"Draw straws and the loser runs across the lot with a ham sandwich." DAWN OF THE DEAD

I dug it a lot. It's pretty empty compared to the original, but then they weren't going for the same strokes as George. My only fault was that it wasn't brutal enough. There was nothing in the movie that made me cringe or wince. The guy biting his wife in the beginning of the original is harsher to me than anything in the film. Also, the use of slow motion and the 28DL style fast motion was poor. Took me out of the film a lot. The credits were good, but I didn't really like the splatter effect.

I did like the guy playing CJ though. He was damn good. I enjoyed Rhames, although the rest of the cast I could really take or leave. The baby scene was also absolutely awfully done. When it finally showed him, I thought I was watching HULK II. I think I'm one of the only people who didn't like the Richard Cheese song, either, but then I absolutely hate lounge versions of normal songs and the way people flock to them like the horrible fake retro culture so many embrace these days.

But I'd give it a 8/10, I think.

The cast that were zombie fodder were about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the groin though.

Like that Security Guard who copies the "Twitcher" statement from T.V. you know that fucksticks going to get it.

This movie ruled. My best friend complained about it not having any politcal or social commentary, but I didn't care. I just thought it kicked major ass. Violent and entertaining the whole way through.

Oh, and the opening credits ruled. Johnny Cash owns all.

"Fuck y'all."

"When the man comes down..." How could someone NOT love it?

How can you hate Johnny Cash?

Better than I thought it would be, but really shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as the original. After rewatching the original, I was blown away by how good the acting was. And not to harp on the running zombies, but Romero deserves a hell of a lot of credit for making the slow zombies frightening - they're supposed to be slow but incessant, like cancer. You can run from them, but you can't hide. The running zombies in the remake seem like an easy way for some cheap scares.

I'll be there opening day, Grub.

That's such bullshit.

hooray for obliviousness!

Quoted for truth.

The johnny cash song was the only moment of creepy atmosphere the movie had.

Why didn't they pick up the gun store guy in one of their fortified buses.?Why did the bigger propane tank make the samller explosion?

"shatterproof mutha fucka" is not a magic incantation that renders window glass unbreakable.

How did the pregnant woman get over the fence?

IIRC the gun store owner was starving. They couldn't wait to pick him up. Good actor there.

That scene where he's bitten off-camera was a pretty good sequence - however, they should've left it at that. Having them go over and deliver a coup de grace was a little too much. Better just to show the deserted roof.

One big plus - Jake Weber. He was great - he has that rare "moral everyman" quality.

I think we all know my stance on this awesome movie...


The best scene was when Andy is bitten, and he's writing on the board and he holds it up and it's smeared with blood.

A nice little touch.

Oh, and Johnny Cash has always been awesome.

Then how come the buses are ready to go the second they get back from their trip to the gun store?

Was it literally the second they got back? Have to watch it again...

I reviewed the original as well. In some action sequences in the remake, like the long drive down the highway and the sniper sequences, there is some cool stuff. But in terms of character? Hell, there aren't many films *period*, let alone horror films, that have 4 characters who can hold a candle to Roger, Peter, Stephen, and Fran. Jake Weber is the only fella who stood out in the remake for me. A lot of stupid characters. Rhames was great but he didn't really do much besides be a hard-ass. No question Ken Foree was a stronger protagonist in comparison. Also the social commentary in the '78 version was much stronger. And Romero captured the terrifying incessancy of zombies without making them olympic contenders.

It's cool people like the remake - hell, I did myself - but it's with good cause the original is considered a classic.

I still say that the two movies can't really even be compared because they are such different animals.

The original and the remake just share 3 things: zombies, the title and a mall.

The rest of each movie are so different, that trying to compare the two is an injustice to each movie.

well, too many zombies get through when they come back from the gun store, making them dash to the buses to get away. I guess maybe they weren't ready, but it was the only option....

HOWEVER, if this is true, what exactly was left to do on those buses. when they retreat, they are gassed up, fully armored and equipped with 2 propane tank bombs. If this early departure theory is what we are suppose to believe then what exactly was left to do on those buses? Were they waiting for the DVD Player? The 3 wheel motion?

As far as comparisons to the original being unfair, thats only partly true., If you evaluate each on what it was trying to do and how well it fulfilled that goal, you can see that Romero's original not only had higher aims, but also delivered on them infinitely better than the remake.

So DOTD 2004 is just an action horror film. Was I ever scared or shocked? No. Was I excited by the action? No. Its just such a lukewarm movie on all acoounts. No suspense, no excitement, a score and editing style that telegraphs everything instead of punctauting it, and a batch of silly sterotype characters. As a horro film it had no tension or atmosphere. as an action film, the action sequences were too starightforward, lacking characters you cared about or could really get behind. The best sequences were simple bullet orgies with some zombie make-up...and what about the magic propane tank...

I felt it had a lot of tension. Too much actually to completely enjoy as an action film. You're so worried about whether they'll escape that you can't relax enough to groove on any sweet action stylings. The fast zombies really helped to contribute to that tension. It never felt like the heroes were safe outside ever, even after they had armed up.

The only thing that bothered me: Where were the Canadian tuxedos? If you knew a single bite or scratch could turn you, would you wear a t-shirt or the thickest jean jacket you could find? Or even a leather jacket?

I guess tension is subjective, But I agree on the clothing issue. I thought about that several times in the film, especially when sarah polley was wandering around in a cotton sundress.

But she looked goooooooood.

better than she would in leather?

She is cute, but you never get a close-up of her teeth in the film.

The clothing point is a good one. A lotta t-shirts there. Guys are trying on heels, but no bomber jackets. Hmm...

Okay Grub, I'm right back from the screening as promised and DuDE that movie was great.

Loved Polley. Loved Rhames. Loved Weber. Loved the opening. Loved the happy end. Gore was good. Pace was great. Zombies were great. That scene with that baby... some gross stuff there. DOTD's score was really great, especially the use of elevator music.

I give it a solid 8.7 of 10. Why not more ? Let's compare it to the other big remake, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. While DOTD had a good style, TCM's grittiness was just incredible. While Polley is certainly the better actress, Biel pulled off a way more intense and realistic perfomance. And while I love the black humor as heavily presented in DOTD, I'm even more in the tour-de-force tension corner of a TCM.

THEY SHOT BURT REYNOLDS ! And the man comes around.

Its "...comes around" its the title track off his final album.

It's also played over the end credits of THE HUNTED.

Squirrel tracks man, squirrel tracks.

Unfortunately, no.

In The Hunted, BTD takes his kid out on the front lawn and shows him/her squirrel tracks and pitter patters his fingers across the grass. Dunno, just a really brutal scene in a completely brutal movie that stood out for me.

Fuck the dead, I'll open a thread for a REAL classic over here.

I know this has probably been mentioned before, but upon second viewing it's pretty funny that the brilliant idea the survivors come up with in the remake is the same plan of a stupid character in the original.