Dawn of the Dead

This review is for the Blu-Ray version of the Collector's Edition of 'Dawn of the Dead' released by Shout! Factory in 2017.*****IMPORTANT***** For anybody looking at this for the first time, this is a remake of the original movie made by George Romero in the 70's.If you are a fan of the original, I'd suspect that you would at least like parts of this movie if not the whole thing. Like any movie that is being remade, there will be a lot of things fans of the original do not like. That is pretty much the case for any remake or adaption of a book from a much loved story.BLU-RAY: For the theatrical version, the print is made from a new HD master derived from the digital intermediate archival negative. For the Unrated version,there is a new HD master derived from the digital intermediate archival negative with HD inserts.I watched the unrated version. I'm not sure how the original looked but this version looks excellent. The colors are very bright. It looks as if the contrast has been turned up and some of the darker area's are hard to see. But overall I like the look.EXTRA'S: This collector's edition is loaded with extra's and gets 5 stars for them. They are:DISC ONE – Theatrical Version: I admit it, I didn't watch the interviews on Disc One but I watched all of the extra's on Disc Two... for a review, just look below...• NEW Take A Chance on Me – an interview with actor Ty Burrell• NEW Gunn for Hire – an interview with writer James Gunn• NEW Punk, Rock & Zombie – an interview with actor Jake Weber• NEW Killing Time at the Mall: The Special Effects of Dawn of the Dead – an interview with special makeup effects artists David Anderson and Heather Langenkamp Anderson• Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by director Zach Snyder and producer Eric Newman• Theatrical Trailer• Still GalleryDISC TWO – Unrated Version:• Audio Commentary with director Zach Snyder and producer Eric Newman• Splitting Headaches: Anatomy of Exploding Heads - This is exactly what it says it is. It is about a 5 minute documentary on how the special effects team made the exploding heads.• Attack of the Living Dead - This featurette highlight's 6 of the most important zombies in the movie and how and why they were hired for their parts.• Raising the Dead - A short featurette on the make up artists and the many extra's who worked in the movie. It talks about the different types of zombies as well as how many people were needed for the job.• Andy’s Lost Tape - This is a fictional video recording made by Andy. He's the guy who was in the building across the street from the mall. He makes the tape with the premise that he's recording his thoughts for a book. This is very well done. It incorporates all the scenes involving him in the movie. He is taping over a previous tape of his wife and daughter from the year before. It lasts about 16 minutes.• Special Report: Zombie Invasion - This was very well done. It's almost like a mini 21 minute movie. This is shot from the point of view of the viewer watching a newscast. You have a reporter who updates you and some video clips from out in the field by investigative reporters just like you would see if the zombie apocalypse was actually happening.While watching this, I was thinking to myself that this sort of reminded me of World War Z by Max Brooks and sure enough you see some interview clips with Brooks in these extra's.• Undead and Loving It: A Mockumentary - This is an entertaining fictional 'Making of' documentary of this movie. In it, the zombies are assumed to be real and are being hired to act in this movie. The production team complains about the needs of the zombies and the zombies complain about wanting to get better parts in movies.• Drawing the Dead featurette• Storyboard Comparisons• Hidden Easter EggPLOT/SUMMARY: If you are purchasing this collector's edition then you have likely seen the movie. If not and you are new to this movie, I will give a very brief summary.The zombie apocalypse hits a small city and a group of people end up taking refuge a shopping mall. Unfortunately when they get there, there are 3 mall security people who don't trust them and take their weapons and lock them up. Eventually they get loose and turn the tables on the security guards with the help of one of the security guards who takes their side. Their only communication is with a person across the street from the mall. They communicate by holding up signs. After a few days another group of people show up at the mall and join them. One of the newcomers has a boat and a plan is hatched to escape the mall and head to a hopefully deserted island.COMMENTS: First off, I know I am nitpicking with some of my complaints. I get it....if things were logical we wouldn't have a movie. But I don't agree with that statement. I can think of lots of ways to make a zombie movie that would be logical.-Why did they have to go and ruin the end with the scenes during the post movie credits? They should have just left well enough alone or at least let the movie have a somewhat happy ending.-I can't believe the survivors wanted to leave the mall. I can't think of a better place to be all things considered. They have everything they need to live. In addition, there was a gun shop across the street. They had plenty of food. Granted they would run out eventually but why rush? They could have slowly picked off the zombies until they were all gone.-I thought that the pregnant girl disappearing for all that time would have raised some suspicions..-I didn't like how the security cop turned from being a bad guy into a good guy. His change was just too radical.-I think the guy in the store could have basically eliminated all the zombies if he tried.CONCLUSIONS: I think if you are a fan of the genre then you should watch this movie. I get it... if you like the George Romero's original then you might not think this one is so great. But if you look at it objectively, say... as if the original never was made, then I think that most people would say that this version is pretty good. Ultimately I was entertained, that's what this is all about, isn't it?RATINGS:PLOT: 7/10 or 3 1/2 stars. I wasn't thrilled with the changes.EXTRA'S: 10/10 or 5 stars - Everything you could want is here... and then some...SFX: 8/10 or 4 stars. For the most part, I thought this was pretty good.THE NEW ENDING: 2/10 or 1 star - I hated it, the credit sequence made it worseOVERALL: 9/10 or 4 1/2 stars which I'm raising to 5 stars - Ending be damned, I was entertained.

