Amazon.com: Are you ready to get down with the sickness? Movie logic dictates that you shouldn't remake a classic, but Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead defies that logic and comes up a winner. You could argue that George A. Romero's 1978 original was sacred ground for horror buffs, but it was a low-budget classic, and Snyder's action-packed upgrade benefits from the same manic pacing that energized Romero's continuing zombie saga. Romero's indictment of mega-mall commercialism is lost (it's arguably outmoded anyway), so Snyder and screenwriter James Gunn compensate with the same setting--in this case, a Milwaukee shopping mall under siege by cannibalistic zombies in the wake of a devastating viral outbreak--a well-chosen cast (led by Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer), some outrageously morbid humor, and a no-frills plot that keeps tension high and blood splattering by the bucketful. Horror buffs will catch plenty of tributes to Romero's film (including cameos by three of its cast members, including gore-makeup wizard Tom Savini), and shocking images are abundant enough to qualify this Dawn as an excellent zombie-flick double-feature with 28 Days Later, its de facto British counterpart. --Jeff Shannon
Scary-cool ^ This is some well made horror. It's fun, it's scary and it has a great cast. Horror purists might tell you that "fast zombies are not proper." I say, "let it go and enjoy the show!"
Zombie Dawn ^ DAWN reads like a great movie checklist.
Likeable characters...check (The film is perfectly cast.) Immersive plot...check (This one draws you right in.) Unique horror...check (The thought of things are worse than the actual things.) Social comment...check (Zombies to the Mall: Do you need more social comment?) Satisfying...check (Great movie in the Zombie genre.)
All in all, the film is a very fun ride. It has moments of dark humor and horrific situational horror. I have to say it is among the best of the zombie genre offerings.
Blue Ray Quality Review ^ I'm not going to talk about the movie, there's 700+ other reviews for that. Basically, is this worth buying on Blue Ray if you already have it on DVD? Probably not. The sound is crystal clear, as seems to be the case even on movies with the worst transfers. However, the picture isn't that great. It's slightly better than standard definition, but the blacks are grainy, and the sharpness comes and goes. It IS slightly better than SD, but fairly underwhelming otherwise. I think only big fans of this movie who will watch it often will benefit from HD.
I wouldn't re-buy it for your collection if you have to dust off your SD version when you watch it. So if you're thinking hey it's only $10 should I get it? Only if you don't already own it on SD or you're a big fan of the movie. No doubt, it's a great movie, probably the best remake in the series and probably best overall in the series including all the new ones and all the originals. But the upgrade to BR probably won't be worth it for most viewers.
Fantastic New Horror Classic ^ We really liked this new version of Dawn of the Dead because so many of the characters made smart choices just like you'd think you'd do in this situation. Yes, people open doors they know they shouldn't. Yes, there are still moron bad guys and at one point the look-at-me pouty face girl gets incredibly stupid and drives off into a crowd of zombies to save her dog. Her dog!!! But the main characters do smart things and make plans and try their best, although for some reason nobody ever seems to think of putting on leather jackets and hockey helmets and gloves since if you get bitten you're going to die. Right?!? I mean, you would put on as many clothes as you could! But the action was absolutely horrific and knock-your-eyes-out fast. Loved the music! Loved the hyperactive zombies! This movie is only not better than the original because the original is the original if that makes sense.
Almost as gory as the original, but not as edgy ^ A small group of survivors holes up in a shopping mall in order to survive a plague of zombies, who can only be stopped by destroying their brain.
Other than the absence of social commentary, the most obvious difference between this film and George Romero's original is the fact that these zombies are fast runners. This ratchets up the scare factor in the early part of the film by making this version of the undead that much more dangerous and inescapable. However, it soon becomes clear that the characters in this film, many of whom are inexperienced with guns, will be able to make as many head shots as necessary to ensure that the scenes play out as the script demands. There are a number of particularly implausible escapes that feel very Hollywood and break the verisimilitude of the story in a way that the original never did.
Still, there is plenty of gore and several good scares, even if it does become a bit tiresome by the end.
Anything Goes Trivia
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