The case for Captain Rhodes (he wasn't the bad guy.)
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livid_86 — 16 years ago(September 27, 2009 08:20 PM)
But there was no more "job"! It was over man!
And as for "And if he wanted Sarah to sleep with him, he would have made her." we don't really need any more proof of him being a bad guy, do we?
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion. -
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livid_86 — 16 years ago(September 28, 2009 08:21 AM)
Oh please DC was gone and they all knew it. And even though he didn't make her, he would have if he had had the inclination like you said, and any man who would do that is not a good guy.
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion. -
user-769 — 16 years ago(September 28, 2009 12:49 PM)
He could have made her, and didn't. I could throw my cat out the third story window of my house, but I don't. Does that mean I'm a bad guy? You could shoot up a shopping mall. But you haven't. Are you a bad guy?
And you have no idea if DC is gone. When your cell phone has no signal, do you assume there was a nuclear war and give up on humanity? -
xenodrone — 16 years ago(October 06, 2009 04:10 AM)
Intersting post I was with the army guys through the whole movie, it would have been good if they had showed more time with them as I didnt see them so bad especially what dangers they were having to put themseleves into by capture zombies all time. If I was in Rhodes postion I probley would have blown Logan away too I can understand where he was coming from when he was shouting at Logan early on about teaching a zombie trikes.
I was a bit dissapointed that the army soldiers all died at the end and didnt put up much of a fight. -
user-769 — 16 years ago(October 06, 2009 09:43 PM)
Yea, it really seemed like the end came and Romero just said "Ok, lets find a way to kill off all the soldiers."
They really went out of character. Rhodes became a coward, and Steele abandoned his friend, Rickles.
I would have ended the movie with the extra soldier getting gored by zombies, Steele/Rhodes/Rickles all get top-side and engage Sarah/John/McDermott. McDermott dies (or is mortally wounded,) and someone shoots Rhodes and he falls down the elevator and gets crippled, and zombies rip him to shreds. Steel/Rickles surrender, the helicopter crew let them drive off in a truck, Sarah and crew fly off in the chopper.
This would keep with the story and movie cliches, and be a bit more of a realistic ending in my view. Maybe the ending is John burying McDermott on a beach somewhere. This would have allowed for gore/action and just a generally more acceptable ending. -
SleepKills — 16 years ago(October 08, 2009 08:21 AM)
I would say I liked the way Rhodes acted at the end of the movie. He wanted to show he was way better than 'those useless scientists' and told them he would do anything for his men. But at the end he just left them to save his own life. Some leader
For those of you who are interessted, a little video featuring Rhodes the man:
THIS AINT A GODDAMN FIELDTRIP, PEOPLE
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user-769 — 16 years ago(October 15, 2009 04:41 PM)
When I was in the military, people (officers in particular) yell (or at least are generally disagreeable) all the time. If you take away all the yelling, it just seemed to me Rhodes really wasn't doing anything particularly bad up until the beep hit the fan. He was trying to maintain control of a really beep situation and the science team was making that task very difficult for him. They wouldn't compromise at all, even though Rhodes compromised with them (giving them more time, for example.)
I won't argue Rhodes was a particularly strong leader, but I think he was trying to work out a solution that worked out for everyone. Keep in mind, Rhodes and his men could have done whatever they wanted. There were more of them, and they had better fire-power. Yet, they kept helping the science team, they allowed the science team to work unsupervised and even let them keep their own weapons (until Rhodes discovered they had been feeding his men to zombies. He had no way to know it was just Logan and had to assume the entire science team was behind it.)
The one "out of line" thing he did was shoot the other scientist. But at that point, it was a full-fledged insurrection and Rhodes had no reason to believe that the support staff hadn't been murdering his men all that time. -
user-769 — 16 years ago(October 17, 2009 04:41 PM)
This is a very well thought out response, let me answer it point to point.
Yes, it was a civilian operation, the military existed to "facilitate the science team." But, the science team worked as the role of base medic, John and McDermott were radio and pilot. That's why they're technically, from a logistical point of view, the support staff. However, it's safe to assume Martial Law was in effect. Like it or not, missions in the field change. The science team was accomplishing nothing, and Rhodes knew this. He generously gave them more time and they squandered it.
Rhodes was 100% correct when he told them that all they do is use the protection offered by the military, all the while getting his men killed. This was obviously a position held by ALL the soldiers.
With Steele, he obviously didn't like Sarah at all, but their relationship was more of a "You're dumb/You're a bitch" type of irritation. Rhodes and Sarah seemed to really hate each other, and without knowing the back story, I don't know why Rhodes hatred only seemed to be directed to Sarah. I really wish we knew if they had a massive confrontation before Rhodes became commander, or if they actually did have some romantic relationship prior and he resented the fact she was now with Salazar (though I still don't know why Rhodes didn't shoot her the multiple chances he got if he wanted to kill her so bad.)
Rhodes was not a particularly good squad level leader. He seemed to be more of a logistical commander, but didn't do so hot when dealing directly with the men under his command.
If Rhodes had been more strict, things might have gone differently. For one, had he locked Salazar up, Salazar wouldn't have been able to let all the zombies in.
But, in this case I feel it was one of those "hind-sight is 20/20."
If I were in command, I don't know what exactly I'd have done with Salazar. It was unacceptable for Sarah to sedate him without Rhode's permission. I don't know what the day-to-day requirements were of the soldiers, all we know was they were short on men. For all I know, they might not have been able to spare Salazar.
One thing is for damn sure, he should have shot Salazar when he was bitten, but for whatever reason he took Sarah at her word. He actually let the Radioman and helicopter pilot threaten them with guns. He was way too lenient with them.
It really goes back to what I said earlier. Rhodes was not a good squad level commander. Steele (and he even said it) would have shot Salazar then and there (or come back with reinforcements.) Rhodes was being soft on Sarah for some reason, multiple times. I still suspect they had a romantic past or at least some level of connection prior to the movie.
If I were Rhodes, I would have promoted Steele to Sgt, or Squad Leader and let him handle the day-to-day at sub-officer/security level, and then I'd focus on the logistical problems.
I would have approached Fisher and offered him liaison position with authority and basically said
"I don't trust Logan, and Sarah doesn't respect my authority. So Fisher, I am going to grant you military rank, and place you in charge of the science team."
This would have given Fisher a bit more confidence in the military side, and may have made an important ally in keeping Sarah and Logan in check.
Your main contention is the civilian aspect of the situation. Unfortunately, rules of engagement change in the apocalypse. If the civilian team can't produce results, the commanding officer has the authority to pack up and leave. Rhodes never said the science team had to come with him. -
user-769 — 16 years ago(October 18, 2009 02:38 PM)
I'm really glad to see some people really discussing this. I don't think Day of the Dead gets much thought for the most part. And in my opinion when you really watch it, not just look at the screen, but try to understand the characters, it completely changes the movie.
It's almost like watching an entirely new movie when you sit down an analyze it! I also appreciate the time you're taking in your responses.
This may be one of the best IMDB discussions I've seen.
Regarding your answers, you're probably right. The best solution would have been just to say "beep it."