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:

How do you kill what's already dead?

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Genres:

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, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$59,020,957

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$43,335,424

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

Ana's car is a, 1993 Toyota Corolla DX [E100].

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Goofs

When the survivors are first escaping in the buses they get stuck and so C.J jumps on the roof with a standard sized propane tank with a flare. He then shoots this propane tank and an extremely large explosion occurs, then later when in the buses on the wharf he uses his last moments to shoot a much larger propane tank which emits a much smaller explosion. Clearly the first explosion was digitally added and thus is very dramatized and the latter is a stunt which is a realistic explosion.

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Quotes

Steve: I run a tight ship.

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, intercut with the closeup clips of zombies, there is a very brief clip similar to the infamous Paris Hilton tape, with its telltale green "nightvison" effect.

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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).

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Connections

Featured in A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King (2011)

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Soundtracks

Right Time Of The Night
Written by Peter McCann
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!