Alternate versions for
Dawn of the Dead (1978) More at IMDb Pro »

• The original UK cinema version (aka Romero's 'theatrical print') was cut by around 3 mins by the BBFC to remove an exploding head and a screwdriver killing plus stabbings and scenes of disembowelment, and the 1989 video version lost a further 12 secs of gore and shooting plus a scene of a woman's neck being bitten. Some cuts were restored in the alternate 1997 Directors Cut video although 6 secs remained missing including the exploding head, neck bite and an additional edit to the shooting of the 2 zombie children (in response to the 1997 Dunblane massacre). All cuts were fully waived in 2003 from both the Directors Cut and the original theatrical versions.
  
  
• Italian version (121 min., editing supervised by Dario Argento) and US-version (126 min., editing supervised by George Romero) have a different soundtrack and a different overall tone: Romero's version has some humour in it and is more horror-oriented, Argento deleted all funny scenes and made the film more action-oriented.
  
  
• There is a 137 min. version which was originally available only on 16mm film. and has later been released on Laser-disc (which actually quotes it as 142 minutes). The disc also includes the original cinema trailer.
  
  
• A two videotape set is also available in the USA. It includes the full director's cut and, on the second tape, most of the promotional trailers for every country where the movie was released.
  
  
• Old (banned) German version ("Zombie") is 102 minutes long, has most of the violence in, but a lot of dialogue cut.
  
  
• The new German version ("Zombie - Das Original") 110 (video pal) minutes long, missing nearly all of the violence.
  
  
• An "uncut" german version (117 min.) has been re-released as rental video.
  
  
• British version is 120 minutes long and is Romero's US-cut, and misses most of the violence (despite an "18" cert.) because of censorship cuts.
  
  
• The remastered 137-minute "Director's Cut" released recently by Elite on laserdisc, and other companies on VHS, is actually not Romero's preferred version. This "Director's cut" is instead the version rushed into shape for a showing at Cannes. The shorter version shown theatrically has tighter editing and almost all Goblin's music. So technically, the theatrical version is the "Final Director's Cut" and the Cannes version is a "1st director's cut".
  
  
• A heavily edited "R-rated" version of "Dawn of the Dead" (with more than 50 cuts) was released in 1982 to be put in a drive-in double-bill with George Romero's Creepshow (1982). After widespread protests by fans, United Film Distribution (the original distributors of Dawn of the Dead) publically surrendered the MPAA-sanctioned rating and vowed only to release "Dawn of the Dead" in it's unedited, unrated state.
  
  
• The Japanese Theatrical Version was a censored version of Dario Argento's cut. The Argento version in its original form couldn't pass the strict Japanese censor board. What does make this version interestingis how the censors dealt with the film's graphic content When the moment a gore scene occurred, the film stopped on the frame prior the violence and froze, with the sound playing through. Then, a second or two later, when the 'offending' moment had passed, the film jumped back into motion.
  
  
• What sets the Japanese Theatrical Version apart from all the other versions is the inclusion in the beginning of an explanation. Herald Films, the Japanese distributor of DOTD, felt that the Japanese audience would not be able to accept the ambiguous setting of zombies on Earth that Romero had so skillfully left unanswered. Instead, they felt the Japanese audience must have an answer or else they wouldn't be able to get the story. They accomplished this by sticking some white words on to a black background that typed across the screen while a heavy clicking came from the soundtrack.
  
  
• An 'ultimate final cut' has been released in Germany. It features all known scenes from the director's cut and the cuts of Romero and Argento. It runs 156 minutes.
  
  
• The uncut Australian version was released on the CBS/Fox video label, and is George Romero's cut of the film. Dario Argento's version has not been released in Australia.
  
  
• DVD of the theatrical cut released by Anchor Bay in 1999 contains some extra footage during the dock scene (in which Joe Pilato plays a police officer). This scene runs slightly longer than in the actual 126-minute theatrical version, but is not complete as seen in the "director's cut", or Cannes cut.
  
  
• In 1995 GMT VIDEO PRODUCTIONS of Germany released a 145 minute unathorized bootleg cut of the film on Euro VHS casette tape. It is the German Theatrical Cut of the film with alternate scenes edited into it from an old 16mm Reel to Reel copy of the 138 minute Cannes Film Festival Cut. Only 500 copies were allegedly made.
  
  
• The film was heavily censored when originally released theatrically in Ontario, Canada in 1979. All Canadian videotape versions are uncut.
  
  
• The Dutch DVD release of Dawn Of The Dead by DFW Dutch Filmworks contains 2 DVD's. The 1st DVD contains the 139 min. Widescreen version of George A. Romero Director's Cut. This is the same version of the film which is on the out of print US Director's Cut DVD by Anchor Bay. The 2nd DVD contains a 117 min. version of Dario Argento's European Director's Cut of the film presented in Fullscreen.
  
  
• The movie has finally been passed completely uncensored in the UK with an 18 rating in the 140 minute Director's Cut version.
  
  
• The version that was released in march of 2004 is the original theatrical verison with a running time of 127 minutes, with a brand new fully restored Anamorphic transfer, and a digitally remastered DTS track.
  
  
• Also, in the March 2004 DVD release, all the blood has been re-colored so that it now looks realistic, not the pinkish color in the original.
  
  
• The special "Zombie: Dawn of the Dead Perfect Collection" (released by Emotion) Japanese laserdisc box set that was made during the late '90s featured both Romero's 142 min perfect cut, as well as an uncut (compared to their theatrical one) version for the Dario Argento cut of the film. It also included some extras, etc. Both films were released in full screen.
  
  
• Two tape VHS set by anchor bay which is digitally re-mastered 137 minutes long (11 minutes longer than the theatrical version) has an alternative soundtrack, domestic and international trailers.
  
  

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