The new bad-ass, big-budget Dawn of the Dead may be a liberty-taking re-envisioning of George Romero's zombie classic, minus the deeper human undertones of the 1978 original, but the movie boasts a sustained, spine-tingling thrill-chill ambiance right from its opening scenes. Indie staple Sarah Polley embraces her B-movie side as a nurse who wakes up one morning after ignoring snippets of eerie nightly news reports ("...not an isolated incident...") to find a zombiefied neighbor girl gnawing on her husband's neck. Soon the undead spouse is chasing her through her burning subdivision as the city is overrun with cannibalistic walking corpses--and the only (temporary) refuge she can find is an empty shopping mall with a handful of other survivors. While director Zack Snyder ignores ripe-for-the-plucking social and political themes (something last year's zombie modernization 28 Days Later incorporated very well), this fun, scary, horror remake-homage is both smart and cinematic enough to warrant comparison with other great genre reinventions such as John Carpenter's The Thing and Philip Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Recommended. [Note: Available in both widescreen and full screen versions, DVD extras on this unrated director's cut include audio commentary by director Zack Snyder and producer Eric Newman, the 20-minute faux news coverage featurette “Special Report,” the facetious 15-minute featurette “The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed,” 11 minutes of “Undead Scenes” with optional commentary, the eight-minute “Raising the Dead” featurette on costume and makeup effects, the seven-minute “Attack of the Living Dead” featurette with an emphasis on specific zombie kills, the five-minute segment “Splitting Headaches: Anatomy of Exploding Heads,” and DVD-ROM features. Bottom line: a fun extras package for a solid remake.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 14, 2008—Universal, 110 min., not rated, $29.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2004's Dawn of the Dead sports a solid transfer and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Zach Snyder and producer Eric Newman, as well as a picture-in-picture track featuring interactive cast and crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage viewable during the film that incorporates most of the bonus material included on the standard DVD. Bottom line: a solid BD release of a decent horror remake.]
Dawn of the Dead
Universal, 100 min., R, VHS: $22.98, DVD: $29.98, Oct. 26 Volume 19, Issue 5
Dawn of the Dead
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