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Army of the Dead - Teaser Trailer
- Thread starter Cosmic Smash
- Start date
OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
Party McHardy
Member
This film managed to hold my attention till the credits.
Dr.Morris79
Member
This seems to have been a running theme for me the last, erm, fifteen years I reckon. And by god has it got worse in the last few years..
My thoughts:
Story: it’s a genre film. The narrative does fine introducing the cast in the beginning, but stumbles with interpersonal drama. Style is the story of the day - “we know the tropes and conventions of a zombie flick so let’s have fun.”
Writing: the movie has many writers and it feels like it. It has two of the writers from John Wick 3, and you can hear a tiny bit of that British cheek in the dialog. Its greatest crime is there are scenes that drag for no reason. Some characters are adequately written, others are not. If you have an ensemble cast, you need to write for an ensemble cast. See “The Thing” 1982.
Acting: some surprisingly good, some ok, some bad. I don’t know if it’s Snyder’s direction or just good casting but his films tend to have surprisingly good performances from some actors. Bautista is good. The actor playing Vanderhoe is good. The daughter is… perfunctory, the issue is that she’s not a well written character. Tig was the worst - she delivered a few lines fine but bombed a lot of the jokes (which is unfortunate since she is a stand up comic). The German guy pushed his humor too much and tried to be too goofy. A good fit for the role would have been Udo Kier - he’s comfortable with the genre and would have done something interesting with the lines. Overall, acting was serviceable.
Visuals: ah, the blurriness everyone talks about. From an aesthetic standpoint it’s fine - it can be pretty (in my opinion). The question is why? Why feel the need to isolate the characters so much? Snyder was shooting on a RED Monstro and wanted to shoot with natural light, so I guess he didn’t have to worry about exposure if he kept those dream lenses all the way open. Visually, it’s not as good as when he works with his usual DP Larry Fong, and shooting on digital has a much cleaner look than his other films. It’s an unusual visual style for a zombie film - parts of it reminded me of Larry Clark weirdly enough. I can see why people hate it, and love it.
Pacing: this is Snyder’s director’s cut. He left all the fat in. I would have liked to have seen the theatrical cut. A film like this should be no more than 2 hours max.
Overall: the movie’s ok. I can actually see this movie becoming a cult classic: it has unusual elements executed well. It’s meant to be a stylistic exercise. Zack Snyder got to play with an idea he’s been kicking around for fifteen years. I can see why people hate it and I can see why people had a good time with it. Personally, the experience felt empty by the end. Too much style over substance.
Post script: those of you wondering about the father-daughter story in the film, I have an idea why it’s there. Think about Snyder’s personal life, particularly during the shooting of Justice League. It may be a bit of catharsis for the Snyders.
Story: it’s a genre film. The narrative does fine introducing the cast in the beginning, but stumbles with interpersonal drama. Style is the story of the day - “we know the tropes and conventions of a zombie flick so let’s have fun.”
Writing: the movie has many writers and it feels like it. It has two of the writers from John Wick 3, and you can hear a tiny bit of that British cheek in the dialog. Its greatest crime is there are scenes that drag for no reason. Some characters are adequately written, others are not. If you have an ensemble cast, you need to write for an ensemble cast. See “The Thing” 1982.
Acting: some surprisingly good, some ok, some bad. I don’t know if it’s Snyder’s direction or just good casting but his films tend to have surprisingly good performances from some actors. Bautista is good. The actor playing Vanderhoe is good. The daughter is… perfunctory, the issue is that she’s not a well written character. Tig was the worst - she delivered a few lines fine but bombed a lot of the jokes (which is unfortunate since she is a stand up comic). The German guy pushed his humor too much and tried to be too goofy. A good fit for the role would have been Udo Kier - he’s comfortable with the genre and would have done something interesting with the lines. Overall, acting was serviceable.
Visuals: ah, the blurriness everyone talks about. From an aesthetic standpoint it’s fine - it can be pretty (in my opinion). The question is why? Why feel the need to isolate the characters so much? Snyder was shooting on a RED Monstro and wanted to shoot with natural light, so I guess he didn’t have to worry about exposure if he kept those dream lenses all the way open. Visually, it’s not as good as when he works with his usual DP Larry Fong, and shooting on digital has a much cleaner look than his other films. It’s an unusual visual style for a zombie film - parts of it reminded me of Larry Clark weirdly enough. I can see why people hate it, and love it.
Pacing: this is Snyder’s director’s cut. He left all the fat in. I would have liked to have seen the theatrical cut. A film like this should be no more than 2 hours max.
