Defending Dawn O4

[ShadowBoxing]

What was good: Zombie Baby: I might be the only person who liked the zombie baby. But I thought it was an excellent concept. I liked it mostly because Sarah Polley, a nurse in the film, shot it. Which is something that totally betrays her profession. Also it showed just how awful the situation was. The "You wait" scene: The fact that they found a guy who looked just like Roger, and then put him in a scene exactly like the "Peter Kills Roger" scene was really a plus for me. News: The news, and reporters in the field talking about the outbreak was really a plus for me. Especially Savini making a cameo...awesome. It was great to see the world outside the mall breakdown. Unfortunately it was not a slow progression. The Gunshop Owner: Just really cool, especially on the special features. The Bad The Runners: The whole concept of running steps all over rigormotis and decay. They were less zombified and more just a mob on PCP. Unexplained deaths/dead: How exactly did her daughter die? Why did it take so long for the Russian chick to turn, but the guy turned the next day? How the heck does a mob of zombies get on an uninhabited island? Too Short: Not enough time was given to characterization. Zombies Were Evil: Unlike Romero's zombie films where humans caused their own problems through their inability to solve petty differences, in this one humans die because zombies now have super powers The dialogue: Was chulky to say the least. Zach Snyder saved this film, upgrading it to passable.

[Adrenochrome]

The Gunshop Owner: Just really cool, especially on the special features. The Gunshop guy in the sf's, to me, was better than ALL of Yawn'04

[AssassinFromHell]

The Gunshop guy in the sf's, to me, was better than ALL of Yawn'04 It reflected the over all acting level of the film. Superb.

[Mike70]

Before NOTLD, GAR had absolutely no produced scripts to his credit. And, his biggest deal to date was a soap commercial that aired only once on local television. yeah but after that his career really blew up. i mean he was doing mr. roger's eps (the one where mr. roger's has his tonsils removed - what gripping television) and all of those sports retrospectives for "the winners", then his crowning achievement: "juice on the loose." The Gunshop guy in the sf's, to me, was better than ALL of Yawn'04 i'll agree with you here. the special feature that was about andy was one of the coolest things about the DVD. that and the faux news with dr. franklin from B5, i thought that was pretty cool as well.

[SymphonicX]

What poeple fail to realize about the remake of Dawn of the Dead, is that it was never intended to be a complete rendition of the original. In fcat, Snyder said this over and over again in various press releases before the film went out. Even so, many zombie fans, particulary George Romero fans, felt a sting of pain when they ehard about the remake. ...And why shouldn't they? Look what happened when Coca Cola introduced Coke 2 -- it went down the drain pretty fast. Basically, there's a thing about remakes, where people are expected to see something better or up to par as the original. But I was pleasently surprised. When I went to the show expecting to see a dull, hashed out imitation of Dawn of the Dead -- but instead, I was very pleased. Yes -- I was shocked and a little offshot about seeing the running zombies. But since I had just seen similar ghouls in "28 days later", it only seemed natural to up the stakes. Consequently, Dawn o4 had the concept of running ghouls before 28 days later, despite the fact that 28 days later was released first. How is this known this? ..There was talk of an Xbox game about to be made based on the film, which never happened. At anyrate, the concept art for it (which was posted on conceptart.com way back in 2002/3) had clear taglines about the ghouls being fast. What freaks me out, is the nasty reaction people get when they see "Runners" in Dawn 04. The director did this to "modernize ghouls", much like other classic beasts have been. Example, when Bram Stoker's Dracula came out, you didn't see a Bella Lugosi-style Vampire, but something new. The same could be said for werewolves -- just look at films like underworld and others. I mean much worse insults have been made to the Romero classics; one being that sucky film Contagion -which actually had the nerve to claim their film as a direct prequel/sequel. People should be ****ed, it should be at crappy attempts to exploit the name of Romero's zombie work like Contagion did. Lastly, I'll admit that I like the original Dawn of the Dead better than the remake, however, the remake is one of my best zombie films. It was well directed and eventhough they put in running zombies, all that did was to make escaping the ghouls much harder, thus prompting the suspense up a whole lot more. What you fail to acknowledge is the throw away characters, nameless people, stupid subplot of zombie baby (ridiculous) and the very fact that this "reimagining" took the zombies from the shopping mall, and put nothing in it's place. There was no interaction with the mall, it was barely a set piece. Romero's work used the mall as it's own character, it had feel to it...what "feel" was there in the remake aside from sheer intensity, which was entirely due to the running zombies and nothing to do with the predicament or plight of the characters on a personal level? There was no FLESH to this movie, it had great actions sequences, THAT is all.....and not ONE of those action sequences matched up to the sheer audacity and intensity of the biker invasion in the original movie.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Here's the thing... You guys say Zack is to blame for DAWN 04, or James Gunn is to blame. The sad thing is, if they had filmed Gunn's screenplay it would have been a really bad movie. They of course do not credit the two writers who performed re-writes, saving what was really a troma filled zombie script into a passable and enjoyable action zombie film script. Scott A. Frank and Michael Tolkein don't get the credit they deserve. I have read James script and it was bad, the re-writes made it more enjoyable. Sucks that WGA rules state no one else can be credited unless they change more than 50% of the story. Basically these guys fixed some characters, and got rid of the cheesy dialog and a dumbass zombie baby being born then standing up and running to chomp on its mother and father. Zack's direction and those re-writes turned in a zombie film zombie horror fans should be proud of, yet they embrace GARBAGE like LAND as being a better film. Thats the only thing that makes me shake my head around here. You guys say the genre needs integrity, they need to stop making crappy films... DAY 08 was more enjoyable than LAND of the DEAD and took itself more seriously, hell even James Gunn's Slither was a better movie, but because of this need to praise anything zombie related Romero does you guys almost, and I stress almost, come off like Hypocrites sometimes. Before you gus bash a lot of zombie films go back and take another look at LAND, a very hard look. DAWN 04 was criticized for having a chick run after a dog... LAND had zombies carrying military fire power and the ability to use in such a way that would make most soliders look like paint ballers. Their excuse for communication and the understand of that communication through a few gutteral grwols was laughable, the friggin ransom, and finally... RIley's thoughts and feelings about the zombies just looking for a place to go. When I watch that movie I see so much potential thrown away on what amounts to nothing more than a sci-fi original written in the form of a childish comic book story. Thank god ROmero redeemed himself with DIARY. That was everything LAND should have been.

