The Good
A great movie gets a nice little makeover on Blu-ray Disc.
The Bad
I just wish there were more featurettes!
In this sequel of sorts to Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead was George A. Romero’s attempt to comment on the consumerism in the me generation 1970s. At the end of Night of the Living Dead, it appears that if the human race bands together they can stop these flesh eating zombies from taking over. Dawn of the Dead opens with confusion for both the viewer and the film as it appears that the zombies have now taken over. A group of people end up taking refuge in a mall which serves to comment on America’s needless spending and desire to own things. In the end, the zombies seem to win as there are only a few survivors left with precious few options about where they can head.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
As just a horror movie, Dawn of the Dead more than delivers in the gore and fear department. However, it transcends all categorization by entering the realm of the political.
Features
At first I was little upset that there were so many voices on this track. However, at the end of the day, movies are supposed to be entertainment and this track certainly goes out of its way to provide that. I liked hearing Romero discuss the effects in the film, and the fact that Savini is their only seems to bolster and give his claims legitimacy (not like he really needs that). As far as I know this featurette was just ported over from another release but it is pretty darn cool.
Fast Film Facts
“The Dead Will Walk” Featurette
Anchor Bay knows how to put together bonus features for their releases. This is what makes them stand out in the next generation because unlike certain studios they don’t really seem to change up their releases whether in standard or high definition. This featurette essentially chronicles the making of this movie, and it actually serves as a nice visual component to the subject matter broached in the commentary.
Monroeville Mall Tour
On-Set Home Movies
You want vintage, this is vintage… It was really cool getting to see production footage from the actual making of this film. Like “The Dead Will Walk” Featurette, this segment of the DVD complimented the other two. What is always so amazing to me is how someone’s creativity (in this case Romero’s) gave way to such iconic imagery that, at the time, was a merely a function of the project.
Video
1.85 Anamorphic - 1080p AVC MPEG-4 transfer. I loved the way that this movie looked on Blu-ray disc. I think that it retained its piecemeal, 1970s look but at the same time it seemed really fresh. It isn’t like they went into this movie and completely redid it from the ground up, but this Blu-ray disc handled all the colors and compression really well. There’s are a lot of blues, reds, greens and creme colors and they are highly accentuated here.
Audio
Uncompressed 5.1 PCM - Dolby Surround 2.0 - Original Mono. The audio on this release seems like it has gotten the treatment as well. I didn’t hear anything that amazing, but the opening scene seemed to have the voices separated from the music a little making figuring things out in the beginning easier. Since this isn’t your run of the mill horror movie, it isn’t like they really needed to enhance or change anything level-wise.
Package
Take the iconic image of the of the bald zombie with blood streaming down the side of his face and that is what this cover presents. The back cover tells us what the movie is about, offers up Special Features, a cast list and technical specs. There isn’t anything that special about this packaging except that its been retooled for Blu-ray.
Final Word
I am really glad that it wasn’t until I reached my 30s that I delved into the oeuvre of George Romero. I saw that because had I seen his movies at a younger age, I don’t know that I would appreciate both the text and subtext of all that they provide. I love that this movie begins in total chaos. I remember thinking that perhaps I had missed something when it started, but then I realized that it was precisely Romero’s intent to drop us into the confusion of the characters. By putting us into their shoes he really makes viewers work to try and figure out what is going on. In our confusion, we start to look around as we try and grasp for certain ideas and meanings. I know that I wanted to know what was happening so I called on my knowledge of other horror films.
The truth of the matter is that Dawn of the Dead is like no scary movie you have ever seen, and now on Blu-ray Disc it doesn’t look like anything you’ve ever seen either.
Dawn Of The Dead was released September 2, 1978.
