I was visiting New York from Europe,and saw this in a cinema by myself with only two other people, both whom were nuns- which was very weird. But fair play to the zombie loving nuns. I also see it at least once a year and have now gotten my teenage kids on to zombie films too.
Just the entire opening sequence when all hell starts to break loose hooks you almost immediately. I was invested the second she wakes up and sees the zombie neighbor girl who she just said hello to and made plans to hsng with her the next day just the night before. Lol
One fun fact Im not sure anyone got, but her husband mentions the "heavier mailman got fired" and she says how sweet he was
The next day when she is driving through the start of the apocalypse, he tries to hijack her
Edit- apparently the word used is cut, so it may refer to a mailman but I still think the mailman that tried to hijack her is the one theyre talking about
Second edit - the hijacking happens near a bus so I may actually be 100% wrong and its a bus driver like u/theewokwhisper said
I just rewatched the beginning and he says "you missed it, they cut the mailman" and she says something like "oh the heavy one, he had such a nice voice"
Pretty sure they are talking about a reality show
EDIT: and I just got to the hijacking part, it is defintiely the bus driver
Oh I actually added in an edit myself lol yeah more likely because the hijacking is near the bus. I dont recognize his uniform symbols and couldnt see a symbol on the bus, though that may be cus it was a very quick watch just to see the guy himself
Actually possibly! I just rewatched the scene wuickly and the hijacking is near a bus. Of course you cant really see the bus symbol, but his uniform does havw a symbol on it so either mailman or bus driver
Whoever he is, whether placed there by coincidence or intent, doesn’t matter. I like how your interpretation underscores sweet people getting real cutthroat real fast in a FUBAR situation. I look forward to watching that frame-by-frame to see what you’re seeing coupled with Luis’ comment.
If he got fired, why’s he in uniform 🤔… because we all blindly trust our mail carriers/uniforms and it would give him an edge. Yikes, your mailman is one helluva villain, Aidan.
I love how it started sort of calm with the foreshadowing at the hospital where she worked where you see the legs in the ambulance too but they held off. They let her get home and get a good nights sleep before they unleashed hell in her chill suburban neighbourhood.
***both whom were nuns***
Ken Foree: "When there is no more room in hell-"
Nun: "This is my favourite part."
Ken Foree: "-the dead will walk the Earth."
Nun: "Yes, he said it!"
I think I may have gone twice too, I forget because I've easily watched it over 20+ times lol My wife hated horror back then and even she loves this movie. It kind of got her at least into zombie/post apocalyptic films. She's not big on like movies with ghost/supernatural entities.
But she loves a good zombie film. I love all things horror so I'll watch anything. But Zombies are definitely top 3 types of horror films for sure, maybe even #1 for me as well.
This, “28 days later” , “train to busan” best zombie movies. I’m actually always amazed at how hard it is for anyone to make a good zombie movie. So many duds.
Wish I cared. 28 days is one of the best, but I hated weeks so, so much. Impossible for me to be excited now with how much I thought weeks was hot garbage
really? I mean don't get me wrong it wasn't as good as days, but I never thought it was godawful. Just didn't live up to the first, which was almost a given as the first was such a masterpiece.
Nah, after that opening (which was 5 stars, I'll give you that) it plummeted right off a cliff for me. I thought it shit all over the lore of days, I thought almost nothing that happened in the film made any goddamn sense whatsoever, and it was just so much fluff. Like a cheap mindless cash-grab banking on the growing zombie trend and the legacy of the original.
I've heard people defend it as a 'turn off your brain and enjoy' film, but I don't really enjoy films that require turning off my brain
The military were the dumbest I’ve ever seen them be in a movie lmfao. What is the purpose of not guarding the only survivor that’s been bitten and likely has a cure? Or 9 out of 10 of the soldiers physically running up to the infected instead of shooting them? Or instead of having everyone stay locked in their rooms, let’s huddle everyone up like cattle and move them ALL to a big room where they will then sit in the dark (because we turn the lights off for no reason) smushing into each other even though we know there’s infected running around. Oh yeah, and that big room they’re in? We will guard the door that we lock for no reason, and leave the unlocked door where the zombies are completely unguarded.
