Dawn of the Dead

Rating:
Summary: More Than I Expected
Review: First off, I gave this DVD four stars instead of five just because I too know a more expanded version is to be released later this year. But that fact aside, I still think this DVD is a good buy.

Now I've read a few reviews going on (negatively) about how this is the theatrical version of the film and that the Director's Cut is better. Well, it's only better if you like a bunch of excess, and to me, really boring dialog. When I brought the video tape of it (the Director's Cut), I was expecting to see an extra 20 minutes of gore, but except for just one cool scene, it was all dialog. Dialog, that in my opinion, that didn't add a thing to it. In fact, this twenty minutes reminds of the outtakes from Jaws. I was glad they were taken out.

George Romero has said that the Theatrical Cut of the film is his favorite. And I'm glad it's the one on this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: George Romero's horrific dissection of the American Dream...
Review: Three men and a woman get away from Philadelphia where an epidemic of the living dead is threatening the population. The small party escapes in a helicopter as they try to find shelter and food. This leads them to stumble upon a large shopping mall, which offers them an opportunity for safety and a better life style. They begin to "clean up" the shopping mall from the zombies as they try to secure the mall, but this is not done without risk. Dawn of the Dead is an interesting horror film that dissects the American Dream and the American society's shopping habits. In the end Romero creates a solid horror film that offers both chills and thrills that leaves the audience with some notions to ponder.

Rating:
Summary: DOTD DVD Reveiw
Review: I just got this DVD in the mail today and just got done watching it, the picture and sound is great they really did do a good job but on the other side this DVD was some what a disapointment first of all its not the full Dawn of The Dead movie its the Theatrical Verson witch that suck when I was watching it and for features there's not much for features. I hope they come out with the full verson and more features.

Rating:
Summary: Scary is an understatement.
Review: It scared me when I was a little kid and I'm equally horrified to this day. Dawn of the Dead is just creepy. Zombie movies just have that extra something that makes you shiver.

Rating:
Summary: Horror Classic Hold Up Well
Review: It was great timing to re-release the original "Dawn of the Dead" before the "new" version comes out in theaters. Before purchasing this DVD, I hadn't seen the original in nearly 20 years. "DOTD" is as disturbing as any horror film ever made. It mixes black humor in horror in such a way that many other films have attempted to copy with little success. The acting may be a bit stlited at times, and the storytelling might be a tad rough around the edges, but horror films don't get much more realistic (or brutal) than this. It also appears (at least from the previews) that the new theatrical version is going to be a far different movie from this one.

The DVD, however, is a bit of disappointment in one repsect. Other than commentary from Director George Romero, there isn't much in the way of special features.

Rating:
Summary: A fabulous appetizer, but not the main course (yet!)
Review: I awaited this release of this DVD(3-9-04)with much excitement, as I've been an enthusiastic (one might even say 'zombie-like') follower of Romero's 'Dead' trilogy since childhood. And for the most part, it was worth the wait.
The print is beautifully clean, vivid, and the audio remastering to 5.1 surround is something to behold (experiencing this DVD after years of VHS is almost like watching it for the first time). The technical merits of those who put this DVD together cannot be disputed, and the film AND the DVD deliver the goods on almost every level.
The audio commentary (Romero, his wife/assistant dir. Chris Romero, FX man Tom Savini, and Peter Martin) is great fun, mostly informative (with a lot of laughing and reminiscing, which is a treat!)...Like partying with the filmmakers.
But the extras are a bit sparse if you aren't keen on sitting through ten variations of the same ad (for the television and radio spots, it's tough to find differences, other than length). The two theatrical trailers are nice, especially the first U.S. trailer... I remembered seeing this trailer originally, at age 11, and just the TRAILER scared me silly! It's nice to have that on disc.
The jacket of the DVD mentions a 'sneak peek' at the new comic book version of DOTD coming this Fall, but it's only a quick look at the cover of an issue, then you hit 'more' and it gives a short paragraph that is just an advertisement for the comic. So no substance there, it comes off silly to hype such a miniscule 'peek'.
This is not the fullest treatment of the film on DVD, but wait...
Apparently there will be a multi-disc, far more in-depth DVD set of this film coming in September, and THAT will definitely be worth it. But even as sparse as this current version is (not the full director's cut, few extras, etc.) it's a GREAT way to have this classic film in your library until the BIG set comes along. At under $15, for the horror fan and followers of Romero, it won't disappoint much, if at all, and it's a great teaser for the full set to come.

Rating:
Summary: DVD review, not movie review.
Review: I was eagerly awaiting this DVD, and I finally got to pick it up yesterday (on the release date). When you watch the movie, you instantly notice the great new transfer (if you've been watching it on video all these years, as I have). That's about where the fun ends, but at least you get this awesome flick on DVD.

First off, I know this DVD is the "regular" one without all the nifty special features. The "special" DVD comes out later this year. That stated, this is basically a barebones DVD (not counting the commentary), and the extras are the usual TV spots, radio spots, galleries, and so on, but what I was looking forward to was the "new collector's booklet" and the "exclusive preview of the upcoming comic." Both were throwaway features offering very little to the 'Dawn of the Dead' fans.

