A Question of Remakes

[Sir James Forbes]

You know, it's funny. When I first read about the Dawn remake, I cried "Nooooo...don't touch another classic!", but when I viewed it for the first time, it succeeded on so many levels and so much more than I expected. The first 15 mins are the best I've ever seen in any zombie movie...they actually made you felt the chaos...that the world was falling apart. But the general atmosphere of the film was something that I think lacks in a lot of zombie films these days, namely survival. I liked Notld 90 because it was about barricading and seeking a safe haven. Dawn continued that theme on a broader scale...day, well, that theme was there to some extent but the general atmosphere was more of acceptance and coping, rather than any immediate threat; only the latter part of the film made up for that...and Land, whilst I can't say it was a bad film, I can easily say it was a dissapointment. There was nothing memorable about it and it could have been so much more. I didn't once feel threatened...only sympathy for the zombies. Not even when they broke in to fiddlers green nor the scene where the people realise they're trapped by the security facilities were exapnded anywhere near they could have been, in my opinion. Land even broke the consistency of titles - 'Dusk' isn't any more stranger than 'Dawn'. Dawn Remake has characters I care about, puts me on the edge of my seat and leaves me wanting more. My only gripes are that it was far too short and the idea to leave a relatively safe place was unbelieveable. However, ultimately, I think the remake of Dawn triumphs all over Land and certainly gets watched more times by me!

[Mortis]

I think the characters are one of the biggest flaws of the remake. And then there's that running zombie thing. People think they should be stupid in the GAR world because they're dead, but they're fine with them turning into track stars. Dawn Remake has characters I care about, puts me on the edge of my seat and leaves me wanting more.

[Svengoolie]

None of the supporters of the remake are saying that its characters are perfect, or even close. No one's saying the plot is unblemished, either. But, both aspects of that film are indeed technically superior to the original's. The bottom line is, in terms of screenwriting, the Dawn remake is a better script than the original.

[bassman]

But, both aspects of that film are indeed technically superior to the original's. The bottom line is, in terms of screenwriting, the Dawn remake is a better script than the original. Not necessarily. While I do respect your opinion and I can see where you are coming from, this is kind of like asking someone "whats your favorite....apples or oranges?" and then if they don't chose your favorite, you break into a huge rant about why you think one is better than the other. Although, you know you can never change the other's mind. It's the same with this. There are certain things in the remake that you praise that make others vomit and vice versa. Both films have their positive and negative attributes and neither group is going to convince the other that their film is better. Besides, EVERY zombie film has some negative things going against it. I have never seen an absolutely perfect zombie film. Hell, There are only a handfull of perfect films in the world. And even then it's all about one's personal opinion. Apples, oranges. Remake, original. It's all okay in my book.

[Deadman_Deluxe]

The bottom line is, in terms of screenwriting, the Dawn remake is a better script than the original. Bottom line my ass. You have a habit of stating these things like they are 100% fact ... when in reality they are just your own personal opinions.

[Svengoolie]

Not quite, Deadman. In terms of plot, and especially character development, the remake is far superior to the original. As a "writer", you should be able to recognize that.

[Mortis]

Character development? The original wins hands down. Especially if you watch the DC. In terms of plot, and especially character development, the remake is far superior to the original.

[bassman]

Character development? The original wins hands down. Especially if you watch the DC. I would have to agree...

[Adrenochrome]

The bottom line is, in terms of screenwriting, the Dawn remake is a better script than the original. That is the most rediculous thing I've ever read.

[Danny]

aye ditto to that. my opinion is this. whilst watching chanel 4 ,one of the non cble/sattleite channels in the u.k , i hadnt seen the origional danw yet and saw a show were, and they do this a lot in england now, called the ten minute preview this is where they show the first ten minutes of a film and talk abut it, i had often seen the trilogy of the dead bozed set but never bought it, (i got it now though ), anyway i was intriqued and it was showing the first 10 mins of dawn's remake and i watched it and was blown away, as george himself said the first 15 mins were what the whole film should have been, also there were too many characters in the mall, the origional only had 4 main characters and it rocked why this needed 2 dozen ill never know, i liked the idea of the guy in the gun store though, that was good, then i saw the whole thing (my brother got a copy of the dvd form donnington ) and i was dissapointed, that said the land of the dead film was much, much worse i hated it , i was actually looking at my watch during the last ahlf hour waiting for it to end so i could go home (i never walk out of films, even the crocodile hunter, but i snuck into that one and paid for antoher later,lol). anyway it could have adn should have been great but since land came ut people have warmed slightly to the dawn remake as it was at least a better zombie film than that. que someone going "err, no hahahaha lololllol lmao, PWNED!". jerry jackson style...

[Svengoolie]

Okay, let's take this one step at a time. We'll start with character development. I'd like Adrenochrome, bassman311, and Mortis to define the term "character development" and explain to me how it applies to the two main male protagonists of both films. Personally, I doubt any of you will even try and just either ignore this request, or just say "no it's not", or flame me from here on out...but let's see. It's pretty much non-existant in the original, and minimal in the remake...but the remake still has more. The remake can still surpass the original technically (in terms of screenwriting) without it being a more enjoyable film, overall, to some.

[axlish]

Sure there was more character development, but was it quality? Did it matter? We knew the employment of all of the characters in the original, and it helped define their characters except for Fran. So whats-his-name worked at a Best Buy and other various jobs, establishing that he was aimless in life until the zombie crisis gave him focus. In both films, the employment of the characters were used. Kenneth was looking for his brother. Peter had brothers. In the remake, they were thrown together via different circumstances so a little back story was needed, I suppose. In the original, they all arrived together, and their backstory, however tiny, was established by the time they got to the mall. As far as dialogue goes, the original trumps the remake. Seriously, I am reaching to come up with memorable lines that left a resonance in Dawn 04, whereas the original I could quote all day. Lets not forget that the remake suffers from the Mall not being a new phenomenon in 2004, so the film loses a lot of its reason for being.

[bassman]

"No it's not."

[Svengoolie]

Whether the character development in the remake is of great quality or not is subjective. They're still stronger characters because they're more developed. That doesn't make them perfect, or Shakesperian, or anything....it just makes that one set of characters better written than GAR's. The fact of the matter is, in terms of screenwriting, we still had more character development in the remake than in the original...as I've been saying all along. Why is that so hard to understand? As for dialogue...it doesn't surprise me in the least that you could come up with lines from the original all day, axlish--you're pretty devoted to that film, as I am, and even have an entire website dedicated to it. You're more familiar with the original. It's your preference. I bet I could find someone else who would say the same thing about the remake....

[axlish]

I like Dawn 04 a great deal. In Dawn, we have classic lines that resonate such as... "When there's no more room in hell..." "The people they kill, get up and kill!" "These creatures are nothing more than... pure.. motorized.. instinct." "Wanna see my whirlybird?" (Just kidding, I'm sure that was ad-libbed) When I think of Dawn 04, I'm coming up with zilch, really. *scratches head* Ok, the best lines in that movie were delivered by one Kenneth Foree, his religious rant was hilarious! Not to derail the topic too much but I think the strength of NOTLD68 is in the ambiguity of the characters backgrounds. We literally know nothing about these guys, and it helps the mystery and tension of it all. Harry could be a civil rights activist or a grand wizard in the KKK.