Dawn of the Dead (1978, Single Divimax
Edition)
Picture: B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B+
After seeing 2004’s remake
of George Romero’s cult favorite 1978 film Dawn
of the Dead, it’s refreshing to go back to the original for some reflection
and thought. One thing that I have
always liked about remakes (not that there is usually much to like about them)
is that it restores the fanfare in the original film. It also brings awareness to the original,
which hopefully those seeing the Coen Brothers’ rehash of the 1955 British
classic The Ladykillers will want to
watch the original to cleanse theirselves of the cinematic atrocity of that
remake. Dawn of the Dead was never a film that I thought could be remade,
but after Romero did an update of his own classic Night of the Living Dead, anything was fair game.
The remake is a decent
film, more stylistic than its predecessor, but lacking in some of the crucial
elements that made the original what it is.
I have a deeper appreciation for some of the social and political
commentaries that the original was dwelling on and in my Day of the Dead review (the Divimax edition is reviewed on this
site), I had mentioned how it has been pointed out that Night of the Living Dead was reflective of the 60’s just like Dawn of the Dead echoes the
commercialism/consumerism of the late 70’s and where we headed in the
1980’s. Then came the Reagan
Administration Era and a handful of films in the 80’s deal with that superbly
such as David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone
(1983), John Carpenter’s They Live
(1985), and (without a doubt) Romero’s Day
of the Dead (1985).
The question at hand for
the first Dawn of the Dead is how it
compares in the series and does it work on all terms. As the middle part of the series (at least
for right now unless Dead Reckoning
becomes produced), the film gaps together the other two nicely. At this point the people are aware of this
zombie problem and are starting to figure out what has happened. All of this becomes transmitted via radio or
TV, at least initially. There is a line
in the film that pretty much outlines the entire film, which is when Fran and
Stephen are on the roof of that mall and watching the zombies within the mall. She simply says, “What are they doing? Why do they come here”? His reply is subtle yet garners impact, “Some kind of instinct. Memory, of what they used to do.
This was an important place in their lives.”
So with this film we understand that these zombies (unlike most horror
films) are just doing things out of memory of what they once did. Although they now eat human flesh, which is
what makes them inhumane, they have achieved a cannibalism beyond cannibalism.
What separates
Romero’s films from many other Horror-genre pictures is that his actually have
some thought behind them. They are fun,
over-the-top, creepy, and odd, but purpose was put into the characters. These zombies are not just running around
eating people for no reason. They never
harm anything unless it comes in their way.
There is little difference between the lifeless zombie and the shopper
as we see the mall packed with these creatures just moving about with no
intent, or no assumed intentions.
Likewise, on the other side are the humans that are left and another
crucial moment in the film occurs when two of the men go out into the mall to
see if they can round up some materials.
Instantly it becomes a shopping spree!
What I love is the fact that even though there is one female left in the
mal, she is the one that stays back and wants nothing to do with shopping. The men, however, are like kids in a candy
store thieving stupid stuff that they have no use for.
Just as the
zombies represent the mindless shoppers, the surviving humans are still
(despite the recent events) still thinking in material terms. What use is a TV when there is nothing
on? The entire human population is at
risk and these guys want to watch some boob tube? In this film they become aware of two key
factors and that is 1) to shoot them in the head to kill them and 2) don’t let
them bite you or else you’ll turn into one of them. Those are very useful tips that keep these
survivors going.
Dawn of the Dead has existed in countless alternate
versions over the years and this is where I shall attempt to name most of them…
There is an Italian version (121 min., editing supervised by Dario
Argento) and US-version (126-minutes; editing supervised by George Romero) has
a different soundtrack and a different overall tone: Romero's version
has some humor in it and is more horror-oriented;
Argento deleted all funny scenes and made the film more action-oriented.
Then there is a 137 min. version which was originally
available only on 16mm film, which was later released on 12” LaserDisc. A 2-tape VHS set
is also available, which contains the director’s cut of the film. A banned
German version runs 102-minutes long, has most of the violence in, but a lot of
dialogue cut and then an "uncut" German version (117-minutes) was
reissued. There is a British version
that runs 120-minutes long and is Romero's US-cut, and misses most of the
violence. The remastered 137-minute "director's cut" released
recently by Elite on LaserDisc, and other companies on VHS, is actually not
Romero's preferred version. This "director's cut" is instead the
version rushed into shape for a showing at Cannes. The shorter version shown
theatrically has tighter editing and almost all of Goblin's music. The
theatrical version is the official director's cut with the Cannes version being the "1st director's
cut". An 'ultimate final cut' has
been released in Germany. It features all known scenes from the
director's cut and the cuts of Romero and Argento and it runs 156-minutes.
