Rating: 
Summary: Was this supposed to be scary?
Review: I just didn't find this movie scary. First of all, the soundtrack was just plain silly. It sounded like music from a cheesy 70's video game. The zombies themselves were not very threatening at all, just as long as the lead characters could run. The zombies were extremely slow moving and were quite stupid. I also don't understand how people can say that the makeup effects in this movie were good. The majority of the zombies just had grey foundation on their faces. The blood wasn't very convincing either. It looked a little too orange to me. If you're looking for a real scare, check out the Evil Dead movies. Dawn of the Dead is an ok movie, but it is extremely overrated. It is worth watching only as a cheap zombie flick.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the directors cut...and it is a horror masterpiece..
Review: This is without a doubt the greatest horror film of all time. Scary, horrifying, funny, intelligent, humorous and atmospheric, George A. Romero pulled out all the stops and created a sequel that well and truly rises above its predecessor "Night of the Living Dead". I first saw this in 1988, and it was the first film I ever saw that not only made me want to see the sequels and prequels, but find out everything about the people who made it and how they went about it. In short, in started my love of film-making, as opposed to movies, but anyway back to the film...A co-production with Dario Argento, "Dawn" picks up the story where "NOTLD" left off, depicting the collapse of society as imminent and establishing the four main characters (Two SWAT troopers, and two television employees) who decide to flee the city and wind up holing up in a large shopping mall beseiged with the living dead. Watching the zombies staggering around the aisles and escalators is pretty obvious symbolism, but is still pretty potent viewing. Particularly when combined with Tom Savini's splatter FX and Goblin's superlative score (one of the best soundtrack's of all time in my opinion). The acting is realistic and the production values astounding for $1.5 million or so. Unlike most reviews I have seen here, I totally disagree with the comments about this 127 minute version. This is the version that Romero wished to release, THIS IS THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, and he fought the MPAA tooth and nail to get it! The 140 MINUTE VERSION IS A ROUGH CUT and while it does have extra gore and extrapolation scenes in it, none of them add that much with the possible exception of one shot of Peter riding a trolley through the empty mall. In addition to which, that edition being an unfinished version misses out on much of the Goblin music that adds so greatly to the atmosphere of the film. It is certainly worth seeing and even owning, but I would not say it is any better than this version. The extras are not fantastic I agree. The other Anchor Bay version (140 min) has two trailers on it, instead of just the one we get here. The bits from the Argento version are interesting, but nothing special (although it's interesting that Argento version has slightly less gore, a lot less humour and more talking!!), I liked the Monroeville Mall ad it was pretty kitch and funny. Extra scenes would have been great (but then Anchor Bay can't sell two versions), A featurette would have been cool (but you'll have to dig up "Document of the Dead" for that), a commentary would have been the best (but I guess Elite had the rights and George couldn't be bothered again), I think 5.1 would have really added to the film, but the Mono is clear and is all I've ever heard, so I'm not going to let it annoy me too much. I have seen this film in the cinema (both 127min and 140min) and both were matted at 1:66:1 like this, so that's cool with me as well. As far as I'm concerned this is the best film Mr Romero has ever done (surpassing NOTLD, Creephshow, Knightriders, Monkey Shines and Martin), and was and is and probably will always be THE BEST HORROR FILM EVER CREATED. Much respect to George A. Romero and thank you for the only film I have seen over 100 times and still find fresh.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Romero Movie Ever Made
Review: I was just a twinkle in my father's eye when "Dawn of the Dead" was released in the USA, but I can still get the same horrific effect from this movie watching on DVD as people did in the late '70's watching it in on a projection screen. The transfer quality as amazing, especially if you've ever seen it on VHS. In the beginning, Romero has the ability to actually feel bad for the zombies, for instance, when the police raid the apartment building and find that the tennants are hiding their "undead" family members inside, I really felt bad for the woman who did didn't want the police to shoot her zombie husband. But then again, he did take I big chunk out of her neck, didn't he? And,seeing a young Ken Foree from TCM III was awesome. The ending didn't have the same creepy feel as "Night of the Living Dead" did, actually it had sort of an "A-Team" feel to it, but I did enjoy the movie as a whole and would definetley recommend it to any horror fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid the US theatrical cut
Review: The amount of stars I have rated this DVD has nothing to do with how good this movie is (if that were the case, it would be five stars). What you may already know, is the greatness of this movie itself, what you may not know is the different versions available. The only way to really enjoy this movie is in the directors cut. The US cut is a cramped, rushed version, that does not let you get the full flavor of the movie. Not to mention, both DVD's have no special features to make them appealing. I am personally fortunate enough to have the old "special edition" laserdisc of this movie. It came in an oversized box with three digitally formatted discs. It also contained an unbelievable amount of memoribilia on the last disc, that contained the entire shooting script with the original "suicide" ending, countless pictures, television spots (foreign and domestic), radio spots, artwork, the real mall floorplans, board games, fan testimonials and more! This edition even has commentary by George Romero, his assistant director and his make up artist. This was an exrtemely advanced package for laserdiscs at that time. You may think I am trying to brag, but I want you know what you're buying. I want the DVD version really bad, but am holding out for a better package to come along. There's nothing out there right now that is comparable to my laserdisc version, which is a shame. If you have to buy this movie, make sure it's the directors cut.
Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing, but not Romero's best
Review: If you want to see Tom Savini dish up gore, you'll get much more viscera for your buck with the (to my mind) under-rated "Day of the Dead". If you want a satire on consumerism, watch "American Psycho". (The admittedly great line about why the zombies come to the mall - "It was an important place in their lives" - is about as trenchant as Romero's satire gets.) And if you want real haunt-your-nightmares zombie chills, nothing has ever come remotely close to the original "Night of the Living Dead". But "Dawn" is worth watching for its great premise and skillful direction, even though it's half an hour too long (the condition now known as "Tarantino-itis") and undercuts its effectiveness with silliness like having bikers attack the zombies with cream pies. In particular, the end credits - though not half as powerful as those in the first film - are memorably creepy. (The DVD extras are just as paltry as everyone says and should not be an added incentive to purchase.)
Rating:
Summary: Very Creepy, very 80's, and very up to par.
Review: This is one of Romero's best. It tells a great story of survival in the most interesting setting that could bring out so many ideas for a movie... the mall!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of the genre gets shoddy treatment on DVD
Review: This brilliant, stunning, and apocalyptic vision by George Romero is truly one of the genre's best epic films, even surpassing its predecessor, 'Night of the Living Dead'. If your looking for more than the average, lame-brained teenage slasher film or exploitation blood bath, go here. This is a savage satiric attack on American consumerism that is even more meaningful today than it was in 1979. Likeable characters and and intelligent, well-plotted script, this film mixes in just the right doses of humor, action, horror and tragedy, placing it heads and tails above nearly anything you will find on the shelves today. The Star Wars of horror films! The only reason this DVD received 4 stars and not 5 is because of the lame job Anchor Bay did with it. Yes, it's in widescreen and the image transfer looks pretty good. Ok, but those things should be standard by now. Everyone who is a fan of this film already knows that there are a lot more scenes that were featured in the European release that quite easily could have been included here as extras. Instead, we get two! There is no director's commentary, and if ANY film should have one, it's Dawn of the Dead! Last but certainly not least is the terrible sound reproduction. Why haven't they remasted this soundtrack into Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS?? The score is fantastic and deserved much better. If anyone from Anchor Bay is reading this, PLEASE release a better version of this!!! By the way, AVOID at all costs the "alternate soundtrack" version of this movie. It takes out all the great weird elements of the soundtrack in favor of a more contemporary "mellower" souding score, leaving in it's place a weaker, paler version of the film.
Rating:
Summary: A Thinking Man's Horror Film
Review: Dawn Of The Dead is truly one of the most influencial movies to come out in the last twenty years. But for all the films (splatter, cannibal, zombie, whatever label you care to attach to) that this movie inspired or just plain ripped off (we're talking close to a hundred films, folks), not ONE film comes close to Romero's take of the reliance of society's commercialism and the ultimate downfall of our dependency for it. These issues usually don't pop up in horror films. It also has one of the best and influencial soundtracks ever utilized in a horror movie. A full score written for the movie by the soundtrack specialist group Goblin and tracks from the DeWolfe Music Library edited together as only George Romero can make a perfect match to what is on the screen. There are no punches pulled here. Unfortunately, Anchor Bay's 20 Anniversary Edition DVD is a letdown. The picture and sound quality is the best I've ever seen and heard, but it's a full frame picture with some information lost in the 1.66:1 letterboxing. The DVD supplements are truly disappointing. A theatrical trailer, a Monroeville Mall commercial spot, and a few alternate scenes used from Dario Argento's European version (another story in itself). Ironically, these scenes are presented in the correct 1.85:1 matting. Weird. At the very least there should have been an audio commentary from George Romero, makeup effects artist/actor Tom Savini, or even from a film historian, say Tim Lucas; this would do the film justice. As it is, I'm still giving this DVD a four star rating; it's too important a movie to be ignored. I think it would do some so called "horror movie directors" some good to revisit this classic film. Frankly, it puts a lot of today's horror movies to shame.
Rating:
Summary: DAWN OF THE DEAD
Review: DAWN OF THE DEAD is George Romero's sequel to his horror classic NGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and it is just as good as the first film. This time, we follow three men and a pregnant woman who lock themselves up inside an abandoned shopping mall to get away from the living dead that have risen from there graves and taken over half the world population. We all know that you can kill one of the living dead by shooting it in the head or chopping the head off, and if a human is bitten by one of the living dead they will eventually turn into the living dead. The survivors in the shopping mall are able to take what they need (food, clothing, personal items, etc.) in order to make it for as long as they can without going outside of the mall. Soon, a gang of bikers and rebels find out that some people are hiding out in the mall and they decide to break in and take what they can't get. Now, the living dead find there way into the mall and a showdown takes place between the survivors, the bikers and rebels, and the living dead. This film has horror, drama, suspense, and some humor thrown in for good measure!
Rating:
Summary: the Cult 1979 Horror masterpiece.
Review: This is the sequel to Night of the Living Dead ( 1968), it starts off in Pennsylvania ( the same town) and years since the Zombie House inncident occured, the Zombies return for revenge. This time, The Zombies are taking over the entire state of Pennslyvania while a group of SWAT team members hide out in America's Biggest Mall for shelter and a place to get lots of weapons to defend against the flesh eating Ghouls. It's a impressive work of Horror and art at the same time, it shows what Society has created and that it could be destroyed. It's got plenty of splatter to please you horror fans and it's done by Tom Savini's unique special effects makeup. Recommendations: Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead, The Evil Dead, Scanners, and Scream.
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