shaun of the dead

raigraphixs

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Hi,

Managed to see this on dvd, as i missed it at the movies. Great film, very witty without being slapstick. Great extras too. (i dont mean zombies).


rai
 
raigraphixs said:
Hi,

Managed to see this on dvd, as i missed it at the movies. Great film, very witty without being slapstick. Great extras too. (i dont mean zombies).


rai

I second that! I think it is the best movie to date and something of a cult film to boot.
Not only that, but a feature packed extras on the dvd as well. Shame they could not of split everything on to two dvd's.
 
Great film, really enjoyed, havent really enjoyed a comedy since the Monty Python films.
 
agreed,best film ive seen in a long time.....ive never seen spaced,is that any good as im tempted to pick it up from play.
 
Spaced is effing brilliant - buy it :thumbsup:
 
Watch Spaced if you thought Shaun Of The Dead was funny, as I thought Spaced was quite a bit better in all respects than Shaun Of The Dead. Just my opinion though ;)
 
wokeye said:
Watch Spaced if you thought Shaun Of The Dead was funny, as I thought Spaced was quite a bit better in all respects than Shaun Of The Dead. Just my opinion though ;)

I totally agree, I've always loved Spaced and will be snatching at the 3DVD reissue of both series despite owning the individual releases.

I did (do, given the comments here and on Aint It Cool) seem to be in a tiny minority of thinking Shaun was disappointing when compared to Spaced. But then, they were making a film to appeal to the masses, unlike Spaced which does tend to appeal to something of a cult audience due to all the movie references and somewhat eccentric characters (Brian, Marsha, Bilbo). I've seen Shaun a couple of times since the cinema though and I do find there are little gags, references and happenings that you don't spot first time, so it's going up in my estimation. And stylistically Spaced is identical to Shaun, which is no mean feat for a little show that only got an average of 1.5m viewers per episode.

If you want to try Spaced I did read that there is a clip of it (from the zombie episode) on the Shaun DVD but I'm yet to uncover it.
 
I love Shaun of the dead, also.

I like the way the movie is paced, Shaun only discovers the zombies half way thru; leaving the other half of the movie to be packed with action and not to run out of steam at the end (as most other movies of this type do). Very clever.
 
Lawe said:
I think it is the best movie to date and something of a cult film to boot.

Fantastic zombie movie! But only average as a film. Does this mean that all zombie movies are basically just crap?
:confused:
 
Nobber22 said:
But only average as a film.

Must have seen a different film to me :laugh:
 
Nobber22 said:
Fantastic zombie movie! But only average as a film. Does this mean that all zombie movies are basically just crap?
:confused:
Sorry mate, was you watching Shaun of the dead or . . .
Are you a Zombie?? :laugh:
 
Lawe said:
Are you a Zombie?? :laugh:

Of course not! Otherwise I wouldn't think Zombies were crap, would I? :D

Seriously tho', I think that any director/scriptwriter/filmmaker is taking a big career risk making a zombie movie. Zombies are just crap monsters, slow moving and not particualrly scary or threatening either. They are pretty easy to kill too. Take Resident Evil as an example: the zombies weren't even the main things to worry about - rubbish movie too BTW. ;)

28 Days Later, however had much faster moving monsters, but was it actually stated that they were Zombies at all? Shooting them in the chest or using landmines seemed to do the business - a headshot wasn't neccessary. I didn't do cartwheels of delight after seeing this film either, I must admit.

Shaun's zombies were just about the dumbest ever - take the scene outside the pub where the mobile rings and EVERYONE stops what they are doing to hear him take the call.......very funny scene I will admit......but what the hell do Zombies care for phone-calls?!! They just want braaaaiiiins!! :laugh:
 
I can see your point about zombies being lame monsters. The same could be said for the Mummy. (he moves so slow!) But here's my take on zombie films, and why they are legitimately the scariest horror films. (when done right)

The best zombies are dumb and slow. Any healthy man or woman should be able to hold their own against them. Give the person a gun or a decent blunt object, and they should be able to get through a crowd of them without much problem.

But the real horror of zombie films comes from the sheer inevitability of them. There are tons of zombies around. (as victims themselves become zombies) And it only takes 1 bite to become infected. Sooner or later, no matter how fast you are, or how well armed, you're going to make a mistake. And that mistake could cost you dearly.

SPOILERS

The original Dawn of the Dead does such a good job of this. The two main characters are getting so adept at handling the zombies that they are actually enjoying themselves, and taunting the undead. Then, one of them gets too cocky, and the situation quickly falls apart, leaving him infected. In a span of a few seconds, a controlled situation changes.

END SPOILERS

Everyone has to sleep. They have to rest. The zombies, however, are constantly on the move. All it takes is one slip-up, one jammed weapon, one mistake, one cat-nap, one unsecured window, and it's all over...

The creators of Shaun of the Dead understood this, and that's why it's such a good zombie film, as well as being dead funny.
 
The slow moving Zombies in 'Shaun' are also a parody on the same zombies we see everyday going about their mundane lives stuck in their own involuntary rutine. Ever seen the Zombies that get of the train from London? 'Shaun' shows this quite well in the scene were Shuan is on the bus.
 
I think the ethos behind 'Shaun' is to totally take the Mic out of the zombie genre, but at the same time show a geniune effection for it.

I'm no zombie expert, from my limited knowledge I'd say that it had alot the important key features of zombie-lore, like the way Shaun said that your not actually supposed to refer to them as 'zombies', and the way that there is no real need to provide a reason as to why there are zombies roaming around (I think they briefly mention something about a crashing satallite).

I really liked the scene outside the pub, because of the way it points out one of the things that I usually wonder about when watching a zombie flick - why do they not attack each other and only go for the living, and how do they tell who is a zombie and who isn't ? All the tension in Dawn of the Dead would evaporate if the survivors could have just slapped a bit of make up on and shiffled around groaning. For me, one of the things that make zombie flicks enjoyable is the way that they are so daft and yet at the same time trying to be scarey.
 
Even better is the zombie-like state HE is in, as he goes to the store with a hangover to buy an ice-cream for his mate! :clap:

Ah, dammit! I think I enjoyed the film a lot actually and I'll have to watch it again! :D
 
Yeah, in the same way Romero was making a point about consumerism in DotD (zombies flocking to the mall, wandering around like lost children), the SotD boys were showing the humour in the fact that some people would change very little if they became zombies. It's specifically London in the film, but every big city has that morning "on-my-way-to-work" zombie atmosphere.

One note, in case you hadn't heard. George Romero is a BIG fan of Shaun of the Dead. Edgar Wright, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg have all apparently been invited to play zombies in his upcoming film, Dead Reckoning. (that might have been a working title)
 
Azrikam said:
It's specifically London in the film,


Anyone know where? The street name near the beginning has the postcode on it, but I missed it.

Anyone drink at the Winchester?
 
The film is supposed to take place in Crouch End.

The pub (at least for the external shots) is a real pub. I've forgotten the location (I was a zombie extra), but I'll find it.

EDIT: It was New Cross. I don't think they did much work (if any) on the outside of the pub, so it pretty much looks like it does in the film. The interal scenes, however, were done in a studio.

Interesting story. Many of the residents were unaware that filming was taking place on their street. Some wandered down the street, not realizing that they were surrounded by zombies until they were in the middle of them. It made for a few interesting reactions as people looked up from the pavement and stopped in their tracks.
 
Great DVD, but the subtitles are stuck on my Region 2 verision. Man it's annoying!!!
 

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