original DOTD question

[acealive1]

if they had the presence of mind to barricade and literally erase that hallway so the bikers wouldnt find out about it, then why not literally seal off the doors where they parked the trucks in front of as well?


i love the movie, but they did a pretty bad job trying to seal the mall from looters which they mentioned in the film.

[Ragnarr]

if they had the presence of mind to barricade and literally erase that hallway so the bikers wouldnt find out about it, then why not literally seal off the doors where they parked the trucks in front of as well?


i love the movie, but they did a pretty bad job trying to seal the mall from looters which they mentioned in the film.

Good question. I would suppose the "Mall Entrance" signs outside might have given its' location away (just kidding), but you're right. They had access to wood, nails and tools, so they could have easily constructed an inner wall that might have slowed the bikers down a bit (remember, the bikers had grenades I think).

[JDFP]

if they had the presence of mind to barricade and literally erase that hallway so the bikers wouldnt find out about it, then why not literally seal off the doors where they parked the trucks in front of as well?


i love the movie, but they did a pretty bad job trying to seal the mall from looters which they mentioned in the film.

C'mon, is this serious? You can do better than this. In a world where you think most of humanity is dead your first thought (other than protecting yourself which is what they did) isn't going to be: "Hey, maybe some renegade Hell's Angels/Outlaws who didn't die from this may come and loot our mall so we better board up the entrances and think they'll be stupid enough to think this isn't a mall!" isn't going to be on the list of priorities.

Putting up some plaster on the entrances of the mall wouldn't have been any good anyway. Even if they did this (and this is a hypothetical big "If") do you think people would be stupid enough to think: "Oh, there are barriers after the doors, I guess we shouldn't try to loot the place!" would have been within their reasoning? It would have wasted time from their wasting time of shopping expeditions and Fran's attempt to become a master hair-stylist and Peter/Roger's attempt to become millionaire's in robbing the bank ("Because You Never Know") in doing this.

j.p.

[Ragnarr]

C'mon, is this serious? You can do better than this. In a world where you think most of humanity is dead your first thought (other than protecting yourself which is what they did) isn't going to be: "Hey, maybe some renegade Hell's Angels/Outlaws who didn't die from this may come and loot our mall so we better board up the entrances and think they'll be stupid enough to think this isn't a mall!" isn't going to be on the list of priorities.

Putting up some plaster on the entrances of the mall wouldn't have been any good anyway. Even if they did this (and this is a hypothetical big "If") do you think people would be stupid enough to think: "Oh, there are barriers after the doors, I guess we shouldn't try to loot the place!" would have been within their reasoning? It would have wasted time from their wasting time of shopping expeditions and Fran's attempt to become a master hair-stylist and Peter/Roger's attempt to become millionaire's in robbing the bank ("Because You Never Know") in doing this.

j.p.

lol Hence my "mall entrance" jest. But I see ace's point in that while the characters couldn't have anticpated the biker raiders, just the fact of hordes of zeds clawing and pounding to get in should have made the characters pile everything and anything against the entrances as a first order of business... well, right after a couple more arcade games and possibly one more glide around the skating rink. :)

[bassman]

There's really nothing they could do to prevent looters from making their way in. The trucks( "yeah, trucks!":p ) were just there to prevent the zombies from getting enough leverage to break out the windows/doors. The fake wall was so that the looters couldn't find their hideout, which it did it's job in that sense. I've always wondered why they didn't always keep the stores locked and just stay in their hideout till the looters left. They could have stayed up there a bit longer to regroup, then Stephen could have flown them out. If they hadn't got the bright idea to go lock the doors, Stephen would have never turned greedy.

[MinionZombie]

What always irks me is they bung up that fake wall - which is very convincing - but they don't close the steel doors behind the fake wall!

Then again, if they did that, they wouldn't have been ousted from their store room home and the movie wouldn't have ended. :p

Still, had I been there, I'd have been like "Hey, guys, you see this massive steel door behind this really thin bit of plasterboard and wood? Yeah, maybe we should close and lock these doors?" :D

[JDFP]

What always irks me is they bung up that fake wall - which is very convincing - but they don't close the steel doors behind the fake wall!

