Day of the Dead Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Day of the Dead Blu-ray Movie Review

Fodder for Zombie genre.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 15, 2012

Nothing ever really happens in this town anyway.

This Day of the Dead isn't all that dissimilar from that Day of the Dead. They're both Zombie movies, they both feature unlikable characters, they're both gory, and both share some similar plot threads, including a zombie that's a little bit more "docile" than the rest of his undead friends and action that takes place in a secret underground government/scientific bunker, the older movie playing almost exclusively therein, the new one only spending its final act down below. Romero's Day proved just a little bit too nasty -- visually, verbally, and stylistically -- with its message far more blunt than the more subtle genius of his other Dead films, the overlooked Land of the Dead included. Romero's Day succeeded in getting under the audience's skin and grossing it out, but otherwise it created characters better left as zombie fodder. Pretty much the same may be said of this new version. The characters aren't absolutely unlikable, but they may as well be nameless faces whom the audience never comes to know or love. This Day of the Dead, however, lacks that heavy-handed social commentary (or any social commentary, really) of Romero's film, this one more content to just run through the Zombie movie motions, happy to just churn out bad dialogue, splatter gore, and show characters running around and shooting at zombies. It's a decent but forgettable watch that's really only for genre completists.

The dead shall walk...after they get out of bed that is.

A small Colorado town is on lockdown. The military has quarantined the area, people are sick, the hospital is packed, and the healthy citizens are in a panic. One local happens to be amongst the troops stationed on the way out of town. She's Sarah Cross (Mena Suvari), a Corporal who always carries her firearm empty. She's sister to Trevor (Michael Welch), a teenaged local who just wants to party with his girlfriend Nina (AnnaLynne McCord). Soon, Sarah is accompanied by Privates Crain (Stark Sands) and Salazar (Nick Cannon). Sarah's mother comes down with the mysterious illness which is packing the local hospital. It's there that the infection mutates and turns its victims into flesh-eating zombies. The survivors are split up around town, several attempting to escape the hospital, others holed up in a radio station with a DJ named Paul (Ian McNeice). As they struggle to beat the odds and live through the night, they will uncover the truth behind the zombie outbreak, but will they live long enough to tell anyone about it?

How is it that nobody in these sorts of movies seems to understand what's going on? Do Zombie movies not exist in these parallel or fictional universes? If a zombie outbreak happened today, in this realm, people would be pretty quick to pick up on it, much quicker, anyway, than these dimwitted characters. Day of the Dead delivers a character roster of interchangeable bodies that are more identifiable by the clothes they wear than the name they go by or the actions they take. Those actions often put them and others at risk only so they may look and sound "bad," act "cool," or perhaps appear "extra worried," all rather than realistically confront the situations they face. But the movie is pretty much a straight run-and-gun sort, particularly in its second half. Day of the Dead shows a little promise early on as the outbreak is imminent but not yet obvious. Director Steve Miner's (Texas Rangers) film does a very good job in its slow reveal of the zombie outbreak, the movie and its mood morphing seamlessly through stages of uncertainty, panic, danger, mutilation, and survival. But as it transitions into the latter two, it gains an admirable kinetic energy but loses its fundamental Horror structure, making the transition to scene after scene of gore and violence with no real substance or direction. The gore is intense and the action is decent, the latter largely dependent on whether the characters decide to take on the zombies carefully or in ridiculous guns-blazing fashion, bursting through doors and wasting ammunition needlessly. It works well enough as raw entertainment, but audiences looking for purpose in their Zombie movies should look elsewhere.

Where this Day of the Dead does find some separation from the pack is in its portrayal of, for lack of a better term, "hybrid" zombies. These undead creatures are made of both borrowed elements from various movies and a few new tricks (seemingly) exclusive to this one. These zombies run rather than walk, which stinks for the characters because where's the fun in that? Better (and easier) to pick them off from a safe distance rather than worry about a fast-moving pack, better to fear only a hoard or one's own unpreparedness than the triathletes this movie depicts. At least that adds a little more sense of danger and urgency to the movie; the characters need always be on their toes, even if their brains are on cruise control. But yes, these zombies run, jump, climb ladders, scurry along the ceiling, use tools, and even show some intelligence, some connection with the old world. There's even one zombie...wait for it...that was a vegetarian in his previous life. Therefore, he doesn't eat human flesh and can hang out with the good guys. In essence, it's a really, really bad attempt to create another "Bub" from Romero's Day of the Dead. There's also another zombie that decides his dangling eyeball would make a tasty treat, so the movie offers both extremes, zombies that would prefer a salad and zombies that are cannibals. Lovely. These zombies do look good. The makeup effects are truly top notch and there are many convincing scenes that will leave viewers wishing for better supporting elements, namely superior characters worth caring about, because there's a structure in place for a far superior movie that's unfortunately never realized.

