MJB SCRIPT REVIEW | GEORGE A. ROMERO'S DAWN OF THE DEAD

Been looking forward to this one ever since I started this blog. Ladies and gentleman, I give you GEORGE A. ROMERO'S DAWN OF THE DEAD.

Plot in a nutshell: In a future where zombies have overridden the earth, a small band of survivors stumble upon a remote island where a corrupt bureaucrat runs his own little empire from an underground army base, safe from the zombies reach. But it isn't long before the cracks start to show in this kingdom and the zombies are watching...

George A. Romero is my kind of writer. Nods to the audience. The odd crafty wink or a blatant “the finale you’ve been waiting for!” It’s all there. Like Shane Black, this guy knows how to have fun with his writing. Each character is literally a caricature of themselves in this script. But it works! Pushing the story along, supporting it every step of the way and letting us focus on what’s happening, rather than deep character work. It’s a zombie movie after all, people! But this is Romeros zone and he is master of it. A strong story that flows from A to B to C with the odd stop along the way that gets us rooting for the good guys and hating the bad guys more and more with every step. Such a hoot!

So what did I learn from GEORGE A. ROMERO'S DAWN OF THE DEAD script?

Well this is more for the purpose of these weekly reviews; I’m going to stop comparing the script to the end film and just focus on the merits of the script. I can’t be too sure of draft numbers with some of these scripts and there are some big changes between script and film a lot of the time. So I think the script is where the learning happens, not the production process to the film. That’s a whole other feed! And frankly I loved this script and had a blast reading it, so thankyou George! Drafts tell a huge story in their own right, watching a script writer change, grow or even adapt. But always with the aim of getting it better. So that’s something I am learning to appreciate in a persons writing. That we can view our own progress of our skill in our writing and see ourselves grow. That, to me, is pretty cool.

Looking forward to reading Dawn and Night down the line and watching George’s skill evolve Just great!

Link to the script;

https://thescriptsavant.com/.../Dawn_Of_The_Dead_(1978).pdf