DVD Review HTF Review: Shaun of the Dead (Very Highly Recommended)! (1 Viewer)

[Christopher*KH]

Got it today Sunday the 19 of Dec at BEST BUY. I asked a sales clerk why it was on the shelf early and he said that they were given the go ahead. I guess it has to do with this week being Christmas I guess.

Anyway I was kinda worried, it is a single disc film and with all the extras mentioned above it don't list everything on the packaging and I am afraid to open it in case there is another version out there.

Anyone here can verify that this is the one with it "ALL"

UPC# is 025192582127

if anyone can help, thanks in advance, Chris

 

[Phil Florian]

A friend has the R2 disc. The Zombie commentary is pretty funny, at least initially. Not enough for me to hold out for the R2 disc down the line. R1 will do nicely. Now all we need is R1 access to "Spaced" and all will be well with the world. Any chance of that happening now that Shaun has such a nice US following?

fil

 

[Michael Allred]

It won't disappoint you. "shaun.." is the most entertaining film of 2004.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

So, is the street date 12/21 or 12/28? I've seen both listed. Anyway; definitely looking forward to seeing this film. It never came to the theaters here in Wichita, which is kind of weird, considering we got Ghost in the Shell 2 (not that I'm complaining about that )

Thanks for the review, Jason. Good to see there's so much extra content, and the A/V quality doesn't suffer. They even inluded a trailer.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Outstanding review, Jason!

Being a big fan of Romero's Dawn of the Dead and an even bigger fan of the re-make, I am primed for this! I haven't seen it yet, but I would bet everything I own that I will love it!

I love quirky mixtures of genre's, that's why I loved Shaoulin Soccer, and this is right up my alley!

 

[George See]

I don't know if i'd call this the funniest movie of the year, i'd prolly say it's tied for that honor with Dynamite at least in my book. Either way I can't wait to see this again and check out the special features. It was a very unique film not because of the concept (horror comedy is not new) but because it actually worked where other movies have failed. Also one thing to note I watched this with someone who was not familiar with the classic zombie flicks and they still loved this just the same you don't need a degree in zombie film school to find this movie funny.
Great review

 

[CraigF]

[I posted this a while ago in an old thread, so will try again in a thread maybe somebody's reading...]

Anybody know what's the deal with the Dawn of the Dead (2004) DC and the Shaun of the Dead combo that's coming out in a month? This seems kinda weird, as it's rather low-priced, less than either of these recent discs were individually. Is this a movie-only release? If they're both really on a single disc as some say then I can forsee some PQ issues. Thanks for any info.

Edit: I see some online info has been updated. The info on Canadian sites is poor, as apparently only the DC of DotD (2004) was released in Canada, and some sites show pics of the U.S. releases of DotD and SotD in the combo. The combo is a 2-pack, and is available with either the DC or theatrical of DotD, identical discs...this is a real bargoon for those on the fence about either of these...probably not those reading this thread but FWIW. Put it this way, the combo is available for much less than I paid for SotD, so I can wait another month to watch it, lots of viewing stuff to catch up on. I've got "burned" a few times lately, and an effective 60% price reduction in a disc a month after it's released is galling...

 

[todd s]

I also bought this as a blind purchase and I don't regret it. Very funny.

The look on any forum member when asked what they think of Foolscreen.

 

[Chris Parham]

Has anyone watched this with back surrounds engaged? The end of the credits clearly indicates that this was shown in DD-EX in selected theaters.
My Pioneer Amp did not detect a flag on the disc. Did anyone have their amp detect a flag? If not, has anyone forced the back channel on their amp with this title and heard a significant difference? I enjoyed the movie enough that I will someday watch it again (probably double billed with Dawn) but probably not for sometime. If I can get some feedback, I'll place a sticky on the box reminding me to engage the back surrounds next time.

Thanks!

 

[Adam_WM]

I thought this was awesome. A MUST OWN for any zombie movie fan!

