• Genre: Horror
• MPAA Rating: Unrated
• AMG Rating:
• Regional Coding: 1
  USA and territories, Canada

The feature-film debut of director Zack Snyder, Dawn of the Dead is a modern retelling of George Romero's 1978 horror classic, which was actually the second film in a trilogy that began with Night of the Living Dead and concluded with Day of the Dead. Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames star as two of the last remaining people on an earth that has been ravaged by flesh-eating zombies. After escaping to a shopping mall with a handful of other survivors, they decide that they only way to truly elude the approaching throng of undead is to somehow make their way to an island that is supposedly zombie-free. Jake Weber and Mekhi Phifer also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Bonus Features

• cc "Splitting Headaches: Anatomy of Exploding Heads" -- The gory details of how the filmmakers make the head-kills in the film look so believable; plus designs, test models, and final weapons used by the actors
• "Attack of the Living Dead" -- An up-close look at the film's most memorable zombie kills
• "Raising the Dead" -- From early concept to final effects: turning the actors into undead killers
• The Lost Tape: Over 15 minutes of terrifying footage revealed -- Chilling images from a recovered "home movie" document Andy's last horrific days as he battles zombie hordes outside his gun shop
• "Special Report: Zombie Invasion" -- Startling news coverage includes panicked updates from the White House and scientific experts as the nation is thrown into chaos
• Over 12 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary from director Zack Snyder
• Feature commentary from director Zack Snyder and producer Eric Newman

Actors

Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers, Michael Barry, Lindy Booth, Jayne Eastwood, Boyd Banks, Inna Korobkina, R.D. Reid, Kim Poirier, Matt Frewer

Director

Zack Snyder

Producer

Richard P. Rubinstein, Marc Abraham, Eric Newman

Graphic Violence, Not For Children, Adult Humor, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Gore

• Sound : DD5.1
• Language : Eng/Fre/Spa
• Subtitles : Fre/Spa

• Screen : WSE
• Dar : 2.35:1

Review

In terms of remakes of sequels, director Zack Snyder's cautiously anticipated Dawn of the Dead serves as a fitting follow-up to makeup effects-artist-turned director Tom Savini's underrated 1990 remake of George A. Romero's 1968 zombie classic Night of the Living Dead -- albeit with an aesthetic face-lift that owes just as much to the fast-moving "infected" of Danny Boyle's art-house horror hit 28 Days Later. Of course, this film isn't a "direct" remake of Romero's 1978 gut-muncher -- gone is the anti-consumerism and social satire that made the original such an ideal product of its time - though it still does manage to provide some gory and intense fun with the same central concept. In the end, however, it does deliver in terms of pure, visceral terror by successfully tapping into the apocalyptic suburban paranoia that has been so prevalent since the horrific events of 9/11. Where 28 Days Later opted to bring that angle to the forefront of the film thematically (thus keeping it closer in spirit to Romero's films and rendering it the more socially conscious of the pair), Dawn of the Dead simply turns the tension to a fever pitch early on and does its sincere best to keep things fast and scary. Snyder and screenwriter James Gunn also deserve credit for throwing the audience a few well-placed curveballs. Of course, those familiar with the general zombie film formula will find no surprise in the inclusion of the antagonistic "Cooper" character here (masterfully manifested in Michael Kelly's overly paranoid mall cop CJ), though instead of simply painting the character as a hastily drawn, trigger-happy villain, the filmmakers thankfully take the character in a surprising and unexpected direction. If the remainder of the characters suffer slightly from lack of development (an element to which a substantial portion of running-time in the original film was dedicated), solid performances by leads Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames -- as well as capable supporting performances by such supporting players as Kelly and Jake Weber -- inject enough personal detail to make them at least identifiable and sympathetic. So, now that both Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead have been remade, it will be interesting to see what happens to Day of the Dead, the third film in Romero's original zombie trilogy. Even if the die-hard Romero fan can't quite come to terms with the concept of remaking a film that was such a carefully-crafted product of its time, at the very least they can take solace in knowing that the successful box-office run of this remake very well played a deciding factor in convinging sceptical studio heads to greenlight Romero's long-rumored Land of the Dead. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

• Release Date : October 26, 2004
• Length : 110 Minutes
• Dvdsides : 1
• Dvddiscs : 1
• Upc : 025192581922