What happened to George A. Romero?

[goodcop2000]

I just added a review in my movie review thread for George A. Romero's 6th zombie movie: Survival of the Dead. Looking back at my prior ratings for his films, I see a disturbing trend.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) - 5 stars
Dawn of the Dead (1978) - 4 stars
Day of the Dead (1985) - 3.5 stars
Land of the Dead (2005) - 3.5 stars
Diary of the Dead (2007) - 3 stars
Survival of the Dead (2009) - 1.5 stars

What has happened to the quality of Romero films? Is he just getting too old? I saw a blurb that he wants to do 2 sequels to Survival. I find myself hoping he stops now so as not to tarnish his legacy.

What do you all think? Do you agree that the quality of his films has steadily declined?

I would be very interested to see how other people rank/rate his films.

[friskers96]

I think our view on zombies has changed. His movies in my mind have always been about society and our flaws with a zombie back drop to keep us focused. Human nature is a son of a _____, and he tries to get us to truthfully put ourselves in the characters shoes and see if we can make a tough decision or just lay down. I think his recent movies show a little decline, survival was not a favorite of mine but neither was Day. Maybe I'm getting a little too deep into it, but regardless of his name being stamped on it or not I still think they are quality flicks compared to some of the bandwagon straight to video trash that pops out every day. I think I'm more of a puritanical zombie fan, it took me a while to like 28 Days Later, and there are a lot that I own just to have it in the collection. Romero's I continually watch and they don't get old. Fast, slow, gory, or drama, it's about the message between the lines..

[sickboy]

I think his messages became less and less relevant. Rather than concentrating on making good movies he's constantly looking for a meaning that doesn't necessarily make for good entertainment.

Survival was atrocious. Romero has been trading off his reputation alone for years. Truly remarkable movies get made when someone makes a bold departure from the norm- think Let the Right One in for Vampires, Saw for Torture Porn. While others have innovated with zombie movies (28 days later, Pontypool, even Resident Evil) Romero has stuck to his tried and tested formula.

Plus he's lucked out down the years, working with a then unknown Savini, etc, Even amongst fans of arguably his best film (Dawn of the Dead) there are those that prefer the Argento cut- which entirely changes the tone of the film.

[SirTommyKittens]

Romero's movies will always hold a place in my heart, social commentary or not. Survival of the Dead was still better then Zombie Strippers. Lol. As for 28 Days/Weeks Later, I just cannot call them zombies. 1) They did not become infected, die & re-animate. 2) They did not feed on the flesh of the non-infected. They simply used their teeth & hands as weapons to attack.

[soundguy]

overall.. I like all zed flicks.

I just think budget and FX and cost all outdistanced each other in different directions. not to mention.. it's hard to get A-casts for zed flicks.

I think brad's will show us some better fx and a-budget stuff.. .. hope the story is up for it..

[friskers96]

Brad Pitt... Nuff said...

[zachmaio]

Brad Pitt is my boy

[soundguy]

getting clsoe guys. i hope the movie lives up to the wait and anticipation...


my wife has pretty much 100% given up and boycotted ever seeing another zombie movie after some real D- zingers i've found in t he 5$ bargain bins lately ( scraping the bottom of the BBL literally )....

I've been informed that she will never watch another one after putting up with t he crummy stuff i watch however. i do have an 'advance permission' pass on WWZ. she's agreed to see THAT one, alone, due to the ++++budget, A-list actors and media hype.. and the fact she had -already- agreed to see it before the batch of cruddy ones I brought home turned her off..... and she's pretty good about keeping her word once she says she will do something. so.. I hope it';s worth it. it's the last zed flick i get to see with the wife. meaning if anymore good oens come out.. I gotta wait for dvd or sneak outta work to see them solo..

[friskers96]

Netflix has some really horrible Zombie movies if your interested, they rotate them through quite often. Goes to show Ill watch any zombie movie no matter how bad it is. Don't worry about the wife, either she'll come around or you'll closet watch them. Personally I like watching them without the wife. One, a little bit of "my" time. Two, I don't have to hear how in-plausible the whole Zombie thing is and why I would waste my time with a horrid movie. Granted I did rip twilight to shreds for her, but that was just retaliation for talking through all my Zombie flicks...

[soundguy]

to my credit.. i do have a pretty extensive zed movie collection. many of them are B thru D a few are A level though.