Day of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Day of the Dead features a steady and generally pleasing 1080p video transfer. The image sports an appropriate film-like texture, retaining a layer of grain throughout. Clarity is as acceptable as one might reasonably expect of a movie that's so often dark or poorly lit. Fine detail isn't extraordinary, but everything usually appears to be in order. Facial textures are adequately complex, stitching and seams in clothing (particularly the heavier military camp uniforms) are readily evident, and of course gore looks convincingly real and tangible. Colors are never consistently vibrant; the early daytime scenes yield nice shading in those same camo uniforms, but as the movie gets darker, the palette naturally becomes less and less a major factor. Yet every color maintains fair, natural balance, even if they're not always exposed in the most ideal of lighting conditions. Similarly, black levels remain accurate and deep throughout, ditto flesh tones. A few soft shots and light banding occasionally pop up, but otherwise the transfer is steady and handles the movie's darker material nicely.

Day of the Dead Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Day of the Dead features a satisfying Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Much like the video presentation, this track won't dazzle, but it's a quality high definition presentation for a movie that has quite a bit of sonic activity to offer. The film's music enjoys the expectedly fine spacing and clarity, playing primarily across the front but with a fair surround support element. Atmospherics are excellent, if not a bit over pumped in select spots. Whether a busy roadside military checkpoint early in the movie where military personnel, honking horns, and angry civilians create a scene of panic and uncertainty or the din of a busy hospital inside of which there's nowhere to sit and hardly any room to move, the track does a fine job of recreating hectic locations. Action effects rule the day, however. Gunshots ring out with surprising accuracy, power, and authenticity. Zombie moans, victim screams, squishy gore, and other Horror sound effects are nicely replicated. The track is rounded into form by balanced and clear dialogue that flows consistently from the center channel.

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

Day of the Dead comes to Blu-ray with an audio commentary and a few brief video-based extras.

• Audio Commentary: Director Steve Miner, Editor Nathan Easterling, Screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick, and Actors Stark Sands, Michael Welch, Christa Campbell offer a balanced commentary where the many participants rarely ever get in one another's way. They speak on shooting in Bulgaria, the process of writing the script, the work of the cast, tricks of the trade, Sarah's "unloaded weapon" confusion, the style of zombies that appear in the movie, special effects and prosthetics, and much more. This is a very good track, better than the movie, and definitely worth spending some time with.
• On the Set (480p, 14:11): A "fly on the wall" featurette that takes audiences to the set of Day of the Dead for a raw look at moviemaking action.
• Alternate Ending (480p, 5:56).
• Trailers: International Trailer (480p, 1:43), Unrated Trailer (480p, 2:32), and Theatrical Trailer (480p, 1:47).
• Photo Gallery (1080p).
• Interviews (480p): Actors Mena Suvari (2:06), Nick Cannon (2:19), Annalynne McCord (2:03), Michael Welch (1:44), and Stark Sands (1:18); Director Steve Miner (3:28); and Special Make-Up Designer Dean Jones (2:34) share their thoughts on the film and their roles in making it.
• Previews: Additional First Look titles.

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

Day of the Dead is a decent Zombie time killer. The movie loses steam as its action intensifies, not because it's dull, but because it lacks purpose and direction. The characters are bland but the zombies are dangerous (even if the "vegetarian" zombie pretty much jumps the proverbial shark). The gore effects are solid, and the movie is a fun little diversion so long as audiences don't go in expecting to be mentally challenged along the way. First Look's Blu-ray release of Day of the Dead features surprisingly strong video and audio to go along with a few extras. Worth a rental.