Army of the Dead

Although you can tell there was genuine effort put into making "Army of the Dead" the results are unfortunately incredibly mediocre. The acting ranges from passable to pretty bad, the special effects range from okay (such as the skeleton army, which is often show and cut in ways that look good despite the low budget) to laughably bad (some effects such as blood spurts and explosions are computer generated instead of being practical and those are some of the easiest effects to do in live action films). From a low budget production you can forgive the bad effects but the real problem with the film is that it isn't paced or written very well. At times you'll be wondering where the film is going and questioning whether what happened makes any sense or not. The only reason to watch this film would be if you yourself were thinking of doing a low budget movie and you wanted to see how it shouldn't and shouldn't be done because both aspects are seen in this movie. For everyone else, this isn't even "so bad it's good" territory. (Dvd, September 18, 2012)

I just finished watching this movie and i just wasted 89 minutes. CGI Skeletons, CGI Blood. The story isn't half bad but i missed some real undead and good acting.

I've seen a lot of horror movies including B movies but this one was over the top fake.

With a bigger budget and some good special effects this movie could be something.

I hope Romero's Army of the Dead is gonna be better (althoug i liked Land of the Dead) This is a story that screams for a big budget Remake. Some zombies instead of some lame CGI Skeletons then this movie would be interesting.

I finished the movie because i never quit a movie halfway through. But this one i wont watch again

terrible acting. I now that emotions and American actors do not always mix good but this is truly terrible acting. In the Netherlands we call this "kijk Ike spiel ton eel" acting. Which is could be translated as:"look at me audience I am acting"-wink. What it means is that the actor tries to feel the emotion by convincing himself of it in a rational way. The emotion does not enter the stomach, therefor you cannot read what he thinks in the autocue behind his eyes. The most simple way tot do this can even be done rationally by putting a mantra of thoughts in your head. Try it: keep repeating the line:"I hate you"and ask your girlfriend for a cup of coffee. You will properly won't get it.

Now B movies can be fun when the acting and the surrounding still is a parody. Bat taste for instance is absurd and the actors now and respect that. When actors try to act in a style that is different form the style of the movie, then as a viewer I get a feeling of discontent.

I have to say that I did not watch the entire movie and I hope you do not as well, it is a waste of time.

At some point this must have seemed like a fresh idea, an army of C.G.I. skeletons defending a treasure. Unfortunately the skeletons, who do not speak, are more interesting, and have far better acting skills than anyone else in this movie. With stupid unnecessary female conflicts, ridiculous dialog "What the hell is that,blood?" "Yea this is not good", and "Indiana Jones" nonsense, "Army of the Dead" is a wannabe spectacle of awful proportions. What starts out as a dune buggy adventure, winds up with a possessed professor and illegal treasure plundering. BAD, and not good bad . "Sharks in Venice" is a masterpiece, because it's so bad it's good. This is just BAD. - MERK

Army of the Dead is a classic example of a film with ideas much bigger than its budget: a group of desert racers pitted against a legion of Conquistador skeletons is a wonderful notion, and using CGI technology to realise the complex visuals is perfectly OK in my book (I like CGI when done well), but, without enough cash in the coffers to do the concept justice, what is the point?

The film starts off well enough, as a fairly likable bunch of thrill-seekers set off on a 500 mile high-speed journey, with one of their number secretly searching for the location of an ancient horde of gold. However, after he discovers the treasure, and triggers a curse that see hundreds of bony soldiers rise from their graves to protect the loot, the film goes rapidly downhill.

With a skeletal army obviously 'inspired' by Jason and the Argonauts (and, consequently, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness), a middle section which reminded me of Assault on Precinct, and a Terminator style ending (that last difficult-to-destroy skeleton looking more than a little like the relentless T-800 crawling after Sarah Connor), the film rarely feels very original (and is it just my imagination, or does the Army of the Dead's music also take its cues from the soundtracks of these far superior films?).

Furthermore, the film's poorly developed script is loaded with plot contrivances and very silly moments that really take some swallowing: the hero's (obviously very rich) friends give him an original 16th century sword for a birthday present (unpractical when going on a long cross-country car journey, but so convenient against the undead); the guy seeking the treasure hires gun toting mercenaries to help him and looks surprised when he is double-crossed; a girl reveals she possesses super powers by lifting a huge boulder above her head; and the final survivors discover a convenient, abandoned radio station equipped with fuel and a massive generator—ideal for destroying their enemies.

And as for the effects... in the right lighting (ie., very low), the CGI skeletal warriors are just about passable, but, for the most part, they look cheap (because they are) and laughable. Likewise, the various other digital effects—explosions, squirting blood, electrical power surges—are extremely amateurish and therefore quite unconvincing.

Army of the Dead might possibly be fun for those who enjoy really cheesy B-movie trash, but will no doubt be quite painful for most others.