"Dawn of the Dead" (2004)

Rating: 10/10 (30 October 2004)

Zack Snyder's 2004 revision of the 1978 action epic of zombie mayhem, "Dawn of the Dead," is less a remake of George A. Romero's classic of the same title than it is its own individual vision of zombies and the survivors who band together to keep them out of the huge shopping mall they've barricaded themselves in.
The new "Dawn" is not a better film than the original, but is better made and is more streamlined and fluid. The zombies in the revision run, instead of merely lurching up and down escalators or are otherwise slow to capture victims. These zombies are quite vicious and relentless in their pursuit of potential victims.
I'm hesitant to call "Dawn of the Dead" (2004) a remake because in my opinion, what allows the new "Dawn" to surpass the 1978 version is that the new version doesn't try to outdo the original; it instead builds on that film's reputation. The original's idea of humans barricading themselves in a mall to avoid the hordes of flesh-hungry zombies that run rampant outside is only a template for the new version's more nefarious agenda of scaring the daylights out of the audience.
The new "Dawn of the Dead" treads in places where Romero's film didn't  it delivers genuine shocks  not satire and is heavy on gore (which is extended in the director's cut) and characters you come to know and care about. Yet, you can't completely dismiss Romero's original. And whereas the mall in the original was a haven for the four main characters to keep the hording masses of zombies outside at bay, the mall in "Dawn" (2004) is merely a rest stop; the survivors here in 2004 aim to escape from the living dead as soon as possible.
As a fan of George A. Romero's highly praised and daring "Living Dead" trilogy, it only seemed natural that a remake of the most popular film was reasonable. Already "Night of the Living Dead" was remade in 1990 and was directed by Romero's right-hand special effects man Tom Savini. As far as I can see, a remake of 1985's "Day of the Dead" is not that far off, as well as a FOURTH "Living Dead" film.
And several 1978 "Dawn" alumni make cameo appearances: Ken Foree ("Peter" in the original) plays a priest who delivers "Dawn's" most famous punch line ("When there is no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth"), Scott H. Reiniger ("Roger" in the original) as a military general, and special effects wizard Tom Savini ("Blades" in the original) as a sheriff leading an operation to eradicate the zombies.
"When there is no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth" has a greater relevance in the new "Dawn" because here, the zombies walking around and consuming the flesh of the living is seen to be a worldwide epidemic  the Apocalypse. In the original, the zombies were simply seen as more of a nuisance, not the end of the world.
10/10