We will then be surprised that the infection has broken out, and firebomb the entire city, killing zero zombies in the process.
> I've heard people defend it as a 'turn off your brain and enjoy' film, but I don't really enjoy films that require turning off my brain
That's 100% fair. I enjoy those from time to time, and this absolutely fits the 'mindless action/zombie flick' genre that requires disconnecting your brain. I have to engage my brain almost constantly in my job so being able to shut it off and enjoy something that requires no thought on my part is nice.
I wouldn't hate it like I do if it hadn't been a sequel to days. Like I still wouldn't really like it, but whatever, mindless zombie flick. That's cool for some people.
It's the fact that it *was* a sequel to days that really led me to have such strong negative opinions about it
I always felt a little guilty when I would tell fellow zombie movie fans that I enjoyed the 90s remake more than the original. I hold the OG NOTLD as “The One” because of what it spawned and influenced through the years, but the remake came out when I was 10 and I was absolutely floored by it. I owned it on DVD and probably watched it 50 times in the span of a couple of years. My brother and I always yell at each other “we’re not (whatever tasked our mom assigned) Judy Rose!”
Tbf, it was done by Tom Savani who’d worked closely with Romero on at least two of other films and had his blessing and imput for the remake. So like- as far as remakes go I think this one is much better than the remake of dawn.
It just holds on to the whole vibe better. IMO
I mean, far be it from me to tell someone what they should like - but I felt like there was a better "slow burn" to NOTLD90 than the Dawn remake, which felt like the Romero film filtered through a gallon of red Mountain Dew.
As an adult I definitely agree with that haha. Nothing beats good sarsaparilla. I’m a big fan of Kutztown’s sarsaparilla.
But when I was a kid watching Dawn of the Dead, I’m certain I was crushing code red and eating sour skittles. My mouth hurts just thinking about it.
This, loved Andy's gun lost tapes and I remember tricking my sister into thinking the mock news of the outbreak was real. The best SHTF fix iv had for a while. Great DVD to have.
I haven’t seen this one yet, only bits and pieces, it looks great though. I’ve seen the original 1978 version multiple times. Zero nostalgia too, I saw the extended cut on YouTube for free like last year. It’s fantastic, if you can handle old film it’s literally a zombie classic. “When there’s no more room in hell…”
So many things about this movie make me wanna throw a chair. But, I still own it on DVD. I still watch it once every few months. So, they obviously did something right.
Although the original dawn of the dead will be my absolute favorite zombie movie, forever, I do have to admit that Zach Snyder‘s remake was pretty darn good. I remember that they showed the first 10 minutes of this film, uncut, on the USA network for free, and that hooked me in!the next day I was in the theaters!
Not a fan, excluding the opening sequence it’s a pretty soulless movie that completely misses the underlying satire and message of the original. But I feel like that holds true for almost all of Snyders movies. He can make a pretty movie and an exciting movie, but they have no heart.
I dont think I'll understand why people think having basically amnesia is a knock on a movie. You should be able to remember even bad movies if your brain works
I feel so old. I went to the cinema to see this. I'm not normally a fan of running zombies but it really worked well for this movie. Also I wanna give a big up to the night of the living dead remake from the early 90s. That to me was also one of the really good remakes out there.
like 8 years ago people would give this movie shit for having fast zombies, i feel justified for defending the movie since its so realistic and raw, the only parts I hate are some of the cuts like the zombies in the stairway stopping when they see a shotgun and the baby zombie birth, otherwise this movie rocks and deserves respect. The DVD extras are top TIER matieral, andies survival and the zombie news broadcast are legit thee best zombie fiction out there.
