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simonpark
Reviews
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
OK, but just doesn't cut it with modern cinema
To be fair i was born 10 years after this movie was made, but that hasn't stopped me enjoying movies of the same decade (taxi driver, apocalypse now, the godfather, the warriors and so on) but where these films have carried themselves well over the years, dawn of the dead has not, i fully understand and appreciate how it managed to bring the genre into the mainstream. However horror should not be associated with this film, being a massive fan of the genre i know there are dozens if not hundreds of techniques involved in scaring the audience, Romero only manages to implement a few, most of which are cancelled out by other factors (for example the fact that the zombies can turn you with a single bite and do not fear death is made irrelevant by the fact that they are so unbelievably slow and mal-co-ordinated that you'd have to be an idiot to get bitten) this said it is manageable to make up for flaws like this with some good old fashioned arse kicking! again, this movie falls short, when i think of zombie action i immediately picture a bad-assed shotgun wielding hero shooting off limbs here and there and generally laying the smack-down but this movie couldn't be further from it. The zombie kills are few and far between and when the occasional zombie does get shot, there is no force behind it, it would just fall to its knees then die, when we really want its head getting blown off with a magnum or torso being torn apart by an automatic, another factor that is a rare treat in the horror scene is comedy, although this film did make me chuckle from time to time it only made it a tad more bearable, so i guess you may be wondering why i gave this a six star and not less, the reason why is because without films like this there would never be 28 days later or other modern classics, this film served well as a wrung (however low) in the ladder and for that i am thankful but it just doesn't cut it in the modern arena, film and culture has changed too much!
Over There (2005)
Great unintentional comedy
This program first aired in the Uk about April last year (2006) and i sat down with a few friends, one of which was a major in the British army another is a TA officer (Uk equivalent of the national guard) who served in Iraq during the initial invasion. All three of us had high hopes for the series having been impressed by the adverts we had seen on TV however the first action scene which takes place behind a large mound was so comical all three of us couldn't help laughing, they where only getting shot at from one direction and where barely outnumbered and not even out gunned yet they are behaving like they are all about to die! The acting is over the top and frankly awful, neither one of my friends with combined army experience of over 20 years who experienced both gulf wars had ever experienced moments when their troops had lost their heads at all during combat, no where near as much as the characters in this show where! These are meant to be professional soldiers and if this is something to judge the whole of the U.S. army on its no wonder we're getting no-where in Iraq! So in conclusion this show is cringe-worthy at best so if you want a decent war drama steer well clear of this one!