for the longest time this was just called '....Of the Dead'.... eventually George A. Romero chose a full title.... and thus we had 'Suvival of the Dead'.... now as you all know, George A. Romero is my hero.... he created the modern zombie and my favorite sub-genre of the horror world.... i love zombies more than any other monster out there.... so just knowing that George was taking on yet another zombie epic made me happy.... what's kind of interesting though, is that the first 4 films: 'Night of the Living Dead' (1968), 'Dawn of the Dead' (1978), 'Day of the Dead' (1985), and 'Land of the Dead'.... were all part of a series of films.... a quadrilogy of sorts.... he didn't necessarily start out to make them be a series, but it kind of organically happened and he made an epic series of films.... since then he almost rebooted his own series.... 'Diary of the Dead' was a new take on the original genre.... we're still dealing with the shambling dead, but it's at the beginning of the outbreak.... so it's a do-over.... it's like the first 4 movies never happened.... then with 'Survival of the Dead' he ties it in with 'Diary of the Dead' in such a way that it's almost a sequel.... which could mean more in the series.... despite the fact that critics say that George has said all he can say with the zombie genre.... he seems to still have stories to tell.... and as long as i'm alive and he's alive, i'll keep seeing an zombie movies he puts out.... despite how good or bad they may be.... so far, i've been satisfied with all of his work to date.... and this movie was no exception.... do i honestly think this will reach out to all of the masses and leave an impression, no. i'll be honest.... this is for die hard fans.... i don't know that the casual horror film buff would count this as a modern masterpiece or anything.... the story is original and the characters are kind of a mixture of characters from all his other movies.... and he's started to rely some more on humor in his films to help carry them and make them seem more fresh.... some of it works, some doesn't.... the story revolves around two seperate groups of people.... some rogue army members who are living by their own laws and just trying to stay alive.... it also involves two groups at war on a small island debating on whether it's better to keep the zombies and try to train them to eat something else or to kill them all and live safetly on the island away from the threat of the outbreak.... the first group overtakes the second group and banishes them off of the island into the real world where the outbreak is all to real.... where the two sets of main characters collide is when the army folks hear that the group that's been banished has plans to go back to the island and take it back over and make it safe for families to live on.... thus begins a shaky partnership.... of course all is going well until they get to the island and things get sketchy and what was going to be a peaceful ending to a horrific situation.... ends up far from peaceful.... 
i can honestly say this isn't George's strongest work to date.... but it was an enjoyable ride and a unique take on a genre that has been over saturated with the same things over and over.... he was able to create something new and different.... but compared to some of the other things that George has done outside of zombie films, this is still his bread a butter.... and i hope that he continues to play with genre.... i think he has some more interesting tales to spin.... now my ratings on this movie are a little biased due to my love of the genre and of George A. Romero.... it's because of this that i gave it 4 out of 5 stars.... do i think that it 100% deserves that high of a rating, i'm not sure.... all i know is that i enjoyed my time spent watching it and know that it will be added to my DVD collection when i get the money together to do so.... as no zombie collection is complete without all of Romero's work.... and this is the only one i'm missing.... go watch it if you have the time.... but go into it just expecting to have fun.... don't expect high art and i think you'll get a kick out of it....
if you like this, check out: 'Diary of the Dead', 'Land of the Dead' and 'Day of the Dead' (1985)
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