negotiate, Kaufman cuts a deal with Riley (Simon Baker), the man who built the Dead Reckoning, and sends him out to secure and bring the fortress on wheels back. Riley is well aware of Kaufman’s corruption as well as the evolving undead threat that exists outside of the city, but all he wants to do is travel as far north as he can where he and a few others might be able to live a life free of fences, other people, and the living dead.

Arguably his most political installment in the quartet of “Living Dead” films he has directed, George A. Romero’s “Land Of The Dead” is in some ways less epic in scope than the second film in the series “Dawn Of The Dead,” despite the higher budget and studio backing. The film is thankfully less bleak than “Day Of The Dead” and actually offers a glimmer of hope in the open-ended finale Romero consciously concocted should this film be his final installment in the series. Greg Nicotero’s makeup effects are outstanding and the film contains an element of pathos the three previous films did not have. Fans of the series will always have a favorite, but with “Land Of The Dead” George A. Romero has proven once again why no one can equal him in what he does. Simply put, Romero is both a Grand Master in the horror film genre as well as a dynamic and artistic filmmaker who’s still at the top of his game. At the time of this writing, Romero is developing a prequel to “Night Of The Living Dead” entitled “Diary Of The Dead” that will be released in 2008. From what I have read, the film will take place just before the zombie plague begins and transition into the events that occur concurrently in “Night Of The Living Dead.” The film will center on a group of filmmakers making a horror picture in the woods only to stumble upon the horror of the first flesh eating living dead. A number of rumors and speculation have appeared online since. Some say Simon Baker may return playing his character that would be about three years younger than his portrayal was in “Land Of The Dead.” Interesting if true since outside of Tom Savini’s cameo in “Land Of The Dead,” playing the zombie incarnation of his character from “Dawn Of The Dead,” there has not been one character in the series to return in a different installment. What actually interests me more though is what could have inspired George Romero to do a fifth zombie film in his series and why has he chosen to do a prequel instead of a sequel? I guess we’ll find out in 2008.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released “George A. Romero’s Land Of The Dead: Unrated Director’s Cut” to HDDVD as a combo format disc containing the film in 1080p high definition (2.35:1) widescreen on one side and the anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) Unrated Director’s Cut DVD that has been available for the last year on the other. This is the first of his living dead films to be shot and presented using cinemascope and Romero fills the visual compositions quite nicely so fans can watch the film multiple times and catch new details. The Unrated Director’s Cut features more gore that Romero did not even attempt to bring to the MPAA for the film to receive an R rating. The new gore scenes are quite extreme and include such gross out moments as a man having his eye bitten out of it’s socket along with part of his face and another hapless victim literally having his face torn right off to reveal his fleshy skull. There are also more dialogue scenes that enhance the characters a bit and in particular a scene where John Leguizamo’s character must contend with the suicide of one of the tenant’s of Fiddler’s Green.

Personally I am glad to see the restored scenes, but I think the change in structure that occurs as a result slows down the film’s momentum and I wish both the theatrical and the Unrated Director’s Cut were made available via seamless branching on one HD DVD instead of a combo format release with the same cut on both sides. One of the great things about a combo disc besides having the option of playing the film back on either an HD DVD player or a DVD player is the quick and easy comparison one can make between the 1080p resolution of the high definition picture and the upconverted 1080i standard definition DVD side. The difference is actually quite remarkable. The colors are far more vibrant and deep in the high definition version and the level of detail and clarity truly in this case make the standard definition DVD version look almost like a VHS tape in comparison. I am very impressed with the HD DVD transfer. It should be noted though that on it’s own merits, the standard definition DVD side, which is more or less the same DVD that has been available in stores for about a year now, is still quite good even though the extra value features do effect the amount of space the 480p resolution disc has to devote to picture quality. The transfer is not bad, but there is definitely a loss in the quality of the resolution that is particularly noticeable if you watch the film on a widescreen TV where the image is not compressed to fit a standard 4 by 3 television frame. So obviously if you have an HD DVD player, this is 1080p version is the one to watch. The high definition side also features an excellent English Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Soundtrack with a much higher fidelity and dynamic range than both the English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack and English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack options found on the standard definition DVD side. Even the English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired seemed more accurate than the English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired encoded on the standard definition side. A Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Soundtrack option is featured on the high definition side and both versions feature French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the disc as options too.

Both the high definition and the standard definition sides of the disc also include a feature length audio commentary track with Writer and Director George Romero, Producer Peter Grunwald, and Editor Michael Daughtery. Some people might think I’m crazy for stating this, but as articulate as Mr. Romero is when discussing his films, he seems to have developed a wholesome and jolly quality about him that somehow reminds me of Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee. I may not be too far off the mark since there is a certain comic book quality to “Dawn Of The Dead” and both “Dawn Of The Dead” and “Land Of The Dead” were eventually adapted into comic books too. Overall the commentary is extremely informative and caters to both those interested in how a film like this is made and to the diehard fans that want to know more about the gruesome details regarding this dark fantasy world Mr. Romero has created. I was surprised to learn that people are still reanimating after death regardless if they were bit by a zombie or not because prior to screening this disc, I only saw the theatrical cut when it was playing on the big screen that point was not made clear until seeing the Director’s Cut. Of course this then leaves open the question left from “Day Of The Dead” regarding why didn’t we see the character of Doctor Logan, who was played by the late Richard Liberty, rise from the dead since he was clearly not shot in the head. After all, if the brain is intact then the dead body will rise up and act.

The other bonus features on this hybrid disc are strictly on the standard definition side and are practically identical to the original DVD release too. These bonus materials include a series of featurettes like “Undead Again” (12:56), which is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. John Leguizamo adds some humor to his tour of the set in “A Day With The Living Dead” (7:34) and Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright add some distinct dry British humor to their featurette “When Shaun Met George” (13:00) and in fact they’re zombie cameo characters can be seen on the DVD cover art for “Land Of The Dead” with Pegg standing just behind Big Daddy to the left and Wright standing behind another feature zombie to the right of the cover art. The HD DVD obscures Wright a bit, but part of him is still visible. There’s also a reel of deleted scenes under the heading “The Remaining Bits” (9:31), which are presented in a letterboxed (2.35:1) aspect ratio.

Exclusive bonus features included only on the Unrated Director’s Cut DVD are a makeup effects featurette with Greg Nicotero entitled “Bringing The Dead To Life” (9:31), a montage of some of the gorier moments sets to classical music in “Scenes Of Carnage” (1:44), an exploration of the CGI effects used to enhance the film in “Zombie Effects: From Green Screen To Finished Scene” (3:19), storyboard to finished scene comparisons (7:56), and a CGI spoof with zombies dancing to what looks like the choreographed moves from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video (1:05). The main menu on the standard definition DVD side is animated with motion transitions featuring scenes from the film while the subsequent DVD menus are all standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. The HD DVD side has the generic Universal HD interactive menus, but with this dramatic upbeat music that almost seems like a joke when one considers the dark tone of the motion picture on the disc itself. The menu also serves as a screensaver if you pause the unit for a while to grab something to eat. (No pun intended.)

“George A. Romero’s Land Of The Dead: Unrated Director’s Cut: HD DVD and DVD Combo Format” disc is the first of George A. Romero’s “Living Dead” series to be released on any commercial high definition optical disc format, but hopefully not the last. It is available at retailers on and offline now courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

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