Am I the only one who actually prefers the......

[Doc]

The original ending to Dawn? Don't get me wrong I like the way the film is now but, I feel for some reason the original ending would have made so much more of an impact. For those who don't know, the original ending went like this... Everything plays out exactly the same up until Peter tells Fran to go on without him... Fran goes up to the roof, and Peter goes in the small room. Instead of changing his mind, Peter goes through with shooting himself in the head. Up on the roof, instead of getting in the chopper and flying away, Fran kills herself by putting her head up into the spinning helicopter blades. After killing herself, the helicopter stops telling us even if Peter and Fran had left, they either wouldn't have had the gas to get anywhere or they would have crashed and died anyway. To me, that's a great downer ending, and maybe would have given the downer ending in NIGHT a run for its money. I think it could have been more emotinal impactful too......meh.

[axlish]

I don't prefer the original ending because I think it would have been too close to the ending of Night of the Living Dead.

[capncnut]

I don't prefer the original ending because I think it would have been too close to the ending of Night of the Living Dead. While I do agree that the upbeat ending was nice, I think the bad ending should've been explored a bit further. I kinda like the idea of Peter shooting himself and Franny flying off, tears in her eyes, while some moody DeWolfe library music plays over the credits. But yeah, it is a bit too close to NOTLD.

[Bub666]

I like the upbeat ending.But I wouldn't of mind seeing the original ending.

[bassman]

As said before, I would like to see the original ending. But I would more so like to see the credit idea of having the sound of the chopper through the credits until it putters and shuts down at the end. That would I have been great, imo. Then it could mean whatever the viewer wants it to mean. Anyway, in the end I think the ending that it has fits very well into the "comicbook-ish", popcorn fun style of the film.

[sandrock74]

I like the ending with Peter and Fran living. Its a subtle way to give some hope for a "happy ending". Although, even that is left up to the viewer. Just how low on gas were they? They did stock some supplies on it: food, water and ammo. Is the glass half empty or half full?

[Yojimbo]

Although I enjoy the upbeat ending, I do like the darkness of the original scripted ending, with everyone (including the dog) dead and the helicopter running out of fuel. On the subject of the dog, though I understand why from a logistical standpoint the dog was removed from the final shooting script, I would have liked to have the dog in the final version, with out without the upbeat ending. I think the scene where the dog hears Stephen coming up the stairs and then runs out into the stairwell, and you hear him yelping off camera and then Stephen comes into the room holding the dead and bloody dog should have been in the script.

[Mike70]

i prefer the more upbeat ending. it lets a little ray of light into an otherwise bleak picture. it also serves as a kind of offset to the ending of NOTLD.

[capncnut]

i prefer the more upbeat ending. it lets a little ray of light into an otherwise bleak picture. it also serves as a kind of offset to the ending of NOTLD. What I like about it is the old 'Hollywood'-style music as the chopper flies off into the sunset, real pretty colours like the ending to Gone With The Wind. And then you get the offbeat guitar plucking, hinting that the horror still exists and that these two characters might not survive. It's a standout moment.

[Legion2213]

I think the ending we see on our DVD's is the best, mainly because it is open to speculation, did they crash, have to land in a sea of zombies an hour later or find somewhere safe(ish) for the time being?

[VannOfTheDead]

I like the ending on the theatrical cut...not as depressing lol

[DubiousComforts]

The original ending to Dawn? Probably. If all the main characters had died in DAWN, it still wouldn't have had the same shock effect as NIGHT but would have seemed somewhat contrived. The characters that did die contributed to their own demise, just like Jason in DIARY. The only thing you could say about Peter and Fran is that they probably overstayed their mall visit and were lucky to get out alive. Besides, the ending is depressing enough as it is without a double suicide. It ain't exactly The Sound of Music simply because two characters survive.

[MaximusIncredulous]

The downer ending would've made me ask myself, what was the point? Why did we need to see the group fight for what they had secured? Why bother having Fran bug Steve to teach her how to fly the chopper if all she will do when things go bad is stick her head in the blades? As stated, such resignation, after showing so much gusto for life earlier in the film, would have felt very contrived. The filmed, open ending also provides some fodder for the imagination.

[SRP76]

The downer ending would've made me ask myself, what was the point? Exactly what I was thinking. The only reason to have them die would be to say "hey, look! More death!". There would be no reason for them to croak like that.

[AnxietyDilemma]

I think it would've become too formulaic to expect such endings from Romero. He's stated that he doesn't see the point in restoring order at the end of his horror movies, but he really didn't do that with this. It's a bit of an ambiguous ending where it leaves one to wonder. They escape the mall low on gas with very little idea of where to go.