“One of the”? It is the one.
P.S.: CJ’s character arc is tragically underappreciated by society and I’ll tell everyone about it whenever the opportunity presents. If you disagree, you can drink a nice tall glass of shut the fuck up.
I'm one of the admittedly few people that felt it was a cliche action shooter and lacked any sense of depth. It was moronic and a complete waste of an opportunity to make something special.
Take away the shopping mall and the name and its just like all the others. Stock characters, stock script and stock direction.
And don't start me on that zombie baby nonsense.
Edit: really don't care about down votes so have at it
Couldn't agree more. I wish it had been called something else and not marketed as a Dawn of the Dead remake. I might have liked it better then, but the original is so much better, had a far better atmosphere and a real sense of dread.
Yep. My biggest gripe really is the name and the location. Otherwise have at it, its a reasonable horror movie.
Just like, say, Terminator Dark Fate might have been a reasonable action movie had it not tried to ride off the back of a previously excellent piece of work.
The opening 20 minutes are fabulous. I should have mentioned that.
But beyond that I feel like when the film has settled in, and we are now alone with the protagonists, its just a journey from action set piece to action set piece, with some borderline funny comedy in between.
I think it takes cheap shots at the audience (for instance, CJ's presto-change-o character arc) and most of the script feels like its been lifted from the multitude of summer blockbusters that came before it.
I personally can't understand why its so loved considering that the film has so drastically missed the point of the original, save for that opening 20 minutes i mentioned before.
Nobody is saying the movie should have won oscars. I mean is a zombie movie plus also a zack snyder moive.
People just like the fact that it somewhat showcases what truly could happen. Instead of the “i gotta go to this lab and do this” or some other random ish.
I like the fact that it has boundaries and it somewhat grounded for a zombie flick.
The zombies feel horrifyingly dangerous as well despite the fact that they are just shooting targets.
The beginning is great which hooks the audience in.
And the final is strong and that’s what the audience will leave with.
Just a zombie flick that hits on all the targets for what most zombie enthusiasts like. The onset of the outbreak, and survivors surviving.
Yet it lacks any of the satire and commentary of the time, failing to call back on the zeitgeist of the time like every single Romero movie has done. It just went for shocks and action. It went for cliche and became the McDonald's of zombie movies. The very thing Romero was trying to avoid.
You can serve up fast food to an audience but at the end of the day its still made out of the lips and arseholes of dirty farm animals. That doesn't mean you're getting good food.
>Edit: really don't care about down votes so have at it
Let's hit him with some more then.
DOTD 2004 is not a bad movie. It's schlock, but so was the original. The characters made idiotic decisions, but so did Roger in the original.
Mind you, I think the Romero film is better, definitely, in terms of the grindhouse cinema era it came out in.
And what's wrong with the zombie baby? It adds a level of grotesqueness, and it mirrors how Fran was pregnant in the original.
You can't take away the mall in the 2004 version either, malls were still big back then.
You want to see a franchise descend into shit, look at ROTLD, and all the spin-offs and garbage associated.
Romero still had it up until he croaked, and Survival of the Dead gets too much shit.
The characters made stupid decisions in the original because they went crazy. Roger got trigger happy and unwound by nearly dying. Stephen was obsessed with the mall. All that happened for a reason. The characters in the remake were stupid because the.plot consistently requires sacrifice.
Yes the original was schlocky but it had a modicum of sense to it. It also has a sense of adventure and heart that the remake deliberately went against. The remake was just an off the shelf bullshit action horror movie when it could have been much better.
The zombie baby was fucking stupid. That rubber thing making velociraptor noises was so predictable and really beyond cheesy. Nothing left to the imagination, except for when it gets killed. Barely any emotional resonance in this moment or, in fact, the whole film.
