Movies From Beyond: Dawn Of The Dead & The Marine
Just like the monster from the recently-released, and possibly best, movie of the year Cloverfield, this week's Movies From Beyond crashes, smashes and generally beats its way through the cityscape crushing everything in its way.
That’s right, run away you insignificant ants or end up flatter than a Shove Tuesday pancake under our massive squiddy feet. This week – Dawn Of The Dead and The Marine…
This week we start with a mix of the old and the new, as we have just finished watching George A Romero’s classic zombie flick Zombi, also known as the seminal Dawn Of The Dead, from 1978 on imported Blu-ray. There really is nothing wrong with this granddaddy of all horror movies – the picture is crisp, the soundtrack is crazy with a compilation of stock musical scores and cues and we found ourselves really rooting for the survivors holed up in the shopping mall, including Ken Foree, who later went on to play the dad in Kenan & Kel, weirdly enough.
OK, so the zombies are a bit clunky compared to the recent remake and they seem to just stand there and get punched in the face, but that’s how zombies used to be and there are some moments that are more slapstick than survival horror. Trivia fans note: there are five different cuts and versions of the movie, and the Blu-ray we watched was the 127-minute US theatrical version which is supposedly the definitive cut, although when you become obsessed with Dawn Of The Dead – and you will – we would recommend getting hold of the Ultimate Edition on DVD as it packs in the US theatrical cut, the extended version and the European versions.
Do you remember when Jean-Claude Van Damme was in good old-fashioned ass kicking movies like AWOL, Kickboxer and Blood Sport and then sort of stopped doing them? Well, we can officially announce that he has been replaced by John Cena, former WWE champion and the new wooden-acting kid on the block. The story of The Marine is painfully simple; John Triton (Cena) and his missus are driving in the country and, lo and behind, she is kidnapped by some ne’er do well diamond thieves led by T100 himself Robert Patrick. Obviously that is a bad move as Johnny boy goes on a one-man-army rampage through the swamps beating the crap out of the baddies and blowing up stuff whilst looking rugged and sexy to get his bird back. Brilliant late 80s action that's a bit silly. Well, it was never going to be Schindler’s List was it?
[story by Simon Woodley]
Sorry to be an ass but it was the T1000 played by Patrick in Terminator 2.
On a better note you’ve completely sold The Marine to me.. I’ll be stopping by HMV on the way home
Yes, brilliant late 80s action….too bad it was made in 2006.
Only two decades behind the times, thanks John Cena.
jimbo is right its the t1000. leave the ganja alone and do more research!! mind u this was published at 1630 on a friday so whoever wrote this (hecklerspray staff??) was prolly pissed like the rest of us. btw i was thinking now that arguably the best club in london – the cross – has shut down and turnmills is to follow, maybe u should do a top five clubs in london? if u do make sure to note down whether or not they have designated outside smoking areas rather than banishing paying patrons onto the street like lepors. i’ve heard my local club has an hour wait on a friday night to have a fag. epic fail.
Nothing wrong with late 80s-style action! I love films with a bit of thought behind em, but every so often I stick on Eraser or Last Action Hero and just suspend my disbelief for a bit. We need an action movie meathead with a bit of staying power – so far Vin Diesel, The Rock and *cough* Ice Cube haven’t really been able to fill Arnie’s muscle belt.
Stabby, put the pipe down. There was something wrong with 80’s action films in the 80’s! And nothing Clod Van Damn did was considered top end back then so to call them 80’s action is sort of mean. lol There was 80’s action – and then there were cheap opportunites to see Badass Claude Van Damnthathadtohurt do nasty damage to people’s necks. I was going to give an example of a top of the range 80’s action film and I couldn’t come with one. Am I bad?