Review : Dawn of the Dead 2004

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Lord Soth
Dawn of the Dead (Remake, 2004)
Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer

Directed by: Zack Snyder

Written by: James Gunn

Pre-review: I saw the original a few years ago, and when I learned they were making a remake, I was excited. I must say I was not disappointed.

My Initial Reaction: "Wow.......this is one kick@$$ movie!"

What was good: Opening sequence was killer, it hooked me right in. Like my all-time fave horror movie Scream, this was a seamless blend of horror, action and comedy, which makes an awesome movie IMHO. The special effects were great, makeup was perfect.

Things that I liked: The bus scene, where they finally escaped the mall, anything that involved Andy, the gunshop owner, the three security guards, and Steve (Ty Burrell)

What was bad: They left little time at all for character development, and what little time they utilized seemed rushed and not well thought-out. Other than that, I can't think of anything

Things that bugged the heck out of me: Nicole and the dog

Original/Remake comparison: I thought that this was a suitable tribute to the original, but it distances itself enough to make it a good stand-alone movie. It was the original story with a modern twist.

Final: 9/10 thumb up

I reccommend this to all horror fans

amlap
f*ck nicole! mad

SlipknoT
Andy was cool

Zilverz
Yes he was! I like when Ken said "Andy!, Im sorry brother" and blasted his head off gave him some respect.

Lord Soth
out of the characters, I think I liked the security guards the best. CJ was a bastard at first, Bart was a bastard who got eaten, and Terry was the sympathetic young guy stick out tongue

Zilverz
I just watched Dawn of the dead 2004 film a second time. My brother and friend wanted to see it so i went for a second ride. Awesome movie!

Something I just picked up this 2nd time around though. At the very begining when Ana is in the hospital talking to the doctor, the doctor is on the phone trying to convience his buddy to go golfing with him and "steve". His friend is reluctant to going since "steve" is going. Is what you derive from that scene. It just so happens that there is a "Steve" at mall that is obnoxious and is golfing on the roof (;

roundisfunny
Hmm...it's fun subtleties like that which make the movie worth repeated viewings.

Speaking of CJ, though, I thought that there wasn't enough of a transition from a-hole to hero; he should have done something noble halfway through to restore everyone's faith in him BEFORE he joined their team officially.

DemonicGambit-2
Zilverz Oh yeah! That's right, I hated Steve though, he was an A$$, and surprisingly he got some...

Lord Soth
An @$$, yes. But a hilarious @$$. I love smartasses llike him laughing

Cinemaddiction
Well, this is the way I saw C.J. (easily my favorite character)..

When he had his ass handed to him on the rooftop, he knew that he was outnumbered, and that he had no choice but to work as part of the team. Gradually, he softened up. And of course by the end, he made the ultimate sacrifice, of course he had some choice words which was his trademark, and way of showing that he still never really was a "real hero". I'm cool with a reluctant hero, cuz it's his actions that count.

That said, I've been twice. I am sure I'll get the craving to go see it one more time before it's gone.

BackFire
The movie was well made, but not nearly as strong, or well made as the original. The original was filled with social commentary and took tremendous talent and skill to make comprehendable and poignant. The remake was neat, fun, and entertaining, but nothing more. The character development was a minority compared to the other, shallower aspects of the film. If this is what you like in a zombie movie then you'll like this movie. If you want a good, strong film that will make you think then this movie will not satisfy your mental cravings.

That being said, the zombie baby was horrible to the point of being offensive. It didn't fit in a movie which was obviously meant to be taken seriously. It worked in Dead Alive because the whole movie was silly, and it almost made fun of itself with that scene. Dawn of the Dead just hurt itself with that scene, which served no purpose whatsoever other then being stupid.

Lord Soth
II don't think that scene was stupid. i'm sure exactly what i think or what exactly to say, but I'll come up with something (likely long after this part of the conversation is dead and buried)

BackFire
Sorry, it was stupid, everyone I saw it with agreed it was the lowest point of the film and served no purpose.

Lord Soth
~shrug~ maybe it is and I'm just stupid too Happy Dance

BackFire
It's the the scenes stupidity actually, it really doesn't fit into the feel of the rest of the film. It was a serious film, and it is simply hard to take a zombie baby seriously.

Lord Soth
Ah, now I know what to say to this. The zombie baby wasn't supposed to be taken as a serious threat to them. It was a sort of a personifcation of the evil of the virus. So low that it would strike at the most innocent of the living

BackFire
Yeah, I know what is was symbolizing, but a zombie baby is still a bad idea. I know it wasn't meant to be taken as a serious threat, that's not what I meant by 'taken serously'. I just meant that it was too silly and ruined the mood of the film.