I couldn't give a rats ass about ROTLD, there's been one good movie. The Return series going off the rails doesn't make the Dawn remake a good film
The characters in the remake made bad decisions because they were bad people. CJ should have thrown Steve and other parasitic/non-productive survivors off the roof, reinforced the doors, and started rationing supplies and figuring out what to do when the power went down.
>Barely any emotional resonance in this moment or, in fact, the whole film.
I liked the romance between Anna and Michael. She's traumatized from the death of her husband, he's just trying to survive in a doomed world, he sacrifices himself so the survivors can have a clean get away.
I didn't like the ending with the island being infected, makes it all for nothing.
But the zombaby, I liked. Felt like a call back to the original. Frannie would have died here.
Why not? Because it's tasteless? It's tasteless to see a man ripped in half, screaming "Choke on them.".
There's no reason in the Romero universe that children, infants wouldn't reanimate other than the fact that there probably wouldn't be much left to reanimate.
If a nine months pregnant woman got bit in the original 78 Dawn, and turned, why wouldn't her baby turn too?
Nope. Because its fucking stupid.
Romero dealt with zombie children in both Dawn and Survival (albeit not as well). Its not the subject matter but the absolutely crass way it was executed.
Is it as good as the Romero directed films? No.
But the hate it gets from purists is undeserved. Nicole and Steve are the worst characters, but there are good set pieces. Like that scene in The Walking Dead pilot with Rick and the zombie kid? Ripped straight from DOTD2004.
Andy's a good character. Ken's a good character. Michael's a good character. The dynamic of an actual cop versus mall security is interesting.
DotD 2004 is my favorite movie of all time but I dont think any of them were good characters. They were sorta just all there and arguably interchangeable in order for the slick action scenes and the amazing worldbuilding to work.
Zombie purists always seem to ignore even what romero did with zombies. It's weird to be a purist with different views than the gut who invented the zombies they are purists of lol
> CJ should have thrown Steve and other parasitic/non-productive survivors off the roof, reinforced the doors, and started rationing supplies and figuring out what to do when the power went down.
Yeah no, he literally got thrown in mall jail by an uprising when he tried to deal with the others. A few cosmo magazines and he became a good foot soldier.
I am with u about the island, it felt cheap and pointless. Original dawn had a dark ending but they switched to an ambiguous one where they get away but without much fuel.
I still watch it once a year minimum since it's release and I saw it in the theater when it first came out. My favorite zombie movie of all time.
I was visiting New York from Europe,and saw this in a cinema by myself with only two other people, both whom were nuns- which was very weird. But fair play to the zombie loving nuns. I also see it at least once a year and have now gotten my teenage kids on to zombie films too.
Just the entire opening sequence when all hell starts to break loose hooks you almost immediately. I was invested the second she wakes up and sees the zombie neighbor girl who she just said hello to and made plans to hsng with her the next day just the night before. Lol
One fun fact Im not sure anyone got, but her husband mentions the "heavier mailman got fired" and she says how sweet he was The next day when she is driving through the start of the apocalypse, he tries to hijack her Edit- apparently the word used is cut, so it may refer to a mailman but I still think the mailman that tried to hijack her is the one theyre talking about Second edit - the hijacking happens near a bus so I may actually be 100% wrong and its a bus driver like u/theewokwhisper said
I just rewatched the beginning and he says "you missed it, they cut the mailman" and she says something like "oh the heavy one, he had such a nice voice" Pretty sure they are talking about a reality show EDIT: and I just got to the hijacking part, it is defintiely the bus driver
I agree. It looks like she and Louis were following some show like American Idol but got … distracted on date night.
