Rating:  Summary: It's a perfect slice of 1970s cult cinema. Review: [...] This is essentially the print released during the original 1978 release; the only difference is some additional material added during the police dock scene. The Cannes cut and the so-called "Director's Edition" are interesting, but not what Romero intended for domestic audiences.That being said, "Dawn" is no ordinary horror film! So many reviewers completely miss the point. DOTD, in my view, does NOT suffer from anachronism. Indeed, this brilliant satire of consumerism is very appropriately set during the 1970s. The excess, the self-absorption of the "me" decade is a perfect backdrop. The special effects are indeed cartoonish and not particularly scary. This is perfectly appropriate for the satirical nature of a film that some interpret as a very dark sarcastic tragedy. The film is a continuation of the scenario of "Night of the Living Dead". The recently dead have risen and are attacking the living. "Dawn" starts 3 weeks after "Night", and the living dead have begun to get the upper-hand over humanity. To make matters worse, many of the human survivors refuse to acknowledge the situation, in some cases inciting rioting, looting, and violence among the remaining human population. Four survivors from diverse backgrounds take to the skies in a traffic helicopter to find refuge, and they land in a shopping mall in an area overrun by the living dead. The quartet manage to wall themselves within the mall and set up a small survivor colony. The nearly limitless supply of goods and diversions in their shopping mall citadel appeals to their natural consumerism, and they spend the next several months in a fog of denial and overconsumption. Of course, such a short-sighted society will eventually feed upon itself and collapse... Those viewers wanting brutality and violence by themselves (without the interference of Romero's subtext) will not especially enjoy this film. Alternative films directe by Fulci, HG Lewis, etc. should satisfy this audience. There had never been a film like this up until 1978, and it's unfair to compare DOTD with its successors. Technical details are average across the board, note that details about the aspect ration can be found on IMDB and elsewhere. Extras are sparse; this film cries out for at least a directors commentary and digital cleanup. There are rumors of a future Anchor Bay edition containing much more than this package offers; in the meantime, this edition will occupy a needed place in a thinking person's horror collection. See "Document of the Dead" (dir: Roy Frumkes) for an informative but dry commentary on the making of "Dawn".
Rating:  Summary: Hiding out from flesh-eating zombies at the Monroeville Mall Review: Director George A. Romero followed up his low-budget cult classic "Night of the Living Dead" with this bleak satire of American consumerism. Traffic reporter Stephen Andrews (David Emge) and his girlfriend Francine Parker (Gaylen Ross) take refuge from the walking dead in a Monroeville Mall, where they hook up with Peter Washington (Ken Foree) and Roger DeMarco (Scott H. Reiniger), a pair of SWAT team cops. Sex, politics and race come into play among the quartet while the flesh-eating zombies try to find a way into the shopping center. Although there is some similarity to the original, a group of people holed up and trying to survive, there is much more of a sense that we are in for the long haul on this one, which makes it just as disquieting in a slightly different way. We also find out that having free run in a shopping mall is not everything you would think it would crack up to be. This is the "U.S. Theatrical Cut" of "Dawn of the Dead," which means it is the original American release and not the Director's Cut later released by Romero. There was also a shorter version, edited by Dario Argento, called "Zombie," that was released in Italy with alternate footage, which is included on this DVD. Also included are the theatrical trailers and a commercial for the Monroeville Mall, but the extras are surprisingly sparse on this DVD. Final warning: I would avoid trying to do a double-feature of Romero's zombie films, unless, of course, you are trying to inspire yourself to go on a diet.
Rating:  Summary: zombie-rific!! Review: George Romero's cult classic.....buy it!! Remake in the works, so check out the orignal ....
Rating:  Summary: Dawn of the Dead 5 stars player hater Review: Only a hater would give this movie a 4 stars and a half.the movie is like 2 hours long. the millions and millions of zombies layeth the smacket down on these four sorry jabroni's trying to take over the mall? i mean come on millions of zombies. The Dawn of the Dead is even better on DVD,you know DVD got there name from RVD? huh? if you love night of the living dead you will love this movie.
Rating:  Summary: DAWN OF THE DEAD Review: This film is the sequel to Night of the Living Dead.The central characters are three men and one women who try to escape from man eating corpses.As a horror film,it's a masterpiece, but if you have a weak stomach avoid this one.
Rating:  Summary: THIS MOVIE STINKS! Review: I can't believe what a horrible film this is! It is so slow moving and boring. The whole film takes place in a stupid mall filled with zombies. The film is incredibly hard to follow -the plot bounces around and never stays on one matter long enough to understand what's going on. The zombies are only in half the movie becuase the other halfs just the characters running around doing stupid things. Don't bother with this bombshell.
