What would you do differently?

[ZombiePrototype]

I got the idea for this thread while watching Dawn of the dead(original), but this can apply to any zed film. I want you to try to picture yourself in the movie like you are living through it and I want you to tell me what you would do differently in a specific scene or sequence. Like I said before this can apply to ANY zed film but I don't want blanket statements that you would go back and not make the movie and I don't want you to talk about what different filming techniques you would use. Remember I want you to picture yourself as living through the events in whatever zed film that you pick, and I want you talk about any specific scene or sequence.

[Doc]

To be honest I would have just be completely shocked and died early on the film.:|

[Mike70]

i wouldn't have gone down and started shooting at the bikers in dawn. i would have made sure that they didn't get up onto the roof or through the fake wall. if they didn't do either of those things i would sit tight until they left. then you could assess the situation from the helicopter and you would still have a relatively safe place to hole up while you looked for a new permanent base.

[jim102016]

I would have let the bikers take what they want and move on. Defense in depth, I would have put up my fake wall farther out than Peter and Stephen did, backed it up by a heavy cinder block wall. Put locks on the doors up the staircase. Would have stockpiled ****loads of supplies so I'd be ok for a while after the mall was forced wide open. With Fran as my pregnant ho', I wouldn't have taken so unnecessary chances in such a dangerous environment.

I'd like to say I'd just bypass the mall altogether, but it'd be hard to not give in to temptation.

While already rattled and stressed, I would have tried to remain in more control than Roger was while blocking the entrances with the trucks. Not sure if it was as stupid as Stephen shooting at the bikers, but his getting bit could have been prevented.

[SoCalLoco]

If I could change anything about Dawn, I would have had the terrible three leave IMMEDIATELY after the bikers contacted them via the shortwave. Them fighting those kind of odds over a damn mall was completely unnecessary and went against every survival mechanism they showed up until that point. Even Peter knew they couldn't keep the bikers out of the mall, and with the bikers they certainly knew the zombies would follow suit and eventually retake the place.

Finally, they must have known that they would never be able to retake the mall again without Roger and with a pregnant Fran.

I love Dawn, but them staying in the mall after the bikers broke in was completely dumb. They should have climbed in the whirly bird and gotten the hell out of dodge. That one stupid move cost Flyboy his life.

[SymphonicX]

Yeah I agree that trying to fight off the bikers was a terrible idea - but that's who Stephen was...he put materials before his own lady and kid....and it cost him dearly...

If I was to do anything different, I'd rip out the ignition wires to the trucks so they couldn't be started again as I was blocking the entrances, and consider shooting out the tires to the trucks. I'd move those f**cking boxes of ham out of the civil defence storage area, I swear they were still there at the end of the movie!!

[Shadowofthedead]

first off i woulda gotten more guess for the whirly bird. come on dont tell me they couldnt have picked up some kinda gas can on their way about places. second the above post about the trucks... that with the tires and igniotin wires wouldve worked. third i woulda prolly double reinforced the fake wall and made some kinda percussion explosive devices planted all over the mall at certain points to keep the living or the dead away from that hall way to the hidden wall.and i woulda taken all the guns from the store not just some. i woulda rigged up a nice sniper rifle in .22lr and .308win and just shot the bikers before they ever got to the mall after i had heard them on the radio. and where the hell were the machetes? i want machetes dang it!!!:mad:

[Legion2213]

I think Stephen felt it was a "home invasion" and sort of snapped when he saw those bikers wrecking everything they'd worked so hard for...he was stupid, but I have sympathy with him for his actions...Roger died to help secure that place, and now those bikers were trashing it...bastards.

So, yeah, I can see why Flyboy cracked.

Oh, and leaving the trucks all wired up was stupid, but once they'd sealed the place off, it was probably a priority to get Roger somewhere were they could treat that nasty bite....after that, going back out and ripping the wires probably wasn't an option

[MikePizzoff]

Something that's always bugged me is when Flyboy drops his walkie talkie down into the elevator. Instead of just going into the ventilation shaft and going back to their hideout, he jumps down to get it even this his arm is severely injured. I would just leave the stupid thing, knowing I can't pull myself back up into the shaft with an injury like that.

[dirtydwarf]

I would have been tappin Fran behind Flyboys back.

[sammylou]

I know that it's the point of the movie, Stephen choosing material over life etc., but I would have either

a.) not tried to fight the bikers, just hide in their saferoom until they loot their hearts content, then rebuild the defenses once they leave

b.)try to join the biker gang

c.)Fly away

[sandrock74]

I would have gone to the elevator shaft, looked in on flyboy and capped his ass while he was trapped in the elevator.
I always wondered why Peter didn't do that?

