MovieChat Forums > Day of the Dead (1985) Discussion > Scientists are the bad guys

Scientists are the bad guys

posted 9 years ago by pvillerei
19 replies | jump to latest

Hello DoD fans and greetings from finland. Sorry for my english btw (:

Ive seen this movie many times and it is my one of my all time favorite horror films, but it feels so what unfair making Rhodes and the soldiers look bad when in my opinion is quite opposite.

Rhodes asked them what are they doing with my time, just jerking each others off?(lol) and he was right. They we're only making excuses and cover each other arses and look busy.

Come on nobody had no common sense at all. Sarahs research was to cure and reverse the process, how scary and dumb is that? To make the dead relaise who they were before? How creepy is that to make half rotted and terribly injured dead to know they are/were humans once? Do you wanna come back from dead to see yourself as terrible rotten monster probably eaten some human guts. Plus how she was going to apply this cure to millions of zombies? Vaxins? Millions of them? And the dead have no blood circulation anyway.

Mr.frankenstein is even more mad. How the hell he is going to make millions of zombies to behave when it took 1 special zombie, days of practise and human flesh reward to teach him few silly tricks. Or did he think bub could go outside and tell the rest of zombies not to eat people haha.

Rhodes: WTF is wrong with you people their dead and you wanna teach em tricks!?

And Rhodes had 100% right to be very angry. They had to knew that there is no cure, no way to make em behave but the every1 was just jerking each others off and making excuses and looking busy for nothing. Wasting supplies and getting soldiers killed very fast. When they really did nothing but getting drunk and probably high from the weed that 1 soldiers grew in the begining of the film. Sarah eat pills all the time.

They had no balls or brains to tell Rhodes there is no need to get his men killed for show that they look important. Rhodes and John we're the only people with any common sense. Only thing to do is to move some very remote place or make some way to mass destruct the zommbies.

Rhodes, Steele and Rickels were the best chars in this movie(Rhodes and Rickels had weddind bands btw) and its a damn shame how they died and the bastard sarah and drunks flew away

Im thinking is Romero making this on purpose? Same as night of the living dead the black guy actually get every1 killed. I mean come on when he enter the house first thing he does is put on ALL the lights and when a FEW zombie notice this he makes other people start a hell of a banging and its show in the film that this noice draw the horde to over run them. They could been hiding in the cellar till morning like harry said and get the gas in
morning

[–] Rick_Grimes_RG 9 years ago

Hi and welcome!

This is an interesting approach you took here. I'm still thinking that Romero wanted everybody to think the military was bad though.

-Rick Grimes

[–] kyjoe 9 years ago

I have to agree. Considering the intense, stressful situation I don't think the military people were "bad" guys.

[–] kyjoe 9 years ago

Although Rhodes did run and leave his men behind at the end.

[–] Philhelm (512) 4 years ago

Not necessarily justified, but he was unarmed at that point and went to the armory to get a rifle before he encountered Bub and the rest of the horde.

[–] Lovelyjugs 8 years ago

I never thought of anyone as actual bad guys. Miguel is actually the worst as what he does is out of spite. However, he's totally lost it by then. The scientists are pretty useless but the only option left is to try and cure or tame the zombies. The soldiers are even more useless and I think that's why there is so much tension.

[–] user-769 8 years ago

I posted a 22 page thread on this http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088993/board/thread/147583408

[–] nannite 8 years ago

I agree with your premise on Rhodes, he seems to be the clearest thinking character. but I disagree with the changes that you recommended (making it a super-military action movie like Rambo or Sniper). This movie is great because it paints a chaotic picture of what life would be like if you were one of the last 12 people alive.

Part of the joy in watching this movie is being flabbergasted at watching Dr. Frankenstein act in the manner he acts. Rhodes feels like hes trying to herd cats with two giant guns. The goals of Sarah and Frankenstein seem to be nebulous, shifting and....completely unrealistic. It is a madhouse and everyone is either insane or getting there.

Their choices are limited in where they could go (strongly implied when they use wwii radio technology and the pilots comment about wanting to go to a caribbean island while Sarah gets disgusted), which ultimately drives the plot. Basically its a last stand with people who are physically and mentally unable to continue fighting.

[–] user-769 8 years ago

I just hate the way directors/writers force the character to twirl his mustache and become "the bad guy" to push a narrative. There doesn't HAVE to be good/bad guys in dark, brooding movies like this one. Rhodes wasn't the type of guy to abandon his men regardless of his other character faults.

