Dawn of the Dead (2004)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers (WGA):

George A. Romero (1978 screenplay)
James Gunn (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 March 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

When the undead rise, civilization will fall.

Plot:

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 mega Midwestern shopping mall.

Plot Keywords:

Mall | Nurse | Shopping Mall | Hospital | Policeman

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Sarah Polley	...	Ana
Ving Rhames	...	Kenneth
Jake Weber	...	Michael
Mekhi Phifer	...	Andre
Ty Burrell	...	Steve
Michael Kelly	...	CJ
Kevin Zegers	...	Terry
Michael Barry	...	Bart
Lindy Booth	...	Nicole
Jayne Eastwood	...	Norma
Boyd Banks	...	Tucker
Inna Korobkina	...	Luda
R.D. Reid	...	Glen
Kim Poirier	...	Monica
Matt Frewer	...	Frank

Also Known As:

L'armée des morts (France)
L'aube des morts (Canada: French title)
Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead (USA) (long title)
Die Nacht der Zombies (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Zora zivih mrtvaca (Bosnia and Herzegovina: Croatian title) (Croatia) [hr]
Ölülerin safagi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Amanecer de los muertos (Spain) [es]
El amanecer de los muertos (Argentina) [es]
Kuolleiden aamunkoitto (Finland) [fi]
L'alba dei morti viventi (Italy) [it]
Madrugada dos Mortos (Brazil) [pt]
O Renascer dos Mortos (Portugal) (working title) [pt]
To xypnima ton nekron (Greece) [el]
Zora zivih mrtvaca (Serbia) [sr]
Zora zivih mrtvecev (Slovenia) [sl]

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong horror violence and gore, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

101 min | 110 min (unrated director's cut)

Country:

USA | Canada | Japan | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:18SG | Sweden:15 | Germany:18 (also director's cut) | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:18 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III (director's cut) | Ireland:18 | Israel:16 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Philippines:R-13 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:R21 | Spain:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (director's cut)

Filming Locations:

Ashbridge's Bay, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Strike Entertainment

Trivia:

The ending of the movie continues throughout the credits by a series of brief video clips.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: As pointed out on the DVD commentary, there are no mountainous islands in the Great Lakes like those shown during the closing credit sequence which is supposed to take place on Lake Michigan.

Quotes:

Michael: See this?
[shows how the chainsaw goes through the truck walls]
Michael: So if they try to climb on the truck, this will get them off.
Ana: That's probably the most romantic thing anyone's ever shown me.
Michael: I'm trying, Ana.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zombies of the Night (2009)

Soundtrack:

People Who Died

In a world of bad remakes, this wasn't bad.

I went into this movie completely excited. And I wasn't even really disappointed either. The acting was very good, and I actually loved how they didn't follow the exact storyline. They took the basics of the original Dawn of the Dead and made it more contemporary. I knew they wouldn't be filming the movie at Monroeville Mall (the mall just 15 minutes outside of Pittsburgh where they filmed the original) but it was still awesome none the less.

The script worked rather well, and the movie flowed nicely also. Granted I wasn't a huge fan of the fast moving zombies, but I suppose I can let that go because truthfully, maybe before rigor mortis sets in, you'd be able to move quickly, who knows? But I do know that I was on the edge of my seat through many parts of the movie, and you start to really care about the characters in the movie. I am anxiously waiting for 1 week to pass so that I can get my copy of Dawn. I already have it pre purchased.

8/10 rating.

The movie missed a perfect 10 for the simple fact that zombies SHOULD NOT run that fast.