return of the living dead

[kingofmonsters2]

the truth is that it all boils down to taste, some people enjoy this movie and others do not. i dont claim they "dont get it" or that they are "purists" some people just dont like the same thing. i do happen to love this movie, and i do think it is one of the greatest zombie movies ever made and sorry that the series went down hill the way that it had. i am also sorry that john russo has his damned name anywhere near this movie. like or hate this movie, i think we can all agree that russo needs to be chained up in a basement somewhere and kept away from any form of movie making materials. the greatest thing to have happened is that o'bannon made his own movie and russo was left in the wind like a bad fart.

[darth los]

the truth is that it all boils down to taste, some people enjoy this movie and others do not. i dont claim they "dont get it" or that they are "purists" some people just dont like the same thing. i do happen to love this movie, and i do think it is one of the greatest zombie movies ever made and sorry that the series went down hill the way that it had. i am also sorry that john russo has his damned name anywhere near this movie. like or hate this movie, i think we can all agree that russo needs to be chained up in a basement somewhere and kept away from any form of movie making materials. the greatest thing to have happened is that o'bannon made his own movie and russo was left in the wind like a bad fart. Although, we can thank our lucky stars that russo was vindicated by NOTLD 30th. Right? And about a series going downhill, Now GAR can attest to that too. Although he'd probably cop out and say that the films are in no way related and thus technically not a series.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Although, we can thank our lucky stars that russo was vindicated by NOTLD 30th. Right? And about a series going downhill, Now GAR can attest to that too. Although he'd probably cop out and say that the films are in no way related and thus technically not a series. Hasn't he always said that? I only bust Bassman's bals about ROTLD. i know he hates the movie which why when he said he was waiting for the "I don't get it" comments I was the first to chime in on that post. However, an excellent point was made when talking about Vampires. Its ok for someone to screw with the mythology of Vamps, no one cares, but change one little zombie mythos and people go apeshit. Even Romero has changed his own mythos from film to film. In Night the bite transformed someone within hours, in DAWN it took 3 days, in Day we assume a day, although Miguel never turned, in Land it took an hour, and Diary a couple of hours. The man can't keep his own zombie mythos straight. The biggest mythos people have a problem with is when someone changes things to running zombies. Who cares if they run? It is still dead flesh awakened by some unknown force, the fact it is more agile makes it scarier IMHO. In ROTLD, the zombies run and talk, but aren't Zack Snyder/Danny Boyle track stars. The talking aspect was funny as hell to me, but can also be creepy. Now you have smart zombies, that can plot and communicate. Dan O'Bannon made the ultimate smart zombie. Romero should have taken some pointers when playing with the Big Daddy character for Land, but IMHO he should have just ignored the smart zombie subject as it was already done, and no one could do it as good as O'Bannon did with Return. The fact remains though not everyone will like every zombie film, but we can't go apeshit when someone changes mythology about the zombie and the zombie plague when our beloved Uncle George does the same thing.

[Thorn]

maybe that is where Mr. Romero is "Going" with the series, the constant progression and learning. Maybe of of his zombies will be intelligent and able to communicate, reason, and lead on a level that surpasses all the rest. It is not a direction I am particularly fond of, because I am very much a fan of the slow dumb zombie... not my call though.

[SRP76]

However, an excellent point was made when talking about Vampires. Its ok for someone to screw with the mythology of Vamps, no one cares, but change one little zombie mythos and people go apeshit. That's a stretch. Small variations don't piss people off, as long as it doesn't change the basic mechanics of the creature; as long as they don't mess with what makes the creature what it is. Example A: A zombie doesn't make any noise ---> Zombies do some grunting, growling and moaning. No big deal; very little complaint. A vampire doesn't give a damn about silver ---> Vampires burn, agonize, what-have-you when they get silver laid to them. Small potatoes; little complaint. Example B: A zombie, being a dead body, is slow, uncoordinated, and incapable of speech ---> Zombies run, speak better than your average college graduate, and qualify for the Olympic gymnastics team. HUGE deal; you better believe people bitch. A vampire cannot handle sunlight; it kills ---> Vampires walk around in daylight without a care in the world. Watch what happens then.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I do dig slow and dumb zombies, but I like runners, but not the track star runners, ROTLD runners is what I like in a running zombie. Vampires, the mythos are different from film to film so basically anything that remains consistent to Bram Stokers Dracula is what I dig.

[clanglee]

A vampire cannot handle sunlight; it kills ---> Vampires walk around in daylight without a care in the world. Watch what happens then. What happens then is a completely annoying "sexual fantasy for teenaged girls" that becomes like the most popular vampire movie in decades. Fucking Twilight

[aga]

I should point out there are infact TWO books written by Russo called Return of the Living Dead. The original book which was written after the split with Romero and a true sequel to Night, and an adaptation of the film version which was obviously done later.

