Army of the Dead *SPOILERS*

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by theenglish, Jun 1, 2021.

  1. theenglish

    theenglish Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I just watched this movie over the weekend and was surprised to see that nobody started a film about it. The following contains major spoilers for the end of the film:

    I loved a lot of this film. It looks beautiful. The zombie designs and choreography was amazing. And the cast was awesome. Great choice bringing in Tig Notaro at the last minute was inspired. Oh, and zombie Tiger! One technical criticism is that I absolutely despise is how mild nuclear weapons are in film universes. In fact I am gong to assume that Kate dies later of radiation poisoning. I also didn't like the varying time before being turned--how does the guy at the end make it all the way to an airport and aboard an airplane before turning when everyone else turns in only a few minutes.

    I am split on whether the previous clues were time traveling versions of the main characters. When I was watching the movie I was thinking that it was just meant as foreshadowing or as symbolic of the futility of the heist. But I see online that people have found little details that hint of a time loop.
     
  2. USS Firefly

    USS Firefly Commodore Commodore

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    It was a fun movie, only thing I didn't like were the scènes when the action scènes started and the characters where ridiculous stupid. Like instead of stepping into the helicopter they just talk so the Alpha zombie could attack them
     
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  3. Morpheus 02

    Morpheus 02 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    as much as i dislike the Snyderverse, this film was definitley in Zack Snyder's wheelhouse, and pretty well done (assuming you you ignore certain things, and just took it for an action flm with some heart).

    The bleakness at the end definitely fits, though, with THIS type of film, vs. Superhero films (especially Superman). Stuff like Dieter trying to save a person, only for it to have caused MORE destruction rather than saving a life.

    @theenglish i don't know if you knew, but Tig was actually a replacement due to a scandal of the original actor, so her parts were mostly spliced into previously filmed material. I gotta say -- that was masterfully done, and i wouldn't have known without seeing it on a newsfeed. Though she felt like the same character as Discovery, it worked extremely well with the film.

    And regarding the guy at the end... where was he bit again? And it was only once, right? It seems like most that we saw turned had gotten bit multiple times, so that might have changed things rapidly.



    There was word of a prequel....so would that be basically the opening scene flashbacks? (Plus some other stuff)?



    Now, this is a whole different universe than Dawn of the Dead, right?
     
  4. Jayson1

    Jayson1 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I was okay but the opening sequence showing Vegas being overtaken by Zombies is what the whole movie should have been about.
     
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  5. marillion

    marillion Vice Admiral Admiral

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    If anyone wants to meet up at the Burger Boy when I get back in Albuquerque in July, The egg foo yung burgers on me.

    Been going to that joint since college and while the hamburgers and Chinese food isn't the best you've ever had, it's good enough and the prices are really decent!
     
  6. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I was hoping someone would start a thread for this since I watched it last week.
    I'm not a huge fan of Snyder's DC movies, just because I don't care for the kind of superhero stories he told there, but I actually really liked this. Since this was all his own thing, there were none of the issues I had with his DC movies.
    This had a lot of cool action scenes, and most of the characters were pretty interesting. There were some pretty surprising twists in it as it went along.
    Any movie that has a zombie tiger, and a zombie horse is gonna get big points from me.
    @theenglish
    There was word of a prequel....so would that be basically the opening scene flashbacks? (Plus some other stuff)?
    [/QUOTE]
    They are working on 2 prequels, an anime series focused on the early days of the zombie outbreak in Vegas, and the actor who played Dieter will be starring in and directing a movie focused on his character.
    I saw Snyder make a comment on either social media or in an interview about a possible sequel set in New Mexico.
     
  7. theenglish

    theenglish Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I did know that Notaro was inserted into the film post production, but it was so well done that I forgot all about that watching the movie. I actually enjoyed Man of Steel and, to an extent, Batman V Superman but I never liked Watchmen and I haven't seen Justice League yet. But watching this movie, I was reminded of how much I liked 300 and Dawn of the Dead back when they came out. Snyder actually has a style that works in a movie that is its own thing--the slow motion and the unusual camera shots added to this film. It makes me think that I would like to see Snyder do comics properties like Spawn or The Authority, or even Jupiter's Legacy--properties which lend themselves easily to his sensibilities.
     
