Dawn - the Euro cut...

[MinionZombie]

After someone mentioned it a while ago on this 'ere forum thingymajig I've had it on my list of 'must watch soon' and I'm currently in the middle of it, well, 1 hour 15-ish. It's an interesting watch (without the commentary like when I first saw it on the Ultimate DVD). Interesting to see the little bits added in here and there, interesting to see some rather ropey sound mixing (dialogue muffled occasionally, music dodgily cut) ... heck, some of the editing is quite ropey. Out of an interest factor it's good to watch, it's like seeing an old friend you knew to be clean-living spark up a blunt and talk about poontang at a party.

[Danny]

ive had it for a while but i can never seem to get more than 1 hour into it without turning off and doing something else.

[MinionZombie]

Easy, watch a bit - turn it off - come back to it later and continue. It's what I do mostly, I rarely had the time or energy to watch a movie all the way through. That usually only happens on flicks I've never seen before, or if it's a VCD - then I have to watch it in one go. This will be day number three of me watching through the Euro cut...

[Danny]

but thats the thing ive got this tweak were i cant watch a film if ive missed even a minute of the start, ill try but i just cant, i know im nuts

[MinionZombie]

But if you turn the movie off and return to where you were you're not missing any of it, you're just putting big gaps of time in between viewing portions of it. Incidentally, I just finished off the last 45 minutes of the Euro Cut ... interesting stuff, you can really feel the Italian posturing when the raiders come charging into the mall when the rocky guitar twanging picks up. You can just picture snazzily dressed Italian musicians poncing about looking in mirrors as they were performing...

[axlish]

Some of the music works better in Dario's cut, most of it doesn't. I do like the rock n' roll in the biker scene, but I don't feel like the same track was appropriate for the finale. Also, what is up with that weak credit sequence? I do enjoy the some of the additional sequences, such as their conversation in the loft where Peter tells off Flyboy. Dario left in the tension that Peter added to the group, whereas Romero left those parts out. I wonder why? Also, why cut out the helicopter kill? I can only guess that he thought it looked fake. All in all, it is still Dawn of the Dead, so I'll gladly keep a copy around, but it is easily my least favorite cut.

[Danny]

rocky guitar twanging?

[Zombie-A-GoGo]

I really like both cuts, and I get a totally different feeling from them. They're almost like two different movies to me, which is great. Romero's feels a little more light-hearted, whereas Argento's feels like a more serious attempt at horror. It's amazing what can be acheived through creative editing.

[MinionZombie]

The helicopter kill? That was never filmed and that's official word from GAR himself. GAR's cut and GAR's use of music is much, much better though. Argento leaves in some gaping holes of silence and some sequences become dull without the music, which keeps things rocking - even in the extended cut - in Romero's vision. There's a few plotholes too from Argento's editing, stuff he skipped over. I think his version FEELS like two hours, whereas GAR's doesn't - even the extended cut doesn't feel like 140 minutes, because things just flow so well with the music, you never feel like you're grinding to a halt at any point.

[dmbfanintn]

The helicopter kill? That was never filmed and that's official word from GAR himself. He's talking about flat top getting his head whacked off by the rotor at the airport early in the film, before they get to the mall. I agree it is odd that this scene is left out, where Dario chose to put in a lot of gore that GAR left out, head shots that look fake and such.

[Danny]

why in gods name would you leave that out for chirsts sakes?

[Moon Knight]

The rock music in the end is just awful and does not even go with what's going on in the film. This version has some high points like most of the things mentioned in earlier post, but way too many flaws for my taste. It's watchable, but it's the least of my favorites.

[MinionZombie]

Oh fudge yeh you're right. Geez, can't believe I didn't notice that scene was missed out, damn. I was focussing more on what had been cut in rather than cut out I guess. The Euro Cut is good to see Dawn in a different light, but it's not a very good cut of Dawn. GAR had it right - his use of music and pacing is just fantastic, it's all done meticulously. For instance - the build up to Roger's death, in GAR's it really builds to a tense crescendo - in Argento's it feels limp and unimportant.

[Danny]

just goes to show that music ,or the absense of it, can make or break a film.

[Moon Knight]

The Euro Cut is good to see Dawn in a different light, but it's not a very good cut of Dawn. GAR had it right - his use of music and pacing is just fantastic, it's all done meticulously. For instance - the build up to Roger's death, in GAR's it really builds to a tense crescendo - in Argento's it feels limp and unimportant. Agreed.