Dawn of the Dead: Ultimate EditionDirector: George RomeroGenre: Horror Publisher: Anchor Bay Released: 2004 MPAA Rating: Unrated Cast: David Emge, Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross, Scott Reiniger |
A Review by Mike Bracken
03/15/2005
Released in 1979, Dawn of the Dead is Romero's follow-up to his 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead. The zombie plague that began in that first film has spread, causing chaos and mass hysteria in major cities around the country. Martial law has been instituted as the powers-that-be bicker endlessly, trying to decide how best to deal with the epidemic. When traffic helicopter reporter Stephen (aka Flyboy, played by David Emge) decides things are getting out of hand he steals the whirlybird, along with girlfriend Frannie (Gaylen Ross) and SWAT team members Peter (Ken Foree) and Roger (Scott H. Reiniger), and they set off for a better place.
The better place takes the form of a deserted shopping mall on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. While the four initially only stop in order to stock up on supplies, the allure of all those material items at their disposal entices them into staying and setting up a homestead—once they've cleared out the zombie inhabitants and secured it from outside attack.
Where Night of the Living Dead was a straight up horror film (with some minor social commentary buried beneath the ever-present threat of the shambling undead), Dawn is something a bit more intriguing. Sure, much of Dawn's first thirty minutes or so has the same unrelenting feel of the earlier film, but once our heroes arrive at their final destination, the tone changes. Dawn is something of a hybrid—a horror film with sociological impact. The film features some richly satirical moments between the explosions of violence and gore—moments that illustrate our own consumerism run amok as it raises the question: just who are the real zombies? The shambling undead or the four characters who become trapped by their lust for the easy life inside the mall?
Video
Over the years, there have been dozens of different versions of Dawn floating around—the majority of them pretty dire in terms of video quality. The first DVD release, featuring the 137-minute Cannes Film Festival cut, was even a flipper disc—meaning you had to get up and turn it over in the middle of the film.
Because the quality of the past versions was often so dismal, Anchor Bay's new 4-disc Ultimate Edition set is even more impressive than one can imagine. I expected Dawn to look better than I'd ever seen it look before, but nothing prepared me for just how truly stunning the film looks on this disc. Anchor Bay has gone the extra mile to ensure they got a really nice Divimax transfer, and the end result is a Dawn that's so vibrant and revitalized I found myself wondering how I ever managed to watch the older, grainier, drabber versions over the years.
This release isn't called the Ultimate Version for nothing--the set contains three different cuts of Dawn of the Dead, with the theatrical cut probably being the most widely seen version of the film. It runs slightly over two hours, features all the famous scenes fans remember, and so on. Unfortunately, the theatrical cut also features less of Goblin's classic score with Romero opting instead to use a lot of corny library music.
Disc two features the Extended cut of the film, which was another Romero edit that played at the Cannes Film Festival. This print runs nearly two-and-a-half hours thanks to the inclusion of several sequences that never made it into the theatrical release. Overall, this version of the film feels a little darker than the theatrical cut, although I'd be hard pressed to quantify with specific examples why. This has always been, and probably always will be, my favorite version of the film.
The final version is Dario Argento's European edit. Argento and his brother Claudio stepped in to help finance the film and as a trade-off, Romero allowed Argento to edit the release for European theaters (Argento never made his own zombie film--unlike many of his Italian horror cinema compatriots--but his style certainly turns up in this version, making it his "zombie film by proxy"). This particular cut is the rarest of the bunch, and has never to my knowledge had a legitimate domestic release before this point.
The Argento print is the shortest of the bunch, running just over two hours, and it cuts out some of the more famous segments in the Romero versions (notably the zombie being decapitated by the helicopter), but it does feature more of Goblin's score than either of the Romero edited prints. It's also lean, mean, and stylishly cut. At any rate, it certainly gives the extended version a run for its money in terms of overall quality.
The three versions of the film are all presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio enhanced for 16x9 television sets. Colors on these prints are excellent, particularly the blacks in segments like the darkened utility room, and the overall clarity of the image is truly something to behold. While Dawn may not be as lovely as some of the newer discs on the market, one must also remember that this is a film that's now 25 years old. When factoring this into the equation, it's hard to imagine the film looking any better than it does.
If there's a downside to this amazing presentation, it's only that the new transfer is so nice it makes all the little problems in the FX work of Tom Savini that much more pronounced. Zombies here are really blue, the blood is so red it's almost orange, and the clarity level makes it readily apparent that the undead are biting through latex appliances and not human skin. It's a small tradeoff, though, as the film looks absolutely stunning.
Sound
Of course, as with any DVD presentation, the picture is only half of the overall product. A pretty picture with terrible sound isn't exactly something to get excited about. This Ultimate Edition doesn't feature terrible audio, but it isn't quite on the same level as the video presentation, either.
The theatrical version and Argento's European cut feature several sound options. The theatrical print showcases a 5.1 DTS surround track, a 5.1 Dolby Surround track, 2.0 Dolby Surround, and the original mono. The Argento cut drops the DTS track but retains the other formats—which is something of a shame since I'd have loved to hear Goblin's seminal score in the DTS format. Romero's extended cut gets the short end of the stick on the audio side by featuring nothing more than the original mono soundtrack.
Fortunately, the mono tracks sound decent—particularly since the Surround Sound segments don't really add much to the film. In fact, in many ways, I almost prefer the mono sound to the 5.1—the surround seems almost gimmicky and out of place in a film like Dawn. Kudos to Anchor Bay for including so many options, though—there's a sound selection to satisfy almost every taste on these discs.
Extras
Honestly, the Ultimate Edition of Dawn of the Dead is so jammed with extras that you'll spend more time watching them than the movie itself. Citing everything on this disc would be a review in itself, so let's just hit the highlights.
This new version of Romero's zombie masterwork features not one, not two, but three different commentary tracks. The first has Romero, his wife Christine, and Tom Savini reminiscing over the film. It's an entertaining track for sure, since Romero and Savini seem to have a genuine affection for each other. The second commentary is done by the four leads, and is no less engaging. The third is the least interesting of the three, a solo track from producer Richard Rubinstein—this one is a little dry.
The set also includes more trailers than I can count, bios for Argento and Romero, radio spots, still galleries, a walking tour of Monroeville Mall (where the film was shot) and more things than you can shake a severed, half-eaten arm at.
The real centerpieces of the extras, though, are the two documentaries that make up the fourth disc. Document of the Dead is Roy Frumkes' on-set tribute to the making of the film. This was originally released by Synapse films a few years back and is still a compelling viewing experience.
The Dead Will Walk is an entirely new documentary that runs approximately 80 minutes and features interviews with just about everyone involved in the film. It's lighthearted and informative, but not nearly as academic as Frumkes' piece. Between the two, it's hard to imagine there's any Dawn of the Dead lore that hasn't been covered.
© Copyright ToxicUniverse.com 03/15/2005