Lord Soth
I'm not sure about the silly part, and I'm not sure that it ruined to mood at all, but I'll agree that it was unnecessary

mechmoggy
I went to see it last night and was quite impressed with the film, as I thought it would be poor.

Fave bit: The rifle on the roof

Funniest moment: The fat bird being wheeled in a wheelbarrow (I couldn't stop laughing at that)

Character most obviously a zombie, noticed way before any of the half-brained characters: Already mentioned fat chick, looking quite ill with shades of grey and green to her complexion. roll eyes (sarcastic)

Rebel Racer
this movie was rather amazing. i truely wonder i they shot some of those "running the people over" scenes....

Lord Soth
yeah, this could happen at anytime....if the virus existed. But we don't know if it does............Reberl's sig is so right.....

mechmoggy
Okay, just remembered something else in this film that made me laugh: the A-Team moment when they armoured up the buses.

How 80's was that. laughing out loud

Lord Soth
Hehehe laughing out loud

WindDancer
I saw it yesterday and it was quite good. Not excellent, but fairly good. I like how the zombie look on this one, much meaner and faster (makes it quite exciting). What I like about this re-make is the quantity of zombies it has! The more zombies there are the better!

There were some good scenes in this movie. For example when the girl steps outside of her house and looks around at neighborhood with all the chaos happening was fairly good. Other good scenes were the buses and the zombies! Once again lots and lots of zombies! I like that!

Now, there was the scene with the zombie baby. That was of poor taste, I really don't like horror movies involving babies and pregnancy. Very unnecessary scene. It's also not original at all! If want it to see monster babies I would just rent "The Unborn", but I want zombies NOT monster babies.

The one thing that bother me about this movie was the product advertising. I had the similar problem with "28 days later" I hope it doesn't become a zombie movie trend for the future. Toyota, Nike, coffe shops...Nah! get rid of those things.

Setting that aside I enjoy the movie it was fairly good.

8/10.

Lord Soth
I'ts a shopping mall, what do you expect them to do?

mechmoggy
I'm looking forward to watching the spoof "Shaun of the dead" now too.

queenie
EDIT

mechmoggy
Oooooookaaaaaaaay.....

WindDancer
When she is backing up her car to escape her house that wasn't the mall (clearly you see the "toyota" words in the big screen) The nike shirt that DMX is wearing in the bathroom while talking to the security guard. Things like that always catches your eye. erm

Kes
queenie> Bashing is not allowed. Take it easy.

Punker69
Yeah queenie TAKE IT EASY!

Cinemaddiction
That was Mekhi Phifer, not DMX. wink

Those instances of unintentional product placement were just that, unintentional. The wideshot from the back of Ana's car was just a really inventive camera angle, showing the absolute widespread panic. Of course, the "Crossroads Mall" and "Hallowed Grounds" were totally intentional sight gags.

Had there actually been a marketing campaign that went in hand with these products, then I would have complained.

I do agree though, those things were kind of subconscious observations for me as well. I was watching to see if the license plate was still from Wisconsin, although it was being shot in Canada.

Lord Soth
I never notice product placements, I'm always too caught up in the movie. stick out tongue

Cinemaddiction
Best product placement of all time would go to "Wayne's World". "Josie and the Pussycats" in a close second.

Kes
No way! Nothing beats What women want.

Punker69
I didnt like what women want.

Kes
I was talking about product placement, not the movie itself (which I actually enjoy lol)
Best get back to topic thou.

botankus
Most annoying product placements - The Truman Show!

Ok, that's not on topic, and I haven't seen Dawn of the Dead, so I'm done here.

Lord Soth
Product placements don't really bother me at all.

Anyway, I thought Dawn of the Dead was brilliant. Abso-fu*king-lutely brilliant

SK88728
i think that they should have sepent a little more time on the very start, like the little girl. i wanted to know what happened!