A great zombie movie sounds like an oxymoron; the two words practically don’t belong together. I’ve been a fan since “Night of the Living Dead” and was very energized when they finally began to catch on in the 2000s. That gradually turned to disappointment as one low-budgeted, incompetent film after another was released. I stopped counting when I reached 100, but I’m sure I’ve sat through at least half as many more since then. In all that there are only a very few that can be called great but this is one of them.This 2004 film is a remake of the great 1978 original of the same title and I won’t even try to compare them. They have similar plots with survivors escaping to a shopping mall during a sudden zombie outbreak but differ after that. All I can say is that both are good and well worth seeing if you are into zombies.This was fairly well-budgeted, even after Universal got cold feet and cut budget because the didn’t think there was an audience for zombie movies. (It ended up making back four times its budget just in movie theater tickets). It’s well-written, and even though the characters are mostly “types”, they seem authentic and they change and grow, some developing heroic traits as events unfold.The actors are all committed to their roles and play them seriously, without irony. The level of acting here is far above what you usually find in the zombie and horror genre. These people were already professionals and the fact that most went on to many other projects is no surprise. Ving Rhames is, of course, a terrific heroic warrior, as Kenneth. Sarah polley as Ana goes from terror-filled victim to competent member of the group. Jake Weber (who I remember as a scheming bad fellow in “Meet Joe Black”) makes an effective leader. Kevin Zagers and Lindy Booth make a nice young couple. Everyone else is good too, and it’s funny to see Ty Burrell (Modern Family dad) playing a sleazy rich guy who Ana eventually calls “a total dick”.What really makes the film is, director Zack Snyder. This, believe it or not, was his first feature film after only directing music videos. How he got the job I don’t know, but he was the right guy for it. He has since become a major director and though some don’t care for his DC Comics-Justice League movies, those are plot issues rather than style. Right from the beginning he has everything. Pacing, camera angles, editing, storytelling, lighting, setting up scenes, well-chosen music - it’s all there. There is so much going on, but it all flows smoothly without looking like a bunch of director’s tricks.The film has one of the great horror/action openings of all time that runs about eleven minutes before the opening credits. A quiet beginning at work with only a few hints of anything going on, a ride home to a loving husband and peaceful suburb then turns on a dime into a series of quick jolts and developments that are as fast as they are unexpected. The harrowing opening before the credits is beautifully framed by two almost identical overhead shots of the suburb with its circular streets: one peaceful and very ordinary and one of complete chaos.There are jump scares, a couple good fake-outs (where the camera seems to be setting you up for one thing and something totally different happens), good montages and the often shown Zombiegeddon scene of the tricked-out buses (parking shuttles) trying to plow through a parking lot jammed with angry zombies. The zombies here are of the fast and ugly variety and are always a serious threat.Every aspect of this film works.it’s an amazing film from a first-time director. This is truly a must for fans of the genre..A great zombie movie sounds like an oxymoron; the two words practically don’t belong together. I’ve been a fan since “Night of the Living Dead” and was very energized when they finally began to catch on in the 2000s. That gradually turned to disappointment as one low-budgeted, incompetent film after another was released. I stopped counting when I reached 100, but I’m sure I’ve sat through at least half as many more since then. In all that there are only a very few that can be called great but this is one of them.This 2004 film is a remake of the great 1978 original of the same title and I won’t even try to compare them. They have similar plots with survivors escaping to a shopping mall during a sudden zombie outbreak but differ after that. All I can say is that both are good and well worth seeing if you are into zombies.This was fairly well-budgeted, even after Universal got cold feet and cut budget because the didn’t think there was an audience for zombie movies. (It ended up making back four times its budget just in movie theater tickets). It’s well-written, and even though the characters are mostly “types”, they seem authentic and they change and grow, some developing heroic traits as events unfold.The actors are all committed to their roles and play them seriously, without irony. The level of acting here is far above what you usually find in the zombie and horror genre. These people were already professionals and the fact that most went on to many other projects is no surprise. Ving Rhames is, of course, a terrific heroic warrior, as Kenneth. Sarah polley as Ana goes from terror-filled victim to competent member of the group. Jake Weber (who I remember as a scheming bad fellow in “Meet Joe Black”) makes an effective leader. Kevin Zagers and Lindy Booth make a nice young couple. Everyone else is good too, and it’s funny to see Ty Burrell (Modern Family dad) playing a sleazy rich guy who Ana eventually calls “a total dick”.What really makes the film is, director Zack Snyder. This, believe it or not, was his first feature film after only directing music videos. How he got the job I don’t know, but he was the right guy for it. He has since become a major director and though some don’t care for his DC Comics-Justice League movies, those are plot issues rather than style. Right from the beginning he has everything. Pacing, camera angles, editing, storytelling, lighting, setting up scenes, well-chosen music - it’s all there. There is so much going on, but it all flows smoothly without looking like a bunch of director’s tricks.The film has one of the great horror/action openings of all time that runs about eleven minutes before the opening credits. A quiet beginning at work with only a few hints of anything going on, a ride home to a loving husband and peaceful suburb then turns on a dime into a series of quick jolts and developments that are as fast as they are unexpected. The harrowing opening before the credits is beautifully framed by two almost identical overhead shots of the suburb with its circular streets: one peaceful and very ordinary and one of complete chaos.There are jump scares, a couple good fake-outs (where the camera seems to be setting you up for one thing and something totally different happens), good montages and the often shown Zombiegeddon scene of the tricked-out buses (parking shuttles) trying to plow through a parking lot jammed with angry zombies. The zombies here are of the fast and ugly variety and are always a serious threat.Every aspect of this film works.it’s an amazing film from a first-time director. This is truly a must for fans of the genre..

