7.3/10
229,814
1,104 user 296 critic

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Clip
3:45 | Clip
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)
Popularity
1,389 ( 253)
1 win & 17 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Edit

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 Michael Barry ... Bart
Lindy Booth ... Nicole
Jayne Eastwood ... Norma
Boyd Banks ... Tucker
Inna Korobkina ... Luda
R.D. Reid R.D. Reid ... Glen
Kim Poirier ... Monica
Matt Frewer ... Frank
Learn more

More Like This 

Certificate: 18A Action | Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes according to plan.

Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Stars: Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle
Certificate: 16+ Action | Drama | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

Director: Danny Boyle
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston
Certificate: 18+ Action | Adventure | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia S.W.A.T. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.

Director: George A. Romero
Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger
Certificate: R Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

A small group of military officers and scientists dwell in an underground bunker as the world above is overrun by zombies.

Director: George A. Romero
Stars: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato
Certificate: 18A Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

The living dead have taken over the world, and the last humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they come to grips with the situation.

Director: George A. Romero
Stars: John Leguizamo, Asia Argento, Simon Baker
The Mist (2007)
Certificate: 18A Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.

Director: Frank Darabont
Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden
Certificate: 18A Action | Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

After an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires.

Director: David Slade
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston
Cloverfield (2008)
Certificate: 14A Action | Adventure | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.

Director: Matt Reeves
Stars: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan
The Descent (2005)
Certificate: 18A Adventure | Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

Director: Neil Marshall
Stars: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid
[Rec] (2007)
Certificate: 18A Action | Adventure | Fantasy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.

Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
Stars: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano
Short | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Snow gently falls on the blood-stained streets of a seedy out-of-time New York City. Steam envelopes the nightmare unfolding within its narrow alleys. Iron is the will of the one who would dare to resist - fight - survive.

Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Samantha Win, Wesley Coller, Wayne Dalglish
Saw (2004)
Certificate: R Horror | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

Two strangers, who awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.

Director: James Wan
Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover
Edit

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. Written by Will

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

36 billion people have died since the reign of humanity. For the new Dawn, there's a reunion... See more »

Genres:

Action | Horror

Certificate:

18A | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The two zombies with missing limbs (the jogger missing an arm and the legless zombie in the parking garage) were both played by actual amputees. The same thing was done for one of the first zombies seen in the original Dawn of the Dead (1978). See more »

Goofs

When Ana walks into her room, she is talking to her husband. We see the side of her face and her mouth is not moving. See more »

Quotes

Kenneth: Fuck y'all!
See more »

Crazy Credits

On the end of the credits for "The Special Newsbulletin" on the dvd you can read the following line: "...Any similarity to actual person, living, dead or undead, is purely coincidental." See more »

Alternate Versions

On the Region-1 unrated DVD the naked woman in the beginning is "hidden" from added digital blood on the car windshield. However, on international releases of the director's cut, there is no blood and the woman is fully visible. It is still uncertain as to whether or not this was a choice by director Zach Snyder or by Universal. The BluRay versions throughout the world only contain the US censored version of the director's cut. However, the Nordik unrated director's cut BluRay release does not censor the naked woman and she can be seen in full. (It is English audio and subtitles can be switched off via the pop-menu during playback). See more »

Connections

Featured in The Blind Side (2009) See more »

Soundtracks

Have A Nice Day
Written by Kelly Jones, Richard Jones & Stuart Cable
Performed by Stereophonics
Courtesy of V2 Records, Inc.
See more »

User Reviews

 
As good as the original, with exciting new directions and room for a sequel!
18 February 2005 | by BrandtSponsellerSee all my reviews

Shortly after a number of strange cases begin to appear at the hospital where Ana (Sarah Polley) works, a bizarre zombie "epidemic" hits the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area full force. Sarah escapes her immediate threats and meets a number of other humans who decide to seek shelter inside a large shopping mall. As they learn that the zombie outbreak is much more widespread than anyone could have imagined, their chances of survival grow increasingly dim.

I know an awful lot of genre fans rail against remakes, but like the update of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), this version of Dawn of the Dead is so good that we should instead be clamoring for more.

Writer James Gunn and director Zack Snyder knew that they had to come into the remake with both barrels blasting. Hardly five minutes into the film we're already into hardcore, high tension, gore-filled horror material. In lesser films, our introduction to full-fledged zombie activity would have been dream material as a kind of teaser. Gunn and Snyder dispense with such weak-willed tactics and immediately launch into Armageddon. We quickly move to a wide shot of explosions, brutal car crashes and other mayhem.

We do finally get a breather while we're learning our cast of characters at the mall in nicely written scenes that bring out personality and depth to the relatively large cast, but horror fanatics need not fret that the film will evolve into a drama--tension and gore are never far removed from the film.

Gunn and Snyder earn credit for both paying homage to their source material and taking off into other interesting directions. This remake is just as intense and titillating as Romeo's original, but with a different spin.

The cast is excellent, the cinematography and editing exciting and innovative, and the makeup and "creature" effects are top notch.

Even though I've seen greater quantities, the DVD for Dawn of the Dead also has some of the best extras I've seen on a disc in terms of quality. You get two excellent short films that effectively extend the feature. In one, a new character from the remake, Andy (Bruce Bohne), who runs a gun shop across the street from the mall, gives us a 15-minute video diary of his last 15 days. It's similar in some ways to the feel of The Blair Witch Project (1999), but for my money, it's much better than that film. In the other, we get a 30-minute condensation of the news broadcasts following the outbreak of the zombie "epidemic". This also easily beats any mock horror documentary (such as The Last Broadcast (1998)) with its hands tied behind its back. Make sure you at least rent the DVD to check out these extras.


157 of 214 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 1,104 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA | Canada | Japan | France

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 2004 (Canada) See more »

Also Known As:

L'aube des morts See more »

Filming Locations:

Canada See more »

Edit

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
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See full technical specs »

Contribute to This Page



Recently Viewed