X
- 2004
- Unrated
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 41 m
- 2004
- Unrated
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 41 m
Summary In this remake of George A. Romero's horror classic, a nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman, and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a Midwestern shopping mall.
Directed By: Zack Snyder
Written By: George A. Romero, James Gunn
- 2004
- Unrated
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 41 m
- 2004
- Unrated
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 41 m
Dawn of the Dead
59
8.8
Where to Watch
Summary In this remake of George A. Romero's horror classic, a nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman, and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a Midwestern shopping mall.
Directed By: Zack Snyder
Written By: George A. Romero, James Gunn
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 37 Critic Reviews
59
57% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
32% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
11% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 37 Critic Reviews
59
57% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
32% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
11% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Don't leave before the final frame -- if you're still breathing.
The movie has many of the elements that made the first "Dawn" so darkly entertaining.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 745 User Ratings
8.8
89% Positive
665 Ratings
665 Ratings
6% Mixed
43 Ratings
43 Ratings
5% Negative
37 Ratings
37 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 745 User Ratings
8.8
89% Positive
665 Ratings
665 Ratings
6% Mixed
43 Ratings
43 Ratings
5% Negative
37 Ratings
37 Ratings
A remake that I just loved. Funny in all the right spots, action that just keeps you on your toes, moments of silence that can get you on your first viewing, etc. The terrifying running zombies and a mall to defend yourself. Awesome cast of characters too.
Report
Romero's satire is largely replaced by a sardonic gallows humor (the zombie-shooting contest is as funny as it is grotesque), but otherwise it's a bloody entertaining zombie apocalypse.
First time director Zack Snyder has done an amazing job of creating a sense of doom and dread while sprinkling it with some wicked humor and amazing music.
The new version has its share of disturbing moments, but writer James Gunn and director Zack Snyder have stripped away the social satire of the original and put little in its place.
A buzzed-up gloss on the original, it's entertaining -- if fundamentally shallow.
Swarming with zombies on both sides of the camera, the film is unrelentingly relentless, leaving no room for original director George Romero's wry satire on consumerism or his slow-paced, creeping undead.
Zack Snyder's best film despite himself, the Dawn of the Dead remake works best when James Gunn's original script seeps through. It doesn't hold a candle to George Romero's high concept original, but this lowbrow adaptation is a fun time and holds both some big intentional and unintentional laughs.
Report
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
Report
The original 1978 horror splatter-comedy ''Dawn of the Dead'' had an idea that played like cast-iron satire: zombies invading a mall. The one good exchange from that film is repeated in Zack Snyder's single-minded scare-tactic remake: when someone asks why the zombies congregate there, the response is: ''Memory, maybe. Instinct.''
Otherwise, Mr. Snyder's blood feast is strictly by the numbers: this second-rater could be the world's most expensive Troma film. That makes sense: the screenwriter for the remake, James Gunn, also banged out ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1996), that no-budget B-movie-studio's seminal film (that is, if the word seminal can be appended to Troma). Still, this is the first studio picture to exhibit the tacky Troma influence, which means ---- something, like the end of shame in Western civilization, perhaps. However, since ''Dawn of the Dead,'' which opens today nationwide, doubtless thinks of itself as a reimagining rather than a remake, the concept of shame was probably obliterated the moment the script got a green light from Universal.
''The Dead'' -- with apologies to James Joyce -- notches its frights early, before the introduction of the, excuse the euphemism, characters. The first undead we see is a little girl with part of her face rotted away, who goes right for her dad's neck. The mother, Ana (Sarah Polley), barely escapes the house intact and drives away through an apocalyptic version of the dozy suburban tract neighborhood she had come home to the night before. The graphic point of zombielike conformity was made earlier with an overhead shot of the neighborhood.
In such instances, ''Dead'' establishes its scariness with an efficiently tactless facelessness -- that is, if the use of the word faceless doesn't provoke a defamation of character suit from the zombie lobby, apparently based in Toronto. That's where this movie was obviously shot, despite shabby attempts to convince audiences that it is set in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee, the home of the bubbler, is transformed into the subdivision of the living dead. Ana runs into Kenneth (Ving Rhames), a uniformed cop, who makes her speak. It's one of the few ways to tell the zombies from the living -- though with dialogue like this, who's better off? They're joined by Michael (Jake Weber), Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and his very pregnant wife, Luda (Inna Korobkina). They make their way to the Crossroad Mall, where a handful of security guards led by the suspicious C. J. (Michael Kelly) have taken up residence.
C. J.'s intolerance is evident early, when he calls Andre ''Shaq.'' His ragtag minimum-wage squad is determined to keep the zombies out, especially once Ana figures out that the life-free scourge is spread from a zombie bite. Isn't it always funny that people in zombie movies have never seen zombie movies, so they have no information whatsoever?
