George A. Romero's Dawn Of The Dead Blu-ray Disc Review

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Title: George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead

Region: A

Media: Blu-ray Disc

Genre: Horror

Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross

Writer: George A. Romero

Director: George A. Romero

Feature Length: 127 minutes

Extras: Audio Commentary With Writer/Director George A. Romero, Make-UP Effects Creator Tom Savini, And Assistant Director Chris Romero, Trailers, TV Spots, Radio Spots, International Theatrical Trailers, U.K. TV Spots, Galleries, Monroeville Mall Commercial, The Dead Will Walk Featurette, On-Set Home Movies With Audio Commentary From Zombie Extra Robert Langer, Monroeville Mall Tour

Languages: English PCM 5.1 Uncompressed Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Monaural Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired

Packaging: Blue BD Case

Chapter Stops: 24

Sound: PCM 5.1 Uncompressed Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Monaural Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1978/Blu-ray Disc Release: 2007

Home Video Distributor: Starz Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

“George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead” is one of my all-time favorite horror films. With the mix of comic book colored over the top gore, exciting action, genuine horror thrills, and a wry sense of humor, the film is arguably one of the best horror films ever produced in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The film opens up three weeks after the events in Night Of The Living Dead. The government of the United States has declared a state of martial law in all major cities and urban centers in the face of the increasing zombie epidemic that is sweeping the world. People are no longer allowed to keep private residences regardless of how well stocked and fortified they might be. Armed units of the National Guard in cooperation with local law enforcement are systematically being dispatched to collect the bodies of the recently deceased for orderly destruction. Of course the phenomena has caused chaos on the streets with people refusing to turn over the dead and vacate their residences. Rescue stations are being knocked out and communication between cities is grinding to a halt. After a bloody massacre in a Philadelphia housing project, two SWAT officers join two member of the media and attempt to escape north as far away from the general population as possible since that is where the living dead are more likely to congregate. Aboard their “borrowed” traffic helicopter, they eventually find themselves weathering the zombie plague from within a suburban shopping center. As society unravels outside, the dwindling survivors find their shopper’s paradise turning into a prison from which there is little hope of escape even with the chopper since it is low on fuel. Soon it turns into a tomb when a motorcycle gang of raiders invades the mall and the living dead take up residence inside once again.

An Anchor Bay Entertainment label release from Starz Home Entertainment and George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead is among the first wave of high definition optical disc titles released on Blu-ray Disc. The version included is the original American theatrical version that has been available on DVD for a few years now and is Romero’s preferred version of the film. The source material is the high definition master used for the Divimax Series DVD release from 2004, but it has been given extra attention for it’s high definition Blu-ray Disc debut. The results are incredible. To state George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead on Blu-ray Disc makes the film look better than nearly anyone has ever seen it before is obvious. To say you have to see it for yourself to believe the amazing high quality picture is the straight truth. This is an absolute must purchase for Romero fans and another great reason as a result to buy a Blu-ray Disc player. The colors just literally pop out while the detail and textures are truly impressive. The film is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of (1.85:1) encoded with the AVC codec. The English Uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround Soundtrack matches the action perfectly. You will hear little sound nuances you may never have noticed before. The sound effects, which are mostly, stock sounds that mix well with the stock music from the film as well as the portions by Goblin, fit the retro graphic novel like quality of the film. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack mix from the DVD release as well as the original Monaural Soundtrack are both encoded onto the disc as options along with optional English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired. At times watching both George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead and George A. Romero’s Day Of The Dead, which was released on Blu-ray Disc day and date with each other, there is a bit of a dark Western feel complete with a heroic escape at sunrise that only knocks the viewer out of his or her seat when he or she realizes they’ve escaped to nowhere and wherever they go, odds are they won’t survive long.

Writer and Director George A. Romero and his wife, Assistant Director Chris Romero, and Special Makeup Effects Artist Tom Savini also contribute to a feature length audio commentary moderated by the DVD producer Perry Martin. The commentary is quite candid and references films like 28 Days Later and the remake of Dawn Of The Dead. Romero discusses what at the time was a proposed fourth entry in the series Land Of The Dead AKA Dead Reckoning as well as the social issues that motivate his writing and filmmaking. Tom Savini is finally able to confirm with George Romero the existence of footage for a darker original ending that was partially shot, but ultimately scrapped in favor of the ending that appears today. Two (1.85:1) theatrical trailers that also look remarkably clear are provided among the other extra features along with one 57-second TV spot and two 32-second TV spots as well as three 60-second radio spots and five 30-second radio spots.

A commercial for the Monroeville Mall (: 27) and other extra value features include an Italian and two German theatrical trailers that run at (3:47), (1:03), and (3:40) respectively. The Dead Will Walk (75:04) documentary originally exclusive to the Ultimate DVD Set features videotaped interviews with much of the cast and crew of Dawn Of The Dead and was directed by Anchor Bay Entertainment’s DVD Producer Perry Martin. On-set home movies narrated by Zombie extra Robert Langer (3:25) and a recent Monroeville Mall tour with Ken Foree (11:28) is also included. The extra features are presented in 480p MPEG-2 coding. Exclusive to the Blu-ray Disc release is a film fact text commentary.

When one considers the amount of bonus features one gets on this Blu-ray Disc release that previously were only available in the 4-Disc Ultimate Edition DVD set, George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead takes on an even greater overall value that dollar for dollar complete with a high definition picture resolution up to 1080p where available, that is sure to please fans of the film. George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead is available on Blu-ray Disc now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Starz Home Entertainment.

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