Then again, if they did that, they wouldn't have been ousted from their store room home and the movie wouldn't have ended. :p

Still, had I been there, I'd have been like "Hey, guys, you see this massive steel door behind this really thin bit of plasterboard and wood? Yeah, maybe we should close and lock these doors?" :D

Shame on you for applying logic to a Romero film! :p

I never understood their "greed" mentality either. If they had just kept themselves, like you point out, out of sight and out of mind in their area the bikers would not have messed with them. The bikers weren't interested in them or trying to kill them - they were interested in the goods in the mall only.

It goes to prove that greed kills - literally.

Hey, someone can take a social message from this "Dawn of the Dead" film about materialism and greed! :cool:

j.p.

[bassman]

Hey, someone can take a social message from this "Dawn of the Dead" film about materialism and greed! :cool:


It was unintentional! Romero didn't know he was doing that! :p

[Ragnarr]

When I finish watching any movie, I've never once think to myself, "wow, that was quite a profound social commentary about _______!" I watch a movie for what it is and to be entertained by it. I didn't come away from Dawn of the Dead thinking that our society is materialistic and greedy. Never entered my mind, not even for a nano-second. There's always these art gallery type of people, the kind that stare for hours at a painting wondering what the artist was trying to say. I'm the type of person to walk by that same painting thinking, "say... nice boobs!" or "say... nice waterfall!" or "say... nice boobs on that babe standing in the nice waterfall!"

[acealive1]

C'mon, is this serious? You can do better than this. In a world where you think most of humanity is dead your first thought (other than protecting yourself which is what they did) isn't going to be: "Hey, maybe some renegade Hell's Angels/Outlaws who didn't die from this may come and loot our mall so we better board up the entrances and think they'll be stupid enough to think this isn't a mall!" isn't going to be on the list of priorities.

Putting up some plaster on the entrances of the mall wouldn't have been any good anyway. Even if they did this (and this is a hypothetical big "If") do you think people would be stupid enough to think: "Oh, there are barriers after the doors, I guess we shouldn't try to loot the place!" would have been within their reasoning? It would have wasted time from their wasting time of shopping expeditions and Fran's attempt to become a master hair-stylist and Peter/Roger's attempt to become millionaire's in robbing the bank ("Because You Never Know") in doing this.

j.p.


well yea its serious. u see the doors they put the trucks in front of? ply wood,some cement, nails and other things could completely cover those and to be honest make it look like there isnt an entrance there. or maybe cut some of the lights when its dark out so people dont think it has power or theres anyone inside?


hell, they coulda put jb weld around those doors and they never would have gotten them open

[Ragnarr]

well yea its serious. u see the doors they put the trucks in front of? ply wood,some cement, nails and other things could completely cover those and to be honest make it look like there isnt an entrance there. or maybe cut some of the lights when its dark out so people dont think it has power or theres anyone inside?


hell, they coulda put jb weld around those doors and they never would have gotten them open

:) "Welcome to another exciting episode of This Old Shopping Mall folks!

Today, we're going to learn how to completely wall off the entrances to your shopping mall to keep those looters and flesh-eating ghouls OUT while still keeping the materialistic things you treasure IN! Stay tuned..." :)

[SymphonicX]

This question is very easy to answer.

The logistical NIGHTMARE of making a fake wall, carting it into the mall every evening for shooting, then carting it back out again, was probably massively prohibitive to the production of the film.

So we can assume that Fran, Peter and Stephen didn't have enough materials to build 3x really big walls that were strong enough to hold back zombies - cos let's face it, the point of barricading the entrance to the stairs wasn't to stop zombies breaking through it - it was to stop people realising that there was a hidden entrance there. If they barricaded the main entrances, that would have to be for the purpose of stopping the undead or any looters from getting in - and to build a wall of that calibre is a different thing entirely. Securing it and stabilising it into the floor, for instance, would have been impossible - so the wall would be knocked over instantly.

[Ragnarr]

This question is very easy to answer.

The logistical NIGHTMARE of making a fake wall, carting it into the mall every evening for shooting, then carting it back out again, was probably massively prohibitive to the production of the film.

So we can assume that Fran, Peter and Stephen didn't have enough materials to build 3x really big walls that were strong enough to hold back zombies - cos let's face it, the point of barricading the entrance to the stairs wasn't to stop zombies breaking through it - it was to stop people realising that there was a hidden entrance there. If they barricaded the main entrances, that would have to be for the purpose of stopping the undead or any looters from getting in - and to build a wall of that calibre is a different thing entirely. Securing it and stabilising it into the floor, for instance, would have been impossible - so the wall would be knocked over instantly.

