Customer Reviews

The Vanguard

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Vanguard is the story of civilization in the near future; a world where governments have collapsed, and "Biosyn" zombies roam the world, outnumbering surviving humans.

The movie focuses on Max (played by Ray Bullock Jr.), a deaf survivor who is holed up in the middle of the woods. We are treated to the manner and lengths Max must go to survive. Ray soon stumbles into a corporation soldier and two resistance fighters. It is here that the story takes off.

For a lower budget flick, The Vanguard features a very immersive and fresh story. The acting is very good, and Ray Bullock Jr. is a real pleasure to watch. He carries the film well for the first thirty minutes, creating a very believable character and a very believable predicament. Emma Choy also adds a sturdy performance as Rachael.

The action is fierce and enjoyable, with flashes of gore. But, with that said, the gore is not overdone to the extreme. You will find plenty of blood, and plenty of satisfying battles with the zombies, but nothing that causes you to turn your head away from the film.

Despite all The Vanguard's good points, it does have several minor flaws, preventing it from being as good as it could have been. The story lulls a bit at times, but not so much that you want to give up on the film. The story also can be unclear at times, but I didn't find this to be too annoying. After all, the film is set in the future; a future where many things have changed and there is much we must be informed about.

Fans of horror, action and zombie flicks should definitely check out this movie. It is a film with some very memorable scenes, and a movie that just might be better the second time around.

I'm sad to say I actually own this one.
After reading reviews on Amazon about this movie I had decent expectations for this film. Many reviewers have described this as a post apocalyptic zombie film. It really could just be a nutter that runs around the woods with hatchets killing everyone he comes across and we just see everything through his deluded mind. We may never know for sure.

The acting in this film is bad. Even the actors playing zombies are really bad at it.

The cinematography is boring. Trees, lots and lots of trees.

There is no plot to speak of.

The early scene with the main character riding a kid's bike through the woods was just embarrassing.

Nothing about this film is memorable...other than it was bad. I'm slowly recovering by watching actual zombie movies.

I'm not sure why they bothered with the refugees from the Road Warrior, perhaps they wandered onto the wrong set and the director said "what the hell, let's put `em in the flick". They really served no purpose and actually slowed the movie down.

Very little here for the zombie fan. There are a handful that do very little. I believe they were tossed in as a marketing ploy.

Very little here for the post apocalyptic fan. Unless, "post apocalypse" means "trees" to you.

I'm pretty sure the 5 star ratings on here are from people related to the making, marketing, or cast of the film.

Did I mention this film was bad?

I actually bought this movie on a whim because it looked cool at Wal-Mart. The story sounds pretty interesting so what did I have to lose, right?

This movie is complete and utter boredom at it's worst. Now, imagine a few teenagers reading lines in the woods and running around pretending to kill things. THAT would have been more interesting than this was. Don't get me wrong; I think they had a decent story to work with but the execution is just horrible.

Do yourself a service - save your money and your time. You will have more fun picking individual fleas from your pet's fur.

My copy currently resides in a landfill somewhere. I'm giving it two stars but that's probably nicer than I should be. However, they took the time to film it right?

Look at the hero in the Song of Roland. Need I say more? Well then, I will! This was another movie that probably seemed really awesome on paper, but then somewhere between casting the main character as a hatchet wielding Elmo-looking half-mute (I am not being facetious here!) and filming half the story in bright sepia tones, this train derailed into the farce that subsequently played out. If you don't mind derivations of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend", which isn't in and of itself a crime, you will feel right at home for the first 30 minutes of the film. I was even almost intrigued at first, but then the main character's internal monologues started to get more and more pompous and overblown and were never commiserate to his actual actions and demeanor. Add to this already poorly executed Omega Man idea some half mumbled expositions that neither connect with each other or move the viewer towards some point of understanding where the story is supposed to be heading, and some amazingly improbably martial arts moves by the hatchet wielding main character after he puts a chop on someone, and you will start to feel as surly as some of those biosyms we are supposed to boo and hiss at throughout the movie. The non-sequitur ending of course fits right in with the rest of the film, as do its preceding minutes. There's nothing wrong with an intellectual action movie--but ideas should always be grounded in understanding, not fancy.

"The Vanguard" is a UK film that opens with a lengthy exposition scrolling up the screen, explaining the set-up. The time is set in 2015 when "the world is in chaos" and "the last known oil fields have been lost to a global war." One big corporation creates a drug that has turned most of the human beings into 'Biosyns' or zombies if you like. You have to read this part carefully; otherwise, you will spend the following 89 minutes at a loss as to what is going on.

Even if you read and understand it, things would not be better. The film centers on a character called Max (Ray Bullock Jr.) living alone in the woods and battling the zombies that run and attack like apes. Max deftly uses a pair of axes, his choice of weapons, and when he moves, he rides a bicycle. Also, he seems to be waiting for someone for a long time.

Certainly the character and the story are not very original, the same kind of theme explored recently in "I Am Legend," but still the film's premise has potential. However, the slow narrative drags, not knowing where it is going. The post-apocalyptic world of the film doesn't look like one. I know this is a low-budget movie, but still you have to show how the world has changed, instead of just telling about it.

