Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray Movie Review

My colleague Marty Liebman reviewed the first American high-def release of Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead (2004) nearly ten years ago. To read Marty's analysis of the film and Universal Studios' BD, please click here.

Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dawn of the Dead officially makes its second appearance on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory in this two-disc Collector's Edition. Both are BD-50 with the first disc housing the theatrical version (a high-def debut) and the second including the previously released unrated version. The MPEG-4 AVC-encoded transfers each sport average video bitrates of 35000 kbps. Shout! has derived its transfers courtesy of a 2K digital intermediate from Universal's vault. First, it's nice that Shout! has brought the theatrical cut to BD. In the fall of 2004, Universal issued the R-rated version in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation but left it off the HD-DVD and inaugural Blu-ray. The DVD had problems with edge enhancement, aliasing, and softness. The Shout! has ameliorated these flaws considerably. I also didn't notice the halos that were apparently present on the SD release. Authoring and compression are substantially better than the Universal BD-25, which employed the VC-1 codec and averaged 17099 kbps. I spotted some flickering during the first reel, which is probably attributed to the high florescent lights in the hospital hallway. The suburban lawns in the Wisconsin setting exude a bright green that is richly delineated. In addition, a green caste bathes many shots inside the mall (see capture #s 5 and 7). Skin tones on the humans look natural without any post-processing. Black levels are deep. Snyder is a big proponent of heavy grain and that it is on full display here. There is also video noise that hindered the prior Universal along with dirt in the frame. (See the toilet shot in the mall's basement scene in Screenshot #18). Shout! cleans up some of the prior anomalies but the transfer remains imperfect.

Each cut contains scene selections for twelve chapters.

Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On the theatrical, Shout! delivers a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (4306 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (2064 kbps, 24-bit). Likewise on the unrated cut, there is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (3975 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (2063 kbps, 24-bit). The bitrate for the 5.1 mix on disc two is a little lower since Shout! also had to accommodate an archival commentary track with Snyder and his producer. Dialogue is mainly clean, crisp, and discernible. Explosions give the LFE an extra kick. Zombie moans are moderately loud and audible. The f/x tends to drown out Tyler Bates's score, which is mainly relegated to the surrounds. Comparing the Surround track to the one found on Land of the Dead, I found the latter to be more robust with greater speaker activity throughout.

English SDH are available on Shout!'s menu and can also be activated on your remote.

Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

DISC ONE: Theatrical Version (1:40:02, 1080p)

• NEW Take a Chance on Me – An Interview with Actor Ty Burrell (15:28, 1080p)

• NEW Gunn for Hire – An Interview with Writer James Gunn (9:26, 1080p)

• NEW Punk, Rock, & Zombie – An Interview with Actor Jake Weber (23:10, 1080p)

• NEW Killing Time at the Mall: The Special Effects of Dawn of the Dead (25:36, 1080p)

• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Director Zach Snyder and Producer Eric Newman (11:30, 480i)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:34, 1080p)

• Still Gallery (8:12, 1080p)

• Audio Commentary with Director Zach Snyder and Producer Eric Newman

• Introduction to the Director's Cut by Zack Snyder (1:18, 480i)

• Splitting Headaches: Anatomy of Exploding Heads (5:36, 480i)

• Attack of the Living Dead (7:24, 480i)

• Raising the Dead (7:54, 480i)

• Andy's Lost Tape (16:22, 480i)

• Special Report: Zombie Invasion (21:05, 480i)

• Undead and Loving It: A Mockumentary (5:09, 480i)

• Drawing the Dead (2:48, 480i)

• Storyboard Comparisons (5:51, 480i)

Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Snyder's Dawn of the Dead is more a reimagining of Romero's eponymous über zombie masterwork than it is a straight remake. Scribe James Gunn makes an excellent point in a new interview that he tried to make his screenplay more action oriented while lessening the role "mall droids" played in the original film. Shout! Factory has recorded four very good interviews that it recently shot and have included these on the first disc. Virtually all the other bonus materials have been ported over from the Universal and placed on disc two. Shout!'s transfer displays incremental improvements over its predecessor although noise and debris still remain. If you own the 2008 Universal, I advise you still pick up this package for the new interviews and added theatrical cut. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.