Overall: the movie’s ok. I can actually see this movie becoming a cult classic: it has unusual elements executed well. It’s meant to be a stylistic exercise. Zack Snyder got to play with an idea he’s been kicking around for fifteen years. I can see why people hate it and I can see why people had a good time with it. Personally, the experience felt empty by the end. Too much style over substance.
Post script: those of you wondering about the father-daughter story in the film, I have an idea why it’s there. Think about Snyder’s personal life, particularly during the shooting of Justice League. It may be a bit of catharsis for the Snyders.
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22:22:22
NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
Thanks for posting. I was to lazy. Half way through. Going to watch the rest now.
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Dacon
Banned
Some more brain food
Zack Snyder has an ‘insane’ idea for Army of the Dead 2
The ending leaves room for more, and the director is gamewww.polygon.com
“Shay Hatten [co-writer] and I know exactly what happens next,” Snyder says, “and it’s insane.”
By the end of Army of the Dead, most of the crew, including Dave Bautista’s ringleader Scott Ward, is dead. But thanks to a well-timed push into a casino safe, Scott’s old friend Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick) survives the nuclear blast. But a “nuke the fridge” moment can’t save him from a zombie’s bite. While he heads south of the border aboard a fancy private jet, it’s clear Vanderohe isn’t going to make it, and the world’s brain-eater problem isn’t over. Snyder “absolutely would” want to bring that “what if?” moment to life in a sequel.
“I’d make it in a second. What we have planned is too crazy. Once we knew Vanderohe was bit, and he’s going to Mexico City, I was like, ‘You know what’s gonna happen?’ And then I just went on a tear. And by the time it ended, Shay was like, ‘OK.’”
With a trigger-happy president ready to drop nukes on his problems — and even an appearance by Sean Spicer, former Trump White House Press Secretary — Army of the Dead has some of the blunt social-commentary edge of a classic zombie movie. A sequel that takes the action to Mexico could be equally biting. But throughout his Netflix romp, Snyder, who loves an Easter egg, planted traces of world-building that could pay off in wilder ways.
“How about the robot zombie? Did you catch those?” he says with a sinister chuckle.
Snyder’s quick to point out that Zeus, the alpha zombie whose killing spree kickstarts the Sin City-wide apocalypse, escapes from a container in the opening sequence that (if you pause and squint at the right moment) is marked with a shipping address to Iran. “Like, is he some sort of covert bioweapon?” the director asks me, a person who did not make the movie.
Halfway through the movie, when the crew finally arrives at their target casino, Vanderohe and some of the crew discover a set of rotting bodies by the vault. The corpses all appear to be dressed exactly like Vanderohe’s group, right down to a specific necklace. In spite of their tight timeline, Vanderohe pauses to drop a theory: Maybe the corpses are them from an alternate timeline. The red herring-ish moment never comes up again, but it’s impossible to shake. What was the deal with that?
“I don’t know, what is the deal?” Snyder says, with even more sinister chuckling. “Is Tanaka [the bankroller of the heist operation] Devil or God, and we’re just pawns in some perverse play?”
There could be answers in an Army of the Dead 2, if Netflix greenlights the film and Snyder isn’t busy elsewhere. The director says his long-gestating drama Horse Latitudes (previously known as The Last Photograph) is still on the docket, though COVID suspended his ambitious plans to shoot around the world in places like Bolivia and Iceland. Meanwhile, Snyder says he’s finally wrapped a script he’s been chipping away at for five years, and is “trying to get Netflix to agree to do it.”
Is it sci-fi? Horror? More grounded drama? “It’s a big, giant, crazy movie,” he says. So one thing is clear: Whether he makes the mystery project his next film or he moves on to Army of the Dead 2, viewers should expect pure Snyder out of the deal.
This reads like the guy is way too in love with himself and his ideas. Mind you, some of them are really interesting and neat. That doesn't mean I'm going to give a shit if the film isn't compelling enough to carry those ideas.
Movie should have been called Army of the Dumb.
Yeah, damn everything I've been looking forward to in the last 15 years has let me down.
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Aggelos
Member
Seems to be a thing dating back to 2006-2007. This news item is from March 2007.
Snyder Raises Another Army
Zack Snyder has achieved one of those rare Hollywood survival scenarios. He directed a remake of a cult classic film and survived. Not only did he survive the making of Dawn of the Dead (which even or
www.cinemablend.com
Neil Young
Member
This is a great review. The shot for shot copy of the scene from An American Werewolf in London along with the scenes from Aliens raises an eyebrow. I know Snyder would say he's paying homage but I wonder if he just figures no one will remember those movies in that much detail.
I think he’s having fun. Has Snyder ever claimed his movie is wholly original?
