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Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)

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Dawn of the Dead
Promotional poster for Dawn of the Dead
Directed byZack Snyder
Written byJames Gunn
Michael Tolkin (uncredited)
Scott Frank (uncredited)
George A. Romero (based on a screenplay by)
Produced byMarc Abraham
Eric Newman
Richard P. Rubinstein
StarringSarah Polley
Ving Rhames
Jake Weber
Mekhi Phifer
Kim Poirier
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
March 19, 2004
Running time
100 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$28,000,000

Dawn of the Dead is a loose remake, or "reimagining", of George A. Romero's 1978 film. The remake and original share a similar premise and central location, but the story differs significantly. It was released in 2004 and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Lindy Booth, Mekhi Phifer, Kim Poirier and features cameos from original cast members Ken Foree (Evangelist), Scott Reiniger (General), and Tom Savini (Sheriff). It was written by James Gunn (with uncredited rewrites by Michael Tolkin and Scott Frank) and directed by Zack Snyder.

Plot

An unknown phenomenon (suspected to be a virus; the film offers no explicit explanation) causes anyone infected by it to rapidly weaken and die. Moments later, they revive as ghouls which mindlessly attack living humans with the intention of tearing at their flesh. This strange infection is passed from the zombies to living humans through the resulting bites, allowing the undead to multiply exponentially.

A montage behind the opening credits shows human civilization collapsing across the globe, but (as indicated by the signage glimpsed on a commuter bus) the bulk of the movie is set in the Milwaukee County area; specifically in the fictional city of Everett, Wisconsin.

Ana (Polley), a nurse whose husband is infected when bitten by a neighbor's young daughter, escapes the chaos-torn suburbs. After crashing her car, she ends up at a shopping mall where she takes refuge with several other survivors: a police sergeant (Rhames), a jack-of-all-trades salesman (Weber), a criminal (Phifer), the criminal's pregnant wife, and three mall security guards who are on the fence about helping survivors. Across the mall's parking lot is a gun store, where the store's stranded owner (named Andy) communicates from his roof with the mall-survivors via dry-erase boards and binoculars.

Another group of survivors arrive together in a delivery truck. In relative safety, the expanded group first waits for rescue, then generally whiles away its time, but as the mall becomes surrounded by more and more of the undead, and the situation inside rapidly deteriorates, they decide they need to escape once more. They formulate and set in motion a desperate plan to drive two homemade armored vehicles to a nearby marina and take a boat out into Lake Michigan. As the final credits roll, only a handful have survived the trip, and the reception they find waiting for them at their island destination is not an encouraging one.

  • Tagline (lifted from the original film): When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth.

Cast

Reactions

Heavily derided by fans and critics before its release,[1] on release the film received mixed to positive reactions from both, and is regarded as both a critical and financial sucess. [2] Particular praise was given to the 10 minute pre-credit sequence.[3][4] This segment was played on TV the week before the film was released, a practice that has become common since.[5]

Others felt that the film did not retain the social satire and poignancy of the original.[6] Romero himself, while having strong reservations about some elements of the film, stated that he thought the film was better than he'd anticipated. [citation needed]

Premise changes from the original

In the original film the zombies moved very slowly and were most menacing when they collected in large groups. In the remake however the zombies are fast and agile. Many admirers of the original (including Romero himself) protested this change, feeling that it limited the impact of the undead.[7][8] This is somewhat borne out by the fact that the remake has almost no close up shots of zombies that last more than a second or two. Snyder mentions this problem in the commentary track of the new version's DVD, pointing out that they seem too human when the camera lingers upon them for longer.

In the original, the plague spread slowly over a period of weeks and months. In the remake, it springs up worldwide overnight. In the original, anyone who dies of any reason returns after an hour or two. In the remake, only those infected return and after a period of less than a minute after death.

