Day of the Dead 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Day of the Dead 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

The undead in the third dimension.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 15, 2012

Nothing ever really happens in this town anyway.

This Day of the Dead isn't all that dissimilar from that Day of the Dead. They're both Zombie movies, they both feature unlikable characters, they're both gory, and both share some similar plot threads, including a zombie that's a little bit more "docile" than the rest of his undead friends and action that takes place in a secret underground government/scientific bunker, the older movie playing almost exclusively therein, the new one only spending its final act down below. Romero's Day proved just a little bit too nasty -- visually, verbally, and stylistically -- with its message far more blunt than the more subtle genius of his other Dead films, the overlooked Land of the Dead included. Romero's Day succeeded in getting under the audience's skin and grossing it out, but otherwise it created characters better left as zombie fodder. Pretty much the same may be said of this new version. The characters aren't absolutely unlikable, but they may as well be nameless faces whom the audience never comes to know or love. This Day of the Dead, however, lacks that heavy-handed social commentary (or any social commentary, really) of Romero's film, this one more content to just run through the Zombie movie motions, happy to just churn out bad dialogue, splatter gore, and show characters running around and shooting at zombies. It's a decent but forgettable watch that's really only for genre completists.

9mm Beretta vs. Zombies.

A small Colorado town is on lockdown. The military has quarantined the area, people are sick, the hospital is packed, and the healthy citizens are in a panic. One local happens to be amongst the troops stationed on the way out of town. She's Sarah Cross (Mena Suvari), a Corporal who always carries her firearm empty. She's sister to Trevor (Michael Welch), a teenaged local who just wants to party with his girlfriend Nina (AnnaLynne McCord). Soon, Sarah is accompanied by Privates Crain (Stark Sands) and Salazar (Nick Cannon). Sarah's mother comes down with the mysterious illness which is packing the local hospital. It's there that the infection mutates and turns its victims into flesh-eating zombies. The survivors are split up around town, several attempting to escape the hospital, others holed up in a radio station with a DJ named Paul (Ian McNeice). As they struggle to beat the odds and live through the night, they will uncover the truth behind the zombie outbreak, but will they live long enough to tell anyone about it?

How is it that nobody in these sorts of movies seems to understand what's going on? Do Zombie movies not exist in these parallel or fictional universes? If a zombie outbreak happened today, in this realm, people would be pretty quick to pick up on it, much quicker, anyway, than these dimwitted characters. Day of the Dead delivers a character roster of interchangeable bodies that are more identifiable by the clothes they wear than the name they go by or the actions they take. Those actions often put them and others at risk only so they may look and sound "bad," act "cool," or perhaps appear "extra worried," all rather than realistically confront the situations they face. But the movie is pretty much a straight run-and-gun sort, particularly in its second half. Day of the Dead shows a little promise early on as the outbreak is imminent but not yet obvious. Director Steve Miner's (Texas Rangers) film does a very good job in its slow reveal of the zombie outbreak, the movie and its mood morphing seamlessly through stages of uncertainty, panic, danger, mutilation, and survival. But as it transitions into the latter two, it gains an admirable kinetic energy but loses its fundamental Horror structure, making the transition to scene after scene of gore and violence with no real substance or direction. The gore is intense and the action is decent, the latter largely dependent on whether the characters decide to take on the zombies carefully or in ridiculous guns-blazing fashion, bursting through doors and wasting ammunition needlessly. It works well enough as raw entertainment, but audiences looking for purpose in their Zombie movies should look elsewhere.

Where this Day of the Dead does find some separation from the pack is in its portrayal of, for lack of a better term, "hybrid" zombies. These undead creatures are made of both borrowed elements from various movies and a few new tricks (seemingly) exclusive to this one. These zombies run rather than walk, which stinks for the characters because where's the fun in that? Better (and easier) to pick them off from a safe distance rather than worry about a fast-moving pack, better to fear only a hoard or one's own unpreparedness than the triathletes this movie depicts. At least that adds a little more sense of danger and urgency to the movie; the characters need always be on their toes, even if their brains are on cruise control. But yes, these zombies run, jump, climb ladders, scurry along the ceiling, use tools, and even show some intelligence, some connection with the old world. There's even one zombie...wait for it...that was a vegetarian in his previous life. Therefore, he doesn't eat human flesh and can hang out with the good guys. In essence, it's a really, really bad attempt to create another "Bub" from Romero's Day of the Dead. There's also another zombie that decides his dangling eyeball would make a tasty treat, so the movie offers both extremes, zombies that would prefer a salad and zombies that are cannibals. Lovely. These zombies do look good. The makeup effects are truly top notch and there are many convincing scenes that will leave viewers wishing for better supporting elements, namely superior characters worth caring about, because there's a structure in place for a far superior movie that's unfortunately never realized.

