#Weird west movies movie

Personally I believe they’re caught in a time loop, forced to live the tragic events of the movie over and over with no end in sight for anyone involved. Again, the crew eventually discovers corpses wearing clothing and jewelry similar to theirs. This may be a subtle cue to the audience that there is more at play than initially thought. Which is typically a hybrid of the western genre with sci-fi, fantasy, or horror.Įventually the team starts to think they’ve lived out the events of the heist and journey over and over. Using the typical western (even samurai) set up of recruiting a team to pull off an impossible task, along with the setting, essentially provides us a modern take on the “Weird West”. Here we follow mercenary for hire Scott Ward, as he is hired to pull off a $200 million heist in the nearby city of Las Vegas before it’s nuked to kingdom come, which leads him to put together a team. Western films are notorious for their big loud setups. What follows post-outbreak (most likely alien caused) is a deconstruction of the western genre through the lens of a zombie film. Where Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead is a tribute to the everlasting power and influence of post-Romero undead, Army embraces the sub genre’s 40s/50s science fiction roots. As the military convoy is leaving Area 51 we see two UFOs hit light speed in a blink and you’ll miss it moment. Proof of this is in the opening sequence. Indeed, Army of the Dead seems to acknowledge the existence of aliens in its universe, bringing back the age old pre-Romero tradition of hinting at a sci-fi element as the catalyst for its zombie apocalypse. Snyder’s film forgoes the popular post-Romero zombie clichés and embraces the science fiction and fantastical elements of zombie lore. Using these passing references and pieces of evidence I like to propose that not only are multiple universes at play but also the main characters seem to be caught in a time loop. And numerous characters state they feel a sense of deja vu over the course of the film, and even eventually stumble across skeletal remains wearing similar clothing.

Army of the Dead may be another zombie film, but it’s not your typical one.Īt one point in the film the news talks about an outbreak happening In Milwaukee, the setting for Dawn of the Dead though the two films are not actually set in the same universe.

But from the beginning of Army of the Dead we see aliens hidden in the background and the crew regularly experiences deja vu, feeling like they’ve done this suicide mission before. 2004’s Dawn of the Dead, for as good as it is, remains true to the foundations of the zombie genre laid down by the late George A. Right from the jump Army of the Dead subverts expectations. Concepts that would carry over into the finalized version released in 2021. Though not much is known about this sequel concept from 2007, it was described as a story about a father attempting to save his daughter in the backdrop of a zombie-infested Las Vegas. Originally envisioned as a sequel to Snyder’s 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, the film never quite made it past these early concepts. įor years, Army of the Dead was stuck in a perpetual conceptual phase. So imagine the surprise in 2021 when Zack Snyder released his long awaited, thought never to be released film Army of the Dead. It was no rare occurrence to have our favorite undead villains be the result of magic, supernatural, or science fiction causes. Think back to the era of movies before Night of the Living Dead existed and the zombie genre always swung for the fences with weird/wild concepts. Remember when zombie movies were weird? No seriously.

Weird west movies