Speculate: Would zombies REALLY take over?

[Flangepart]

I thought that was about Dolphins who kill.
"The Porpoise driven knife."

[BTM]

BTW, has anyone with military experience answered this question?  Was really curious what they'd think (esp Andrew, but he's probably been too busy of late ot answer silly forum questions... ;)

[plan9superfan]

Also, when the zombies invade us, can't we just ask George A. Romero, Lucio Fulci and Edgar Wright for help?

[The Conqueroo]

Bruce Willis recently announced that he was going to go to Columbia and personally address their Senate about Drug Smuggling.Just another case of an Actor with too much time on their hands thinking that because theyr'e Actors they're qualified to take on whatever Political Cause comes along.Anyway,if Bruce Willis can stop Narcotrafficantes,he can certainly stop the Zombies!!Even if they kill him,his Zombiefied Corpse will keep on repeating the cycle!!

[Neville]

The Conqueroo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Anyway,if Bruce Willis can stop
> Narcotrafficantes,he can certainly stop the
> Zombies!!Even if they kill him,his Zombiefied
> Corpse will keep on repeating the cycle!!

Dude, that sounded so much like a studio CEO announcing more "Die Hard" films...

[Dr. Whom]

No, that is Deadly Porpoise you're thinking of

[BTM]

BTW, has anyone with military experience answered this question?  Was really curious what they'd think (esp Andrew, but he's probably been too busy of late ot answer silly forum questions... ;)

You know, we never did hear from Andrew on this subject... 

[CheezeFlixz]

Well I'm a former Marine and I think Zombies would move a little to slow to pose any real threat to mankind. I mean come on, you can take a leisurely stroll and out pace the zombie populous. Provided you are not a 1960's women running in spiked heels through a graveyard at night you should see zombies as much of a threat.

So from a military perspective we find their weakness and exploit it ...

Is it a shotgun blast to the head? Lock and Load.
Is it Fire? Flick your Bic.
Is it pointy sticks? Then whittle some sticks.

and if all else fails use napalm ... napalm is your friend (provided it's not on you)

Bottom line zombies not a threat ... or in these politally correct world do we call them the "formerly living?"

PC is the real threat ...

[Wicked Nick]

This all depends on the kind of zombie we are dealing with. If we are dealing with a Night of the living dead scenario were any recently dead individual will come back to life then its much more likely that we could see large areas infected, add this with infectious bites then we could have a large problem. Small community's and large city's would be  rapidly infected if measures are not taken quickly, and even after that the constant threat of a out break would bring are country and the rest of the world down economically. Wars would break out which would mean even more undead and then you have a doomsday scenario.
Now if its only the bites that bring people back to life then are problems are greatly lessened (Dawn of the dead remake and 28 days later scenario). Finding and containing these infected individuals would be much easier. The problem would be with human nature. Family and friends would likely take offence to to having there loved ones rounded up and shot as soon as they are bitten. This would lead to the problem family members harboring infected people and the eventual zombie they would become.
Also we need to take into account what ability's these zombies have. Are they fast and agile like in Dawn of the dead remake, slow yet smart like in Land of the dead, or are they just impossible to kill like in Return of the living dead. Each of these zombies pose there own problems and depending on the way they come back to life then are problems could be very serious are nothing at all.
I guess what it really comes down to is just being prepared for a zombie outbreak. Always make sure you have the proper weaponry (shotgun, axe, pistol, etc.) at the ready, and if you see a zombie make sure you tell your local authority's as quickly as possible.

[IzzyDedjet]

BTW, has anyone with military experience answered this question?  Was really curious what they'd think (esp Andrew, but he's probably been too busy of late ot answer silly forum questions... ;)

I spent 10 years as a U.S. Army Combat Engineer.  If it were me, I'd lay a field expedient mine field around my home, and barricade myself into my home.
With enough home made bang and a quick access to Wal-mart and Ace Hardware where they sell rifle and shotgun ammo by the truck load (I live in VERY rural Arkansas, waddaya want?) I think I could establish and maintain a respectable DZZ (de-zombified zone).  From there, it's just a matter of trying to procreate and make enough "born and bred warriors" of my own to strike out and make raids against all zombie kind, thus expanding the DZZ and making room for other non-converts. 
It's a slow and drawn out process but then again, Rome wasn't built in a day.
I WOULD like to see them eat Tom Cruise and all of the Baldwins tho.  They annoy me.
That might make it hard to kill the zombies though, after all, they would have done humanity a great service.

