- The original UK cinema version (aka Romero's 'theatrical print') was cut by 3 mins 46 secs by the BBFC to remove an exploding head and a screwdriver killing plus stabbings and scenes of disembowelment, and the 1989 video version lost a further 12 secs of gore and shooting plus a scene of a woman's neck being bitten during the housing project sequence. Some cuts were restored in the alternate 1997 Directors Cut video although 6 secs remained missing including the exploding head, neck bite and an additional edit to the shooting of the two zombie children (in response to the 1997 Dunblane massacre). All cuts were fully waived in 2003 from both the Directors Cut and the original theatrical versions. The later Blu-Ray release by Arrow was uncut as well.
- In Spain there are several DVD versions, The 2003 by Crest Films, S.L. / Suevia Films runs 115 minutes approx. in PAL. One of them is in 4:3 and the other is in 16:9.
- In Germany there were VHS copies in circulation that were an exact duplicate of the 1985 Austrailian VHS by CBS/FOX Video. The sleeve and the tape were exactly identical to the one that features the character Steven on the front.
- There are three main versions of the film. -The U.S. Theatrical Version, which George A. Romero considers his definitive cut of the film, runs 127 minutes and was the version released in American theaters in 1979. It contains a mix of both Goblin's soundtrack and several library tracks. -Dario Argento's cut, released in Italy under the title ZOMBI, and also known as the European Version, runs 118 minutes. It removes several scenes, mostly anything humorous, emphasizing the horror and action, and has more extensive use of the Goblin music. -The Extended Version or Cannes Film Festival Version runs 139 minutes (this version was erroneously called the 'director's cut' when Elite Entertainment released it on laserdisc). It was assembled to premiere at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival and is something of a workprint. It contains many extended scenes and the soundtrack is almost entirely library tracks. All three versions have been made available on Anchor Bay's DVD box set, the Japanese Happinet/Stingray Blu-Ray box set, and Arrow's UK Blu-Ray box set.
- An extended version has found its way onto file-sharing sites called the 'Extended Mall Hours' cut, which combines footage from all three major versions of the film into a 155-minute cut.
- After the dinner scene where Stephen proposes to Fran and she turns him down, there is a brief montage that ends in a frustrated Stephen and Fran lying naked in bed together. In the U.S. Theatrical version, there is an edited shadow effect covering the bare chest of actress Gaylen Ross. However, in both the extended and European cuts of the film, there is no shadow effect and her breasts are clearly visible.
- The film underwent fifteen months of censorship haggling in Australia (both the Argento and Romero cuts were banned for a time), before being passed with an R18+ certificate in February 1980. Already pre-cut by four minutes, the Romero version required the removal of a further two minutes before being approved with a 120 minute runtime. The cut scenes were:
- The exploding head in the apartment.
- The basement zombies enthusiastically ripping into flesh.
- The helicopter zombie getting the top of his head lopped off.
- Tom Savini burying a machete in a zombie's head after saying "Say goodbye, creep!".
- "Flyboy" being attacked and bitten in the elevator.
- Zombies ripping intestines from a biker's belly.
- A unique, Japanese-dubbed variant of the Argento cut, nicknamed the "Suspiria version", was broadcast on TV Tokyo in October 1980. Aside being further censored compared to the Japanese Theatrical Version, it also deleted other scenes, such as all sequences between Peter and Roger's first meeting with Stephen and Fran and their arrival at the mall, shortening the runtime to approximately 90 minutes. Due to the poor quality of the music and effects track provided to the dubbing company, much of the film's sound design had to be reworked from scratch, and most of Goblin's score was replaced with music cues from their soundtracks for Suspiria (1977) and The Heroin Busters (1977), as well music from Yes' album "Tales from Topographic Oceans" (which plays at the start of the film) and Jean-Michel Jarre's album "Équinoxe" (which plays as the foursome land their helicopter on the roof of the mall). Although it features the "exploding planet" opening shot from the Nippon Herald prints, the explanatory text that came after it is dropped, which is instead incorporated into Dr. Foster's dialogue during his argument with Mr. Berman (during which the planet is named "Eos"). The dialogue concerning the subplot of Fran's pregnancy also substantially differs from the original version, as Peter is now in favor of Fran having the child instead of suggesting an abortion, and his final line of dialogue, upon Fran informing him that the helicopter is low on fuel, is "We have to find a place to raise the baby" compared to his original, nonchalant "Alright". This version was negatively received by viewers, and when it was rebroadcast in July 1982, it was re-edited to incorporate Goblin's original score and Peter's final line was redubbed to make it more faithful to the original dialogue; this version was later incorporated into the uncut Japanese dub track of the Argento cut that was released on DVD. The original 1980 version has never been rebroadcast, although off-air recordings circulate online.
