Survival of the Dead DVD Review
It’s hard to believe that there is already a DVD review of George Romero’s upcoming new film Survival of the Dead when the movie hasn’t even been released in theaters yet. Welcome to the new age of cinema. It’s hard to believe, but I think in a matter of twenty years, movie theaters will either be a thing of the past or drastically retooled into something else. We are in the midst of a digital revolution whereby filmmakers no longer need the film studio for a movie to find its audience.
Anyway, back to the DVD review. The folks over at DVD Times managed to get a hold of a region 2 DVD which from the review unfortunately doesn’t sound like it doesn’t have a whole lot going it. The folks at DVD Times turns out to be a little disappointed with the whole deal. From the article:
There’s a scene in Survival of the Dead, Romero’s latest addition to the genre, where aging zombie destroyer Patrick O’Flynn is faced with the prospect of having to finish off two zombie children chained to their beds; as he takes a step back to gather his mettle, the weight of his burden is tangible to us, and it’s this quality that makes Romero’s zombie brand so appealing. It’s just a shame that in Survival…, we aren’t given adequate time to know and understand the fallible humans before us, and as a result the impact is much flattened when stood alongside notable earlier efforts.
As for the DVD:
Perhaps the only issue of note is that the picture is surrounded by a very fine but nonetheless visible frame. During the dark scenes, it’s not actually noticeable, but during lighter sequences, a line is evident, particularly across the top of the picture. Whilst this doesn’t spoil viewing to any major degree, it’s an occasional reminder of reality that can detract from the zombie nightmare illusion. This could be my review copy – but I tried it on a couple of different players to ensure it wasn’t related to my hardware.
To be honest I’m jonsiing for this film. So long as the movie does not channel the spirit of Diary of the Dead, then I will be happy.
Survival of the Dead DVD Review (dvdtimes.co.uk <- new window)
Filed under: George Romero, Movies (offline and online) · Tags: George Romero, Movies (offline and online), Survival of the Dead
I bought the Blu-Ray at the weekend and watched it. In my opinion, this is easily Romero’s best work since Day and, some poor CG-composited shots aside, it feels like classic Romero. Similar even to Dawn in terms of atmosphere, even though the settings are so different.
For the first time in a while, I really felt invested in his characters, especially O’Flynn (odd because I thought he was a bit of a joke in the trailers with his godawful Irish accent).
I almost gave the movie a miss (I can’t articulate how poor I felt Diary was) but, man, I’m glad I didn’t. A real pleasant surprise.