History Film / DawnoftheDead

* StrawManNewsMedia: In the opening scenes, we see that Francine's bosses at KGON clearly don't give a shit about anything other than continuing to draw as many remaining viewers as they can, by any means necessary. Such as, for instance, deliberately listing rescue stations that are no longer operational.

-> ''"Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills! The people it kills get up and kill!"''

-> ''Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills! The people it kills get up and kill!''

'''''Dawn of the Dead''''' is the second movie in the ''Dead'' series of ZombieApocalypse films written and directed by George A. Romero.

'''''Dawn of the Dead''''' is the second movie in the ''Dead'' series of zombie films written and directed by George A. Romero.

* StrawManNewsMedia: In the opening scenes, we see that Francine's bosses at KGON clearly don't give a shit about anything other than continuing to draw as many remaining viewers as they can. To the point, for instance, of deliberately listing rescue stations that are no longer operational.

%%* AssholeVictim: Wooley and later the bikers.
%%* AxCrazy: Wooley.
%%* {{Badass}}: Peter and Roger.
%%* BarrierBustingBlow
%%* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted.

* ReCut: Clocked in at 139 minutes for its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival; this was subsequently trimmed by Romero to 126 minutes for general U.S. release, and there was a 119-minute cut supervised by DarioArgento for the film's European release (as ''Zombi''). In 2004, Anchor Bay released an "Ultimate" DVD box set containing all three cuts.

* [[spoiler:KillEmAll]]: The scripted ending, but by the time it came to film it Romero had grown to like the characters and decided it would just be pointlessly depressing.

* DrivenToSuicide: Peter. [[spoiler: Averted to Peter's case since he decides that he wants to live in the last minute and escapes with Francine.]]

* ActionGirl: Francine gradually becomes one.

* AssholeVictim: Wooley and later the bikers.
* AxCrazy: Wooley.
* {{Badass}}: Peter and Roger.
* BarrierBustingBlow
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted.

* BolivianArmyEnding

* CosyCatastrophe: For a while, at least.
* CrazySurvivalist: Several cast members.

* CuriosityKilledTheCast
* DaylightHorror
* DeadHandShot
* DeathByMaterialism: The whole point, really.

* DistressedDamsel: Subverted.

* EnclosedSpace
* {{Foreshadowing}}
* ThematicSeries: This film is a loose-knit sequel to ''Night of the Living Dead'' as are the sequels that follow.
* {{Gorn}}: ''And how!''

* JustBeforeTheEnd

* RuleOfScary

* TaughtByExperience

* ZombieApocalypse: Sorta the whole point.

* ThrowItIn: Many of Creator/TomSavini's brilliant makeup effects were improvised. And they look great.

** Noticeably, Roger's attitude and reckless actions [[spoiler:bring him about to like three bites and slowly turning into a zombie]].
** Stephen could give Roger a run for his money in reckless behavior: [[spoiler:He shoots at a zombie with a rifle and misses, nearly hitting Peter in the process. He takes the only handgun and runs off to find Peter and Roger in the mall, leaving Fran defenseless when a zombie wanders up looking for a meal. He shoots at the bike gang after Peter warns him not to and, upon retreating, drops his rifle down the elevator shaft. Finally, when he's bitten and dying, he wastes the last few bullets in his handgun warding off his last few attackers and leaves his brain intact so that when he dies, his zombie self still remembers the hidden nest where Peter and Fran are, and brings an army of flesh-eaters right behind him.]]

** Stephen could give Roger a run for his money in reckless behavior: [[spoiler:He shoots at a zombie with a rifle and misses, nearly hitting Peter in the process. He takes the only handgun and runs off to find Peter and Roger in the mall, leaving Fran defenseless when a zombie wanders up looking for a meal. He shoots at the bike gang after Peter warns him not to and, upon retreating, drops his rifle down the elevator shaft. Finally, when he's bitten and dying, he wastes the last few bullets in his handgun warding off his last few attackers and leaves his brain intact so that when he dies, his zombie self still has the sense memory to schlep up to the hidden nest where Peter and Fran are, with an army of flesh-eaters right behind him.]]

There are two versions of the film, the original 1978 Romero version (the first sequel to the original ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'') and [[Film/DawnOfTheDead2004 a remake]] in 2004 directed by ZackSnyder, and starring VingRhames and Creator/SarahPolley. Both feature a small group of humans holed up inside a shopping mall during a ZombieApocalypse, but beyond that the details vary a great deal. There is ongoing and violent [[BrokenBase disagreement]] in zombie-film fandom about which one is "better," which usually very quickly boils down to "shambling zombies vs. running zombies."

'''Synopsis'''

The movie opens during an ongoing ZombieApocalypse: law enforcement and government are rapidly losing control of the situation and zombies are overrunning the country, or at least the cities. TV-station employees Stephen and his pregnant girlfriend Francine steal the station's traffic helicopter in an attempt to get to Canada; they are joined by Roger and Peter, deserters from a SWAT team. After an unpleasant episode at a small airport, the group sets down on the roof of a large shopping mall (a structure which, at the time of filming, was something of new development on the American cultural scene).

Once inside they realize if they could block the doors and clear out the few zombies inside the mall they could "be onto a good thing." They block the mall doors using large delivery trucks but in the process cocky Roger gets bitten by a zombie. While they proceed to enjoy all the material goods available to them, Roger slowly wastes away, dies, and revives as a zombie. He is immediately shot and then buried by Peter.

Francine demands to be taught how to fly the helicopter in case of emergency. A passing group of survivalist/bikers notice the practice lessons and decide to "share" the mall with the group. Peter urges Stephen to just let the bikers do their thing and go, but their looting of the mall and letting the zombies in angers Stephen so much that he opens fire on the bikers. [[spoiler:In the battle that ensues, hordes of bikers and zombies are both let loose inside, and Stephen is killed and becomes a zombie. Francine and Peter (re-)kill him, escape to the helicopter and fly off to an unknown future.]]

[[AC: Contains examples of the following tropes:]]

-> ''"Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills! The people it kills get up and kill!"''

-> ''"When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth."''
-->-- '''Peter'''

[[caption-width-right:349:Shop 'till you drop. [[{{Pun}} Dead]]]]

[[caption-width-right:349:Shop 'till you drop. [[{{Pun}}Dead]]]]

[[caption-width-right:349:Shop 'till you drop.]]

* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted. In fact, this movie is actually the origin of the use of "zombie" meaning flesh-eating undead. (The original ''NightOfTheLivingDead'' never used the word.)

* NotUsingTheZWord: This movie is actually the origin of the use of "zombie" meaning flesh-eating undead. The original NightOfTheLivingDead never used the word.

* ThrowItIn: Many of Tom Savini's brilliant makeup effects were improvised. And they look great.

* NotUsingTheZWord: For the most part, deliberately avoids using the word "zombie", save for one line ("With those bay doors open, there's going to be a ''thousand'' zombies in here...")