[Excessium]

Before you gus bash a lot of zombie films go back and take another look at LAND, a very hard look. DAWN 04 was criticized for having a chick run after a dog... LAND had zombies carrying military fire power and the ability to use in such a way that would make most soliders look like paint ballers. Their excuse for communication and the understand of that communication through a few gutteral grwols was laughable, the friggin ransom, and finally... RIley's thoughts and feelings about the zombies just looking for a place to go. When I watch that movie I see so much potential thrown away on what amounts to nothing more than a sci-fi original written in the form of a childish comic book story. QFT. But both movies blow imo. Land was embarassing. I'd rather watch RE and never see land or dawn 04 again for "one solid reason" watching Milla get up from that shower and wake up from her coma(both times) is priceless. Not to mention Manson put together a pretty solid score. Sad it has to come down to that for me.

[Bub666]

The Gunshop guy in the sf's, to me, was better than ALL of Yawn'04 Yeah,I have to agree.

[clanglee]

I liked Dawn '04 a lot. I didn't have any real problems with the movie. This thread is coming dangerously close to the old Dawn'04 vs. Land debate. That makes me tired.

[SymphonicX]

Thank god ROmero redeemed himself with DIARY. That was everything LAND should have been. I almost listened to you there, but you lost all credibility with that statement. Land was entertaining, had some good moments. Dawn 04 had less good moments, but was way better than Diary, which was a travesty of bad acting, terrible scripting and contrived situations. It had all the authenticity of a rolex watch on a street market in China. Sorry, I think you labelling people who preferred Land, which even by your admission had potential, over a brainless, dire and pathetic action zombie flick with no balls or meat to it at all, is kinda inane. Still, having said that, this is akin to a bunch of Star Wars fans bitching over which was worse, Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. Who the **** cares? Get over it, get over the movies, they are what they are and people take from them different elements. I for one won't be labelled as a Romero Fanboy because I dislike some of his movies and can fairly criticise them - however I won't sit there and praise the bull**** that was Yawn04 because it was...just...a...terrible...****ing....movie. "I LIKED THE PHANTOM MENACE"

[AcesandEights]

Thank god ROmero redeemed himself with DIARY. That was everything LAND should have been. DJ, you need to put these sort of red-flag statements at the beginning of your posts, so the reader will know you're posting off your meds

[Griff]

Dawn o4 had the concept of running ghouls before 28 days later, despite the fact that 28 days later was released first. How is this known this? ..There was talk of an Xbox game about to be made based on the film, which never happened. At anyrate, the concept art for it (which was posted on conceptart.com way back in 2002/3) had clear taglines about the ghouls being fast. Can anyone confirm this bullsh*t? Like maybe if running zombies are mentioned in the James Gunn screenplay? Even then, there's no guarantee it wasn't a revision... I know for sure that 28 DAYS LATER came out before DAWN 04 had even filmed. Look, a mate of mine was on location and specifically heard Zack Snyder instruct the zombie extras to jump around "like 28 DAYS LATER". And that tells me everything I need to know.

[Mutineer]

1983's Return of the Living Dead is the first film I recall showing running Zombies. 28 Days Later did it before Dawn 04 = (Still wondering the hate on Dawn 04)

[Mike70]

1983's Return of the Living Dead is the first film I recall showing running Zombies. don't you mean 1985's return of the living dead?

[Mutineer]

I did, I did.