MovieChat Forums > State of Emergency (2011) Discussion > Not horrible by any means, just not well...

Not horrible by any means, just not well-rounded. (Spoilers)


So, the one thing I really liked about this film is that it wrapped up within four or five days. It wasn't like the end of the world or the government trying to cover things up...it was just straightforward. The flow of the film was decent for this kind of story and it looked pretty good too. There were some points that bothered me:

Didn't buy Jim and ix (or whatever her name was). His fiance's body is probably 400 yards away and he's having a connection with this bondage wannabe weird girl? No way. There wasn't enough character development to get me there.

Scott. I created another post just for him. The guy playing him was awful.

These people are proficient in reading maps, using scoped rifles nearly flawlessly at a half mile range in the open, have walkie talkies, endless food supply, endless gas for the generator...there were things that were just too convenient for me.

They don't know how to fortify their place? Why would you put boards on windows like it's a horror movie window instead of nailing them on there...I don't know...good.

All I can think of now but as I said not a bad effort at all. I thought it would have been a nice twist if we found out that Jim actually shot his fiance OR Jim worked at the chemical factory and actually sabotaged the place. But solid anyway.

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Didn't buy Jim and ix (or whatever her name was). His fiance's body is probably 400 yards away and he's having a connection with this bondage wannabe weird girl? No way. There wasn't enough character development to get me there.


What do you mean by "a connection"? Are you insinuating that they fell in love?

I don't think they fell in love until the very end, when she comes out of the hospital room and the two have a silent stare.

Before that, the relationship was platonic. He became her friend so readily for two reasons, I'd say:

1) With the apocalypse, humans are scarce, so he wanted to speak to someone to maintain his humanity. Remember, Jim approached her while she was listening to music (i.e. - wishing to be alone) despite Scott's warning that she isn't sociable. Clearly, he had a need to befriend people, however unwilling the other may be.

2) During the conversation, she says that she had no friends, to which Jim said, "As hard as it may be to believe, I had no friends too, except my lover." The similarity here (friendlessness) may have hit home for both sides. Indeed, she says outright, "Maybe we could be friends," and he affirms.

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Yes, that's the whole point of the movie. Jim never had friends, and the last thing he says (which is indeed, the last line of the movie) is 'Where are my friends?" He may have gone through hell and although the world hasn't ended, I'd guess that an area of 'Montgomery County' and the rest of whatever state it was in (Maryland?) would probably be the worst disaster since 3 Mile Island, Love Canal and Chernobyl put together, but he is now a better man for it, hence the arc of the movie (which is hinted at partly because it does begin with a flashforward to the scene where Jim and Scott work together).

I felt it was a very nicely put together story, and yes, there was some wooden acting, mostly by the guy who played Scott, but compared to a lot of Zombie movies and even TV series (including Z-Nation) I've seen, it was head and shoulders above them!

I like the fact that there was no 'undead', despite most of the zombie kills being head shots. The way the zombies acted in this movie was a bit different - more like deranged and enraged people like those in '28 Days Later' and not the wandering 'walkers' in 'The Walking Dead'. The kills were real enough not to be distracting, and even the scenes with superimposed aircraft were passable. For a low budget zombie film, it aspired to be much better, and I think it achieved those ambitions. I wish they had a larger budget, but even with the one they had, they managed to tell a story, get my heart pumping and I'll probably remember a few key scenes. For me, that warrants a thumbs-up.

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I'd guess that an area of 'Montgomery County' and the rest of whatever state it was in (Maryland?)


Kentucky. The movies takes place in Montgomery County, Kentucky. (Clay's Tobacco Warehouse is a real place - Facebook page and everything.)

If these events had taken place in Montgomery County, Maryland, it would have been a whole different kind of movie.

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