Dawn of the Dead -- U.S. Theatrical Cut

Rating:
Summary: Finally
Review: Finally this horror masterpiece is released on dvd. Truly a gem in the zombie movie genre. George Romero's 2nd installment comes as close to perfection as any horror movie can be. The dvd is incredible, the movie is as clear as it has ever been. If you know anything about real horror then, Dawn of the Dead and the rest of the Dead trilogy should definitely be considered. Anybody who gives this movie one star is not a fan of horror movies and should not be taken seriously. This movie is not something that everybody will like, but fans of horror will surely enjoy this epic masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: What!
Review: Two words can express this movie it is absolutely terrible. People said that this movie was great. well i bought this Movie last night. It is worse that the house of the dead movie. The movie isn't even scary. The movie takes place in one place the whole movie. In a deserted shopping mall. Trust me dont even rent this movie. It sucks.
-The Movie Guy

Rating:
Summary: DVD is excellent
Review: This release from Anchorbay is the best this movie has ever looked. The print is stunning. Colors crisp and bloody red, black tones are truely deep. Yes, this is the theatrical cut of the film, and the original version I saw at a midnight showing back in 1981. It gave me actual nightmares in college; while other students were dreaming about showing up at the wrong class, or dreaming about showing up in their underwear, I was having Dawn of the Dead nightmares. This was horror like nothing I'd ever seen before.

Three men and a woman escape the city of Pittsburg, which is quickly becoming over run with the flesh-eating dead. They find one of the those (at the time) new giant indoor shopping malls, and take on the dead in a bloody battle for realestate. After they are secure, a roving band of millitant bikers shows up and starts the cycle of violence over. It has been called the ultimate horror film on American consumerism. We literally are driven to consume ourselves in a non-thinking, spend-crazy economy.

This is a story about something horribly bad getting out of control, with no hope of stopping it, only surviving it. The film has always had an claustrophobic effect on me, watching the last of sane humanity become overwhelmed by the dead, no hope of a future.

Later this year the "Director's Cut" will be released to DVD. I've seen it, and it's a differant way of watching the film, but not neccessarily a better way. It is approximately 20 minutes longer, most of this filler being an expansion of dialog between the main characters, giving us more insight into their personalities. And though I've always liked that version - it does have some memorable scenes I miss in the theatrical cut - this is still my favorite cut. This version is lean and fast-paced, which adds to the feeling of smothering doom. If you decide to hold onto your money till the "Director's Cut", just remember that even George Romero has stated his favorite cut is the theatrical release. And as for the alternate ending where one of the heroes kills himself in self-pity, Romero himself says he did not want his hero to die. He liked his hero, and he wanted humans with heroic dignity to survive. By showing us the stark differences between his heroes, the millitary, the roving band of violent raiders, and let's not forget the zombies, he's pointing out to us the thin balance between chaos, anarchy, and human dignity. I think Romero will go down in film history as one of the greatest independent film producers/directors America ever spawned. I find it curious that Hollywood is producing zombi films again without Romero. His three films in the series have never been equalled, and are even mentioned in other horror films by directors and scriptwriters who have idealized him (take for instance the recent sludge called "House of the Dead", where one character actually mentions "the Romero holy trinity: Night, Dawn, and Day of the Dead." Yet for all of Hollywood's posturing towards this independent master of horror, none of them are bothering to finance another project with him, or hire him as a director.

The extras on this are pretty darn nice, including many theatrical trailers, radio spots, and a full length audio commentary with George Romero, his wife Chris (assistant director), and special effect artist Tom Savini. Oh, and a couple of easter eggs: one is an interview with Chris Romero on how she and George met and ended up married, and a second one that is a short, humorous interview with Tom Savini.

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.