DVD Of September #1 - Dawn of the Dead Ultimate Edition

"When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."



With the exception of a breathtaking opening sequence, a cool credit sequence effectively utilizing the Johnny Cash song "When the Man Comes Around", the action packed finale, and a very able Sigourney-esque Sarah Polley, 2004's remake of 1978's classic is only passable. However, it is still worth seeing. Before you check that out when it comes to DVD in late October, I give you my highest advisory to go back to the gory, satirical original.



Now available from Anchor Bay in a much deserved "Ultimate Edition," Dawn of the Dead can be viewed in three different versions for your choosing:



+The first is the U.S. Theatrical Version. It runs 127 minutes and is unrated.

+The second is the Extended Version. It is often called the director's cut, which is untrue. This version was created to play at Cannes and runs 139 minutes.

+The third is the European Version, which clocks in at 118 minutes. It skips several scenes seen in the previous versions and favors several scene extensions. It contains additional music from composer Goblin.

+In addition, the fourth disc features 2 feature length documentaries: The Dead Will Walk and Document of the Dead. The regular DVD supplements - including commentaries, marketing galleries, and minidocs - are also in abundance.



But let's not forget the reason why this film is so worth your time and money: the zombies, some of whom are blue. Actually, they all are. It is the film's only flaw. The satirical entry in George Romero's "Dead" series takes aim at consumerism as four survivors from a zombified world take refuge in a shopping mall. Outside them is everything to fear, inside is everything they could ever want. The movie addresses almost any question you may have about what it would be like to live like this and never allows holes to appear. The first film, Night of the Living Dead, is effective in its simplicity (hey, that's how horror films work best!) The third film, Day of the Dead, continues the more satirical nature explored in Dawn by poking fun at a military led team that will rid the world of the zombies. The fourth film - not called Eve of the Dead or Dusk of the Dead - is called Land of the Dead is gearing up to film in Pittsburg. Dawn remains the best of the three that have been released, both as a gruesome zombie film and a cultural allegory.



Fun fact: Gaylen Ross plays the main female character in the original. Sarah Polley shows a stunning resemblance to her in the new one, but the biggest homage in the modern day Dawn is that one of the stores in the mall is named Gaylen Ross. It actually sounds a lot like a department store you might visit.



(Yes, there are now two DVD's of the month: one a new release of a catelog film, one a release of a recent theatrical release. This month's other DVD recommendation will be announced in less than two weeks. And no! It is not a certain potential awards juggernaut, great romance with equal parts thriller, sci-fi, drama, comedy and fantasy thrown in.)