World Famous Comics: Dawn of the Dead (Ultimate Edition)
Dawn of the Dead (Ultimate Edition)
Starring: Ted Bank, Tony Buba, Sharon Ceccatti, Pan Chatfield, Jim Christopher Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Starz / Anchor Bay Number of Items: 4 Region Code: 1 Release Date: September 07, 2004 Running Time: 384 minutes Theatrical Release Date: May 24, 1979
Amazon.com: George Romero's 1978 follow-up to his classic Night of the Living Dead is quite terrifying and gory (those zombies do like the taste of living flesh). But in its own way, it is just as comically satiric as the first film in its take on contemporary values. This time, we follow the fortunes of four people who lock themselves inside a shopping mall to get away from the marauding dead and who then immerse themselves in unabashed consumerism, taking what they want from an array of clothing and jewelry shops, making gourmet meals, etc. It is Romero's take on Louis XVI in the modern world: keep the starving masses at bay and crank up the insulated indulgence. Still, this is a horror film when all is said and done, and even some of Romero's best visual jokes (a Hare Krishna turned blue-skinned zombie) can make you sweat. --Tom Keogh
A Comedy You Can Sink Your Teeth Into The beauty of this movie is that it wraps a social commentary around a gruesome horror movie that was way ahead of it's time. This movie was made during a time when shopping malls weren't as widespread as they are today. Zombies showing up at shopping malls, trained consumers. This movie sets the standard for horror films and it is stunning in every way. The story is great, the acting above average for a horror flick and the special effects incredible. This is a movie that influenced a lot of people and has one of the largest cult followings of any movie. A timeless movie, important in what it has to say, the precedent it set for the horror genre and one of the best movies that intertwines comedy and horror effectively. 5 Stars for the second of George Romero's zombie films.
Interesting little film After watching the Night of the Dead remake, I decided to give Romero films a shot. To sum up my experience, I was surprised by the film. The film satisfies my zombie crave but it also delivers some meaning behind the purpose of the film. I won't go into details behind the meaning of the film, as I think after watching the film, anyone can get the meaning.
Dawn of the Dead features a group of people, Stephen, Roger, Peter, and Francine, trying to escape a zombie epidemic by find haven in a shopping mall. The movie focuses on the group trying to survive and ultimately, losing all that they accomplished not by zombies, but by human nature.
At first I thought the movie was serious. I thought about it for days. Then I watched it again, and I couldn't help but laugh at some parts:
* The part where Peter suggests to Stephen that he knows how to do abortions for Francine but Stephen declined. My first time, I missed this, but then after the second viewing I started laughing. I mean if someone suggested that to me, I would have been like, "Huh? How the heck do you know how to abort a baby? And you know how? I mean wow!"
* The blood pressure dude. Near the ending of the film, a man repeatedly tries to take his blood pressure despite the fact that there are zombies all around trying to eat him. I mean what the heck? And not only does his blood pressure reads 0 over 0, but on top of that, he dies in a rather horrific manner.
* The video arcade. When I first saw the video games at the arcade, I just couldn't believe it! I mean we've come quite a long ways in video games. Those who likes video games will really get a kick out of this scene.
* The guy with the eye patch. I laughed so hard at this part, I must have paused it about 10 times to show people. I mean it was so funny I sort of wish I had a camera or something to take a snap shot of this dude and use it as my avatar on MySpace and Facebook. I have no clue what the eye patch dude was talking about, but it was quite funny just to see it and I don't know a single person who would take this dude's suggestions seriously.
* The SWAT dude at the beginning. I mean he just went nuts! And for no reason! Just started running around shooting everyone, and finally someone in the SWAT team had to kill him. The part where the dude's head exploded made me laugh pretty hard. Not because his head exploded, but it reminded me of those old SNL shows where they would joke about the head explosions common in films of the 70s and 80s.
Overall, the movie is quite funny but at the same time it has meaning. Again I won't get too much into the meaning since I think anyone able to view this DVD will know what the satire is based on.
The Divimax DVD is pretty cool. You get all sorts of goodies and extras. Only thing disappointing is that there is no Subtitles, only Close Caption. That is fine, but if you're viewing it on HDTV, those who are hearing impaired will have a hard time.
Just about everything "Dawn" you'll need I had been waiting for this set many a year. I remember it was said online (around 1999) that Anchor Bay was pulling together all known cuts of Dawn to form the most complete version ever. While that doesn't happen here, there's very darn little you won't get. First off, the transfers. They look good, the colors are bright and vibrant. Sound: It gets an "A" from me. I don't have a 5.1, so take that into consideration, but it still sounds good to me. You get the theatrical version released earlier as a single disc, then the "director's cut" that had been released a few years back, the "Argento cut" AKA European edition AND Roy Frumkes' Document of the Dead. Special features abound, interviews, multiple commentaries (one per movie, just to clarify) and featurettes. The only thing I really found missing was Mr. Frumkes' commentary on Document, but that's pretty minor (and probably would have raised the price). All in all, pretty much everything a Dawn fan would need or want.
The Benchmark I will keep this simple:
There is not a better written or executed zombie movie in existence that is better than Dawn of the Dead (and yes, that includes Night of the Living Dead).
Overall, all zombie movies should be judged by this one, including Romero's other flicks. This one is about as perfect as a zombie movie can get.
One-stop shopping - everything you need, right at your fingertips! There's something about "Dawn of the Dead" that makes it so captivating. Sure, there are plenty of great zombie movies out there, but this classic is one not to be missed. In case you're unfamiliar with it, it's kind of like a non-sequential continuation of "Night of the Living Dead". Set in Philadelphia, this tells of four SWAT-team members that hide out in a mall from the living dead, while taking advantage of the mall and getting kicks outta it, too. That alone should let you know that this movie is awesome. Imagine what it would be like to shoot down the flesh-eating undead in a massive mall! This movie has everything from the zombie horror of blood-splattering and flesh-eating to thrilling action to slapstick comedy. The movie goes from scary to funny to sociopolitical all in its two-hour run. "Dawn of the Dead" is, in case I didn't state it enough, an extraordinary movie. What other zombie flick offers shooting zombies down in an open field at the break of dawn, a blue-skinned Hare Krsna zombie and makeup artist legend Tom Savini in a leather-clad biker gang riding their motorcycles in the dead of night? Yep, this movie goes from the slaying of the undead to genuinely ironically funny moments, such as slapping a whipped cream pie in a zombie's face, or the scene where two of the guys take the money from a register and smile for the security camera (that one's a good laugh!). And just to prove that this zombie movie doesn't disappoint, there's plenty of the red stuff getting splattered from zombies and victims alike, alongside their consumption of flesh! And yeah, I'm sure you're aware of the social commentaries on the buyer's consumption at the mall. George A. Romero's good at the double-entendres in the plot like that, he's quite an intelligent film-maker. "Dawn of the Dead" is definitely a special movie, and isn't necessarily one of those movies that you'd pop in every week or so. It's an experiece, and a stunning one at that, both visually and at times intellectually. So kudos to Mr. Romero, who knew what he was doing and never sold out, you made a great movie! All fans of zombie films MUST watch this classic! You won't be disappointed! Thanks for the time, and peace.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