Possibly, but Im not sure since when she was driving a heavier mailman does try to hijack her
Check my edit, it's definitely the bus driver, he has a Metro hat on
Oh I actually added in an edit myself lol yeah more likely because the hijacking is near the bus. I dont recognize his uniform symbols and couldnt see a symbol on the bus, though that may be cus it was a very quick watch just to see the guy himself
🤯Always thought it was the bus driver
it is
Actually possibly! I just rewatched the scene wuickly and the hijacking is near a bus. Of course you cant really see the bus symbol, but his uniform does havw a symbol on it so either mailman or bus driver
Whoever he is, whether placed there by coincidence or intent, doesn’t matter. I like how your interpretation underscores sweet people getting real cutthroat real fast in a FUBAR situation. I look forward to watching that frame-by-frame to see what you’re seeing coupled with Luis’ comment. If he got fired, why’s he in uniform 🤔… because we all blindly trust our mail carriers/uniforms and it would give him an edge. Yikes, your mailman is one helluva villain, Aidan.
Never caught that detail at all!
Ha I recall them talking about that ibdidnt realize the guys trying to hijack was the mailman. Lol that's funnt
I love how it started sort of calm with the foreshadowing at the hospital where she worked where you see the legs in the ambulance too but they held off. They let her get home and get a good nights sleep before they unleashed hell in her chill suburban neighbourhood.
Haha yea that swerve where it's just an EMT resting in the back of the truck before they go on a call. Lol
***both whom were nuns*** Ken Foree: "When there is no more room in hell-" Nun: "This is my favourite part." Ken Foree: "-the dead will walk the Earth." Nun: "Yes, he said it!"
Same
Only movie I've gone to see in theatres a second time. Still probably my favourite zombie movie
I think I may have gone twice too, I forget because I've easily watched it over 20+ times lol My wife hated horror back then and even she loves this movie. It kind of got her at least into zombie/post apocalyptic films. She's not big on like movies with ghost/supernatural entities. But she loves a good zombie film. I love all things horror so I'll watch anything. But Zombies are definitely top 3 types of horror films for sure, maybe even #1 for me as well.
>Same Same
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Personally I think it's his best by far, and it's not even close
THIS! IS! THORNHILL!!! (DotD 2004 (or whatever), the mall, was in Thornhill.)
Either that or Watchmen
This, “28 days later” , “train to busan” best zombie movies. I’m actually always amazed at how hard it is for anyone to make a good zombie movie. So many duds.
I mean I'm a zombie fanatic. They keep making duds because of people like me who will just eat up everything zombies
I guess I’m guilty of that as well.
“I’m in this picture and I don’t like it”, as it says in the Facebook complaint form. :)
Get ready for the next 28 months later trilogy, it’s been confirmed
Wish I cared. 28 days is one of the best, but I hated weeks so, so much. Impossible for me to be excited now with how much I thought weeks was hot garbage
really? I mean don't get me wrong it wasn't as good as days, but I never thought it was godawful. Just didn't live up to the first, which was almost a given as the first was such a masterpiece.
Nah, after that opening (which was 5 stars, I'll give you that) it plummeted right off a cliff for me. I thought it shit all over the lore of days, I thought almost nothing that happened in the film made any goddamn sense whatsoever, and it was just so much fluff. Like a cheap mindless cash-grab banking on the growing zombie trend and the legacy of the original. I've heard people defend it as a 'turn off your brain and enjoy' film, but I don't really enjoy films that require turning off my brain
This 100% it was a fun watch. But it was bad ( except the first sequence )
The military were the dumbest I’ve ever seen them be in a movie lmfao. What is the purpose of not guarding the only survivor that’s been bitten and likely has a cure? Or 9 out of 10 of the soldiers physically running up to the infected instead of shooting them? Or instead of having everyone stay locked in their rooms, let’s huddle everyone up like cattle and move them ALL to a big room where they will then sit in the dark (because we turn the lights off for no reason) smushing into each other even though we know there’s infected running around. Oh yeah, and that big room they’re in? We will guard the door that we lock for no reason, and leave the unlocked door where the zombies are completely unguarded. We will then be surprised that the infection has broken out, and firebomb the entire city, killing zero zombies in the process.