 

[Will_B]

Good film. Wouldn't call it a must-own, but it is probably worth a rent if you like quirky films. Sort of like what would happen if zombies had turned up on the Drew Carrey show (except without dancing).

 

[JimKr]

Chris, My Yamaha receiver did not detect as DD EX. I also had horrible issues with the dialog dropping off to where I could not hear what they were saying at all then a second later it was loud again.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

[ChrisBEA]

I had a similar issue, but only when I had the audio setup on the DVD player set to Dialog mode. When in normal mode it played fine.

 

[ChuckSolo]

I have been looking for this film since it came out on DVD in stores and can you believe it.......it is sold out EVERYWHERE I have looked. We have 3 WalMarts in town and ALL of them were sold out as well as all the BestBuys (2), Circuit City, Fry's, Target, and Blockbuster as well. I finally purchased it off Amazon.com and paid for the 2 day shipping; it should be here Friday. I can't wait. I saw this in the theater and have been anticipating the DVD release ever since.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread to give it a .

Hahah... resurrect... I crack myself up. I just watched it last night and after reading my brother's
Zombie Survival Guide, the movie seemed like a companion to the unrelated book. Very funny.

Finally, a zombie movie with substance!

 

[Vincent_P]

I guess I'm the only person who didn't like this all that much. I was REALLY looking forward to it, and found myself mildly amused up until the characters got to the Winchester, then the film completely fell apart for me. It came back a bit during the coda, but it wasn't enough to make this film anything more than a mildly amusing diversion for me.

I was thinking I may have judged it too harshly, so I watched it again with a friend without telling him my opinion. He LOVES zombie flicks and was also looking forward to this. I knew it wasn't going well for him as a viewer when Shaun is being dumped by his girlfriend, my buddy said, "GOOD!"
, and a bit later when my friend wondered out loud, "Why don't they just kill the damn fat guy already??" And then it dawned on me (no pun intended) why the film didn't work any better for me- the characters are unlikeable. Shaun is a putz, which in and of itself doesn't make one "unlikeable", especially in a film like this, but the problem is he's an UNLIKEABLE putz. He puts his fat, obnoxious friend above his girlfriend. Why should I care if she dumps him?
And Ed is just obnoxious and gross, not to mention in the end, all the deaths of the major charcter can be blamed on him. They went to the Winchester so that he could drink and smoke, if they'd just stayed at the girlfriend's flat- which looked pretty secure- they could've all ridden in out. So, not only is he an obnoxious, self-absorbed loser who uses his best-friend, he leads all these people to their deaths to boot.


At best, this film was an amusing rental for me, not at all the hilarious and original film so many folks have made it out to be, and the inability for me to connect with the two unlikeable leads kept it from working on any sort of "emotional" level either (especially on a level of a "romantic comedy" since I never bought the romance, or Shaun's deserving of even having a girlfriend, let alone winning her back
). I'm glad so many people seem to like it, but when it comes to zombie comedies, give me THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD any day of the week. Now THERE'S a classic!

And as for Dave's comment above:

"Finally, a zombie movie with substance!"

All I can say is, "Huh?" Romero's DEAD films have FAR more substance than this (look at all the subext in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD), and even the wonderful DAWN remake has more to say subtextually.

Vincent

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I'll be the cog in the wheel here....

Finally watched Shaun of the Dead.

Maybe because of the hype I was expecting
way too much and as a result was let down.

I thought the film was clever and stylish
in its storytelling and had many genuine
laughs throughout. The style of the film
was awfully similar to the movie Snatch.

I just felt it ran out of steam by the
final third of the film.

Still, makes a great rental at the very least.

 

[Nate Anderson]

Yeah, me too. Everytime I hear that song, all I can think of is Shaun of the Dead.

 

[Vincent_P]

Ron:

How can you be the cog in the wheel, when I posted prior to you that I wasn't too crazy about SHAUN OF THE DEAD? Stop stealing my thunder, yo!



Vincent

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Sorry, Vincent, missed that.