Dawn of the Dead

Universal Pictures | Release Date: March 19, 2004

8.6	USER SCORE Universal acclaim based on 762 Ratings

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User Reviews

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JoeBobNov 7, 2009

Overrated. not much character development, pretty cheesy at times, but it did have some good points such as being funny. but is mostly mediocre and flat.

1 of 2 users found this helpful

grandpajoe6191Sep 27, 2011

I never watched the original, but what I would recommend for "Dawn of the Dead" is to make a survival horror game rather than a movie. The ideas are fresh and tense, but its displayed using the wrong techniques.

6 of 17 users found this helpful611

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ChunkDumpDec 22, 2020

the live action Dead Rising movie at this point. it had the typical "zombie flick on a friday night" movie. need a short but sweet zombie action movie? here it is.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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eTurkeyFeb 8, 2012

Unfortunately, the Dawn of the Dead remake (original was made in 1978) didn't live up to the prior expectations I had placed on the film upon hearing how good it is from my friends. Character development was virtually non-existent as theUnfortunately, the Dawn of the Dead remake (original was made in 1978) didn't live up to the prior expectations I had placed on the film upon hearing how good it is from my friends. Character development was virtually non-existent as the director instead opted to introduce more unnecessary empty shells as the movie progressed. The blood and gore was fine yet the zombies seemed more human than any recent flick of the same genre that I've seen recently. There's also a few cheesy moments which could have been left out.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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beingryanjudeSep 2, 2014

Considered by many to be the precursor to the zombie-obsessed lives we live in today, Dawn of the Dead unfortunately is an average survival flick. This one never seemed to grab for me.

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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GodotIsW8ing4UJan 14, 2013

Considered on its own merits alone, it's a passable zombie movie with a memorable opening and epilogue and a blandly forgettable everything else. Only one character that the audience knows or cares about fails to pull through, with all theConsidered on its own merits alone, it's a passable zombie movie with a memorable opening and epilogue and a blandly forgettable everything else. Only one character that the audience knows or cares about fails to pull through, with all the other deaths happening to the cardboard cutouts that pass for 80% of the characters as an excuse to have gore for its own sake. Lots of interesting ideas that become mere filler due to superficial half-treatment. The movie is good for a few scares here and there, but it pales terribly when compared to the original. Gone is Romero's social commentary, replaced by admirable yet insufficient earnestness, and there lies the film's true failing: it takes itself more seriously than it lets the audience take it.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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CameronS.Mar 24, 2004

I am a big fan of George A. Romero?s zombie classics Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. The latter film is a fun action movie, it contains many great scares, gore galore, and has biting humor in a world where humor is dying with I am a big fan of George A. Romero?s zombie classics Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. The latter film is a fun action movie, it contains many great scares, gore galore, and has biting humor in a world where humor is dying with the dead civilization. The characters are also well developed and the film is focused primarily on four stranded refugees in a vast mall, the pinnacle of the 20th Century, while also creating many comic zombie fellows roaming the mall. Absent are the things that made Romero?s film a great horror-comedy achievement. The poorly shot and imprudently edited actions scenes are incomprehensible to a point where it is hard to tell what?s going on. There are far many more characters this time around, whose sole purpose is to get killed violently by the films climax. However, something did survive into this remake, and that?s the comedy. The film is terribly funny, making for something of an entertaining piece. What I especially liked about the much better zombie movie ?Return of the Living Dead? was that the characters lived in a world where zombie movies existed, especially Romero?s films. The characters, as dumb as they were at times knew that they were dealing with zombies. I note this because there is a scene when all the excess characters show up they wheel in a woman who is clearly about to turn into the dead, with her gray skin highlighting and her dying green veins becoming clearly noticeable. I was just thinking how dumb these people would have to be to let someone they knew would be turning into the mall. Note to everybody: when somebody is greyly pale with their veins popping out and the smell of death, don?t let them into your place of refugee. The direction is quite sophomoric and the screenplay is a serviceable homage to the original while coming up with some original tact and wit of its own, though it plays with the usual thoughts and clichés of most modern horror films. That being understood, the acting is quite serviceable for this kind of movie, with Ving Rhames spouting lines so intrepidly panicky they come off exceedingly humorous. The film feels terribly inspired by the far superior 28 Days Later, but not stealing anything that would have made a difference, like the anti-cliché of instant infection. Now we have zombies that are faster but just as dumb who can tip mobile vehicles that weigh several tons but are unable to break through a glass door. I didn?t wholly dislike this film, but I am curious as to why anybody would want to see this picture over Romero?s own classic. But a good comment I would like to say about it, it is far better than Tom Savini?s trite, inane, and ghastly Night of the Living Dead remake or even Romero?s own humdrum, flavorless, spendthrift, feeble Day of the Dead. But then again, that?s not much of an accomplishment either. … Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