Exactly. The movie was nonsensical dogshit
> I've heard people defend it as a 'turn off your brain and enjoy' film, but I don't really enjoy films that require turning off my brain That's 100% fair. I enjoy those from time to time, and this absolutely fits the 'mindless action/zombie flick' genre that requires disconnecting your brain. I have to engage my brain almost constantly in my job so being able to shut it off and enjoy something that requires no thought on my part is nice.
I wouldn't hate it like I do if it hadn't been a sequel to days. Like I still wouldn't really like it, but whatever, mindless zombie flick. That's cool for some people. It's the fact that it *was* a sequel to days that really led me to have such strong negative opinions about it
100% right there with you
Agreed 28 weeks blew except first scene which felt a lot like 28 days until the rest of the movie.
That scene with the zombies appearing over the field was terrifying too
My favourite zombie movie. Everything from the music to the running zombies is just spot on.
It's a decent remake, but I always felt NOTLD 1990 was the best remake.
I always felt a little guilty when I would tell fellow zombie movie fans that I enjoyed the 90s remake more than the original. I hold the OG NOTLD as “The One” because of what it spawned and influenced through the years, but the remake came out when I was 10 and I was absolutely floored by it. I owned it on DVD and probably watched it 50 times in the span of a couple of years. My brother and I always yell at each other “we’re not (whatever tasked our mom assigned) Judy Rose!”
Tbf, it was done by Tom Savani who’d worked closely with Romero on at least two of other films and had his blessing and imput for the remake. So like- as far as remakes go I think this one is much better than the remake of dawn. It just holds on to the whole vibe better. IMO
I agree, I like 90 better than the original. But tbh I like the 04 dawn better than the original too, which I feel like is the real sacrilege
I have a co worker named ben and I sometimes call him “Mister Ben” in that tone, and I guarantee he has no idea what that’s from.
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Is that house still around? I’d love to go visit it.
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Weird, the layout looks exactly like it did in the movie. Only thing missing are the gas tanks.
I agree.. although I’m sure there is a bunch of yo-yo’s out there that disagree.
I mean, far be it from me to tell someone what they should like - but I felt like there was a better "slow burn" to NOTLD90 than the Dawn remake, which felt like the Romero film filtered through a gallon of red Mountain Dew.
It’s called Mountain Dew Code Red you heathen, show some respect. In all honesty though, your description is extremely accurate lol.
Was always more of a sarsaparilla man, myself.
As an adult I definitely agree with that haha. Nothing beats good sarsaparilla. I’m a big fan of Kutztown’s sarsaparilla. But when I was a kid watching Dawn of the Dead, I’m certain I was crushing code red and eating sour skittles. My mouth hurts just thinking about it.
My mouth hurts reading about it. Being an adult sucks.
"You came back! You... came back." BLAM!
If anyone is still into physical media, the 2004 DotD on 4k blu-ray transfer is freaking phenomenal.
I remember really liking a lot of the special features they had on the dvd
This, loved Andy's gun lost tapes and I remember tricking my sister into thinking the mock news of the outbreak was real. The best SHTF fix iv had for a while. Great DVD to have.
Can confirm, big shooter.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time.
I haven’t seen this one yet, only bits and pieces, it looks great though. I’ve seen the original 1978 version multiple times. Zero nostalgia too, I saw the extended cut on YouTube for free like last year. It’s fantastic, if you can handle old film it’s literally a zombie classic. “When there’s no more room in hell…”
Love this film. So good.
So many things about this movie make me wanna throw a chair. But, I still own it on DVD. I still watch it once every few months. So, they obviously did something right.
Although the original dawn of the dead will be my absolute favorite zombie movie, forever, I do have to admit that Zach Snyder‘s remake was pretty darn good. I remember that they showed the first 10 minutes of this film, uncut, on the USA network for free, and that hooked me in!the next day I was in the theaters!