Rhodes needed to die, because it's the way movies go. But fleeing the battle and abandoning his men made no sense in the way the character had been presented the entire film, not to mention it didn't make sense in the context of the battle, since he could have simply gathered the men and escaped.

[–] nannite 8 years ago

In Night, if they had stayed in the basement, the daughter would have got them all, as she mostly did anyway.

[–] katholiday1962 8 years ago

You are so funny!:)

I honor the dead with Easter-eggs! Please view & comment on my new living dead tribute, ”The Walker”! www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EIsv6QmEHk

[–] Verdugo85 8 years ago

You're too one sided of this.

The scientists were under pressure by a power hungry, gun toting, sexist, selfish a$$hole.

And you forgot to mention how Sarah warned Rhodes about Miguel's psychological setback but Rhodes insisted that he be on duty and look how that turned, who should be held accountable for that?

Rhodes leaving his men behind to die in a "war" against zombies. He died a gutless coward.

[–] user-769 8 years ago

The scientists were allowing a maniac (and possibly a murderer) to run their operation. Rhodes gave them multiple opportunities to explain what they were doing, they NEVER did.

Rhodes was guilty of being too trusting, if anything.

[–] Verdugo85 8 years ago

Rhodes gave them multiple opportunities to explain what they were doing, they NEVER did.

Well give credit to the chief scientist (even though a maniac) for showing some progress with Bub. While Sarah was trying to find if there was a way to reverse the process, a "cure", she just didnt know exactly how long it'd take to find it but it was impossible of course. Sarah even mentioned that the whole operation was rushed so they had to work how ever long it took but Rhodes was impatient..

So in the end the scientist tried...

And Rhodes was also unstable from the beginning. In fact when we're introduced to him he was half way in becoming beyond insane its proven when he threatens to shoot one of his own men to kill Sarah..

[–] user-769 8 years ago

Yet, he never did kill Sarah. He was establishing himself as the leader of the operation (since surely Martial Law was in place.) His men were laughing like idiots, the science team and support staff were ignoring his orders.

So he started yelling.

Still, they were laughing, and still they were ignoring him. Even Steel.

At what point do you say "*beep* this, I'm going to make an example out of someone if you all don't start listening."

Rhodes was loud and a bit of an ass, but notice he wasn't that way with everyone? Notice he was sitting at a table chatting with Dr.Fisher? Notice he didn't scream and holler except when people were acting like children on a play ground?

I'm not defending all of Rhodes actions, but seriously, no one was respecting his command at all.

Hell, Rhodes let them KEEP THEIR GUNS... EVEN AFTER THEY POINTED THEM AT HIM. He should have had them all shot right there, but he didn't. He let them keep them up until he realized they were using their guns to stage a mutiny.

He constantly let people talk back to him, as well.

I'd bet if Sarah (or Logan) offered solutions, like "You're right. I respect that you've had loss of your men/friends and right now we don't have the results you're looking for. I've been working on ABC, Logan is working XYZ. Here is our results in PLAIN ENGLISH." that Rhodes wouldn't have flown off the handle.

And at the end of the day, the thing neither one of us can dispute is that Rhodes was right. The bunker was a death trap, and they should have taken the helicopter to reestablish communication with DC, since the radio equipment was shot.

[–] Verdugo85 8 years ago

Wether Rhodes yelled or not, he was a narcissistic douchbag by default you can even notice it when he was talking to Fisher saying "Major Cooper is dead. Im in command now", boohoo

And Rhodes wasnt listening to the scientists situation, especially from Sarah, she was very reasonable. It was all "his way" or you're dead because "he's in charge" "he's in power" blah blah blah

[–] user-769 8 years ago

Rhodes, was in fact, in charge. They were in a remote bunker, under Martial Law, with no contact with their HQ.

Rhodes being "a narcissistic douchebag" doesn't change that.

He said, correctly, that the mission should be abandoned if the science team couldn't produce any results. The science team kept delaying, and only provided him with ridiculous and useless "solutions."

[–] Johndass (47) 6 years ago

Rhodes only took command that day of the movie starting. Since Sarah etc never knew about the majors death while they were out and the helicopter can only fly a few hours when they came back they found out about the majors death

[–] CoreyHaimFan (1031) 5 years ago

Romero should have had a scene where all of the militants gang-rape Sarah. That would have driven home the message who is evil a little better. And seeing Sarah's bottom would have made the movie better.