Lord Soth
Well, the point of the opening sequence was to be hard, fast, and mind-blowing. It achieved that in every way possible

Xavier Draven
Dawn of the Dead 9.4/10

I loved this flick. I am a Zombie movie fan though.
Good: Opening, Zombies, CJ, Ken, Andy, Celebrity Shooting
Bad: The minidrama in the movie with the Zombie Pregnant chick, The Blair Witch camera style during the credits annoyed me
Ugly: The Fat chick that was so a Zombie but no one could tell till she tried to eat them. Fast fat chick too
Cool: The Cameos from 3 peeps from the original
Uncool: All the people I liked except Ken died. And why did she go after the dog? She really need that to comfort her? I understand her parents were dead and all but she had a guy crushing on her why not just get comfort from him?
Overall: Awesome flick with everything being done well. Only thing it really had in common with the original was Zombies and hiding out in a mall



*Also I thought more of Monster Garage then A-Team when they were doing up the buses.

ragesRemorse
the movie makers should have just showed the first 15 minutes over and over again instead of actually trying to make a movie, then maybe it would have been entertaining

SK88728
omg, zombies are freaky... and i felt bad for the fat lady! and when she died and began to run and died my friend laughed and i felt bad for her. But there was no real indication to what happened to the little girl across the street. and if they cant use doors, how the hell did she get into the house?!?!?!?!

Hellboy17
This movie was one of the worst movies ive ever seen in my life ,the plot was horrible the special fx were alright but besides that i was bored through out this entire movie. I was laughing at the beginning.

SK88728
you were laughing.......

heen68
laughing out loud

Zilverz
I seen tom ... what other 2 did i miss ? newsreporters maybe ?

SK88728
how were you laughing? i was like scared and just waiting for the next thing. it was the best part. and i think they were stupid for adding in the stupid humor in... just there was some reatarded things that they shouldn't have had in there. and i so knew "that" was how the movie was going to end! shifty

mechmoggy
We got to see some lady-bumps, always a bonus IMO.

BarmyBrummie
id rather go and see Shaun Of The Dead big grin

SK88728
yeah, it seems like some scary movies can help but putit in... stick out tongue

mechmoggy
Good call BB, I'm gonna see that next week methinks. cool

Kes
moggy you should set an exemple stick out tongue
Came on, reviews ppl wink

mechmoggy
I am setting an example..........a bad one. stick out tongue

MR. PINK
This is a review I wrote at another forum:

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

by Matthew Kieley (me)

I was so surprised with this film. I thought it was going to be another lame re-make of a classic, but the style this film posses keps in the stylistic tradition of George Romer's classic 1979 version of theis film. I't fast, funny, and to the point; this film doesn't dick around and bullshit for long periods of time, trying to make it more than 40 minutes long, in fact, it wasn't long enough! The film is probaly well over or just about 2 hours, but it has you craving for more. The off-beat and dark humor adds to the film's brilliance (and brilliance is what most horror films these days lack). Director Zack Snyder is definitely a promosing new filmmaker who shows his own unique style (with a hint or Romero) withing the first ten minutes. The film goes full-circle and doesn't **** around with your patience with build-up/development or whatever, he delivers right away. Unlike most characters in horror cinema, these ones are definietly not paper-thin! The characters are deveoloped within minutes of meeting them, thanks to screenwriter James Gunn. The music in the film is excellent, using a Johnny Cash song for the opening credits with chaos and rioting and violence behind it, as well as Richard Cheese's parody of "Down witht he sickness" used in a well-constructed montage of the characters living in the mall. The films begins and ends with a bang, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

10/10........Outstanding!

ragesRemorse
how can you all believe that this shit was actually good. I couldnt even find it tolerable. I have seen this movie numerous other times in numerous other movies. Nothing new, nothing interesting, not even what i would call a good attempt at a remake.

Cinemaddiction
The same can be said for "Kill Bill", but I'm sure you loved that, correct?

Kes
Well you guys (most of you) sure praise this movie a bit too much! I've never seen the original and I enjoyed the movie but where the hell did the virus come from?! Indeed its nothing new and thats a shame. It has some really cool moments, some REALLY cheesy moments and some really lame moments. Oh well its entertaining.

BackFire
Okay, the thing about Dawn of the Dead is that it had a huge name to live up to. Anyone who knows anything about horror will tell you that the original is factually one of, if not the best zombie film ever. So a remake of something that is basically perfection is going to get bashed because, even though it is a neat movie, it is nowhere near as revolutionary, or just simply good as the original.

On it's own however, it is a strong, entertaining, fun zombie movie. If you compare it to the original it will be trash, but that goes for almost every zombie movie outside of the trilogy of the dead. If you compare it to other zombie movies, it's pretty strong.

Lord Soth
Exactly. Dawn of the Dead was great stand-alone movie, if a mediocre remake

PurityKnight
except of a few laughs, I thought it was pretty boring.
...I expected a bit more Zombie action

Destructo
The majority of what I have heard about it is good and I cant wait to see it

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