Most people hear the title and immediately think of Rick Grimes waking up in a hospital or Daryl Dixon wielding a crossbow. It’s understandable. The AMC franchise basically ate the zeitgeist for a decade. But years before Robert Kirkman ever picked up a pen, there was a gritty, low-budget, and surprisingly poignant Vietnam War movie called The Walking Dead 1995 film. It has absolutely zero to do with zombies. None. Instead, it’s a character study about a group of Black Marines sent on a suicide mission to rescue prisoners of war.
It’s weird how titles work.
If you go looking for it today, you’ll probably find it buried under layers of SEO for the TV show, which is a shame. Directed by Preston A. Whitmore II, the movie stars Joe Morton and a very young Eddie Griffin. It’s a period piece. It’s a war movie. Honestly, it’s a bit of a time capsule of 90s independent filmmaking that tried to tackle the racial politics of the late 60s while the "Black Cinema" boom was in full swing.
What The Walking Dead 1995 Film Was Actually About
The plot is straightforward, maybe even a little trope-heavy if you’ve seen enough war movies. Set in 1972, it follows five Marines—Sgt. Barkley (Morton), Pvt. Hoover (Griffin), and three others—who are chosen for a high-stakes extraction mission. They’re "the walking dead" because their survival isn't expected. They are the expendables.
Whitmore uses the jungle setting to facilitate a lot of dialogue. This isn’t Saving Private Ryan. It doesn't have the budget for massive set pieces or pyrotechnics. It relies on the psychological toll of the war. These guys aren't just fighting the Viet Cong; they're fighting the internal conflict of being Black men fighting for a country that doesn't treat them like full citizens back home.
You’ve got Barkley, the seasoned vet who is tired. Just tired. Then there’s Hoover, who brings a bit of that classic Eddie Griffin energy but keeps it grounded enough that it doesn't turn into a comedy. The movie spends a lot of time in flashbacks. We see their lives before the draft. We see the barbershops, the protests, and the families. It’s these moments that try to give the eventual violence some weight.
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The Cast That Made It Work
Joe Morton is the anchor here. If you know him from Terminator 2 or Scandal, you know he has this incredible gravity. He makes you believe in the exhaustion of the Vietnam era. Eddie Griffin, on the other hand, was still mostly known for stand-up and his role in The Meteor Man around this time. Seeing him in a dramatic, camouflage-clad role was a pivot.
Allen Payne and Vonte Sweet also put in solid work. The chemistry feels lived-in. When they’re sitting in the dirt talking about the world they left behind, it doesn't feel like a script. It feels like a conversation you'd actually overhear in a barracks.
Why Nobody Remembers This Movie
Timing is everything in Hollywood. In 1995, the box office was dominated by Toy Story, Braveheart, and GoldenEye. A mid-budget R-rated war drama about Black soldiers didn't have a huge marketing machine behind it. Savoy Pictures, the distributor, was already struggling. They went defunct shortly after.
Then came the "Zombie Problem."
Once the comic book series The Walking Dead launched in 2003, and especially after the show premiered in 2010, the 1995 film was effectively erased from the digital map. Search algorithms are cold. They prioritize the most popular thing. If you type "The Walking Dead" into Google, you'll get 50 pages of Andrew Lincoln before you see a single frame of Joe Morton in a flak jacket.
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It's a classic case of title-squatting, even if it wasn't intentional.
A Different Kind of War Movie
Most Vietnam movies—think Platoon or Full Metal Jacket—focus on the loss of innocence or the madness of war from a white perspective. The Walking Dead 1995 film tries to do something different. It highlights the specific alienation of the Black soldier.
There's a scene where they discuss the news from back home—the civil rights movement, the assassinations. It adds a layer of irony to their mission. Why are they saving POWs for a government that’s still debating their basic rights? It’s a heavy question. The movie doesn't always provide a neat answer, which is probably more realistic than a Hollywood ending would have been.
Is It Worth Watching Today?
Look, the film isn't perfect.
The pacing can be sluggish. Sometimes the flashbacks feel a bit intrusive, breaking the tension of the jungle mission just when things are getting interesting. The cinematography is very "mid-90s TV movie," meaning it lacks the sweeping, cinematic scale of an Oliver Stone epic.
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But as a historical artifact? It’s fascinating.
It captures a moment when Black filmmakers were pushing to tell stories that weren't just about "the hood." They wanted to reclaim history. Whitmore's direction is earnest. He clearly cared about these characters. If you can find a copy—likely on a dusty DVD or a deep-catalog streaming service—it’s worth a look just to see a different side of the 90s film landscape.
Technical Details for the Nerds
- Director: Preston A. Whitmore II
- Release Date: February 24, 1995
- Runtime: 89 minutes
- Budget: Roughly $8 million
- Box Office: It pulled in about $6 million, making it a bit of a commercial flop.
The score, composed by Garry Schyman, is also worth a mention. It’s subtle. It doesn’t beat you over the head with "War is Hell" horns. It stays in the background, letting the jungle sounds and the dialogue do the heavy lifting.
Finding The Walking Dead 1995 Film
If you're actually trying to track this down, don't just search the title. You'll get spoilers for a show that ended years ago. Search for "The Walking Dead 1995 Joe Morton" or "Preston Whitmore Walking Dead."
It’s currently one of those "orphan" films. It pops up on platforms like Tubi or Pluto TV occasionally. It hasn't received a 4K restoration. There are no fancy Criterion editions. It’s just a movie that exists in the margins of film history.
Actionable Steps for Film Buffs
If you’re interested in exploring the sub-genre of Black Vietnam War cinema, don’t stop at this film. It’s part of a larger conversation.
- Watch Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods: It’s basically the spiritual successor to the 1995 film. It covers similar themes of Black veterans returning to Vietnam, but with a much larger budget and Lee's signature style.
- Look for Dead Presidents: Released the same year as The Walking Dead, this Hughes Brothers film deals with the aftermath of the war for Black soldiers returning to the Bronx. It makes for a perfect double feature.
- Check out the soundtrack: The 1995 film has some great soul and R&B tracks that ground it in the era.
- Dig into Savoy Pictures: If you're a film history geek, look into the rise and fall of Savoy. They put out some interesting, weird stuff in the mid-90s that mostly failed but still holds up as "interesting experiments."
Ultimately, The Walking Dead 1995 film is a reminder that titles aren't permanent. A name can mean one thing for a generation and something completely different for the next. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a sincere effort to tell a story that usually gets pushed to the background. It deserves a bit more than being a footnote in a zombie Wikipedia entry.