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Dawn of the Dead

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 107 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Drama | Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
James Gunn
George A. Romero (1978 screenplay)
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 19, 2004
DVD: October 26, 2004
Running Time: 100 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for pervasive strong horror violence and gore, language and sexuality
Starring Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers, and Michael Barry
A remake of the 1979 horror classic.
Also On Metacritic
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Don't leave before the final frame -- if you're still breathing.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Tense, bloody, funny and smart; lacks original's conscience, but it's still a surprisingly gritty remake.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The movie has many of the elements that made the first "Dawn" so darkly entertaining.
Read Full Review >Empire Chris Hewitt
A welcome surprise, containing more bona fide scares than Romero's vision, while paying grand lip service to the old master. Truly worthy of that famous title.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis
Good zombie fun, the remake of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead is the best proof in ages that cannibalizing old material sometimes works fiendishly well.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Yes, it's essentially a remake of a sequel, albeit a sequel that happens to be one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but it more than surpasses the original.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
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.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
There was no burning need for a remake, but this one is respectful of its predecessor. It incorporates the technology and acquisitiveness of the intervening quarter century since Romero's vision. It even features a metrosexual, something unheard of in 1978.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
It's silly, witty and good-natured, not scary so much as icky, and not horrifying or horrible but consistently amusing.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Faster, leaner and more compact than the original. Dumber, too, but that's almost always the case with remakes.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand
This film plays out like one of those trigger-happy video games -- it's all cranial splatter. Word to the squeamish: Dawn of the Dead merits a very hard R rating. The depictions of violence are exceedingly graphic.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
My only complaint is that its plot flatlines compared to the 1979 version, which was trickier, wittier and smarter. Romero was not above finding parallels between zombies and mall shoppers.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Calling this version of Dawn of the Dead a remake is applying a misnomer. It's more of a re-imagination.
Read Full Review >Premiere Aaron Hillis
An amply entertaining tale of survival terror, fully realizing the epicness of Romero's vision by infecting every wide-angled overhead shot with as many computer-generated cadavers as possible, and bridging tense moments with a laugh-aloud, plucky wit.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Dawn of the Dead may depict the end of the world as we know it, but rarely has watching doom proved such a kick.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Jim Agnew
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.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Snyders film isn't likely to be considered a classic 20 years down the road like Romero's film is, but it's a winningly extreme episode in the ongoing adventures of Zombie and Harriet. (And stick around while the end credits roll: The film isn't over 'til it's over.)
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Overall, this Dead is zippier than 1995's retake on "Village of the Damned" and somewhat less junky than the recent remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
It is, like most, an unnecessary remake, but the new, digitally boosted Dawn of the Dead brings it on with a 10-minute overture that might be the most upsetting tin-can apocalypse modern movies have ever seen.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The movie is weak on attempts at survivalist philosophy (anyone bit by a zombie is likely to become one). Even the religious overtones feel tinny and unpronounced.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
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.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
The new Dawn of the Dead moves along with speed and slick visual style, but it's soulless and anonymous as -- well, a shopping mall.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
When there's a whole mess of zombie killing to be done, who cares about reflective writing or that time-wasting element of suspense?
Read Full Review >Variety Scott Foundas
More palatable than "Texas," Dawn also seems even less necessary, given how effectively the original was reworked last year in Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later."
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
This time the script makes scant metaphoric use of the mall. In fact, metaphors are generally in short supply here. Scares too.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Horror buffs will find plenty of split-second suspense and in-your-face carnage, while others will scramble for the exit as quickly as the characters race away from their apocalyptic foes.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
A buzzed-up gloss on the original, it's entertaining -- if fundamentally shallow.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Despite a big budget, lots of technical flair and a good cast headed by Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames, it's mostly a bloody mess.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
The eventual video game is bound to be a lot more fun -- and less slowed down by bad dialogue -- than this "Dead."
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
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.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 107 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jesse R. gave it a0:
I've seen worse zombie flicks but none that took this much money 2 fail so miserably. Nick Cannon is terrible (which is still pretty good for Nick Cannon acting), Mena is unbelieveable (not in a good way) as the heroine, and "Bud" (still pissed about that one) is the undead proof that this movie is an abomination. Avoid this @ all costs unless it's simply to watch the movie w/ the commentary on and listen how they weakly try to defend the movie ("You think you can do better?").
Joe Bob gave it a4:
Overrated. not much character development, pretty cheesy at times, but it did have some good points such as being funny. but is mostly mediocre and flat.
Cody B.r gave it a9:
Most people praise this movie for the epic masterpiece it is, some dumbasses pan it. Just because those people loved the original so much, they think remakes shouldn't be made. They never really got into the storyline because they are so hyped by the original dawn of the dead that they can't see the substance in this epic film and see it as "just a remake". This film is an original of its own. Remakes aren't replicas of the original movies, dumbasses. They give more originality and creativity of their own and see what it would be like in modern times, that's all. This is the best zombie masterpiece besides left 4 dead.
Jay H gave it an8:
One of the best horror films of all time. It is genuinely frightening, great special effects. Suspenseful, well directed and acted. The touches of humor make it work that much better. Excellent.
Adam W. gave it a10:
This movie is the pinnacle of epic zombie movies that are also funny.
[Anonymous] gave it a7:
Although the title sequence is probably the best bit of the film - and although it is a cheesy [high budget] B movie with plenty of flaws - the film manages to create the anxiety and claustrophobia of a group of survivors surrounded by a sea of undead with no hope of rescue. Diverting.
Dorian S. gave it an8:
Hell, this movie was great,blood and all that,but the problem is,the zombies are too fast.I was first scared by the movie,but later,it was fun