I recently bought the version of this film available on Amazon. It's a fine film in English, with great image quality and it is the extended edition. Unfortunately, the reviews that Amazon claims to be of "verified purchases" are not reviews of the blu ray I bought. The blu ray here has no special features and no director's commentary. I realise Amazon is a major company and it is difficult for them to keep track of every new and updated release, but to include the review of a different release of a film and claim that this is a "verified purchase" is quite clearly false advertising. To the vast majority of people, it might not matter. They might not want to listen to a director's commentary or see the special features but some might be buying the film on the understanding that this is exactly the version of the product they are buying.Having said that, this is a very nice version of the film, and if it's just the film you want, I would recommend it. But it is always disappointing to be misled by a website even if it is only by accident.

What a fantastic zombie movie - full of action, blood and gore. It has the same story as the original, only there is more people and the zombies run rather than walk. I found that the scene around 10 minutes in where the apocalypse starts is superb and it really gets you ready for the rest of the film. To be honest, I was on the edge of my seat for most of the film (especially the end few scenes) as there is so much action and so many great scenarios. There are so many characters that you like and hate.Is it worth the money?With so much action and over 2 hours of special features I'd say that it is worth the money. If you haven't already you should try out the original so that you can compare the two. See if you can spot the cameo by Ken Foree Who played the policeman in the original film!

Having been a fan of the original Romero trilogy I really wasn't expecting much from this. However this is well worth seeing and I'd have given 3.5 stars if that had been possible.The opening scenes are perhaps the highlight, but the film manages to maintain an edgy atmosphere throughout. I only have the DVD and I'd certainly get a bluray upgrade, as I think this would look good in HD.Well worth considering if you like zombies!

Dawn of the Dead (remake) R1 DVD.Unrated Director's cut. 2004.What's the biggest question facing humanitytoday,? that's easy, running zombies orwalking zombies, which is best?. The picturequality is great, widescreen 2.35:1 (top & bottomblack bars.) Fantastic sense of speed to theattack sequences. Ferocious, beautiful &exciting, of course, Romero's done all the groundwork.Respectful cameos are included. One niggle, itmay say 'unrated' but there's a bit at the start, whenthe girls driving through the chaos. She see's a nakedwoman but her chest is obscured by blood on thewindscreen. I'm pretty sure in the U.K releasewe actually see her naked. All the gores included though.The guy from Modern Family is a real s#!t head in it.Run time: 1hr 49min 7secs. CAROUSELExtras: commentary, & a lot of other stuff, another releasewhere you get your moneys worth.

This is not quite a great film but it is certainly a very good film, with what I think is one of the best opening sequences to a horror film ever, it fades a little in the middle but the ending is great.On first viewing it scared the pants of me but now I can simply watch it and admire some clever screen writing, excellent photography, very clever soundtrack, great special effects and makeup and some powerful action scenes. I defy anyone to not be impressed by the beautiful build in the first few minutes to all out chaos and the scenes of the city from above are briliant.The acting is fantastic with a really great cast, Sarah Polley makes a great heroine.The fast moving zombies may not be to everyone's taste but they work for me.I didn't think the director's cut added much of value, in fact I preferred the less cluttered version I saw on TV.The DVD extras including Andy's diary and "We interrupt this broadcast" are Ok but no where near the standard of the film and are for completists only.If you haven't seen this before make sure you watch the end credits otherwise you'll miss the brilliantly bleak ending.Enjoy.