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  8. Saul

    Saul Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's an ok film for me .I love the concept but I felt it was a bit too long. There's also very very mild hints that something bigger is going on but I was a bit frustrated that those mysteries aren't explored here and are not more overt. For example the time loop thing and one scene where a Zombie gets shot but it's clearly a robot. The hell? Robot Zombies? But it's never discussed.
     
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  9. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    Robot zombie? I missed that. I would agree with your view, it was ok but after a kick arse opening it became quite bland, and the length really didn't help. Too few of the cast had any personality, even Bautista who I usually really like seemed subdued. Tig Notaro and the German guy were the best things in it

    Also, was it just me, but Vegas seemed tiny, took them ten minutes, if that, to walk anywhere. And there was no coherence to the zombies, how the heck does Omari Hardwick survive for so long without turning when everyone else seems to turn real quick?

    I'm all for directors homaging other films/directors they love, but Snyder really overdid the Aliens references here. They weren't even subtle.
    • The character cosplaying Vasquez
    • "You don't see them fucking each other over"
    • Garret Dillahunt as Carter Burke
    • "Oh no the dropship/chopper's left without us...oh no it hasn't!" The worst thing about this was I knew Snyder was going to do this the moment the chopper settled down on the roof.
    Plus the vault opening seemed like a riff on Die Hard, and the vault prompted a few other questions. 1/why was it a safe from the 60s? 2/why was it protected by a security system obviously installed by the Indians from the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark?

    There was a fun, sub 2 hour, big budget B-movie to be made here, but this isn't it. Not Snyder's worse film by a long chalk, but far from his best and not even his best zombie flick.
     
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  10. Skipper

    Skipper Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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  11. Saul

    Saul Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Blink and you miss it moment. When one of the zombies gets shot in the head there is a clear metallic look as the head opens up and there is blue lighting and some sparks.

    The German guy is getting his own spin off prequel movie called 'Army of Thieves'.
     
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  12. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah can't disagree with anything there!

    Thankfully the robot zombie is in the honest trailer above so I have seen it now.

    And yeah I'd heard Matthias Schweighöfer was getting a prequel. Not sure how that's gonna work given the film gives the impression only Vegas is infected, unless it's a non-Zombie prequel of course.
     
  13. Saul

    Saul Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's a non zombie prequel set in that world. I think the Vegas events will be something in the background but they won't be fighting Zombies.
     
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  14. Skipper

    Skipper Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    How many years before the movies did the Vegas events happen?
     
  15. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    I don't think it's clear, long enough for Bautista to quit being a solider and start flipping burgers but not long enough for the refugee camp to be closed down (why was there a camp, were these people who'd escaped from Vegas during the outbreak?)
     
  16. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Tig Notaro may have only been added out of necessity but I liked her a lot in this. I'd be curious to see Chris D'Elia's performance just to contrast and compare though I understand why it was deleted.

    I'd agree with that, does seem there's a tighter film in there that could've been, and as seen in that trailer, some missed opportunities. I'm pretty sure it doesn't need all the expanded supplementary material apparently coming.
     
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  17. DarKush

    DarKush Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I liked this film. I don't think it was better than Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake, but it was still a fun zombie picture that had a nice twist with the heist. I also liked the different things Snyder did to make his zombies distinct, though I wish he had explained more of that in the film after I learned how much he thought he had put into it.

    My biggest gripe was that it was too long. It was about 30-40 minutes too long. If Snyder had kept it leaner, and made it a little more meaner, I think it could've gone down as a zombie classic.
     
  18. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I didn't see any metal, but a bunch of the zombies released the blue stuff after they were shot. I had just assumed it was what made them zombies, or something like that.
     
  19. Saul

    Saul Vice Admiral Admiral

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  20. TREK_GOD_1

    TREK_GOD_1 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I enjoyed the film--certainly not as much as Snyder's great DC films, but it was still entertaining.