SJRB
Gold Member
This still hurts.
SJRB
Gold Member
Man I'm 45 minutes in but I'm having a blast. Movie is great fun so far. The ultra-intense depth of field stuff is brutal, but overall the movie looks really good, great characters, cool concept, the build-up is really great.
Easy peasy Japaneasy.
Edit: that was great. Final 45 minutes have a bit too many "this makes no sense" moments, but still had a good time. The gore was great, the action was mostly okay, a lot of the characters were really cool and had good chemistry [Vanderohe, what a legend]. And a couple of cliffhangers, too.
Easy peasy Japaneasy.
Edit: that was great. Final 45 minutes have a bit too many "this makes no sense" moments, but still had a good time. The gore was great, the action was mostly okay, a lot of the characters were really cool and had good chemistry [Vanderohe, what a legend]. And a couple of cliffhangers, too.
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Aggelos
Member
Easy peasy lemon squeezy
Did ya notice?
Vanderohe's theory about time loops and alternative timelines? Fighting and dying, fighting and dying...
The robot zombies?
UFO sightings?
The robot zombies?
UFO sightings?
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Shadowhelper
Banned
I enjoyed it quite a lot. Its nothing special, not even as good as the Dawn remake, but still very watchable.
The characters are a bit generic and surface level, dont really pop. Lot of things feel like an Aliens rip off. But my fucking god does this look cheap for some reason. Something about the lighting or coloring or something, just makes it look really cheap and green screeny.
The characters are a bit generic and surface level, dont really pop. Lot of things feel like an Aliens rip off. But my fucking god does this look cheap for some reason. Something about the lighting or coloring or something, just makes it look really cheap and green screeny.
SJRB
Gold Member
I have to admit that I'm kinda disappointed in the lack of actual Vegas setting. I totally expected some Dead Rising 2 stuff with a bunch of casinos, restaurants, stores but like 70% of this movie takes place outside in the desert / strip.
Pretty sure there was only one sequence in an actual casino, which seems like a huge waste.
Pretty sure there was only one sequence in an actual casino, which seems like a huge waste.
xrnzaaas
Member
Easy peasy lemon squeezy
Did ya notice?
Vanderohe's theory about time loops and alternative timelines? Fighting and dying, fighting and dying...
The robot zombies?
UFO sightings?
I would be very interested how many people besides Snyder would be interested in expanding that stuff in future Army of the Dead flicks. I just want a cool zombie movie, nothing more.
GamingKaiju
Member
Went into this movie with very low expectations, didn’t like the other Land of the Dead. Thought it was alright well better than other. The daughter got on my nerves like yeh imma goin risk my dads life for these other people, senseless. Valentine was cool.
meh 6/10 not great not terrible.
meh 6/10 not great not terrible.
MastaKiiLA
Member
The thing that made me hate the daughter the most is that she didn't even search the downed heli for her friend that she risked everyone's lives for. No display of sorrow. Just nothing. She was just the worst.
Recent posts have convinced me to rewatch this weekend. Hopefully it hits better on the second trip.
SJRB
Gold Member
Yeah that sucked big time. Her whole plot of "rescuing' that random lady who went over the wall voluntarily was just stupid with a super unrewarding finale since we don't even know if the lady survived.
Kinda hard to pin-point how old she was, too. One moment she acted like an adult, the other like a 14 year old kid. All over the place.
ricardo_sousa11
Member
This for me was one of the worst films in the last 10 years, there is no redeeming factor, at all.
Revolutionary
Member
Easy peasy lemon squeezy
Did ya notice?
Vanderohe's theory about time loops and alternative timelines? Fighting and dying, fighting and dying...
The robot zombies?
UFO sightings?
Honestly this just reeks of Netflix recognizing that the movie is a dud and trying to add as many things in post to get people talking about it so they make more crap. Everyone knows that Netflix's priority is quantity over quality.
"hey bro did you see that robot zombie what was that about!"
"I don't know bro! Can't wait for the sequel BRO"
As for the time loop thing, it's the most unimportant piece of info ever because it goes absolutely nowhere. I read an interview where Snyder said even the costume designer was like "why?" lol
GamingKaiju
Member
Definitely. The only reason her father ended up getting bitten was because she went looking for those people instead of staying with her Dad.
I can see where he’s coming from camera wise. When you hold the actual camera, it can an extension of yourself. You look through the viewfinder find interesting images and compositions. It can be a very engaging exercise. However, while it “feels” right, that feeling doesn’t necessarily translate to the image.
