Something that bugs me about the Dawn of the Dead remake...

[UndeadChicken]

Forgive me if I'm missing something because it's been a few years since I last watched the remake of Dawn of the Dead, but why exacly did the characters decide to leave the mall? I mean they were very secure there and had everything they needed to survive for many years, so I don't understand why they would choose to give all that up and leave for some island that they just assumed had no zombies (and amusingly they were wrong). I mean at least in the original film the characters didn't choose to leave untill they were forced to when the zombies broke in and found their secret hiding spot. I guess it was basically just an excuse to get the characters out of the mall so we could see more zombie-fighting action and so that the expendable characters nobody cared about could all be killed off.

[MoonSylver]

I guess it was basically just an excuse to get the characters out of the mall so we could see more zombie-fighting action and so that the expendable characters nobody cared about could all be killed off. You just answered your own question.

[UndeadChicken]

You just answered your own question. Well yeah... but I was hoping maybe someone had a better answer so that I might like the movie a little bit more. :P

[MoonSylver]

Well yeah... but I was hoping maybe someone had a better answer so that I might like the movie a little bit more. :P The awswer, per the movie, is after the Gunfight at the OK Corral in which Gansta Man, Russian Chick & Old Lady all bite it (pretty much none of the caracatures, er, I mean CHARACTERS, in this move are memorable enough that their names stuck with me & I can't be arsed to look them up), Marcellus Wallace says "I ain't waiting to die in here". (Yeah, 'cause gettin' your *BLEEP* bit off by zombies is so much better...) That's it. I've heard defenders of '04 state the reason as the fact that the power was gone & the zeds were gonna breach the mall eventually. Fair enough. But never explicitly stated as the reason to leave by any of the characters. Despite the above snark, I like '04 well enough as a action flick w/ "zombies", but the reason to leave the mall is handled pretty ham-fisted, &really does smack of little more than plot contrivance.

[JDFP]

Find me a mall in the U.S. that has "food stocked for years" -- I doubt you could. Most food in most malls will spoil in a matter of weeks, most of the food in a matter of days if the power is gone. I don't recall any spam/K-ration/"Civil Defense" boxes of food lying around as was the case in the original "Dawn". Of course, that poses the question: What the hell were Civil Defense boxes of food doing stored in the upstairs of a shopping mall in P.A. exactly in the original "Dawn"? Anyone ever figure that one out? You'd think someone in mall security/management in the original "Dawn" would have thought to make use of all the Civil Defense boxes of food in the original "Dawn", but I digress.... Anyway, I think the "food for years" premise is highly faulty. They may have had food, if properly rationed, for a few months. I take issue in the film with super-human sprinting raptor-zombies who can give vocally impossible screeches, but eh, such is such. I guess regular ol' shambling zombies just aren't scary anymore for "mainstream Generation Y kids" (sigh). j.p.

[DEAD BEAT]

Forgive me if I'm missing something because it's been a few years since I last watched the remake of Dawn of the Dead, but why exacly did the characters decide to leave the mall? I mean they were very secure there and had everything they needed to survive for many years, so I don't understand why they would choose to give all that up and leave for some island that they just assumed had no zombies (and amusingly they were wrong). I mean at least in the original film the characters didn't choose to leave untill they were forced to when the zombies broke in and found their secret hiding spot. I guess it was basically just an excuse to get the characters out of the mall so we could see more zombie-fighting action and so that the expendable characters nobody cared about could all be killed off. well they were outta the lemon stuff Steve was puttin' in his booze....hello! lol

[MoonSylver]

Find me a mall in the U.S. that has "food stocked for years" -- I doubt you could. Most food in most malls will spoil in a matter of weeks, most of the food in a matter of days if the power is gone. I don't recall any spam/K-ration/"Civil Defense" boxes of food lying around as was the case in the original "Dawn". Good point. And I think I'd have accepted it without reservation if anyone in the movie had actually bothered to state that as their reason as such. Truth is, you, I, & many other members of HPOTD can probably come up with a number of valid reasons that they could or should decide to leave the mall. But the fact that the writers never bothered to give them any reason just smacked of sloppy writing to me at the time & still does. Of course, that poses the question: What the hell were Civil Defense boxes of food doing stored in the upstairs of a shopping mall in P.A. exactly in the original "Dawn"? Anyone ever figure that one out? You'd think someone in mall security/management in the original "Dawn" would have thought to make use of all the Civil Defense boxes of food in the original "Dawn", but I digress.... The implication I always got was that they were getting ready to use the mall as a rescue station & it either got abandoned or overrun.