''Dead'' does an adequate job of building up the tension early, but the traces of humor with which the original writer-director, George A. Romero, slathered the first version weren't nearly as ham-fisted as those found in the current one. The reimaginers of ''Dead'' have to cope with being compared with a classic, while Mr. Romero had to deal with a much more horrendous thought: making a sequel to a legitimate classic, 1968's spartan and terrifying ''Night of the Living Dead.'' (Mr. Romero's genius came from never explaining why the zombie infection plagued Pittsburgh, a plot device this new version keeps.)
There are a few other nods to the initial ''Dawn of the Dead,'' like a cameo appearance by the gore makeup genius Tom Savini, who worked on the earlier film. And the opening and closing credits by Prologue Film are so good they're almost worth sitting through the film for.
Such treats aside, we're left with a movie dependent on generating its small amount of sparks by setting an order in which to eliminate the annoying cast members. A scene in which weapons have to be liberated from a gun store so the group can carry out a plan to get to a marina and sail away to safety -- don't ask -- shows why zombie pictures aren't unsettling anymore. The flesh-eaters are picked off like video-game targets.
The eventual video game is bound to be a lot more fun -- and less slowed down by bad dialogue -- than this ''Dead.''
Report
Okay, first and foremost, the zombies themselves have issues. They DONT behave like zombies. They REACT to injury. Minor injuries can CRIPPLE them. They can PICK UP things and USE things. They can think for crying out loud. They can RUN. And why is the incubation period so erratically different its ridiculous. The protagonist's husband who is bitten at the start of the movie turns like a few seconds whereas another character who I wont mention to avoid spoiling the plot turns after what seems like a WEEK after being bitten. Its ridiculous. Oh and get what, BURNING zombies kills them. I can hear people cutting themselves to that/ Pro tip to those out there who dont know how to the survive the zombie apocalypse: Zombies are DEAD people who are infected with a BLOOD-BORNE virus (though this is debatable in other variations) that kills the host and takes control of their body after they are deceased. They want to feast on ALL living things INCLUDING animals. They are slow and can at best, jog if a prey attracts them. They can grab for things mindlessly but they CANT open doors, use weapons or pick up things, Zack Snyder! Nor can they be CRIPPLE by minor wounds like gunshots - they DONT feel PAIN, they're DEAD. Oh and Mr Snyder, the makeup of the zombies, why do they look like HUMANS instead of badly mauled walking corpses? The lines are horrible at times while at other instances they're brilliantly written. There are some tense moments but in most cases, you'll be just yelling at the screen and be utterly frustrated at how ridiculously naive, dumb and stupid the characters are. Seriously. For instance, stupidity No. 1: NO ONE knew what made the people turn into zombies despite many of them seeing people get bitten and turning e.g the protagonist's husband. Not only until around 1/3 of the way into the movie do the main characters realize "Oh maybe its the bite?" *facepalm* You are tell obviously who's gonna die (and they do) and you'll be cutting yourself at the most stupidass things the characters would do. WHY, WHY would you GO AFTER your DOG amidst the HUNDREDS of zombies that want to EAT you IF you know they WONT hurt your dog? Srsly that thing there, is what caused the plot to climax and end as it did. Had that certain character NOT gone after her dog and stayed with the plan, I am sure NO ONE would've been killed. And WHY do the characters just use **** pistols and shotguns? You have a GUNSTORE for God's sakes, there are things called RIFLES that are MORE accurate and also automatic & semi-automatic weapons all with a crapload of ammo. Why not just clear the streets? Why not use the damn rifles? Seriously the ENTIRE movie, they just stick to horrible horrible pistols (GLOCKS just damn GLOCKS for crying out loud. There must be Desert Eagles and M9's lying around in the store!) and those mediocre cop shotguns. Had they used a M16, M4A1 Carbine, SAW machine gun or hell even a plain old Lee Einfield, I am sure everyone would've survived. This is a movie that you watch drunk with your buddies on a Friday night. You'll probably watch it and forget about it, and probably switch to playing Left 4 Dead. The original 1970's Dawn of the Dead is vastly superior despite the outdated makeup effects. Watch that. Avoid this insult to the zombie canon pile of excrement at all costs. Hell even the ending is lacking. A braindead film that absolutely wont want to feast upon.
Report
Production Company
Strike Entertainment,
New Amsterdam Entertainment,
Metropolitan Filmexport,
Toho-Towa
Release Date Mar 19, 2004
Duration 1 h 41 m
Rating Unrated
Tagline When the undead rise, civilization will fall.
Awards
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 4 Nominations
Online Film & Television Association
• 3 Nominations
Golden Trailer Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
