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[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Mallrats Z Part I


[An earlier version of this PT was originally posted on September 1st, 2011 on JoBlo's "DVD, Blu-Ray & Home Theater Discussion" forum.]

For week two of L.E. Horror we gather all available supplies and hope to go undiscovered in "Dawn Of The Dead"...



The motion picture opened on March 19th, 2004. It was made with a budget of $28,000,000 (estimated) and grossed over $59 million during its U.S. theatrical run; counting foreign receipts it made $102,356,381. The film opened number one at the box office, the following week it dropped to number four.

The feature opened against "The Passion Of The Christ", "Hidalgo", "Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen" and "Starsky And Hutch".

I'm going to be covering the "Unrated Director's Cut". This release originally came with an embossed cardboard slipcover which mirrored the case's wraparound. It also came with an insert, not a chapter listing, but advertisement. One side, an ad for "The Chucky Collection"; the other side - various Universal horror theme releases ("Funhouse" [1986], "Ghost Story" [1981], "Legacy" [1978], "The Sentinel" [1977] and "Sssssss" [1973]).

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The long dead Circuit City sold the movie on release day, October 26th, 2004 for $15.99. They offered an exclusive, mini eighteen page, limited edition comic book; slightly smaller than a DVD case (mine is under the slipcover).

It retold the opening; up to where the survivors go to the mall.

A sampler, part of a bigger Mig. Biz official comic adaptation. I was unaware of this exclusive until a week after its release.

Quite lucky my store still had a couple copies. Now, damn impossible to find.



Best Buy had their own that street, a bonus disc (13:47 minutes). It retailed for $15.99 too. Sorry, I don't have the store's weekly ad.

The DVD case for that exclusive was a two discer - though there were reports that some found the bonus inside a single disc case within a CD envelope. The bigger story was the difficulty finding a copy that had the bonus DVD.

While common now, back then most didn't notice a tiny sticker indicating that this particular copy was special (it was assumed all the copies sold that day had it). This goes for myself as well. I found mine by weight; had two copies, one in each hand - one was heavier.

I remember customers asking store staff for help. And there was that moment looking at the mess, thinking to myself, I'm not going to get one. Also these were the days - if a title had a bonus disc it was attached on the back of the DVD case or completely separate on a cardboard rack (next to the new releases table).

Future Shop in Canadian (was a sister store of Best Buy [died earlier this year]; the same company owns both) sold it with an metal slip cover, similar to Artisan Home Entertainment, 2000 (year), limited edition metal slip for "Terminator 2: Judgment Day - The Ultimate Edition". I am unable to tell you the price. Sorry.

As far as I can tell, no bonus disc was issued for the Canadan exclusive. The metal slip has the name "Dawn Of The Dead" pressed-in and the Universal logo on the back, the side reads Future Shop.

Just so you know, it's a bad idea. The metal slip scuff the DVD case with each removal and put on. I should know, I own that T2 edition.

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Footnotes.

Separate extras...

*nods*



Above is the unrated DVD cover and 'Bonus Features' menus.

And its sub-menu.

Okay.

Below is the R rated DVD (widescreen) cover and its 'Bonus Features' menu.



There is a featurette exclusive to the R-rated edition, "Surviving The Dawn" (23:30 minutes). If fans want the complete remake experience - you need both versions. The main menus for both versions are different (news reports and zombie apocalypse). And the unrated edition has an unlisted extra, an introduction by director Zack Snyder.

For my use, I ended up finding a transparent three disc case, all the DVDs are inside - the unrated wraparound is on the front with the R rated wraparound seen on the inside. Sway.

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Something that has fallen into forgotten territory - nudity.

Even though Region One release says "Unrated Director's Cut" it isn't. There was a quick shot of a topless woman early on that was censored...

Once Ana Clark (Sarah Polley) has fled from her resurrected significant other, Luis (Louis Ferreira) in their car; she breaks behind a stopped bus. The dead feasting on commuters inside, horrified by the sight. Then from out of nowhere - a nude woman walks in front of her car... (with pierced navel).



Digital (knit) pasties SHOULD do the trick. This is Canadian actress Luigia Zucaro, "Naked Woman" - end credits. She had only done two films, the other is "Guarded Secrets" (2004) in Hungary.

In North America, Ana's windscreen has a big crack on the driver's side from Luis' zombie fist and various (digital) blood stains on the passenger side. The obstructions covers the nudity as she walks by. But for the Region Three releases (Southeast Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau), Zucaro is topless, clear as day.

American puritanical rearing it's fracked up head? Gore fine, but nudity - bad.

Not so in this case.

Before you ask; still in debate. Was that girl dead? Or in shock? She has no marks on her. Perhaps this was Snyder's homage/tribute to the original "Night Of The Living Dead" (1968) where there's a nude female ghoul who walks into frame. If that's the case - Zucaro's character is definitely dead.

This moment is censored in the 2008 Blu-Ray edition (all regions).

As I understand, Zucaro is a friend of Snyder and asked to have it removed. I'll be honest, the moment isn't all that flattering. Perhaps she regretted doing it after seeing her scene.

By the way, Kim Kerns is the topless girl in the camcorder footage during the end credits. The woman on Steve's boat, video flashback as it were.

Should you care; French BD is uncensored.

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This was the first movie to be previewed on television before its theatrical release, first ten minutes shown on Fox; March 15th, 2004 during the broadcast of "Final Destination" (2000). A thing is common now. But was a big deal then. I remember NOT watching that (preview) since I wanted to see it new on opening day.

Something I will always remember, since it made me uncomfortable.

Can not recall what I was watching in the theater that day. One of the trailers was for the remake. It had a cinéma-vérité flavor. The trailer is having problems playing, like it was jamming in the projector, jumping and audio out of synch. It finally burns out - the celluloid, just a blank white screen. Then they show up, several zombies in silhouettes on the other side of the theater screen, people sized, clawing their way to us, the audience. The sound effects really sells the moment. That was excellent! I wish more studios would do that, out of the box promotion.

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On a countdown to zero, take a ride on my nightmare machine.

- Def Leppard

Unproduced sequel.

Director Zack Snyder was busy working on "Watchmen" (2009) and would have only been a producer in the unfilmed project. A script was penned by him and Joby Harold, called "Army Of The Dead" and concerned an infected Las Vegas. How early in the plague, the city was quarantined - hoping to contain the virus. You can pretty much guess the rest. A director was attached, Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., the guy who did 2011 prequel "The Thing". The script was approved by the studio... then nothing.

What happened? Damn good question.