The original had a smaller cast than the remake, allowing more screen time for each character. Many fans and critics protested the resulting loss of character development.[9]

In the original version the story unfolds over the space of several months, which was indicated by the advancing stages of Fran's pregnancy. In the remake the events transpire within approximately 1 month, as evidenced by the supplemental feature The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed. The character Andy owned the gunshop across the street from the mall in the film, and in this bonus feature Andy records a video diary of his ordeal for future reference. He begins recording on May 7, 2004, the day after he first encountered the flesh eaters, and continues to record until his death on the day of June 6.

Notes

  • This film contains multiple references to the original. A store in the mall is named Gaylen Ross, the actress that played the female lead in the original. A sign for "Wooley's Diner" can be seen, a nod to the character of "Wooley" in the 1978 version. A truck from the BP corporation is seen, the same trucks as in the original. The WGON helicopter from the first film is seen flying into the frame in one sequence. Even the film's tagline, "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth", is the same one from the first film.
  • Ken Foree speaks the tag line "When there's no more room in hell..." in both the original and the remake.

Trivia

  • Starbucks Coffee, along with many other corporations, did not wish to be featured in the film, so the fictional "Hallowed Grounds" shop was created, along with all the other names of stores in the mall.
  • Three actors from the original film have cameos in the remake: Ken Foree, who played Peter from the original, plays the evangelist on television who asserts that God is punishing mankind; Scott H. Reiniger, who played Roger in the original, plays the army general on television telling everyone to stay at home for safety; and Tom Savini, who played the motorcycle gang member Blades in the original, plays the Los Angeles County Sheriff explaining the only way to kill the zombies are to "shoot 'em in the head."
  • The obese female zombie was actually played by a male stunt performer.
  • Director Zack Snyder appears in the opening credit sequence as one of the National Guardsmen who open fire in front of the United States Capitol.
  • Actual human blood was utilized for the credit sequences.
  • The WGON News Helicopter from the original film appears during the pre-credit sequence flying above the deserted freeway.
  • The production used real amputees to portray zombies that were missing limbs.
  • Though James Gunn is given solo writing credit, he is only partially responsible for the screenplay. After Gunn left the project to concentrate on Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, both Michael Tolkin and Scott Frank were brought in for rewrites. In a commentary track on the Ultimate Edition DVD for the original film, producer Richard P. Rubenstein explained that Tolkin further developed the characters, while Frank provided some of the bigger action sequences.
  • No mention of a cause for the living dead is actually mentioned in the film. However, the copy on the DVD box implies that it is a virus.
  • The first half of the film was shot almost entirely in chronological order.
  • The final sequences on the boat and island were shot much later (and in a different location) than the rest of the movie. Preview audiences objected to the sudden ending of the original print.
  • The mall scenes of the film as well as the rooftop scenes were shot in the Thornhill Square mall in Thornhill, Ontario and the rest of the scenes were shot in the Ailleen-Willowbrook Neighbourhood of Thornhill, Ontario sometimes showing residents of the area.
  • In many scenes, you can see independent stores from the bankrupt Thornhill Square mall including a sign saying "Trading Card Show, 5:00 PM" with an arrow pointing to the right.
  • In the UK, both this film and Shaun of the Dead were originally scheduled to be released the same week, but due to the similarity in the names of the two films, UIP opted to push back Shaun's release by two weeks.

Sequel

Wikiquote has quotations related to Dawn of the Dead (2004 film).

References

  1. ^ http://www.petitiononline.com/dawndead/
  2. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dawn_of_the_dead/
  3. ^ http://www.reelfilm.com/dawn04.htm
  4. ^ http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/001747.html
  5. ^ http://movies.about.com/cs/dawnofthedead/a/dawndd030804.htm?terms=at+dawn
  6. ^ http://www.themovieboy.com/reviews/d/04_dawnofthedead.htm
  7. ^ http://www.ajhakari.com/guestcritics/dawnofthedead2004guest.htm
  8. ^ http://comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=7973
  9. ^ http://www.pajiba.com/dawn-of-the-dead.htm
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