- The UK version was submitted to the BBFC with a running time of 125 mins 25 secs. The BBFC had already required cuts to be made to two previously submitted versions of the trailer, and the feature film fared no better. The examiners disliked the film, felt the film featured a standard of violence never before permitted and would have a desensitizing effect on audiences. They required a total of 55 cuts to be made, totaling 2 mins and 17 seconds of screen time. The distributor complied, and the following month resubmitted the cut version for certification. The examiners still objected to the film, among whom the consensus was that the film's problems could not be mitigated by cutting. Head examiner James Ferman disagreed, and personally compiled a further 1 minute and 29 seconds of cuts. By now the distributor, Target International Pictures, was becoming concerned that the film would not be ready in time to be screened at the London Film Festival, so Ferman suggested the BBFC carry out the edits 'in-house' so that the film would comply with the guidelines necessary for an 'X' certificate. " In September 1979 Ferman wrote to the distributor exclaiming that "a tour de force of virtuoso editing has transformed this potential reject from a disgusting and desensitizing wallow in the ghoulish details of violence and horror to a strong, but more conventional action piece...The cutting is not only skilful, but creative, and I think it has actually improved a number of the sequences by making the audience notice the emotions of the characters and the horror of the situation instead of being deadened by blood and gore"." (source: https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/dawn-of-the-dead) The film, retitled onscreen 'ZOMBIES', was released in London's West End on March 7th, carrying a BBFC 'X' certificate. It was this cut version, with a running time of 120 mins and 20 seconds, that was subsequently released on video by Alpha/Intervision. While the film was never 'officially' classified as a 'Video Nasty' in the sense that it was never subject to prosecution for obscenity or featured on any of the infamous DPP lists, it has since been revealed that the title appeared on a 'grey list' of films that could be subject to seizure. This accounts for the title's disappearance from video shop shelves for several years, along with distributor Alpha becoming defunct. Entertainment acquired the title and in 1989 resubmitted the BBFC approved 'X' rated version for video classification. With the Video Recordings Act at this point having supposedly come into force, a further 12 seconds of cuts were required. Additionally, this version replaces the onscreen title 'Zombies' with a title card reading 'Dawn Of The Dead', in the vanishing-point typography seen on the US poster. This version suffered further cuts in 1994, this time at the hands of the nervous distributor. A straight reissue of the Entertainment version on the budget 4-Front label was heavily pre-cut, removing or truncating almost every incidence of violence in the film. This was due to the renewed media furore concerning screen violence, in the wake of Dunblane and the murder of James Bulger. With the advent of DVD, distributor BMG picked up the film, submitting the so-called 'Director's Cut', running approx 139 minutes. Now the board required only six seconds of cuts. In 2003, all cuts were waived, and subsequent UK releases of all versions are completely uncut.
- The Cannes Film Festival cut was originally only available on 16mm film, until Elite Entertainment's laserdisc release in 1996.
- Old (banned) German version ("Zombie") is 102 minutes long, has most of the violence in, but a lot of dialogue cut. A newer German version ("Zombie - Das Original") 110 (PAL) minutes long, missing nearly all of the violence. Later, an "uncut" German version (117 min.) was been re-released as a rental-only video.
- The new German version ("Zombie - Das Original") 110 (video pal) minutes long, missing nearly all of the violence.
- The remastered 137-minute "Director's Cut" released recently by Elite on laserdisc, and other companies on VHS, is actually not Romero's preferred version. This "Director's cut" is instead the version rushed into shape for a showing at Cannes. The shorter version shown theatrically has tighter editing and almost all Goblin's music. So technically, the theatrical version is the "Final Director's Cut" and the Cannes version is a "1st director's cut".
- A heavily edited "R-rated" version of "Dawn of the Dead" (with more than 50 cuts) was released in 1982 to be put in a drive-in double-bill with Romero's Creepshow (1982). After widespread protests by fans, United Film Distribution (the original distributors of Dawn of the Dead and Creepshow) publicly surrendered the MPAA-sanctioned rating and vowed only to release "Dawn of the Dead" in its unedited, unrated state. As of 2015, this R-rated version has never been released again.
- The Japanese Theatrical Version was a censored version of Dario Argento's cut. The Argento version in its original form couldn't pass the strict Japanese censor board. What does make this version interesting is how the censors dealt with the film's graphic content: whenever a gore scene occurred, the film stopped on the frame prior the violence and froze, with the sound continuing to play. Then, a second or two later, when the 'offending' moment had passed, the film jumped back into motion.
- What sets the Japanese Theatrical Version apart from all the other versions is its inclusion of a context for the zombification crisis. Nippon Herald Films, the film's Japanese distributor, feared that Japanese audiences would not be able to accept the ambiguous setting of zombies on Earth that Romero had deliberately left unanswered. As a result, their prints of the film begin with an explosion against a black background, followed by a typed-out explanatory text, presented in English with Japanese subtitles: "In 19XX an exploding planet in a far off galaxy beamed strange rays across space to Earth. It caused the transformation of the dead one after another into resurrected zombies seeking the flesh of the living---". Ironically, this exposition bares similarity to the possible cause of zombification described by a newscaster in Night of the Living Dead (1968): the atmospheric explosion of a space probe that had become contaminated by radiation following an expedition to Venus.
- The uncut Australian version was released on the CBS/Fox video label, and is George Romero's cut of the film. Dario Argento's version has not been released in Australia.
- DVD of the theatrical cut released by Anchor Bay in 1999 contains some extra footage during the dock scene (in which Joe Pilato plays a police officer). This scene runs slightly longer than in the actual 126-minute theatrical version, but is not complete as seen in the "director's cut", or Cannes cut.
- In 1995 GMT Video Productions in Germany released a 147 minute unauthorized bootleg cut of the film on PAL VHS. It is the Argento cut of the film with alternate scenes edited into it from an old 16mm copy of the 138-minute Cannes Film Festival version, and some scenes from the US version. Only 500 copies were allegedly made.
- The film was heavily censored when originally released theatrically in Ontario, Canada in 1979. All Canadian videotape versions are uncut.
- A Dutch two-disc DVD release by DFW Dutch Filmworks contained both the 139-minute Cannes festival cut (with a widescreen transfer identical to Anchor Bay's older DVD) and Dario Argento's European edition presented in open matte.
- Also, in the March 2004 DVD release, all the blood has been re-colored so that it now looks realistic, not the pinkish color in the original.
- The special "Zombie: Dawn of the Dead Perfect Collection" (released by Emotion) Japanese laserdisc box set that was made during the late '90s featured both Romero's 142 min perfect cut, as well as an uncut (compared to their theatrical one) version for the Dario Argento cut of the film. It also included some extras, etc. Both films were released in full screen.
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