[ZombiePrototype]

Personally in Dawn I would have taken all of the good stuff like guns, ammo, food, and water up to the hideout in the beginning. When they are blocking the entrances and locking up the mall I would not only pop the tires on all the trailers but I would also take the trucks away from the the trailers, if possible without getting out of the trucks, so they could not be moved. And then at the end I would make a deal with the bikers that said that they could come into the mall and take whatever they wanted after they helped us kill the zombies outside first, I would let them do all the work, then I would go up to the roof and then after all the zombies are dead and after the bikers have probably used up most if not all of their ammo I would take out the bikers. When Roger forgets his bag in the other truck I would have told him to forget it that we would go back into the mall so he could get more tools and finish blocking the entrances later. And if we were all on the roof shooting the bikers Steven would not be down in the mall inside the elevator getting shot or bit.

[jim102016]

I know that it's the point of the movie, Stephen choosing material over life etc., but I would have either

a.) not tried to fight the bikers, just hide in their saferoom until they loot their hearts content, then rebuild the defenses once they leave

b.)try to join the biker gang

c.)Fly away

Join the gang? No chance. They were after the place, not the people until they starting causing problems. Best course of action would have been to sit back and hide. No way I would have flown away the minute I heard them on the radio. A helicopter is very vulnerable to small arms fire, if even one of those bored bikers waiting to assault the mall got a wild hair up his ass and decided to fire at the three as they vacated...they'd be ****ed! Rifles, pistols, shotguns, one guy even had an old Thompson .45 submachine gun. Hell, Peter and Stephen didn't know how many there were or where they were at until they saw their headlights.

[blind2d]

I would've killed the zombies before making a fortress, but that's just me.

[bd2999]

The biker thing would probably be the biggest. I mean the shutting down the stores thing was a good idea, didn't work, but it was a good attempt but they had time to get out of there after that. So I think that is what they should have done. Be more prepared to have supplies ready to go out of that place if need be.

Also, make sure that Roger has a tool belt so he does not have to worry about leaving his bag in the other truck because problems tend to happen that way.

[jim102016]

I would've killed the zombies before making a fortress, but that's just me.

Everyone in the area around the mall?

[MikePizzoff]

I would've killed the zombies before making a fortress, but that's just me.

Well they killed all of the zombies inside... that's about as much as they could do that would really make a difference. What the hell good would it do to kill all of the ones in the parking lot? Within days there would be just as many back there and you'd have way less ammo.

[ZombiePrototype]

Well they killed all of the zombies inside... that's about as much as they could do that would really make a difference. What the hell good would it do to kill all of the ones in the parking lot? Within days there would be just as many back there and you'd have way less ammo.
In an earlier post I said that I would have tried to make a deal with the bikers that said that if they would help us to kill all the zombies outside that we would let them inside and they could take whatever they wanted then I would back stab the bikers by letting them do all the shooting and using up most if not all of their ammo and that might even the odds against the bikers and make it easier to wipe out the bikers.

[DubiousComforts]

then I would back stab the bikers by letting them do all the shooting
That's a crazy plan. Bikers don't like people who don't share. :D

[SRP76]

There is no reasoning with the bikers. They knew what they were going to do before they ever tried to make contact.

I see a lot of people advocating leaving the mall when trouble started. Like Logan once said, "where would you go?". The whole reason they're in the mall, is because there is noplace else to go. Anywhere you try to set that helicopter down is a deathtrap. Leaving was never an option.

I would try to kill as many zombies as possible as the months rolled by, though. You can't stick your head in the sand like an ostrich; they will NOT leave you alone, ever. At some point, someone is going to have to hunt down and kill every last zombie on Earth. That someone could very well be you. So, you may as well get started, instead of waiting until you're completely overrun.

[MaximusIncredulous]

Day here. If i was Rhodes I would have shot all the scientists, Miguel and Bub. Beer and beans for everyone. John and McDermott better play nice or else.

[Trin]

Dawn:

Regarding making the mall more of a fortress - Keep in mind that by the time the bikers attacked they'd already decided to leave the mall. They'd packed the helicopter and Fran had learned to fly it. Making a permanent residence out of the place was never in their plan.

Keeping the zombie population around the mall down would've been easy and in their best interests. They didn't need guns/ammo. They could've used archery equipment. Or a pole with a tent stake taped to it from a balcony. Or they could've simply driven a truck around the outside a couple of times a week to destroy any stray zombies.

I believe Stephen's desire to protect the mall was more a territoriality thing than a consumerism message. He would've done the same had they been in a police station, hospital, or a Chuck E. Cheese. It was HIS safe place and HE fought for it. Again, by the time the bikers attacked they'd already decided to leave.

Day:

First, when you capture a zombie chop off its hands and bash out its teeth. Then you put it into the zombie pen knowing it cannot grab you or bite you. Half the movie's troubles go away right there.

Second, destroy the zombie population around the fences outside. If you look closely you'll see there were never more than about 50 all said and done. Easily managed.

Night:

Hide in the cellar, cause it's the safest place!!

Land:

In the end all the good charactes survived, all the evil characters died, the zombies were no longer a threat, and there was a better future ahead for all the survivors, so I guess it couldn't have turned out much better.