Production Year: 2004 - Horror - Director: Zack Snyder - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer more
First-time director Zack Snyder remakes zombie master George A. Romero's classic 1978 gore-fest DAWN OF THE DEAD, wisely replicating only the basic elements of Romero's movie, and... more
remake a classic, but Zack Snyder'sDawn of the Deaddefies that logic and comes up a winner. You could argue that George A. Romero's 1978 original was sacred ground for...
remake a classic, but Zack Snyder'sDawn of the Deaddefies that logic and comes up a winner. You could argue that George A. Romero's 1978 original was sacred ground for...
planet's population hit by an inexplicable unfathomable and lethal plague - and the dead aren't dying. Corpses yearning for their next meal are now stalking the few rem...
our items are despatched from the United Kingdom. Starring - Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell We offer *** WORLDWIDE *** Delivery!, Manufacturer: MoviePostersDirect
Dead Before Dawn
Rich and successful, Robert Edelman (Parker) and his wife Linda (Ladd) would seem to have ... more
the perfect marriage. But this 'idyll' masks a terrible reality. With a brutality bordering on the sadistic, Robert has mercilessly beaten his wife throughout their married life. Finally, with the support of her mother Virginia (Lange) and father John, Linda finds the strength to file for divorce. Only now does the true horror of Robert's character surface.Former 'Charlie's Angel' Cheryl Ladd stars with Jameson Parker (Simon & Simon, One Life to Live), G.W. Bailey (Police Academy, War and Remembrance), Kim Coates (Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor) and Oscar nominee Hope Lange (Bus Stop, Peyton Place) in this terrifying story of marriage and murder.
A review by LostWitness on Dawn Of The Dead (Theatrical Version) (DVD) March 29th, 2004
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Satisfactory
Characters / Performances
Good
Special Effects
Good
How does it compare to similar films?
Good
Advantages:
Death, vests and lots of gore - Zombies that can run !
Disadvantages:
Nothing terribly new here
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
When young nurse Ana finishes work for the day, she’s pretty tired. She’s so tired she doesn’t notice the sudden increase of patients being admitted to the hospital. She doesn’t notice the fact that the ambulance drivers are far busier than they would normally be and she doesn’t listen to the special announcement on the radio before she switches to her regular easy listening channel. When she gets home, there is an eerie calm about the neighbourhood but after sharing a shower with her husband, she gets into bed and drifts into a peaceful sleep.
At 6:25 her husband is woken by the sound of the bedroom door slowly opening. As he opens his sleepy eyes, he makes out the shape of their daughter stood in the hallway. He sits up, and calls her name, but she stands motionless in the corridor. With a silent step forward into the light, he is horrified to see that a large part of her face is missing and that her nightdress is peppered in blood. He is even more horrified when, with a ferocious snarl, she lunges at him and bites a huge part of his neck out of his body.
It is the Dawn of the Dead – and who knows what joys the day will bring?
Horror is back in fashion. After last year’s financially successful remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, George A Romero’s 1970s classic now gets the 2004 treatment and 26 years after its original release, it gets the full Hollywood overhaul. Comparing these two films is hugely difficult because they are two such completely different products. Romero’s 1978 original was more than a horror film. It was a morality play – a story about the evils of commercialism and how we were all like undead slaves to the huge shopping malls that were overtaking America. The 2004 version is completely different. This version has nothing to say. It doesn’t have a point to make. It sets out its stall from the very beginning. This time it’s about excitement and entertainment – and it’s extremely effective on both counts.
The key difference between the two films is quite simply the deployment of the “zombies”. In Romero’s original, they were shuffling, slow, almost pitiful creatures that staggered along looking, well, slightly daft. Their 2004 counterparts don’t quite induce the same feelings of sympathy. These guys can run. Fast. The new version has also gone to greater pains to centre on the idea that the people have been infected, so the victims at various stages of infection all show grisly symptoms and after death, they seem to become even more grisly still. The director does not go to great pains to try and explain the hows and whys, nor does he try to demonstrate the extent of the infection. The audience knows as much about what’s going on as the few survivors do – and that’s totally the idea. Who cares where the condition comes from? You know you just need to run.
Like the original, the ragged bunch of survivors makes its way to the local mall – aptly named The Crossroads Mall. But the mall doesn’t offer the expected level of safety. Holed up inside are three frightened security guards that don’t take kindly to visitors. Although they reluctantly agree to admit Ana and the other survivors, they treat them rather like prisoners and you immediately have a constant battle for supremacy. This, of course, adds the element of chaos theory, and in an otherwise safe haven, our heroes have something new to watch out for. Add a scatty teenage girl, a sarcastic millionaire and a nymphomaniac slut and you’ve got all the right ingredients to sit back and start watching them all get picked off. Oh, and did I mention the black guy with pregnant girlfriend? He’s set on the idea of bringing his child into the world, but only a nightmare would yield the creature that lurks in that poor woman’s womb.