The most disappointing part is actions, which is not exciting enough. Lots of gores are used, and the idea of ax-wielding and spear-throwing hero is not bad, but the combat scenes (especially those in the earlier part of the story) need better choreography and editing. For all the nice ideas, "The Vanguard" falls short of its potential.

The movie was bad....
I love zombie movies... and especially movies that make you think.
The back of the box reads nice. If only its content lived up.
It was dull... long... ultimately boring. Horrible effects, and im not saying that like unless it had a big studio behind it its not up to par... but i would have settled for cheesy old Romero make-up. The acting is bad... apparently all roaming mercenaries with chips in the backs of their necks have mohawks.... and the main character.. its been a while i cant remember if he was deaf or mute, but wow bad acting... like cheesy mexican soap opera bad... *insert Pablo Francisco joke (MARIA!!)*

THE VANGUARD, Matthew Hope's feature debut, is a very enjoyable and highly original film. It's good to see other directors out there at least trying to make original and fresh films, and who have distinctive voices in the genre.

If you like slow paced, cerebral films like Martin and the original The Vanishing then this film will appeal to you. However there is a fairly sizeable chunk of horror fans out there who will just say the film is boring and unoriginal, mainly because their A.D.D. minds are unable to see the depth of the script below the surface level; thus they walk away thinking it's a bunch of zombies in the woods, and believe me it is so much more than that. If you're one of these people you won't enjoy the film - my advice would be to go watch one of those pathetic '8 films to die for' after dark movies - they would be right up your street.

For the rest of us, who can spot a good movie when we see one - THE VANGUARD is a great piece of Post Apocalyptic entertainment. Well done Matthew Hope and team. I look forward to seeing your next film.

The above is seen in the opening text scene of the film, explaining the situation in which the characters find themselves. One such technical error might be forgivable, but this is only one of several. Examples: the two little hatchets the protagonist uses to waste zombies always make a ringing sound when striking flesh (or when being removed from same); the film's makers can't decide if the zombies are the way they are due to a drug or an infection; we have the worst zombie slaughter sequence ever put to film; and perhaps the worst human slaughter sequence ever put to film. We also have one too many Christ figures. The worst of all though is early in the film there is a sequence where a rifle, the muzzle conveniently out of the frame, is fired. The only problem is the recoil doesn't coincide with the sound of the weapon discharging. It's off by a quarter of a second or so. The effect was very noticeable. There are additional problems with the film that are not technical in nature, but I already cannot recommend the movie so I'll dispense with a discussion of these.
There are a handful of things in the movie that can be looked upon positively. While the dialog is bad, the acting is passable for the most part. The cinematography is competent, and the score is suitably creepy from time to time. The zombie make-up effects are slightly above average. A rather incoherent effort is made to reference man's inhumanity to man and all that (actually more of an evil elite ruining everybody else sort of angle), which made the plot at least a bit more interesting. However, these cannot save the project.
I'm impressed whenever anyone manages to make a feature film. However, this one should have been screened and shelved. This cast and crew have potential, but need a far more disciplined approach to deliver a good film.
I suppose one could make an argument that this movie should receive two stars, but more than that? Sorry, but no. Recommended? Afraid not.

finally a different take on the zombie genre that isn't dumbed down this one has a decent plot to it and the zombies look pretty creepy almost like the deadites in Evil Dead the gore is quite impressive
i never even heard of this movie until i stumbled across it in a horror section at Walmart of all places i must say i am pleasantly surprised at how good this movie is i'm sure there will be tons of horror critics trashing this movie because they only watch Romero zombie flicks but in the horror genre EVERYTHING has been re-hashed and re-done all that matters is if it's done right

I'm sorry but this was a great zombie movie. If you are a true zombie fan this will make a great addition to your collection. This reminded me of mad max with zombies. It's funny but the main character is named Max as well. Maybe it isn't a coincedence. This movie takes place in the future and oil once again is the cause for the distruction of the world. A virus is let loose and all hell breaks loose. The movie doesn't have a lot of dialoge and there is not a lot of action. Then what makes this a great film? Well this is a film that requires some thinking. I'm sorry I probably lost some of you who love endless, pointless violence. The movie expects you to chose who is worse the zombies or the humans? The humans are just as savage and seem to kill more than the zombies do. The movie expects you to see mankind completely lost and becoming more like the zombies and less human. Even Max is having trouble figuring out who is more evil man or the zombie. This is a great film it makes you actually think of man as the monster instead of the zombie. If you love zombie movies this one is unique and would not be a waste of time. If you expect tons of violence then don't waste your time on this film. The violence is there and it is pretty gory at times, but it isn't pointless violence like most zombie movies.
There seem to be a lot of people who don't understand zombie movies. They expect night of the living dead over and over again. If that was the case zombie movies whould have died out in the 80's. It is exciting to view a different take on zombies, and this film is exactly what it is. A different take on zombies.