October 25, 2004
Dawn Of The Dead (remake) DVD Released Tomorrow
Zack Snyder, director of the horror remake Dawn of the Dead, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming DVD release will restore several scenes that were cut from the theatrical version. "The scenes are what we probably screened the first time for the studio before we cut the movie down," Snyder said. "[The cuts] had a lot to with the length and the running time. They always wanted the movie shorter. We went back, and they were like, 'You're going to get to do a director's cut. What do you want to put back in the movie?'"
The unrated director's cut DVD includes additional scenes with the group as they enter the mall, as well as an extra sequence in which a rescue team explodes a propane tank to escape Andy's gun shop. Snyder said that recutting the movie was more than a matter of simply restoring excised moments from several scenes. "I hoped that the movie as a whole would be a little bit more cohesive," Snyder said. "It was more of a matter of reassembling the movie. I ended up with the movie that they got into theaters, and that's why I put back in [scenes like] leaving Andy's. It was just stuff that I felt needed to be in the movie."
The Universal Studios Home Video DVD also includes extended versions of scenes that involve cameo performances from cast members of the original Dawn of the Dead. Snyder said it was important to restore their appearances for the director's cut. "When you're talking about what can go to make the movie shorter, [the studio] calls them extra, but I think they're important," Snyder said. "You're talking about the meat of the movie, but they're like, 'OK, what if we cut from here?' Those things aren't as important to them as they are to our fans or me." Dawn of the Dead: The Unrated Director's Cut DVD hits stores on Oct. 26. Universal Studios Home Video is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Posted by MK Magazine at October 25, 2004 11:45 AM