The film flows really well. I loved the fact that everything got going so quickly. The opening ten minutes are exciting, tense and utterly gripping. Then there is a pause and the opening credits roll. It’s incredibly effective. Never before has so much happened BEFORE the credits have shown. Zack Snyder (the film’s director) knows that the reason people have come to see this film is because it’s a zombie action movie, so he doesn’t mess around with anything else. DOTD 2 gets straight down to business and never really lets up until the final credits roll. It’s almost a relief. You begin to wonder how many times you can hold your breath in one film.
Strangely enough, although the film is a horror film, the overall tone is slightly comical. There are lots of dark, humorous flourishes throughout the film and although there are bits that will gross you out, there is nothing that would frighten the audience. Much of this is achieved with music. When the survivors first reach the mall, they are greeted by a piped version of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” across the mall’s public address system. Later, hotly pursued by a horde of zombies, they clamber into a lift, where a similar music system plays them “I’m All Out of Love”. It’s all very simple and very silly but it’s also genuinely funny and a welcome relief from the bloodshed.
Oh, the bloodshed!
One thing that moving the film forward 26 years has enabled is a visually much more impressive product. There were lots of scenes in the film that I liked, but it was when Snyder turned to big-scale disaster that things worked really well. I loved the early aerial shots of the city under siege, with little figures scurrying around like ants and explosions going off left right and centre. Much later in the film, an explosion amidst an enormous crowd of zombies is quite awesome – the devastating shock wave literally rips through hundreds of them like a man-made tidal wave. And of course, they look gruesome too. All the zombies appear in various states of emaciation and as they scream and gurgle with rage they really are very convincing. A first for a zombie film, as far as I am concerned.
As a genuine, bona fide horror film, DOTD 2 will satisfy all the gore heads out there too. People get cut in half with chainsaws, lose body parts to chainsaws, get their heads blown off, get things stuck in their eyes and so on and so forth. It’s all wonderfully gratuitous, but somehow superb fun as well. You know you shouldn’t be laughing when the zombies get their legs cut off but you do. You just do! Needless to say, if you don’t like horror films, then you won’t like this one bit. That aside, I wouldn’t pitch DOTD 2 as a pure horror film. It runs much like an action thriller, with horrific bits in it. This is one of the reasons why fans of the original might be a bit put out. The original was never the most thrilling film in the world.
As far as the cast is concerned, there are no big names, but more importantly, there were no real irritations. Sarah Polley (Ana) is a convincing heroine and worthy lead character, who looks not unlike Uma Thurman. Ving Rhames (Kenneth) does what he knows best – a tough cop. Jake Webber is the good guy Michael. Kevin Zegers is the cutie teenager Terry. He was the sexy one in Wrong Turn. Michael Kelly (CJ) is the seemingly psychotic security guard in charge of the show, but he’s a good guy really. He’s not been in much else, although he looks like he should have been in a 70s porn film. There are lots of others – none particularly memorable, but all fairly likeable, and as a mix they worked really well. They were never going to win any Oscars, let’s be honest.
Don’t get me wrong – this film is no masterpiece. At times, it is infuriatingly predictable and the characters are pretty dumb. It doesn’t offer anything hugely innovative, nor does it break any new ground. But it keeps things simple. It takes a film from the 70s, slavers it with effects and make-up and then kicks it back out again like an unwanted child. And this works. It entertains through a combination of shocks, laughs and jumps. All in all I loved it. But then I’m easily pleased, ain’t I?
Advantages: Excellent twist on the Romero formula Disadvantages: A shame it has to be classed as a remake
...A. Romero's 1978 seminal horror-flick, Dawn Of The Dead. Unable to resist curiosity and overwhelmingly positive press reaction (how often does that happen for a zombie film?), I eventually took the plunge and purchased the disc myself.
Upon receiving the disc (£3.99 from an online retailer!), I must confess my heart sank a little when I saw that both Heat and Nuts magazine had given the film a four-star review. No offence to readers of those magazines, ... ...left off the cover - Nuts in particular. Fortunately, balancing those out were favourable four-starrers from the Times, Empire and Total Film. However, I digress.
Remaking a landmark horror film such as this seemed initially an impossible task, at least to a fan of the original such as I. Romero's original was a remarkably claustrophobic and creepy low-budget affair, garnering immediate cult and classic status with magnificent critique across the ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Focuses on characters, great humor, setting. Disadvantages: Too many characters to care about them all.
...imagine my feelings going into Dawn Of The Dead then, a remake of the George A Romero film of the same name, now regarded as a horror classic. I'm going to be perfectly honest here and state that I have not seen that original in full, only parts of it. That aside though, I don't like to see a film ruined by a pointless sequel or remake, so I was still concerned about Dawn Of The Dead. However, upon watching the film, I found myself entirely surprised ... ...Dawn Of The Dead isn't going to win any Oscars, nor will it go down as a classic years from now. Hell, if I'm perfectly honest, I doubt it'll even be remembered years from now. All of that can't detract though from the fact that it's an incredibly entertaining film that is by turns scary, hilarious and even touching.
The action is centered on Ana (Sarah Polley), a nurse who, along with her boyfriend, is suddenly attacked by a young girl who bites ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Plenty of blood and guts Disadvantages: No maintained suspense
Storyline Outline
This film is a remake of the 1978 original of the same title. No one knows how and no one knows why but the dead are walking around on earth. Infected by a rapidly spreading plague the dead are walking the streets looking for their next meal . . .the flesh of the living. When the dead bite someone, instead of dieing they simply become one of the zombies walking the earth, free to infect more people. There is hope though. A young ... ...one of the army bases where uninfected people are being advised to go. On her way there she meets a small group of survivors and together they seek refuge from the increasingly chaotic world in a shopping mall. The film follows their quest to stay alive, keep the ever-increasing number of zombies out of the mall and decide what to do next.
Main Characters
Ana Clarke – played by Sarah Polley. Ana is a nurse at the local hospital who is woken as ...
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Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to ...
very helpful
29.07.2004
Hey Flyboy. Review ofDawn Of The Dead (Theatrical Version) (DVD)by
Silent_Bob
Dawn of the Dead is quite simply the greatest zombie movie ever made and may well be the greatest horror film ever too. Released in the cinema the year I was born I didnt get the chance to see it until it had been out for 14 years already and I think the first time I seen it I just didnt get it. But a couple of year later after viewing countless other zombie and horror movies I gave it another chance, I enjoyed it the first time but for all the wrong ... ...blood runs in rivers in Dawn of the Dead and its been stated that Tom Savini wasnt happy wit the bright colour of it but Romero kept it to add a comic book appeal to the film. When zombies die, the blood splashes all over the place; one particularly gruesome exploding head near the end of the film is especially memorable. The director's cut of the film (which has about fifteen minutes of additional footage) also includes more scenes of zombies eating ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Lots of gory moments Disadvantages: Not much inclusion of a story
Dawn Of The Dead is a remake of a 1978 film of the same name by George A. Romero. It was released in the UK 26th March 2004 & was a huge box office success, grossing an estimated $102,356,381 on a budget of 28,000,000. The movie is only one of a handful of zombie movies to make over $100 million at the box office. The film, as you’d probably expect is rated 18 & runs for approximately 100 minutes. Dawn Of The Dead is directed by Zack Snyder, his ... ...Mile & Honey. Dawn Of The Dead begins with Ana (Sarah Polley) a nurse, returning home from a long shift to her husband & daughter. Everything seems fine until her & her husband are asleep, their daughter bursts into their room & awakes her Father. She’s covered in blood & her Father immediately jumps out of bed to see if she’s ok, she bites him in the neck. Ana tries her hardest to save him but it’s impossible, he loses too much blood. Ana is obviously ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Plot: A female nurse, Anna, and a black police officer, Kenneth, are caught in the middle of world-wide chaos as flesh-eating zombies begin to take over the world by attacking the living.
Remake Of: Dawn Of The Dead ( 1978 United States of America ), Dawn Of The Dead ( 1978 United States of America ), Dawn Of The Dead ( 1979 United States of America )
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date: 25/10/2004
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: EDV 9237
Barcode: 5017239192371
Languages
Main Language: English
Hearing Impaired Language: English
Technical information
Special Features: Filmmakers Commentary, The Lost Tape, Special Bulletin, Undead Scenes With Commentary By Zack Snyder, Surviving The Dead
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English
DVD Description
First-time director Zack Snyder remakes zombie master George A. Romero's classic 1978 gore-fest DAWN OF THE DEAD, wisely replicating only the basic elements of Romero's movie, and instead sticking to his own vision of a world overrun by undead flesh-eating creatures. The action begins with nurse Ana (Sarah Polley) waking up to discover her boyfriend has become a tasty midnight snack for a formerly cute neighboring kid. To her horror, she realizes that the whole town is in a similar state of ghoulishness, until she runs into still-alive cop Kenneth (Ving Rhames); the levelheaded Michael (Jack Weber); and Andre (Mekhi Phifer), a rebel with a pregnant wife in tow. As in Romero's original, the group heads for the local mall where they barricade themselves inside. More survivors surface, while in the outside world the zombies go about their day by slowly taking over the planet. Undeterred by the odds against them, the survivors plot, scheme, and enjoy their mall paradise. As they plan their escape, some incredibly gruesome special effects are deployed, often with a dash of wry humor added for light relief. Placing the messages from Romero's version--a funny, scary look at consumerist society--on the back burner, the 2004 version of DAWN OF THE DEAD instead concentrates on delivering a witty blood-fest. The zombies appear to have taken their cues from the fast-moving corpses of Danny Boyle's 28 DAYS LATER, and are generally much more agile than their 1978 counterparts. Director Snyder gets the balance between humorous set-pieces and plot development exactly right throughout, producing an enjoyable remake that can easily hold its own alongside the deservedly hailed original film.
Professional reviews
Review: "...Terrific..." (Daily Star, )
"...A Triumph" (Empire, )
"...Dead Good..." (The Sun, )
"...Magnificent..." (The Times, )
"...A Blast..." (Total Film, )
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Listed on Ciao since : 16/07/2000
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