Dawn of the Dead (2004)

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.

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers:

George A. Romero, James Gunn (screenplay)

Stars:

Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer

1 win & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Ana goes home to her peaceful suburban residence, but she is unpleasantly surprised the morning that follows when her husband is brutally attacked by her zombified neighbor. In the chaos of her once picturesque neighborhood, Ana flees and stumbles upon a police officer named Kenneth, along with more survivors who decide that their best chances of survival would be found in the deserted Crossroads Shopping Mall. When supplies begin running low and other trapped survivors need help, the group comes to the realization that they cannot stay put forever at the Shopping Mall, and devise a plan to escape.

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Plot Keywords:

mall | nurse | survival horror | mayhem | hideout | 

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Taglines:

When the undead rise, civilization will fall.

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Genres:

Action | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Universal [United States]

Country:

USA Canada Japan France

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead

Filming Locations:

Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$26,722,575, 21 March 2004

Gross USA:

$59,020,957

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$102,278,712

Company Credits

Production Co:

Strike Entertainment, New Amsterdam Entertainment, Metropolitan Filmexport

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 110 min (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene between Sarah Polley (Ana), Mekhi Phifer (Andre), Jayne Eastwood (Norma), and Kim Poirier (Monica) at the Hallowed Grounds Café was re-written in order to include actress Kim Poirier to give her more screen time since director Zack Snyder and producer Eric Newman enjoyed her performance so much. However, her character's name is never once mentioned throughout the entire film. Also most unfortunate, a lot of her dialog scenes were trimmed or eliminated from the film, such as the dinner scene.

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Goofs

In the beginning, when Ana falls into the bathtub, the rod that holds the shower curtain falls across her lap. In the next shot, it is to her left, not across her lap at all.

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Quotes

Andre: [Deleted scene/Unrated Version scene]
[to Michael]
Andre: Hey, my man. You know, I hear you talking a lot. You know, you're always saying something. Who the fuck are you that we should listen, huh? What are you, like, in Special Ops? You in the Marines? What the fuck do you do?
Michael: I sell televisions at Best Buy.
Andre: [to Kenneth] Wow.
[chuckling]
Andre: Hey, Officer, how you like following a guy that sells TVs?
Kenneth: About as much as I like following a guy who steals them. I'm not following anyone.

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Crazy Credits

Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger and Tom Savini are credited as "Special Appearance from the original Dawn of the Dead."

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Alternate Versions

The original R-rated theatrical release is missing a scene near the beginning of a naked woman coming out of a bus. This scene has been restored on the director's cut.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Book of Eli/The Spy Next Door/Fish Tank (2010)

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Soundtracks

Don't Worry, Be Happy
Written by Bobby McFerrin
Performed by Tree Adams

User Reviews

Get the unrated director's cut!!!

I reviewed this film back in March 2004, and said, "Wow! I just got home from seeing dotd-2004 and can't wait to add it to my collection." Well, I just added it - the Unrated Director's Cut in widescreen edition. After watching it this weekend, I just had to add a footnote about this version of the film.

IT MAKES A GREAT FILM EVEN BETTER.

Comments from other reviewers have sometimes made reference to a lack of character development in the film. The UDC version restores this kind of content, and is one way that the UDC version improves on the theatrical release. I see better character development in this version of dotd-2004 then in the (1978) original version of Dawn.

The other improvement the UDC version makes is to restore some really excellent gore shots. If you're into that thing, of course. And if you're not - well of course you're into it - that's why you're checking out this film!