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:

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

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 name of Ving Rhames' character, Kenneth, is an obvious nod to actor Ken Foree, who played a very similar role in the original Dawn of the Dead (1978).

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Goofs

After the opening credits, Ana and Kenneth are seen walking down a paved walkway next to a park. Off to the left, there is a red child's bike laying on the walkway. They then pass through a tunneled section of the walkway, and we can see that the right side of the walkway behind them is clear. But after Andre shoots at Kenneth, we see a blue adult bike appears on the right side of the walkway behind them.

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Quotes

Tucker: [counting ammo] We have 12 of these shotgun shells, 26 of these pussy nine mils, and 16 of those .357 Magnums.

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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."

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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

Referenced in Andy Barker, P.I.: Dial M for Laptop (2007)

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Soundtracks

All By Myself
Written by Eric Carmen & Sergei Rachmaninoff (as Sergei Rachmaninoff)
Performed by Tree Adams

User Reviews

In a world of bad remakes, this wasn't bad.

I went into this movie completely excited. And I wasn't even really disappointed either. The acting was very good, and I actually loved how they didn't follow the exact storyline. They took the basics of the original Dawn of the Dead and made it more contemporary. I knew they wouldn't be filming the movie at Monroeville Mall (the mall just 15 minutes outside of Pittsburgh where they filmed the original) but it was still awesome none the less.

The script worked rather well, and the movie flowed nicely also. Granted I wasn't a huge fan of the fast moving zombies, but I suppose I can let that go because truthfully, maybe before rigor mortis sets in, you'd be able to move quickly, who knows? But I do know that I was on the edge of my seat through many parts of the movie, and you start to really care about the characters in the movie. I am anxiously waiting for 1 week to pass so that I can get my copy of Dawn. I already have it pre purchased.

8/10 rating.

The movie missed a perfect 10 for the simple fact that zombies SHOULD NOT run that fast.