SCI FI PI

Watch Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead... Tonight!

It’s rare that a remake even comes close to the original movie it was based on. After all, if a movie was so good that it’s worth remaking, it’s already an uphill battle for the filmmakers to reach that standard, not to mention then suffer the comparisons and complaining of the fanbase of the original, that fan base being, again, to be solipsistic, part of the financial decision to remake it in the first place.

I mean, for every John Carpenter’s The Thing, there’s a Time Machine. For every Cronenberg’s The Fly there’s Godzilla.

Which is why Zack Snyder’s directorial debut, Dawn of the Dead (2004), was such a lovely flesh-eating surprise, and marked him out as “one to watch”.






Rather than slavishly copy George A. Romero’s horror classic, Zack Snyder rather took the course of paying homage, while having his movie play out on its own merits.

The set up, of course, was the same:

A ragtag bunch of survivors – including Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer in the remake – holes up in a shopping mall as the world outside is destroyed by zombies, who then try to storm the retail stronghold and pick off the survivors one by one.





For Romero, whose zombie features always carried a deeper message about society, Dawn of the Dead was a commentary on a capitalist society, the zombies being metaphors for the great mass of brainless consumers clawing for luxury items they don’t need.

Zack Snyder, as he’s proven in his films since, wasn’t trying to be all deep. He wanted style, he wanted pace, he wanted action – and he delivered all three in abundance.







The speed of the zombies was a case in point. In Romero’s film, the zombies lumbered mindlessly, but Zack Snyder recast them as kinetic, sprinting demons at the mercy of some kind of rage infection.

Snyder also took the effects to new heights of gruesomeness, and “went there” with a baby zombie which was just a little bundle of slavering joy to behold.

If you haven’t seen Snyder’s 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead then it’s well worth settling in on the couch, turning the lights off, turning the sound up and glorying in the bloody brilliance.

Then tomorrow watch Romero’s original and compare and contrast.

We can discuss later.

Dawn of the Dead airs on SCI FI 10:30pm tonight, Saturday February 4.

Your Ultimate Horror/Sci Fi Movie Mashup

If you could mashup your fave horror movie and fave sci fi movie to create a new movie of awesomeness, what would it be?

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  Bearfax 3 months ago

  I've always been wary of remakes given the hit and miss (more often miss) of previous efforts to redo a classic.
  
  Original Day the Earth Stood Still - a classic.....the remake-a bore
  Original Time Machine - a classic....remake good in parts but overall not on the same planet
  War of the Worlds - a classic.....remake pretty good and getting closer but still not a patch on original
  The Thing (from another World) - a classic...Carpenter's remake also a classic....not sure of the next remake
  Halloween- A classic...remake average
  Godzilla (japanese version, not US Raymond Burr additions) - A classic...Remake...depends on which one. Matt Brodericks US version was a different story and pretty good
  Wild Wild West (TV series) - a classic....movie remake ordinary
  Lost in Space (TV series - some would say a classic....remake clever but confusing
  Star Trek (TV series) - a classic...recent remake clever but not in the same universe
  Avengers (UK TV series)- a classic....remake a bomb
  I Spy (TV series) - near classic...movie remake a bomb
  The Invaders (TV series)- a classic...movie remake ordinary
  Peter Seller's Pink Panther movies - classics...Steve Martin's remakes - embarrassing
  Commandoo Cody serials - classics...Rocketeer remake very good (couldnt help myself)
  
  So I'll watch the Dawn of the Dead remake with reservations Mon Capitan ('cause I aint seen it yet) but to date remakes have not lived up to the hype generally.

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    ZlodeyVolk 3 months ago

    One remake you didn't mention was THE INVASION (2007). It sucked asterisk; even Abel Ferrara's BODY SNATCHERS (1993) left in it the dust.
    
    I'm beginning to think that Daniel Craig should stay away from sci-fi.
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