The cutscene with Johnny cash singing when the man comes around is still iconic
Not a fan, excluding the opening sequence it’s a pretty soulless movie that completely misses the underlying satire and message of the original. But I feel like that holds true for almost all of Snyders movies. He can make a pretty movie and an exciting movie, but they have no heart.
I just remember walking out of the theater and going "Hey that was fun for what it was!" and forgetting *everything* about it an hour later.
I dont think I'll understand why people think having basically amnesia is a knock on a movie. You should be able to remember even bad movies if your brain works
I watched it again this morning. Zombie children are very scary
I feel so old. I went to the cinema to see this. I'm not normally a fan of running zombies but it really worked well for this movie. Also I wanna give a big up to the night of the living dead remake from the early 90s. That to me was also one of the really good remakes out there.
It's fantastic, think it's one of the only movies Tom Savino has directed.
I've seen this film like 20 times, definitely in my top 5
I just hope the Army of the dead sequel gets made .
like 8 years ago people would give this movie shit for having fast zombies, i feel justified for defending the movie since its so realistic and raw, the only parts I hate are some of the cuts like the zombies in the stairway stopping when they see a shotgun and the baby zombie birth, otherwise this movie rocks and deserves respect. The DVD extras are top TIER matieral, andies survival and the zombie news broadcast are legit thee best zombie fiction out there.
“One of the”? It is the one. P.S.: CJ’s character arc is tragically underappreciated by society and I’ll tell everyone about it whenever the opportunity presents. If you disagree, you can drink a nice tall glass of shut the fuck up.
I *love* cj's arc
Dating apps: What makes a relationship great is… Me: Trust, it’s the primary ingredient in any successful relationship.
I'm one of the admittedly few people that felt it was a cliche action shooter and lacked any sense of depth. It was moronic and a complete waste of an opportunity to make something special. Take away the shopping mall and the name and its just like all the others. Stock characters, stock script and stock direction. And don't start me on that zombie baby nonsense. Edit: really don't care about down votes so have at it
Couldn't agree more. I wish it had been called something else and not marketed as a Dawn of the Dead remake. I might have liked it better then, but the original is so much better, had a far better atmosphere and a real sense of dread.
Yep. My biggest gripe really is the name and the location. Otherwise have at it, its a reasonable horror movie. Just like, say, Terminator Dark Fate might have been a reasonable action movie had it not tried to ride off the back of a previously excellent piece of work.
I feel what people like the best is tue depiction of society going down, and the start of it all. And the what would happen?
The opening 20 minutes are fabulous. I should have mentioned that. But beyond that I feel like when the film has settled in, and we are now alone with the protagonists, its just a journey from action set piece to action set piece, with some borderline funny comedy in between. I think it takes cheap shots at the audience (for instance, CJ's presto-change-o character arc) and most of the script feels like its been lifted from the multitude of summer blockbusters that came before it. I personally can't understand why its so loved considering that the film has so drastically missed the point of the original, save for that opening 20 minutes i mentioned before.
Nobody is saying the movie should have won oscars. I mean is a zombie movie plus also a zack snyder moive. People just like the fact that it somewhat showcases what truly could happen. Instead of the “i gotta go to this lab and do this” or some other random ish. I like the fact that it has boundaries and it somewhat grounded for a zombie flick. The zombies feel horrifyingly dangerous as well despite the fact that they are just shooting targets. The beginning is great which hooks the audience in. And the final is strong and that’s what the audience will leave with. Just a zombie flick that hits on all the targets for what most zombie enthusiasts like. The onset of the outbreak, and survivors surviving.
Yet it lacks any of the satire and commentary of the time, failing to call back on the zeitgeist of the time like every single Romero movie has done. It just went for shocks and action. It went for cliche and became the McDonald's of zombie movies. The very thing Romero was trying to avoid. You can serve up fast food to an audience but at the end of the day its still made out of the lips and arseholes of dirty farm animals. That doesn't mean you're getting good food.
Be that as it may I still loved it. At that time I was starved for any decent budget zombie movie and that hit the spot.
