Land of the Dead: Collector's Edition - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

The last time I reviewed Land of the Dead was seven years ago with Scream Factory’s first Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release. While I overall enjoyed this film, I said it wasn’t my favorite of George Romer’s zombie films and in that review, I detailed a number of quibbles and nitpicks that held it back. Now, all these years later, I have to admit the film’s grown in my estimation. I still don’t think it was the return to form we’d all hoped for from the father of the modern Zombie film, but a lot of the themes and ideas still track. There are pieces that work really well and are compelling enough to revisit. To that end, I’m nudging up my score for the film a little bit. 

Here’s my review from 2017:

"In a world where the dead are returning to life, the word "trouble" loses much of its meaning."

I wasn't born a Zombie movie fan. I became one during a fateful night when a premium channel decided to run a Night of the Living Dead marathon. Before that night I hadn't really seen any zombie movies; I was an ardent slasher fan but I quickly got caught up. After seeing all of George Romero's Dead films virtually in one go, I was a dedicated fan of the man's work and I wanted to see a lot more undead gore from the father of the modern Zombie. Thanks to the back-to-back successes of the Dawn of the Dead remake and Shaun of the Dead, George was finally given a chance to return to the graveyard. Armed with a professional cast, studio support, and the largest budget of any Dead film, Land of the Dead was unleashed upon fans. While familiar Romero flavors are retained and there is plenty of gore to go around, it lacks the meaty satirical bite that made the previous films classics. 

The world has gone to hell in a handbasket. With every bite, the living join the ranks of an ever-growing army of walking undead flesh-eaters. Society has had to close ranks in order to survive. Fiddlers Green is a thriving metropolis where those with power and money like Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) live high in their glass tower while those with little to nothing work as scavengers or live in slums. Armed with a military vehicle dubbed Dead Reckoning, Riley (Simon Baker) and his pal Charlie (Robert Joy) along with the hot-headed Cholo (John Leguizamo) lead the band of scavengers who head out each night to ransack supplies for the lazy wealthy back on the Green. 

When Cholo's attempts to join the upper ranks and purchase a luxury apartment inside the Green are rejected by Kaufman, he steals Dead Reckoning and points the vehicles' massive arsenal towards the city. The only man capable of stopping Cholo is Riley, the man who built Dead Reckoning. But Riley wants out of the scavenging life and to be free of Fiddler's Green. Kaufman cuts him a deal; retrieve Dead Reckoning and get all the supplies necessary for a life among the walkers. If the living weren't enough trouble, Riley faces an army of walking corpses who are growing more intelligent and have become even more deadly. 

I have vivid memories of my excitement at hearing the news that George Romero's long-in-development "Dead Reckoning" script was finally going to get made. I eagerly devoured news updates online and followed the development blogs. I loved the news that Tom Savini's protege Greg Nicotero who got started on Day of the Dead was going to be doing all of the gore effects for this film. The news that Dennis Hopper and Asia Argento would be a part of the cast felt right at home making the flick almost like a family affair. To say the least, when I went into the theater I was pumped. Leaving the theater 93 minutes later, my enthusiasm had lost a bit of its mojo. 

While I will say Land of the Dead is a decent flick and is well made, it sadly didn't feel like it was worth the time, energy, and excitement I spent eagerly awaiting its release. I don't know how much of the film's fate is due to studio meddling, but for a Romero film, it feels oddly toothless. The biting satire of early 2000s America was limp in comparison to what we were given with Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead. The various character's focus on cash and dollar values just doesn't stick. When food and other important consumable supplies are dwindling, it's tough to swallow Kaufman's stand that Dead Reckoning cost him $2,000,000. Or Cholo's scheme to hold Fiddler's Green hostage for millions of dollars? Where are you going to spend cash in a zombie apocalypse? I get that goods in short supply have a value but Dawn of the Dead kinda already pointed out that paper dollars have no real value other than fuel for a fire on a cold night or when the TP runs out. 

Then there is the cast. While I appreciate Simon Baker trying to make Riley someone tired of being responsible for others, he just feels flat for a hero. Every line delivery sounds the same and I swear the man never blinks as he sternly stares at every person he talks angrily to. On the flip side, we have John Leguizamo as Cholo. I always like it when Leguizamo can lay into a character with some sleazy charm as he does well here but I don't quite buy him as the heavy with an attitude or a viable threat. That said, he does chew the scenery as good as any zombie. The letdown for me was Dennis Hopper. Hopper more or less just sits there and prattles off his lines without really giving any enthusiasm for the part. If he'd delivered an ounce of the menace and terror he exuded as Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, his Kaufman might have been something memorable. Asia Argento's badass hooker with the heart of gold helps round out the cast and offers up a nice call back to Dario Argento's involvement with Dawn of the Dead making this flick feel like a family reunion of sorts. 

That isn't to say I dislike Land of the Dead, I do enjoy it, but it's far from my favorite in the series. With a twenty-year wait between films, Land of the Dead just feels like too little too late. Had the film been made in the mid-90s as planned, it might have worked a bit better when the stains of 80s excess were still apparent. Where I feel the need to frequently pull out the other three films for a viewing, I rarely feel that same pull with Land of the Dead. It's decent, it's got its moments and it is entertaining, but I don't love it as much as I want to. The Director's Cut that runs a few short minutes longer certainly works better, it's got a couple more character beats and there is quite a bit more gore, but there's nothing drastically different. If you've only ever seen the Theatrical Cut, you'll be hard-pressed to spot the differences. 

