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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
DVD features
Many had their doubts, but in all honesty the
Dawn of the Dead unrated director's cut DVD is everything a horror/zombie fan could ever hope for. Yes, the film is not Romero's and fans of the original were set to dismiss the film as a cheap way to cash in on a classic. However, Zack Snyder's
Dawn is not simply a remake, but a retelling of George's brilliant vision. The DVD begins with Zack Snyder giving a cool and laidback introduction to this unrated version. He openly admits it is more gory, has more character development, and is a little longer, but it is his preferred version, the one the MPAA wouldn't allow to be released with an R rating. The commentary on this DVD is so much fun. It features a sharp, cool dialogue between the first-time movie director and producer Eric Newman; interestingly, it was recorded before the theatrical version of the film opened. There is nothing like listening to ambitious, funny, excited filmmakers enthusiastically discuss every facet of the filmmaking experience.
Though it has no full-on "making of" documentaries, the DVD includes a nice suite of extras geared towards giving the viewer more background information on the zombie apocalypse. There is 15 minutes of home video footage documenting "Andy's"' final days fighting off the zombies from his gun shop. Special Report: Zombie Invasion is a very cool 20-minute collage of news coverage giving governmental and scientific updates of the zombie crisis from across the country. The three unrated documentaries all showcase the special effects team and their fearless leader, David LeRoy Anderson. They focus on how to explode heads, the most memorable zombie kills, and the zombie makeup process. It's definitely not for the squeamish, but will be fascinating for those who dare to take a look. The strangest thing about this DVD is the almost non-mention of George Romero and his Dead films. In fact, if you missed the credit "Based on a screenplay by George Romero," you may never know it was his vision that laid the foundation. Is this a legal issue? Who knows, but it is definitely a little odd. However, this should not hold genre fans back from seeing this film. You will not be disappointed because this DVD and the film rock. --Rob Bracco
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