Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption (2011) Reviews

• Not a zombie film! (even though it does feature some zombies)

  Stephenjburn2012-08-16

  This film started with some promise, a man alone in the desert with zombies, unfortunately it all quickly spiralled downhill. I am a big fan of the zombie genre, even the rubbish low budget, poor acting kind that seem to be popping up so often, the makers of this film however have blatantly taken advantage of people like me by including the word zombie in the title. I can only assume that the creators added the zombies to this movie to attempt to add a twist to what would otherwise be a pretty awful Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome remake. The acting it pretty awful throughout with only a couple of exceptions, the male leads look so much like Kurt Russell and Michael Biehn that I had to check the credits to assure myself that their careers hadn't taken a massive turn for the worse. The female leads are solely there to be eye candy and for some reason to play out some strange princess Leia scene. This film steals so many ideas from other superior movies that I actually watched it again and found that in fact almost every scene was a rip off, just with pointless zombies. On a technical level the effects were poor, the little cgi used were awful, acting unconvincing, scenarios forced and the eighties music? Where did that come from? However... on a positive note, the reason I gave this film 3 stars rather than just the minimum is that I hold onto a slim hope that the writers knew what they were making, a story about a world where the zombies had become so commonplace that people pretty much lived their lives around them and where capitalism had taken over with only the strongest surviving. This would explain how all the characters were impeccably groomed throughout with clean clothing in an apparently dried out wasteland with no electricity? And because sometimes no matter how poor a film is, zombies will improve it.

• Sorry guys, this is just bad...

  themainmac2012-04-18

  In one scene, you can see a crew member standing in the background. Yes, it really is a crew member, because we backed it up and freeze framed it (there were no zombies in the scene, and it was at night when no one was supposed to be around, plus he's real close to the main actor). That pretty much tells you all you need to know. That and there are lines like "If I want your opinion, I'll rape it out of you." Maybe that was supposed to be so bad, it's good, but it's not. It's just dumb. There is a Snake Plissken character with an eye patch, but that's the sort of thing that is so obvious it belongs in a fan film, and the actor playing him is no Kurt Russell. I hate to put down an indie, but this movie just isn't good, and if you're going to get better, you've got to admit it. I'd really be afraid to watch the first Zombie Apocalypse since the filmmaker intended this to be a redemption for that bad movie. The makeup and effects aren't good either.

• A defense for being bad.

  jknigh202014-04-27

  I wouldn't put this film in the league of Troma as I'm not sure if its to be taken serious or not, but I did get some enjoyment from what I'll call a C-horror movie. There are subtle (and not so subtle) references to Snake Plisken, Star Wars, From Dusk til Dawn, and other low budget zombie movies throughout ZA:R that I found entertaining. That being said, the acting was pretty awful from the lead female character, and the villain, Rome. Though, I suspect with Rome it was intended to be bad. I can't find any excuses for the lead female, however. She just seemed out of her element here. The fight scenes were playful instead of violent, almost comical if you don't take them too seriously. If you have a few hours to kill and you really enjoy low budget films, you may find this one entertaining. However, if you're looking for high quality then look elsewhere because you won't find any appreciation for this one. I can't say that it was all bad though. I got some laughs from it, and even enjoyed it from time to time.

• Surely this was meant as a joke?

  paul_haakonsen2011-11-19

  I bought this movie from Amazon. Why? Well because I am huge zombie aficionado and I just have to watch all things zombie, read all things zombie, and play all things zombie. With my zombie-interest, yeah I bump into a lot of dubious stuff, and "Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption" was hardly worth the effort, much less worth the money I paid for it. Right from the very beginning when there was a very 1980's computer game-like background story scrolling up on the screen, you just know that you are in for a bad time. And true enough, the movie didn't fail to deliver on that hunch. Just that background story was utter nonsense in itself, and it was hard to buy into the events that apparently had transpired there. The acting in the movie was halting and stagnant at best. It wasn't really coming off on the screen like people were having their hearts in the movie. And I can't really say that I remember any of the people in the movie from their performances. I just remember a single face, but that was because I saw him in "From Dusk till Dawn", can't recall his name though. As for the zombies in the movie, well don't expect to be blown away by cool make-up or CGI effects. And I especially loved the fight scene at the camp, where the zombie actually lifted its arm and blocked a punch. Are you kidding me? Epic fail... "Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption" was a slap in the face for me, and it is a zombie movie that will be bagged and tagged, slapped on the movie shelf and never watched again. It was actually so horrendous that I started zapping chapters to see if it was all equally boring and uninspiring; and it was. So I ended up turning off the movie, and I know I will never pop it back in the DVD player and see how it ended. If you are a zombie aficionado like me, stay well clear of this zombie movie, because it is a disappointment. Sure, now I own it, and it is part of my ever-growing (and rotting, no offense) collection of zombie stuff. But the movie will never be more than just a filler on the shelf.

• Escape from MadStarMaxZombieWars

  gennyt842014-04-09

  The movie starts and the 80's music and the scrolling prologue had me double checking if I clicked correctly. I did... ---------- Plot---------- Weak, it's sci fi that doesn't draw very well from reality. With the weaponry we have today, we're supposed to believe that world powers are going to go full out nuclear to curb zombies. Now 98% of humans are wiped out with a zombie to human ratio of 10,000:1(yeah) and the planet is mostly irradiated wasteland. Zombies are said to be so "pervasive" but I've seen them cause fairly easily avoidable problems maybe three times in the movie otherwise the characters move around with very little caution and not a zombie in sight. The story is shallow and piece meal since it borrows from different(and better) movies (Mad Max, Escape from L.A, Star Wars, you name it!). The actual movie is about some exiled guy who brings trouble on a group of survivors who rescued him from dying in the desert because he is being hunted for some unknown reason by his insane and roided up ex-leader and his "Raider" thugs. That's it! ---------- Visuals ---------- There was no "irradiated wasteland" budget. The sets were very basic with little to no deterioration of structures and just a general lack of practical post apocalyptic disarray. It even carried over into the costume design. It's been twelve years since the human race has all but gone extinct yet pristine clothes(sexy high heel leather boots included), hair products, cosmetics and well groomed facial hair are common sights and apparently there is a never ending supply of bullets and fuel for their spotless late model SUVs and pick up trucks. ---------- Sound---------- Uhhh 80's synth music with punches and kicks using stock "wapshht" sound effects. ---------- Characters/Acting ---------- The main antagonist was painful to watch, throughout the movie he was snarling and growling the cheesiest of lines. Even if most of the actors didn't have extremely limited range there wasn't much to be done with the dialogue anyway. ------ This seems to be part of the rash of zombie themed entertainment that got ramped up a few years ago. However, I think in this case, the zombies were an afterthought to cash in on the wave.