The included booklet has a little sort of "review" type thing saying how Dawn was influential, and lists the chapters on the back. Amazon.com says the book has four pages, but that actually means the front, the back, and the other sides of each. So it's really one piece of paper, folded in half that's being called four pages. The "exclusive preview" of the new comic is a picture of the cover and the weblink for the publishers where you can find the same information they give you on the DVD, basically. Disappointing, if you were looking forward to these features.

In the end, was it worth the 15 dollars? Yes, yes it was. I've been waiting for this DVD for some time, and while the couple of extras I was most waiting on let me down, I'm not going to complain and claim that the disk is horrible, because it's not horrible. I finally get to add this classic to my collection for a very reasonable price, and what a great transfer. Plus, what I call the Super Special Edition of 'Dawn of the Dead' is supposed to be released before Halloween this year. That will certainly be a time to celebrate for Dawn fans like myself.

If you are a fan (keyword: fan) waiting for the Super Special Edition, you may as well pick this up for the new transfer, if nothing else (besides, it's dirt cheap). If you could care less about special features, but you like the flick, it would make more sense pick this one up (the Super Special Edition will be much more expensive). I just have to plug the transfer once more before this review is over. The transfer is great, I honestly get excited when i see how clear the picture is. Okay, that's done. 'Dawn of the Dead' as a movie gets high praises and five stars. This DVD gets mediocre praises and three stars.

Rating:
Summary: Attention Shoppers! (aka: Apocalypse Chow)...
Review: The dead are still rising! It's been ten years since "Night Of The Living Dead", when things seemed to be under control. Nope, the dead have continued their rampage, killing and eating us normal folks like so many zombie-treats! Our major cities are under marshall law. The military is fighting a losing battle against the flesh-eating hordes, while the media debates the issue. Meanwhile, two cops and two media personel pile into a helicopter to escape to... where?? They have no real idea. Flying over the countryside, they witness the great "hillbilly zombie hunt" below, as bands of good ol' boys drink beer, shoot zombies, drink more beer, shoot more zombies, etc. Later, our heroes land to gas up the helicopter, where they encounter a handful of shambling dead. The dead are of course, easily dispatched by blows / shots to the noggin, but they prove to be dangerous nonetheless! Even two kid-zombies are relentless in their pursuit of warm human flesh! Our four survivors get fueled up and take off again. Then, in the distance, like an oasis of safety, is a gigantic shopping mall! The helicopter lands on the roof, and our small group enters through a sky-light. Upon checking things out, they find the mall to be a veritable fortress, even though slow-moving zombies roam around both inside and out. The four soon create their own home-away-from-home, killing as many dead-heads as possible along the way. They get pretty comfy in their newfound kingdom of the living. Along comes a caravan of bikers to spice things up! They break into the mall, shooting and smacking zombies with sledgehammers, and basically causing mayhem. Our four heroes must lay low until the bikers get tired of playing around. Oh no! One of the four, named Steve, can't take it, and simply must defend "his" mall! He shoots at the marauding bikers, and things get ugly from there! See, no one's noticed that the zombies have been flooding in and now out-number the bikers by about ten to one. In their subtle, creeping way, they sneek right up and take over. ATTENTION SHOPPERS! IT'S BIKER-GANG GUTS DAY AT THE MALL! Can our four heroes endure to the end? I won't give away the climax. DOTD belongs on every horror shelf! A bloody, entrail-filled masterpiece...

Rating:
Summary: BEST of the dead
Review: After recently buying a Korean copy of DOTD on eBay, and having it lock up in my DVD player, I was i complete anticipation of this new one. It may not be the director's cut, but it certainly is the best version of the film I've ever seen. Transfer is crystal clear, audio is Dolby enhanced w/surround sound if enabled, sountrack errors (like when it slices short after they shoot Wooley) are corrected...All in all, one great DVD for the die hard collector or even the first time viewer. This is the way to watch this film. When the two-disc director's cut comes out, I'll buy that too. This was a sweet movie. Not necissarily the scariest movie ever made (as they advertise), but still one you watch over and over again because you like the characters.
Night of the living dead was dry, and Day of the Dead sucked. This was the one to see. Enjoy it

Rating:
Summary: The 'Dawn' of the Zombie Film
Review: Probably 'the' most copied, and in most cases badly, zombie film of all-time. George Romero's masterpiece is as much a social commentary as it is a horror film. Not to worry though, horror fans, plenty of gore in this one to satisfy even the most rabid of gore fans. The stunning Divimax transfer presents the clearest copy of 'Dawn' that I've ever seen. The sound is much improved, though in parts the dialogue is still low, but overall a huge improvement on former versions. In parts some scenes have been fully restored, because although I've seen this film many times, I caught myself noticing bits I hadn't seen before. For those few who have never seen this film, beware, remove impressionable children from the room. Tom Savini's gore effects are even more disturbing in this crystal-clear transfer. I venture to say the things that they got away with then, probably wouldn't pass censors today. A definite must own for horror enthusiasts, even if some aspects of it seem dated, filmed in the late 70's, it's still relevant today, and the effects hold up to today's horror standards. I say, order this version quickly before it vanishes!