[bassman]

As mentioned before, there's really no reason other than to advance the plot. And the decision is rushed after they decide to save the bimbo going after her dog. WTF? Let that stupid ginger skank die. As for the food, wouldn't there have been some sort of store with seeds and gardening supplies? They could have easily started a garden up on the roof. As with any zombie flick, we always over think it.

[Thorn]

Perhaps they were getting claustrophobic, or stir crazy. Perhaps the wailing and pounding of the undead hordes began to play on their mind. Perhaps the recent deaths of their fellow survivors made them come to understand it was just a matter of time before they died and the thought that there is somewhere better "out there" is something that is always in the minds of those who are prisoner of their own doing or otherwise. The grass is always greener, so thinking we stay here we die, or we roll the dice and take our chances on getting to someplace better. Really it is not as much of a stretch as people are making it, even if it is not the decision you think you would make now or maybe even in reality would make given the fact you were actually living in their shoes. I have no trouble feeling it is a realistic enough course of action. And man, sometimes you just want to go out on your own terms. The motivation for each individual were likely different, the collective decision was made to make a play for something and they made a play. It failed. "Stuff" happens.

[UndeadChicken]

And the decision is rushed after they decide to save the bimbo going after her dog. WTF? Let that stupid ginger skank die. Wow, I guess I'm not the only one who thought that part was stupid. I mean what sane person in their right mind would risk getting all of their friends killed just to save a pet? Especially considering that the zombies weren't even interested in eating the dog and the girl knew that! Anyways even if all the stored food in the mall couldn't last for years realistically, I'm sure they could have found other means of obtaining food. Like one person said I'm sure the mall might have a gardening store so they could grow their own food, or rather than just leaving the mall completely they could have used those fancy vehicles to scavange for supplies to bring back to the mall. And if all else fails, they could eat the pooch.

[AcesandEights]

Dawn '04 is a fun film. I really do enjoy it, but it has enough plot holes and logical fallacies to choke a water buffalo. That said, it's not quite as absurd as sometimes people make it out to be. You want a reason for the characters to leave the Mall? They realized it was an unsustainable situation, a dead end. That's not one of the decisions they made I had a problem with (how they went about executing it is a different story).

[DjfunkmasterG]

They could have handled the ending of DAWN 04 a lot better than they did... It was lazy writing. While I am a Dawn 04 defender I never defend the stupidity of the girl going after the dog, but, they had no choice but to go to the store and get her because they needed guns and ammo. I liked the fact DAWN 04 made the gun store outside of the mall, making their survival just a bit harder... but that also was a bit far fetched because people who never handled guns were suddenly expert marksmen, but again whatever. I didn't go into DAWN 04 expecting a Romero vision... I expected what I got an end of the world zombie actioner.

[UndeadChicken]

Well ordinary people suddenly becoming expert shooters isn't that uncommon in zombie films. I'm not saying it makes any sense, I'm just saying it's one of the things you should expect any time you watch a movie about zombies. One good thing about Dawn 04 that I liked was the scene after the credits where the survivors found a video recorder, and in The Blair Witch-style they ended up filming their own demise when they finally arrived on an island and were overwhelmed by zombies with no way to escape. Maybe that's where Romero got the idea for Diary of the Dead?

[AcesandEights]

I didn't go into DAWN 04 expecting a Romero vision... I expected what I got an end of the world zombie actioner. And one hell of a beginning to a zombie film. I love that montage.

[DjfunkmasterG]

And one hell of a beginning to a zombie film. I love that montage. Agreed, it was kick ass