[raj]

BTW, has anyone with military experience answered this question?  Was really curious what they'd think (esp Andrew, but he's probably been too busy of late ot answer silly forum questions... ;)

You know, we never did hear from Andrew on this subject... 

That's because he's busy handling a secret situation 

[HarlotBug3]

Yeah, the liberals will get all PC and argue for zombie rights.

Not the pro-life, don't pull the plug, religious nuts. 

Be more afraid of the gun nuts who'd go out shooting everyone they felt like, and claiming all their targets were zombies if anyone asks.

[BTM]

Be more afraid of the gun nuts who'd go out shooting everyone they felt like, and claiming all their targets were zombies if anyone asks.

Reminds me of that line from Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town...

A woman (upon seeing her mother as a zombie): Moma!  I had enough of you the first time around!

[Inyarear]

The answer to all of these questions seems to be "It depends on what kind of zombies we're talking about here." Staggering, brainless zombies might be able to perpetrate some atrocities on a small town or even on a sizable city, but any sufficiently well-trained military would be able to take them, even if it had to gather some unusual weaponry for the mission, such as wooden stakes. (For zombies vulnerable to fire, the military already has flame-throwers, napalm, and incendiary materials in stock.) Body armor would also help keep infections from zombie bites to a minimum.

Smarter, faster zombies might pose more of a threat, but it seems more likely that one could reason or bargain with them, since they still have their minds. At least, it seems more likely in theory; whether diplomacy and persuasion would work would tend to depend on what motivates and controls the zombies. If they're all at the mercy of some malevolent mastermind (aliens, mad scientists, crooked corporate CEOs, or whatever's serving as a metaphorical stand-in for some much-despised radical ideology in these movies), the zombies themselves would not be open to persuasion, only the mastermind(s) behind them. As a rule, such megalomaniacs have generally made up their minds well in advance, and the only kind of persuasion that works on them is the kind that comes out of the barrel of a gun. In this case, espionage and targeted killing are the necessary tactics to defeat the zombies, and the battle might go either way.

One further factor that would determine whether the zombies would take over or not is whether they'd have any functioning society; if the zombies need food and shelter, they're not likely to last long if their rampages wipe out the farms and factories that supply their needs. Of course, extinction might be the goal of their mastermind(s), but an army of zombies still has to be sustainable for at least as long as it takes to subdue and defeat all humanity if it is to succeed in this goal.

I've often thought a zombie story might be more interesting if the zombies really did have a plan for society beyond merely devouring it. What if, for example, being a zombie didn't reduce one's mental facilities or free will at all? What if zombies could go on living more or less the way they did before they died or got infected? If being a zombie included all of the semi-immortality and none of the mind control, a great many people would probably welcome it with open arms. ("Man, I'm too young to be dying of lung cancer! I gotta beat this. Say, Fred, suppose you could give me a nice big festering bite right here on my chest?")

I think there are some unexplored possibilities in this whole idea of there being benefits in vampirism, lycanthropy, extraterrestrial symbiosis, and other horror movie genres. What if being or having any or all of these things were a good thing, and people were actually clamoring for more? I can already hear the advertisements. "Be the first on your block to be a vampire!" "Get your patented alien symbiote costume from Parker and Brock Enterprises, now only $99.95!" "E-Canthropy dating services: helping your litters grow up big and strong and healthy for thirty years." "Be all that you can be! Get the edge on death as a zombie!"

[nada]

I WOULD like to see them eat Tom Cruise and all of the Baldwins tho.  They annoy me.

Hmm might take them a while to get through the Baldwins.