ArkonBladeDec 28, 2010

the original dawn of the dead is easily the best zombie movie ever done ... the remake not so much . it does stick to the whole survivors holding out in the mall set up but thats really about it . its not a bad film but doesnt have the magicthe original dawn of the dead is easily the best zombie movie ever done ... the remake not so much . it does stick to the whole survivors holding out in the mall set up but thats really about it . its not a bad film but doesnt have the magic the original has . the zombie baby how ever was a creepy little thing .… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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hollowficationJun 3, 2012

i like it but only problem is it no remero movie it remake of his classic movie but i prefer the original the zombie in this one are fast ones show in this movie decaying look of zombies. but no matter what i like remero ones

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

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KivaJun 21, 2013

I've heard in the past that this film is awesome and scary. As a big The Walking Dead fan i can say that this film was not as I expected. Firstly, the characters are lame and boring with no good history. Secondly, The action was notI've heard in the past that this film is awesome and scary. As a big The Walking Dead fan i can say that this film was not as I expected. Firstly, the characters are lame and boring with no good history. Secondly, The action was not impressive as i expected. You will like it if you are into these kind of films.. *The ending was worse than i expected. I expected everyone would die... too much expectations i guess… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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ShiningLionNov 1, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was reaaaaaaally into zombie movies in my college days when this film came out, and for years this was my favorite one because it was the first and only at that time to get "running zombies" right. 28 Days Later is known for pioneering the concept in the mainstream but they weren't zombies in that film so this one can rightly be called the first mainstream film to have running zombies, a real threat, not the slow shambling masses of most zombie films.

Anyway, I'm stating the obvious here so I'll get down to it. This was my favorite zombie movie for years just because it has more action and is a more chaotic and truly terrifying scenario. An older me nearly two decades later can see that this film doesn't really hold up among the ranks of horror classics. I've even recently had a bit of a falling out with 28 Days Later which I also used to love, because in time I've come to view its ending as trite, ridiculous, and unbecoming of its characters. That said, that film is bursting with atmosphere and realism that Dawn of the Dead lacks. Dawn of the Dead feels very produced, theatrical, and put on, which is not itself a bad thing, but I think it leaves less impression than similar films like 28 Days Later for this reason. Overall it really lacks much plot and exists primarily as a disaster movie spectacle more than a horror film. After seeing the film a handful of times I now feel it really isn't very rewatchable. In fact having viewed the film in HD for the first time last night on streaming (after years of just watching my DVD) I think the film somehow got uglier the more crisp it is. The lighting is an unflattering green through most of the film with high contrast black shadows that look "trying too hard to be spooky". The blood is almost neon, looking a lot more fake as you get into the HD versions (where the color red is noticeably more intense than SD formats), which makes the film feel cartoony and less real, less scary in effect.

There isn't much real commentary in this film and the character interplay is very standard. There's different a-holes you can't trust at different points in the film. More tension between the characters and each other than the zombies and the characters. I'm not sure if that's what I want out of a zombie film, but if so it needs to be done well, and it is done in such a generic way in this movie that it makes little difference who was in the mall, just that they were all ultimately gonna have to face the zombies and each other's drama. In retrospect this film is only mediocre to me and I'm glad that since I recently purged my entire DVD collection I didn't repurchase this film on an HD format. I would be fine never watching it again. I watched it on Halloween and still didn't even get that into it, and yes, I'll remind you, it was my favorite zombie film for years when I was younger and more into the genre. I think once you've memorized the events and the disaster spectacle wears off there isn't much tension left in this movie.

There's some nonsense in this film that makes it feel less scary. One character puts down a crowbar and picks up a wooden croquet mallet instead to go fight a zombie. Luckily for him when he's attacked the mallet breaks and becomes a wooden stake. Also lucky for him is that he has the strength to shove a wooden stake all the way through an entire human skull, brain, bones and all, with one arm while being choked and sat on. It all loses its chilling effect from there as the zombies never really seem like much a threat from that point on.

In some ways this film is like a canary in the coal mine for the bungling "representation" era of filmmaking to come. The director must have thought "If I create a cast of superficially diverse characters, maybe no one will notice that they're all stereotypes with no depth." For that matter the cast isn't even that diverse. Why were none of the survivors kids?… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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DarkwingSchmuckJul 27, 2023

Zack Snyder's best film despite himself, the Dawn of the Dead remake works best when James Gunn's original script seeps through. It doesn't hold a candle to George Romero's high concept original, but this lowbrow adaptation is a fun time andZack Snyder's best film despite himself, the Dawn of the Dead remake works best when James Gunn's original script seeps through. It doesn't hold a candle to George Romero's high concept original, but this lowbrow adaptation is a fun time and holds both some big intentional and unintentional laughs.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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