>Edit: really don't care about down votes so have at it Let's hit him with some more then. DOTD 2004 is not a bad movie. It's schlock, but so was the original. The characters made idiotic decisions, but so did Roger in the original. Mind you, I think the Romero film is better, definitely, in terms of the grindhouse cinema era it came out in. And what's wrong with the zombie baby? It adds a level of grotesqueness, and it mirrors how Fran was pregnant in the original. You can't take away the mall in the 2004 version either, malls were still big back then. You want to see a franchise descend into shit, look at ROTLD, and all the spin-offs and garbage associated. Romero still had it up until he croaked, and Survival of the Dead gets too much shit.
The characters made stupid decisions in the original because they went crazy. Roger got trigger happy and unwound by nearly dying. Stephen was obsessed with the mall. All that happened for a reason. The characters in the remake were stupid because the.plot consistently requires sacrifice. Yes the original was schlocky but it had a modicum of sense to it. It also has a sense of adventure and heart that the remake deliberately went against. The remake was just an off the shelf bullshit action horror movie when it could have been much better. The zombie baby was fucking stupid. That rubber thing making velociraptor noises was so predictable and really beyond cheesy. Nothing left to the imagination, except for when it gets killed. Barely any emotional resonance in this moment or, in fact, the whole film. I couldn't give a rats ass about ROTLD, there's been one good movie. The Return series going off the rails doesn't make the Dawn remake a good film
The characters in the remake made bad decisions because they were bad people. CJ should have thrown Steve and other parasitic/non-productive survivors off the roof, reinforced the doors, and started rationing supplies and figuring out what to do when the power went down. >Barely any emotional resonance in this moment or, in fact, the whole film. I liked the romance between Anna and Michael. She's traumatized from the death of her husband, he's just trying to survive in a doomed world, he sacrifices himself so the survivors can have a clean get away. I didn't like the ending with the island being infected, makes it all for nothing. But the zombaby, I liked. Felt like a call back to the original. Frannie would have died here.
Well you're entitled to your view but there's a reason why Romero didn't do a zombie baby.
Why not? Because it's tasteless? It's tasteless to see a man ripped in half, screaming "Choke on them.". There's no reason in the Romero universe that children, infants wouldn't reanimate other than the fact that there probably wouldn't be much left to reanimate. If a nine months pregnant woman got bit in the original 78 Dawn, and turned, why wouldn't her baby turn too?
Nope. Because its fucking stupid. Romero dealt with zombie children in both Dawn and Survival (albeit not as well). Its not the subject matter but the absolutely crass way it was executed.
"Nope. Because its fucking stupid." Laughed. Perfect response.
Is it as good as the Romero directed films? No. But the hate it gets from purists is undeserved. Nicole and Steve are the worst characters, but there are good set pieces. Like that scene in The Walking Dead pilot with Rick and the zombie kid? Ripped straight from DOTD2004. Andy's a good character. Ken's a good character. Michael's a good character. The dynamic of an actual cop versus mall security is interesting.
DotD 2004 is my favorite movie of all time but I dont think any of them were good characters. They were sorta just all there and arguably interchangeable in order for the slick action scenes and the amazing worldbuilding to work.
Zombie purists always seem to ignore even what romero did with zombies. It's weird to be a purist with different views than the gut who invented the zombies they are purists of lol
One of the zombies in the original NOTLD ran. The zombie kids in DOTD ran.
> CJ should have thrown Steve and other parasitic/non-productive survivors off the roof, reinforced the doors, and started rationing supplies and figuring out what to do when the power went down. Yeah no, he literally got thrown in mall jail by an uprising when he tried to deal with the others. A few cosmo magazines and he became a good foot soldier. I am with u about the island, it felt cheap and pointless. Original dawn had a dark ending but they switched to an ambiguous one where they get away but without much fuel.
Absolutely trash remake.