Shaun of the Dead

DVD Reviews | Mar 4th, 2005

No Image
Sorry Folks, No Image Is Here.

Starring Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Nicola Cunningham, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy
Written By: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Directed By: Edgar Wright
Studio:
Buy on Amazon.com link

Fan of romantic comedies? or zombie flicks? How about Monty Python humor? Than Shaun of the Dead is your type of movie!

Shaun of the Dead is about a slacker electronics salesman named Shaun (Simon Pegg). All he does is slack off with his friend Ed (Nick Frost), go to his boring job, go to the Winchester pub and argue with his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield). Liz’s has two friends/roommates, David (Dylan Moran)and Dianne (Lucy Davis) and they aren’t very fond of Shaun. Liz wants things to change, and doesn’t want Shaun to turn into Ed. Which is a fat, obnoxious loud mouth who wastes his days away sitting in front of the TV, playing video games. Well one day Shaun gets dumped by Liz because he screws up again, and as that is happening; the world is ending before his very eyes. But of course he doesn’t know it because he’s too upset about getting dumped. It’s not until he realizes what is happening til a girl appears in background and tries to eat him. Ed and Shaun take matters into their own hands, and smash the shit out of the zombies!

Let me first say, how surprised I am for even seeing this movie. I’m a real big wimp when it comes scary movies. You know how much of a wimp I am; I can’t watch Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I hate the part where they drink people’s brains through a straw. *shivers* I really don’t like zombie movies but I usually end up watching them. Lately, I go through periods of having zombie nightmares very frequently. I’m not sure why I do, it just seems like something that’s on my mind I guess. The nightmares usually start off with me trying to run quickly and far away as possible, and then coming upon an old house. Gee, that doesn’t sound like a horror movie does it? Then I try to find what I have inside the house and use that to kill the zombies. Then I wake up all sweaty and need to put the lights on like a little girl. So that’s why i’m shocked that I managed to sit through this movie and actually like it! This is my second viewing too. Even though the movie is mostly a comedy, I was still hesitant of seeing it. The movie isn’t really gory except one scene involving one of the characters getting ripped apart. But even that was done in a comical/Monty Python way.

I think the movie was funny in the first half, but then once they hit the pub, it was a zombie movie. It was still funny inside the pub but there was more “serious” stuff happening in there. But one can not forget the zombie smack down with pool cues to “Don’t Stop Me Now.” It’s funny how they killed the zombie to the beat of the song. The song doesn’t really scream fight, but hey it was random! The first half just seemed to be more comical in gags, jokes and just what was happening in the movie. Stuff like Shaun wrestling a zombie girl to the ground while Ed run inside to get the camera, Shaun and Ed coming up with a game plan to kill Phillip, and little things like the TV telling Shaun what’s happening by him changing the stations really quick. What’s even cooler is that they were playing the Smiths “Panic” on the TV! The soundtrack was great by the way. The score tracks were really fitting, plus the Specials “Ghostown” was in the opening scene of the movie. But back to the movie, I think if Nick Frost wasn’t in the movie, it wouldn’t have been as funny. Simon was great but Nick Frost had a lot of funny lines. I just thought it was great how everyone in the beginning, who were alive, really were zombies before they truly were. I love the scene where they pretend to be zombies and walk right in the middle of the zombie horde. BUt my thinking is, why go to the stupid pub? Why not walk past the giant group and find another place where there isn’t a bunch of zombies lurking about. But that wouldn’t be a fun movie now wouldn’t it?

The Shaun of the Dead DVD also contains lots of good extras for you to chew on. My favorite feature was the missing bits part. You find out certain plot holes that had me scratching me head in the theater. You finally find out what happens to Diane, who’s wielding her boyfriends leg out of the pub. You find out how Ed got in the shack at the end, and you find out what happened to Shaun when he makes the zombies follow him. All three actors supply narration to those cartoon illustrated storyboards. The deleted scenes and outtakes were decent as well. There’s a lot of extras to check out and I didn’t get to them all but I’m sure it will keep you busy for awhile.

If you plan on seeing this movie and thinking it’s going to be a straight up comedy or a horror flick, you’ll be let down. It’s a combination of those two and they balance out well. I generally hate zombie movies because i’m a wuss but I ended up enjoying this flick a lot. There’s humor, zombies, romance, bodies ripped apart and a song by the Smiths & The Specials! Can’t go wrong with that combo!

Features:
Missing Bits:
Outrageous outtakes and all-NEW deleted scenes not shown in theaters
Raw Meat:
Casting Tapes, Simon Pegg’s Video Diary and Special Effects Comparison
TV Bits: Includes an interview with Coldplay Plus Un-Censored Commentary with the cast and crew, a zombie photo gallery, Zomb-O-Meter (zombie trivia) and more hilarious special features

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:

Favorite Scenes: white lines singing, record throwing contest, walk like a zombie, don’t stop me now scene.
Rating: Rated R
Running Time: 92 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: