Dawn of the Dead (2004)

[WayneLigon]

Very good film, all told. I've been wracking my brains.. and I cannot remember, at all, the ending to the original. I'll just say that for this one, don't spring up when the credits start. Stay put.

The only thing I think that was a major change was

Spoiler

that it took the actual bite of a zombie to make you a zombie. I thought in the general 'mythology' of the series, any dead person returned. I might be wrong.

 

[Crothian]

I think you are right about that. I'd say the biggest change, and this is no spoiler, is the Zombies are fast.

 

[Iron_Chef]

In the original's end, Fran and Peter escape the mall in the helicopter after Flyboy's zombie leads the rest of the mall horde back to their secret area (after the bikers crash the mall and flee). In the original script, Peter stayed behind and blew his brains out rather than give up his "good thing" (the mall), but they apparently did not film this ending and went for the ending you see in the film. The original Dawn's end is hopeful (at least for the two survivors), but still bleak. We never know if they really survive or not, as the sequel, Day of the Dead (1985) starts us off months (years?) later with an all-new band of survivors.

There will be an "ultimate" Dawn of the Dead (1978) multi-disk DVD set released by Anchor Bay in September 2004, so I would wait on buying the new Divimax Edition.

 

[Kai Lord]

It held my interest, but the best parts were definitely in the opening 20 minutes. The Andy character was great, and the ending was kind of a nice rush (even if it was an almost scene by scene Aliens rip-off), but it certainly isn't devoid of "Stupid Character in a Horror Movie" syndrome. The film all but jumped the shark when the girl made that stupid move to go get the dog. Ugh.

Elements of the closing credits were just *horribly* executed, but all in all I wasn't disappointed I saw the movie. The Texas Chainsaw remake was much better, much more intense and relentless but as far as zombie movies go the new Dawn of the Dead is one of the best (for whatever that's worth.) Not that I've seen that many.

Would make for an awesome role-playing adventure though.

EDIT: Even though its the type of scene you'd kind of expect in a movie like this, I found the "chainsaw accident" to be incredibly brutal and unsettling. When I think about the film my thoughts inevitably come back to that and it takes away from the "thrills as entertainment" aspect and just makes the whole experience kind of a downer.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

No spoiler tags at first, as there are only pseudo-spoilers.

This movie was one of the few horror films that actually managed to unsettle me just a bit. Somehow, I found the opening credits, with the zombie footage intermixed with Johnny Cash (was that who that was?) playing in the background to be a case of where the music really complemented/contrasted the scenes. We got a real kick out of the piano/lounge version of Disturbed. Also how "Don't Worry Be Happy" was playing when they entered the mall.

When we saw it, there was a guy sitting in the front of the theater who would yell "Uh-oh" everytime a horror movie cliche scene came on. Especially the guy sleeping in the ambulance as she came out of the hospital.

Spoiler

But I WOULD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES have let in Weird Green Bloated Lady. No sir.

I'll just say that for this one, don't spring up when the credits start.

You guessed it, I got up and missed this bit. What scenes were intercut in the credits? We caught a few, but that's it.

The Andy character was great

"Jay Leno. Burt Reynolds. Rosie O'Donnell - nah, too easy."

 

[nHammer]

I saw it Friday night. At best I would say the movie was OK. It was what it was, people shooting dead things...and lots of blood. Been there, seen that. It just didn't have the quality writing the original had. It also didn't have a graphic zombie feast scene.The makers should have just made there own zombie movie instead of leeching off of the popularity of the original DotD.

Today (Saturday) I got the original version on DVD. I definatly enjoyed it more than the remake.

There is a strong possiblity that Romero will be doing a fourth Dead movie. *crossing my fingers*

 

[WayneLigon]

You guessed it, I got up and missed this bit. What scenes were intercut in the credits? We caught a few, but that's it.

This is what happens.

Spoiler

You may have seen all of it, then. They get on the boat. Michael comits suicide, and credits roll as the boat heads towards the island. Quick cuts after this. Cut to one of them finding Steven's video camera and deciding to tape things. They cut up. They have fun. They find a drifting boat. They look in it. Zombie is there, as well. They run out of fuel, but manage to sail to the island. They get on the island. Dog runs into the woods, barking. Howling horde of undead spill out of the jungle. Camera drops. Screams, blood hits the dock, gunshots, more screams, sounds of eating. Then just pictures of the zombies clawing at the screen.

 

[Iron_Chef]

The incidental music to the 1978 DAWN OF THE DEAD version is available here:
http://www.moviegrooves.com/shop/dawnofthedeadtrunk.htm

Now you can thrill to mall muzak favorites like "The Gonk" and the pie fight theme, plus drink along to that redneck zombie-shootin' anthem, "I'm A Man", and other electronic weirdness. This is all the music in the movie that was NOT written and performed by the Italian progressive rock band GOBLIN (that is a separate soundtrack which last I heard, you had to import from Italy).

 

[mearls]

The film all but jumped the shark when the girl made that stupid move to go get the dog. Ugh.

Nah. That was onbe of the best parts. Her actions were a logical extension of her character.

Spoiler

After all, she had lost everything she had cared about - her mother, her parents, and her father. It made perfect sense.

As far as the ending goes, I don't think it's definite that they were eaten. It's vague enough that they have wiggle room to make a sequel. After all, they dropped the camera on the dock, and while we hear gun shots we don't have any definite proof that they were overwhelmed. There's no shouts or cries of pain or anything.

The only sort of nonsensical thing was their decision to leave the mall, but they didn't have much choice in the end.

I particularly liked how they showed the zombies spreading. The news footage was well done, and I liked how it made sense for Sarah Polley's character to be unaware of what was happening until it was too late.

And what the heck was up with that zombie head in the cooler? I have a feeling that the sequel will touch on that. From what I've read (which could be inaccurate) Romero's original vision for DAY OF THE DEAD, the action was set on an island where this sort of strange, post-zombie society had arisen. It had some elements of the filmed version of DAY, like the scientists experimenting on the zombies, but much of the plot was different.

 

[Kai Lord]

Nah. That was onbe of the best parts. Her actions were a logical extension of her character.

No, her actions were a logical extension of a stupid horror movie character.

"Going for the dog" is a ridiculous cliche that should have been retired on film decades ago. Making her character that stupid just takes you out of the movie and is an incredibly lazy technique to cause the resulting plot contrivance.

It wasn't a logical extension of her character.

Spoiler

She puts up with the decision to have her father shot but risks almost certain mutilation on account of a dog she's had for two weeks? Where was the kicking/screaming/willing to die at all costs to protect her father? Nowhere, because that isn't a boring horror movie cliche. She has to instead go for the dog. Yawn.

Then the fact that

Spoiler

she and the dumb dog survived made it all the more ridiculous.