Having the lens wide open at f 0.95 with an ISO range of probably 800-3200, it’s clear he wanted to shoot as much as possible with practical lighting, which has its aesthetic and helps speed up production. That’s the nice thing about digital - you can shoot with very little light.
The film doesn’t look bad. I just question whether it was the right visual approach for the film. The look would work well for a drama or mystery.
highrider
Banned
I’m a Snyder fan, thought this was pathetic. I would be embarrassed to shit that out as a creative product. There’s a few cool ideas and glimpses of Snyder doing what he does, but it’s buried under the weight under a dull, lifeless, and completely unbelievable cast in every way. It’s like everything I hate about movies right now , well done dickheads at Netflix 
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strange headache
Banned
I'd rather watch the first Resident Evil movie again than this horrible movie
xrnzaaas
Member
The first Resident Evil movie is still a proper good flick. It's got scary moments, cool zombie scenes, nice cast, awesome soundtrack and reasonably logic storyline.I'd rather watch the first Resident Evil movie again than this horrible movie
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Mattyp
Gold Member
Was super excited for this but... let’s just hope Stratham provides some enjoyable dumb excitement tonight instead to wash this away.
Actually painful, very fucking painful to watch. There’s some exciting scenes, original idea, great shooting, but christ I cannot get past the stupidity of his daughter, him, nearly the entire writing of every character it makes it near unwatchable. Some glaring plot holes I was willing to ignore but the stupidity written into every character to such a level I cannot.
Actually painful, very fucking painful to watch. There’s some exciting scenes, original idea, great shooting, but christ I cannot get past the stupidity of his daughter, him, nearly the entire writing of every character it makes it near unwatchable. Some glaring plot holes I was willing to ignore but the stupidity written into every character to such a level I cannot.
You’d think drinking would improve the experience.
Cutty Flam
Banned
Just watched it. Movie is fucking trash, hated it
A friend insisted we watch. Was seriously ragging on it for 5-8 minutes nonstop from the very beginning. What the fuck was Zack Snyder thinking? It's like he didn't give a single fuck and tried to make the worst possible film he could have. How does this even happen? This just became the worst excuse for a film that I've ever seen in my life, dead serious
Opening = 0/10
Middle = 1/10
Ending = 0.5/10
Huge waste of everything. Fuck this movie
A friend insisted we watch. Was seriously ragging on it for 5-8 minutes nonstop from the very beginning. What the fuck was Zack Snyder thinking? It's like he didn't give a single fuck and tried to make the worst possible film he could have. How does this even happen? This just became the worst excuse for a film that I've ever seen in my life, dead serious
Opening = 0/10
Middle = 1/10
Ending = 0.5/10
Huge waste of everything. Fuck this movie
bitbydeath
Member
I didn’t mind it, the budget was nice and rarely (probably never before) seen for a zombie flick.
The biggest criticism is easily the story, it went all over the place and had way too much unnecessary fat in it that mostly never saw any form of resolution, the alien baby, capturing the blue blood didn’t dive deep enough, the clones of themselves at the vault wasn’t needed, the completely unnecessary father/daughter thing, greeta (who just completely vanished after stepping into the helicopter), even the tiger, while cool looking, should really have been shot on sight at the beginning of the film.
I’m sure there are lots more examples as well, not to mention character wastage but if you turn your brain off and enjoy the action it’s OK.
The biggest criticism is easily the story, it went all over the place and had way too much unnecessary fat in it that mostly never saw any form of resolution, the alien baby, capturing the blue blood didn’t dive deep enough, the clones of themselves at the vault wasn’t needed, the completely unnecessary father/daughter thing, greeta (who just completely vanished after stepping into the helicopter), even the tiger, while cool looking, should really have been shot on sight at the beginning of the film.
I’m sure there are lots more examples as well, not to mention character wastage but if you turn your brain off and enjoy the action it’s OK.
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DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
I had no idea she was on Zack Snyder's Justice League... She looks so much nicer in the amazonian garb
Aggelos
Member
‘Oh my god, are they going to show this? Oh my god, they showed it.' - befores & afters
Visual effects and animation online magazine from journalist Ian Failes.
beforesandafters.com
I do wonder if the pandemic in some way affected filming. LIke I read it started filming back in July of 2019 but I keep thinking that for a movie about a city filled with zombies there are not a lot of zombies killed. Like they really only have two parts where zombies were killed and that is when the girl was backstabbed and in the lotto machine room when the lights were on.
Werewolf Jones
Gold Member
Watching the documentary on how it was made and when you see the faces of all the people who worked on this film. All you can do is weep for them that all they could do is sit back and let Snyder indulge in his ego. There's potential in this movie somewhere but you gotta dig deep and start from the bottom to fix it.