Rating:  Summary: The Greatest Sequel Ever! Review: People usually say that sequels ruin the original look of the first films. But this movie is way better than 'Night of the Living Dead'. This movie scared me when I was about five, and again, when I was ten. This review may not be much, but rent 'Dawn of the Dead' anyway. You won't be displeased. I promise.
Rating:  Summary: Was this supposed to be scary? Review: I just didn't find this movie scary. First of all, the soundtrack was just plain silly. It sounded like music from a cheesy 70's video game. The zombies themselves were not very threatening at all, just as long as the lead characters could run. The zombies were extremely slow moving and were quite stupid. I also don't understand how people can say that the makeup effects in this movie were good. The majority of the zombies just had grey foundation on their faces. The blood wasn't very convincing either. It looked a little too orange to me. If you're looking for a real scare, check out the Evil Dead movies. Dawn of the Dead is an ok movie, but it is extremely overrated. It is worth watching only as a cheap zombie flick.
Rating:  Summary: This is the directors cut...and it is a horror masterpiece.. Review: This is without a doubt the greatest horror film of all time. Scary, horrifying, funny, intelligent, humorous and atmospheric, George A. Romero pulled out all the stops and created a sequel that well and truly rises above its predecessor "Night of the Living Dead". I first saw this in 1988, and it was the first film I ever saw that not only made me want to see the sequels and prequels, but find out everything about the people who made it and how they went about it. In short, in started my love of film-making, as opposed to movies, but anyway back to the film... A co-production with Dario Argento, "Dawn" picks up the story where "NOTLD" left off, depicting the collapse of society as imminent and establishing the four main characters (Two SWAT troopers, and two television employees) who decide to flee the city and wind up holing up in a large shopping mall beseiged with the living dead. Watching the zombies staggering around the aisles and escalators is pretty obvious symbolism, but is still pretty potent viewing. Particularly when combined with Tom Savini's splatter FX and Goblin's superlative score (one of the best soundtrack's of all time in my opinion). The acting is realistic and the production values astounding for $1.5 million or so. Unlike most reviews I have seen here, I totally disagree with the comments about this 127 minute version. This is the version that Romero wished to release, THIS IS THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, and he fought the MPAA tooth and nail to get it! The 140 MINUTE VERSION IS A ROUGH CUT and while it does have extra gore and extrapolation scenes in it, none of them add that much with the possible exception of one shot of Peter riding a trolley through the empty mall. In addition to which, that edition being an unfinished version misses out on much of the Goblin music that adds so greatly to the atmosphere of the film. It is certainly worth seeing and even owning, but I would not say it is any better than this version. The extras are not fantastic I agree. The other Anchor Bay version (140 min) has two trailers on it, instead of just the one we get here. The bits from the Argento version are interesting, but nothing special (although it's interesting that Argento version has slightly less gore, a lot less humour and more talking!!), I liked the Monroeville Mall ad it was pretty kitch and funny. Extra scenes would have been great (but then Anchor Bay can't sell two versions), A featurette would have been cool (but you'll have to dig up "Document of the Dead" for that), a commentary would have been the best (but I guess Elite had the rights and George couldn't be bothered again), I think 5.1 would have really added to the film, but the Mono is clear and is all I've ever heard, so I'm not going to let it annoy me too much. I have seen this film in the cinema (both 127min and 140min) and both were matted at 1:66:1 like this, so that's cool with me as well. As far as I'm concerned this is the best film Mr Romero has ever done (surpassing NOTLD, Creephshow, Knightriders, Monkey Shines and Martin), and was and is and probably will always be THE BEST HORROR FILM EVER CREATED. Much respect to George A. Romero and thank you for the only film I have seen over 100 times and still find fresh.
Rating:  Summary: Best Romero Movie Ever Made Review: I was just a twinkle in my father's eye when "Dawn of the Dead" was released in the USA, but I can still get the same horrific effect from this movie watching on DVD as people did in the late '70's watching it in on a projection screen. The transfer quality as amazing, especially if you've ever seen it on VHS. In the beginning, Romero has the ability to actually feel bad for the zombies, for instance, when the police raid the apartment building and find that the tennants are hiding their "undead" family members inside, I really felt bad for the woman who did didn't want the police to shoot her zombie husband. But then again, he did take I big chunk out of her neck, didn't he? And,seeing a young Ken Foree from TCM III was awesome. The ending didn't have the same creepy feel as "Night of the Living Dead" did, actually it had sort of an "A-Team" feel to it, but I did enjoy the movie as a whole and would definetley recommend it to any horror fan.
|