Then we have
the DVD issues…
A DVD of the
theatrical cut released by Anchor Bay in 1999 contains some extra footage
during the dock scene (in which Joe Pilato plays a police officer). This scene
runs slightly longer than in the actual 126-minute theatrical version, but is
not complete as seen in the "director's cut", or Cannes cut. The Dutch DVD release of Dawn Of The Dead by DFW Dutch Filmworks
contains 2 DVD's. The 1st DVD contains the 139-minute Widescreen version of
George A. Romero director's cut. This is the same version of the film which is
on the out-of-print U.S. director's cut DVD by Anchor Bay. The 2nd DVD contains a 117 min.
version of Dario Argento's European director's cut of the film presented in
Fullscreen. Alas we have the Divimax
version recently released by Anchor Bay and is the theatrical version of the
film, however, later in the year 2004 a re-issue is expected from Anchor Bay,
which will be 2-discs and most likely contain both directors cut and theatrical
version. The theatrical issue runs
127-minutes and is presented in its correct 1.85 X 1 aspect ratio, which is
anamorphically enhanced. This is also a
new High-Definition transfer far superior to all versions thus far in terms of
picture and sound.
Considering
the nature of this film and its relatively low budget independence, the
transfer looks stunning! It is hard to
believe that this is the same film that has been available in poor condition
over the years on VHS. Even the older
U.S. DVD had major issues with bad color, poor detail, harsh contrast, and many other
problems. This new High-Definition
transfer puts back all the life into the film, yes even into those dead
zombies! Colors are more accurate and flesh
tones (even the makeup of the dead) are more accurate to what was
intended. This version also has some red
touchup that has been done to the blood to make it appear more like blood
rather than the pinkish hue that was on the print up until now.
Even the
soundtrack has been boosted up to include a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, a 2.0 Dolby
Surround mix, a DTS 5.1 mix, and the original mono mix. What I love in particular about having
options like this is that as a listener you are given the options of going from
original, to a slight upgrade, to even better, to best. The mono mix gives the exact original listen
of the film with all the music, dialogue, etc coming though a single
channel. Obviously it sounds compressed
and clustered, but then more separation occurs as we toggle into the 2.0 mix,
which spreads slightly more and then the Dolby 5.1, which embellishes the
material more and boosts the film into high gear. Above that Dolby Mix is the DTS 5.1, which
goes one step beyond that and delivers a terrific enclosed feel, which works so
well on a horror film.
Of course the
biggest question is how does this films' remixed soundtrack fare with other
films from that era released onto DVD as well as the recently remixed Day of
the Dead DVD. For this comparison I
decided to go with Anchor Bay’s issue of Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth (1977), which was released as a DTS-ES
edition. That film, like Dawn of the Dead, was originally a mono
film from about the same time as far as the theatrical release, which has been
tweaked with for DVD. Not only that, but
they were around the same time period, so that makes the comparison more
evenhanded. More liberties were taken
with the Day of the Dead remix and a rear center channel was introduced just
like the DTS-ES mix for The Man Who Fell
to Earth. However, Dawn of the Dead retains more of its
natural sound and does not try to overdo it.
Directional effects are appropriately spread into the soundfield with
nice definition in the DTS mix. The
Dolby mix is far too thin and forward sounding making the listener wonder if
it’s really even multi-channel. While it
might be, the surrounds are far too subtle to be noticed. This is a smoother sound mix that is a slight
bit better than both The Man Who Fell to
Earth and Day of the Dead, while
those other two might boost a slightly more prominent mix, this one remains
true, while still being playful.
The Divimax
issue also contains a commentary track with George Romero, Tom Savini (effects
make-up), Chris Romero (assistant director), and is moderated by Perry
Martin. I particularly like commentary
tracks when it has to do with films like this for some reason. There is so much inside facts that are
revealed, especially for natives of Pittsburgh about the film being shot there. This is a series that has always been partial
to Pittsburghers for the fact that it’s a high profile film that further put Pittsburgh on the map for something besides
steel. Looking back now at Monroeville
Mall (which still exists), it is hard to believe it’s even the same place since
most of the stores in the mall at that time are long gone. Most of those Ma and Pa stores have gone out
of business and are now taken over by Corporate America and the many chain
stores that have not improved variety any.
Those that
initially wrote these films off as gimmicky, wacky, silly zombie movies that
would never last can eat their words because this is one series that had enough
guts and brains behind it to make it work no matter what the content was. 25+ years later the film still stands the
test of time and its predecessor is coming up on 40 years, so what does that
say in and of itself? Anchor Bay has kept the integrity of the series
alive by issuing splendid versions on DVD that take the quality up a notch and
give fans the material they want…extras and more extras. This edition is not the last for the film as
later in 2004 will prove, but for right now this is a sheer delight to keep you
happy.
- Nate Goss
