What were the bikers in Dawn tossing grenades at?

[MinionZombie]

Yes, but still talked about to this day! Dawn of the Dead is goofy as hell and I love it for that. I'd also argue that scenes such as the blood pressure machine and the pie fight actually fit quite nicely with the sheer chaos of the biker raid, and speaks to their unruly nature. It fits the tone of the flick, too. It's disco era, it's got more of a carnival feel to it, a little more comic book feel. It kinda suits the decade in which it was made quite nicely. Night has the bleak nature of the 1960s, shot-through with political assinations, civil disobedience, and a heinous war. Day has the resurgence of nuclear warfare rhetoric on the tipping point where it could have gone one way or the other, as well as the complete and total death of the 'hippy dream' to the emboldening of the military industrial complex. Dawn has candy colours and the BeeGees, man. There's a lot of selfishness and greed and violence and just having a laugh as the world burns going on in that group. Long term planning wouldn't be high on their agenda, based on their nature seen in the film. Brutal enough to survive as long as they have, but one also wonders just how much 'turnover' they have in that group - people joining, dying, others replacing them etc. A loose band of likeminded folk, but you'd also wonder just how much each of them care about their fellow raiders. Our group of survivors care about each other, whereas this crowd of bikers raiding the mall are just balls out in it for themselves first and foremost. They can't even manage to shut the fuck up while the one guy is on the radio trying to convince our group in the mall to let them in. You can tell how pissed he is - "Can this shit! Can it!" - while they're all hooting and hollering about their own whirly birds and so on. There's no discipline in that group and it just comes down to smashing their way in and grabbing whatever the fuck they can that's in sight. They're too busy thinking 'old world', grabbing up necklaces and sneakers. Common sense would be looking for hardy work clothes, thick jackets, boots, food etc. The only sensible thing they steal is weapons. The mall is a playground and they treat it as such. Stealing a mannequin while wearing a giant hat? Real professional, but helps illustrate the ragtag nature of them. Peter may call them a "professional army", as technically that'd be a suitable description, but there's professional and professional. These loons aren't even up to The Dirty Dozen standards, they're way off.

[JDP]

I'd also argue that scenes such as the blood pressure machine and the pie fight actually fit quite nicely with the sheer chaos of the biker raid, and speaks to their unruly nature. It fits the tone of the flick, too. It's disco era, it's got more of a carnival feel to it, a little more comic book feel. It kinda suits the decade in which it was made quite nicely. Night has the bleak nature of the 1960s, shot-through with political assinations, civil disobedience, and a heinous war. Day has the resurgence of nuclear warfare rhetoric on the tipping point where it could have gone one way or the other, as well as the complete and total death of the 'hippy dream' to the emboldening of the military industrial complex. Dawn has candy colours and the BeeGees, man. There's a lot of selfishness and greed and violence and just having a laugh as the world burns going on in that group. Long term planning wouldn't be high on their agenda, based on their nature seen in the film. Brutal enough to survive as long as they have, but one also wonders just how much 'turnover' they have in that group - people joining, dying, others replacing them etc. A loose band of likeminded folk, but you'd also wonder just how much each of them care about their fellow raiders. Our group of survivors care about each other, whereas this crowd of bikers raiding the mall are just balls out in it for themselves first and foremost. They can't even manage to shut the fuck up while the one guy is on the radio trying to convince our group in the mall to let them in. You can tell how pissed he is - "Can this shit! Can it!" - while they're all hooting and hollering about their own whirly birds and so on. There's no discipline in that group and it just comes down to smashing their way in and grabbing whatever the fuck they can that's in sight. They're too busy thinking 'old world', grabbing up necklaces and sneakers. Common sense would be looking for hardy work clothes, thick jackets, boots, food etc. The only sensible thing they steal is weapons. The mall is a playground and they treat it as such. Stealing a mannequin while wearing a giant hat? Real professional, but helps illustrate the ragtag nature of them. Peter may call them a "professional army", as technically that'd be a suitable description, but there's professional and professional. These loons aren't even up to The Dirty Dozen standards, they're way off. The bikers are not "clinging" to the "old world", since it is technically "still around". It's "dying", but still around. Once again, it does not make any sense whatsoever that they would be so hell-bent on stealing the things that you see as "useless", even to the point of willing to risk their lives, if these things were really without any value whatsoever at this point. But you are not "there", they are! If anyone knows what is still valuable in that world, it is these guys. They are the ones surviving the whole thing, and not isolated inside some securely locked-up fully stocked building, but actually "out there", "boots on the ground" in this new battlefield. Also: they seem to loot clothing as well (except the "suit and tie" type, naturally!)

[shootemindehead]

Yes, but still talked about to this day! Dawn of the Dead is goofy as hell and I love it for that. Oh sure, it's goofy alright, and that's part of the charm.