Dawn Of The Dead (1978) Review

Directed By: George A. Romero

Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross

Synopsis: As hordes of zombies swarm over the U.S., the terrified populace tries everything in their power to escape the attack of the undead, but neither cities nor the countryside prove safe. In Pennsylvania, radio-station employee Stephen (David Emge) and his girlfriend, Francine (Gaylen Ross), escape in the station helicopter, accompanied by two renegade SWAT members, Roger and Pete. The group retreats to the haven of an enclosed shopping center to make what could be humanity’s last stand.

Review: Second Sight recently released a boxset containing 3 different cuts of this cult classic zombie movie and also thrown in was an extra disc full of bonus features. [which unfortunately wasn’t available for review]

The movies are presented in high quality and are restored to perfection, compared to the previous versions you can see all the subtle details which never quite were made clear on older copies of the movie due to the standard print, now everything is enhanced making viewing twice as good as before.

Dawn Of The Dead does come across rather dated compared to the likes of what we see now, bit there is no doubt that no other zombie movie will ever rate as high or achieve the cult status that Dawn Of The Dead has done, without Romero there is no doubt the zombie genre wouldn’t be what it is today.

The character development in Dawn is one of the highlights and ‘The Cannes’ cut – While being extremely long – fleshes out the characters and helps the audience engage with them in ways you don’t really get to in movies these days.

Dawn Of The Dead also features some great moments which are more than memorable, watching scenes like the apartment block assault in the beginning or blocking the mall with the trucks and notably the finale with the bikers in HD was all phenomenal. You will find yourself glued to the screen basking in this world that Romero has set up like a fine game of chess.

Overall Second Sight has knocked it out of the park with this release and any fan of the zombie genre or Romero would be a fool to not add this to their collection.

SPECIAL FEATURES

BLU-RAY DISC 1: THE THEATRICAL CUT (127 mins)
• NEW 4K scan and restoration of the Original Camera Negative by Second Sight at Final Frame New York and London supervised and
approved by DoP Michael Gornick
• Audio: New restoration of the original OCN Optical presented in Mono 1.0, Stereo 2.0 and 5.1.
• Commentary by George A Romero, Tom Savini, Christine Forrest
• NEW commentary by Travis Crawford
• NEW optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired

BLU-RAY DISC 2 – THE EXTENDED (‘CANNES’) CUT (137 mins)
• Produced using 4K scan of the Theatrical Cut Original Camera Negative and 4K scan of the Extended Cut Colour Reversal Internegative
• DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono
• Commentary by Richard P. Rubinstein
• NEW optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired

BLU-RAY DISC 3 – THE ARGENTO CUT (120 mins)
• 4K scan of the Interpositive by Michele De Angelis at Backlight Digital, Rome
• Audio: DT-HD Master Audio Mono 1.0 / Surround 5.1 / Stereo 2.0
• Commentary by Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Emge
• NEW optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired

BLU-RAY DISC 4: SPECIAL FEATURES
• NEW Zombies and Bikers – With John Amplas, Roy Frumkes, Tom Savini, Christine Forrest, Tom Dubensky, Tony Buba, Taso Stavrakis
and a whole host of zombies and bikers! (59 mins)
• NEW Memories of Monroeville
A tour of the mall with Michael Gornick, Tom Savini, Tom Dubensky and Taso Stavrakis (34 mins)
• NEW Raising the Dead: The Production Logistics (25 mins)
With Michael Gornick, Christine Forrest, John Amplas, Tom Dubensky (23 mins)
• NEW The FX of Dawn with Tom Savini (13 mins)
• NEW Dummies! Dummies! – An interview with Richard France (12 mins)
• NEW The Lost Romero Dawn Interview: previously unreleased archive interview (20 mins)
• Super 8 Mall Footage by zombie extra Ralph Langer with option of archive commentary by Robert Langer and new commentary by
Ralph Langer (13 mins)