Not necessarily. One would not have to nail a barricade down to make it an efficient obstacle. Gravity would serve well enough if the barricade had sufficient mass. For example, how far do you think you could push a parked car sideways? If the characters spent their time stacking up furniture, bookcases (filled with books of course), crates, barrels, etc. and secured the entire structure with cord, ropes or wires, I think the zeds and possibly the raiders would have one hell of a time getting past it. Gravity is our friend, unless of course we are falling a long distance, then it is not. :(

[Trencher]

It would be difficult to make a wall to hide the entrance with all the zombies out there and the mall would have hundreds of places of entrance anyway. Its not made to hold people out.

[fulci fan]

They actually could have put mantraps inside and outside of the mall that would have devastated the gang. unfortunately, Peter and Roger didn't have any Ragnar Benson book handy.... And Romero probably doesn't know a whole lot about that kind of stuff.

[Ragnarr]

They actually could have put mantraps inside and outside of the mall that would have devastated the gang. unfortunately, Peter and Roger didn't have any Ragnar Benson book handy.... And Romero probably doesn't know a whole lot about that kind of stuff.

Peter mentions at one point that he expects looters to come by in the future and that he doesn't want them to know that the stairwell that goes up to the roof/apartment is even there. If he had enough insight regarding hiding the stairwell, he should have also barricaded the main level entrances with A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G that would make it difficult for the zeds and possible raiders to get in. But alas, playing handball on the roof came first. Oh well, better luck next mall. :elol:

[MinionZombie]

They actually could have put mantraps inside and outside of the mall that would have devastated the gang. unfortunately, Peter and Roger didn't have any Ragnar Benson book handy.... And Romero probably doesn't know a whole lot about that kind of stuff.

He should have brought on Wes Craven as a 'killer trap consultant' - the dude loves his man traps. :elol:


Peter mentions at one point that he expects looters to come by in the future and that he doesn't want them to know that the stairwell that goes up to the roof/apartment is even there. If he had enough insight regarding hiding the stairwell, he should have also barricaded the main level entrances with A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G that would make it difficult for the zeds and possible raiders to get in. But alas, playing handball on the roof came first. Oh well, better luck next mall. :elol:

I just had an idea - a bed of nails (and/or anything sharp) extending across the width of the doors, with a depth of whatever is too far for a man to jump - then you won't be able to drive vehicles over it, and you certainly can't walk over it ... it might not be 100% awesome, but it'd certainly slow them down at least. Worth a bash anyway. :D

[fulci fan]

I didn't even realize your name is Ragnar lol. I would have taken care of business on the walkie talkie. They made a mistake by not talking back.

[dirtydwarf]

When I finish watching any movie, I've never once think to myself, "wow, that was quite a profound social commentary about _______!" I watch a movie for what it is and to be entertained by it. I didn't come away from Dawn of the Dead thinking that our society is materialistic and greedy. Never entered my mind, not even for a nano-second. There's always these art gallery type of people, the kind that stare for hours at a painting wondering what the artist was trying to say. I'm the type of person to walk by that same painting thinking, "say... nice boobs!" or "say... nice waterfall!" or "say... nice boobs on that babe standing in the nice waterfall!" Well then you obviously missed the fact that the helicopter in the film was a clear reference to mankind's destructive interference with the migratory nature of the Canadian Geese.

[Brubaker]

Let's see. Roger got himself bit during the operation where they were moving the trucks, which made him more of a priority than anything else that might have seemed like a good idea at the time. That sort of halts any plans they have going on at the moment, since the group isn't in a position where they can spend another couple of hours barricading or sealing off other doors when you got a man badly hurt.

Roger's injuries also prevent any further barricading, seeing that they were now a man short since he was no longer useful on foot. Peter certainly didn't trust Stephen to help with any major projects, given his prior failures, and Fran was too weak. Even if Roger were more capable of helping out on further attempts to barricade, Peter probably no longer trusted him to act responsibly as far as the zombies were concerned.

So if you really want answers, you can blame Roger for whatever safety measures should have been taken that weren't taken. The second he got bit, the entire dynamic of the group changed, along with their general situation. However, like Bassman has said, if a group of looters wanted to get into the mall, then they were going to do it one way or another, no matter what sort of blockades were in place out front at the mall.