[Albert Wesker]

The book was actually good,or at least I thought so.If you ever read Romero's original script for Day of the Dead it's kind of like that,very violent and descriptive.As far as ROTLD the movie it was total genius,I'm biased towards George Romero because I used to live in Pittsburgh and actually went to the Monroeville mall a few times when i was a kid.But I think ROTLD was the complete package for a movie,funny,gory,serious,a little bit of social commentary for the times and I enjoy watching it more than any other Zombie movie made,with Dawn of the Dead following closely behind.

[dracenstein]

I used to have a copy of the original Return of the Living Dead book, a proper sequel to NotLD and thought it was nothing more than okay. If it was a straight choice between Russo and Romero (film or book), I would go for Romero every time. Russo and Romero got it great with NotLD, but when they went their seperate ways, Romero had the better product. Now, the film. I loved the film, the humour, the gore, the characters and Linnea Quigley. But, given a choice, I would watch a Romero film.

[krakenslayer]

RotLD had a lot of promise, but overall I think it was a pretty dull movie. I actually quite liked the unstoppable zombies and their sick lust for flesh, it's a genuinely terrifying concept! Tarman, in particular, just kept surprising me - his eerie grin, problem-solving ability and lustful cries of "brains" are genuinely shit scary if you put yourself in the characters' shoes, especially when you know you can't kill him with a simple bullet. I realise that unstoppable zombies, which can be dismembered and continue to come after you, don't make any physical sense. Sure, Romero-style zombies are pretty far-fetched too, but at least the vulnerability of their brains at least hints at some biochemical, physical principle at work. Return does not have this, how can an arm without a brain know how to grab someone? But it doesn't matter to me because it's a comic book-type movie and you really have to suspend your disbelief, because it is a fucking scary idea if you just go with it. So far it sounds like I quite liked Return, but no, overall it bored me senseless. The main problem was the characters - there were loads of them and most of them were interchangeable, they were all totally one-dimensional, and spend most of the running time just going around screaming at each other. Every single character in this movie irritated the piss out of me. Never did anyone really bother to come up with a decent plan of action, nothing exciting ever happens except for repetitive zombie attacks. The comedy was dire. I didn't laugh once throughout the movie. It wasn't until the "funny" montage at the end that I was able to tell when I was supposed to be laughing (apart from "send more paramedics" and "like this job!?" which I could see were supposed to be funny but weren't). So yeah, lots of promise, dull movie. I'm gonna get flogged for saying this but I greatly prefer parts 2 and 3 (particularly 3).

[wayzim]

The book was actually good,or at least I thought so.If you ever read Romero's original script for Day of the Dead it's kind of like that,very violent and descriptive.As far as ROTLD the movie it was total genius,I'm biased towards George Romero because I used to live in Pittsburgh and actually went to the Monroeville mall a few times when i was a kid.But I think ROTLD was the complete package for a movie,funny,gory,serious,a little bit of social commentary for the times and I enjoy watching it more than any other Zombie movie made,with Dawn of the Dead following closely behind. I still have my copy of ROTLD; The Paperback, which I got at a Sci Fi con many years ago. It's a good read and inspired a grain of an idea which became Deadfall and the subsequent short stories. I liked the notion of a plague that wasn't ongoing but came in waves, stronger with each new cycle. Wayne Z Scarcely a celebration of the ages, a vagabond band camped near the base of the Catskills. What Woodstock had built in August, The Dead had torn asunder in October, but something of that liberal spirit remained still. A free bird ready to take flight. They were eventually some two hundred strong, already social outcasts in their own minds, exiles from the besieged cities, North and South, gathered together on private farmland. With the retreat out of the killing fields of Albany, New York City and other smaller communities, the partially tamed wilds were a balm to the senses, and these frightened children did what they did best in the extreme. Deadfall; Fools on the Hill.

[Albert Wesker]

I enjoyed part 2 alot myself,if you take it for whats its worth it's a very entertaining movie.Part 3 I had high hopes for,I read in Fangoria before it came out that it was going to be serious and tell the story in the Zombies point of view,but that's not at all what the final production was.So it was a big letdown for me,if it didn't have the ROTLD name on it it would've been alot more watchable.As far as 4 an 5 I don't know what the fuck they were thinking,all they were missing was zombies with jetpacks doing slapstick comedy.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I enjoyed part 2 alot myself,if you take it for whats its worth it's a very entertaining movie.Part 3 I had high hopes for,I read in Fangoria before it came out that it was going to be serious and tell the story in the Zombies point of view,but that's not at all what the final production was.So it was a big letdown for me,if it didn't have the ROTLD name on it it would've been alot more watchable.As far as 4 an 5 I don't know what the fuck they were thinking,all they were missing was zombies with jetpacks doing slapstick comedy. I refuse to further acknowledge the existence of Return 4 or 5. As far as I am concerned the series stopped at part 3.

[SRP76]

I refuse to further acknowledge the existence of Return 4 or 5. As far as I am concerned the series stopped at part 3. You actually consider ROTLD3 to exist as a film? I always thought of it more as "abuse".