At the end of the day, I dig Land of the Dead. It's not amazing. It's not the greatest Zombie film ever made nor is it George's best work, but it's still a solid watch. It's a great way to kick back and burn 90 minutes of your day and enjoy some delicious gore and moody atmosphere. It certainly wasn't George Romero's triumphant return to the genre he spawned, but it's a welcome addition nonetheless. If it's been a while since you've last seen Land, I'd say it's a good time to give it another look. There's a lot to like and appreciate about this film, even if it may not be as grand as its predecessors. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Scream Factory returns to the graveyard of past releases and unearths George Romero’s 2005 zombie flick Land of the Dead for a new three-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray Collector’s Edition. The Unrated Cut 4K is pressed on a BD-100 disc with two Region A BD-50 discs for the Unrated Cut and Theatrical Cut in 1080p. The discs are housed in a three-disc black case, none of the discs are stacked, with identical slipcover artwork. The discs load to static image main menus with the navigation menus in the upper left-hand corner.

Quick note - haven't been able to rip the 4K disc as of yet, hope to do that soon and when we can we'll try to circle back to update images and slip in a sample video. 

I gotta hand it to Scream Factory, their releases of Land of the Dead keep getting better. Like their upgrades of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, their first Blu-ray was a welcome upgrade over Universal’s first disc only to be perfected with the 4K disc. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, this is an easy and clear improvement over their 2017 Blu-ray. That disc was sourced from a 2K scan of the interpositive and it was a pretty great disc for its era, but times and technology change and we may well have the definitive disc release of Land of the Dead here. Between releases, there has been some slight reframing for some scenes. Some are a little wider, others a little tighter, and then some are virtually identical. Nothing so dramatic that it vastly changes the experience but enough to warrant a mention. Details are greatly improved offering more details in facial features, the production design work, and the ghoulish zombie makeup and gore effects. 

With Dolby Vision HDR at hand, the film gains another uptick in overall visual flair. Most of the film takes place in low light and at night so there are a lot of deep black spaces and shadows for our zombies to lumber around. The HDR grade handles that workload perfectly while offering plenty of specular highlights, especially for the fireworks. Colors aren’t quite as hot and lush as the 2017 disc, and skin tones between the cast aren’t quite as peachy uniform. Generally, this version looks a little cooler but hasn’t been dramatically pushed into teal/greens. Primaries have plenty of pop. If anything, it helps the skin tones of our Walking Dead look more rotten and well, actually dead. Some of the dodgy CGI blood and gore sticks out like a sore thumb, but thankfully those shots are brief and don’t distract too heavily. 

For the 1080p fans out there, the new scan also benefits the film. Similar color changes are present and likely reflective of scanning the actual negative instead of the interpositive. Like the 4K disc, the standard Blu-rays display a notable improvement in details over the 2017 disc. I no longer have the original Universal Blu-ray for comparison there, but I can't imagine that old encode holding up this new release. 

On the audio front, the Unrated Cut 4K disc and Unrated/Theatrical Blu-ray discs offer the film in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1, and 2.0. I’ll just cut to the chase and say roll the Atmos! While the surround spread within the soundscape might not be the most wall-to-wall aggressive, it kicks where it counts. Height channels offer a lot of extra spacing for the larger locations and busier sequences. The fireworks exploding are an obvious effect that is used well on the format. Dialog is clean and clear without issues. Most of the key effects keep to the front/center channels but there’s plenty of imaging and active channel movement throughout to keep the surrounds engaged. Between all of the gunfire, explosions, and revving big-rig engines and motorcycles, LFE has a lot more impact and rumble than the older DTS tracks. And those legacy DTS tracks are still very good options, they still hit right when/where necessary, the Atmos is just a richer experience.

On the bonus features front, all of the archival extras return. I didn't spot anything new to the soup there, but that's perfectly okay considering there already was so much material on that last set. You're looking at hours of extras even before you dig into the great commentary tracks.

Unrated 4K Disc 

• Audio Commentary featuring George Romero, Peter Grunwald, and Michael Doherty. 
• Audio Commentary featuring Zombie performers Matt Blazi, Glena Chao, Michael Felsher, and Rob Mayr. 

Unrated Blu-ray Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring George Romero, Peter Grunwald, and Michael Doherty. 
• Audio Commentary featuring Zombie performers Matt Blazi, Glena Chao, Michael Felsher, and Rob Mayr. 
• Undead Again: The Making of Land of the Dead
• Bringing the Dead to Life
• Scenes of Carnage
• Zombie Effects
• Scream Tests
• Bringing the Storyboards to Life
• A Day with the Living Dead
• When Shaun met George

Theatrical Blu-ray Disc

• Cholo’s Reckoning - Interview with John Leguizamo
• Charlie’s Story - Interview with Robert Joy
• The Pillsbury Factory - Interview with Pedro Miguel Arce
• Four of the Apocalypse - Interview with Eugene Clark, Jennifer Baxter, Boyd Banks, and Jasmin Geljo
• Dream of the Dead: The Director’s Cut
• Deleted Footage from Dream of the Dead
• Deleted Scenes

Land of the Dead wasn’t the grand return to form for George Romero I had hoped it would have been. That said, like most of Romero’s films, as I revisit it again and again, it holds up and actually gets better in my estimation. I still don’t get the simplicity of the demand for cash during a Zombie Apocalypse, but that’s a small gripe for an otherwise solid film with some great zombie carnage! Scream Factory resurrects Georeg Romero’s Land of the Dead on physical media for its first 4K UHD release. Thanks to a new 4K scan of the negative, the Unrated Cut picks up an impressive Dolby Vision upgrade while the 1080p versions of the Unrated and Theatrical cuts see welcome visual enhancements of their own complete with a new Dolby Atmos audio track. Throw in the hours of excellent archival extra features and you’ve got a slick release to call Highly Recommended