Day of the Dead 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Day of the Dead features what is largely a hit-or-miss Blu-ray 3D transfer. Its general elements aren't all that different from the older standalone 2D-only Blu-ray release. The image retains a natural grain structure and serves up above-average detailing. Again, it's the brighter scenes that fare the best; the textures of the military uniforms, the wear and tear inside and outside the Humvee, and the odds and ends around the radio station all remain nicely displayed in this 3D release. Likewise, colors fare best in the movie's brighter bookends, appearing natural and mostly vibrant, as evidenced primarily in the camo uniforms. Unfortunately, the darker scenes don't fare quite as well. Blacks tend to overwhelm the screen, sometimes to a breaking point, sometimes hardly at all, and mostly somewhere in the middle. Some of the darkest scenes near the end of the film are devoured by heavy blacks to the point that it's difficult to figure out exactly what's happening, where characters are situated, and what's around them. This isn't exactly a new phenomena for Blu-ray 3D content. The real question is how does the rest of the 3D-specific attributes stack up?

Day of the Dead proves to be a fairly routine 3D image. The movie is largely dependent on general depth. Most scenes are sufficiently dimensional, with a real sense of space evident in the brightest scenes and a general sense of shape in the darker scenes. Viewers will enjoy a long shot of cars piled up at a checkpoint early in the movie, and most of the better-lit locales enjoy a natural sense of spacial immersion. There are very few "gimmick" 3D shots, but what's here is highly effective. Viewers will enjoys splatters of blood, shards of glass, and burned remains spitting, flying, and floating out of the screen, respectively. Unfortunately, the image is plagued by intense crosstalk that dominates the 3D viewing experience. The studio logos and opening titles will leave viewers literally seeing double, appearing as if deep within the screen though they may be. Characters and objects are "ghosted" with regularity, which nearly counters the good sense of depth and handful of excellent "pop out" effects. Neither Blu-ray 3D veterans nor newcomers will fall in love with this transfer, and most will have to choose if an average sense of depth and a few nice effects can counteract occasionally crushing blacks and nearly incessant crosstalk.

Day of the Dead 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Day of the Dead features a satisfying Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Much like the video presentation, this track won't dazzle, but it's a quality high definition presentation for a movie that has quite a bit of sonic activity to offer. The film's music enjoys the expectedly fine spacing and clarity, playing primarily across the front but with a fair surround support element. Atmospherics are excellent, if not a bit over pumped in select spots. Whether a busy roadside military checkpoint early in the movie where military personnel, honking horns, and angry civilians create a scene of panic and uncertainty or the din of a busy hospital inside of which there's nowhere to sit and hardly any room to move, the track does a fine job of recreating hectic locations. Action effects rule the day, however. Gunshots ring out with surprising accuracy, power, and authenticity. Zombie moans, victim screams, squishy gore, and other Horror sound effects are nicely replicated. The track is rounded into form by balanced and clear dialogue that flows consistently from the center channel.

Day of the Dead 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray 3D release of Day of the Dead contains no extras.

Day of the Dead 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Day of the Dead is a decent Zombie time killer. The movie loses steam as its action intensifies, not because it's dull, but because it lacks purpose and direction. The characters are bland but the zombies are dangerous (even if the "vegetarian" zombie pretty much jumps the proverbial shark). The gore effects are solid, and the movie is a fun little diversion so long as audiences don't go in expecting to be mentally challenged along the way. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray 3D release of Day of the Dead features fair 3D video that doesn't lose too much in translation from the previous 2D-only version, but the 3D elements are a hit-miss-whatever affair, relying primarily on depth and a few good gimmick shots to counteract intense crosstalk. The audio track is fine but there are no supplements on this disc. 3D owners might find value in a rental, but the movie plays a little bit better in 2D.