Which is the better film: Night of the Living Dead vs Dawn of the Dead

[Pedderrs]

Originally Posted by Mr. Mojo

One note means one note. Each film has a singular idea and does nothing the least bit interesting about it. We get it, cold war fears. We get it, consumerism. We get it, people are shitty to each other. Beyond that, his filmmaking abilities are sorely lacking. There are moments in the films, especially Dawn and Day, where it appears to have been directed like television episode from the period. It's amazingly banal.

One note means "unvarying in tone or emphasis". With that in mind, I don't think your statement is at all correct. Romero's zombie flicks all express different ideas and vary dramatically in terms of tone and execution. You've touched on at least three of those themes yourself, which is quite ironic seeing as you described all three films as being "one note". Describing Friday the 13th and it's many sequels as one note would be more accurate, because if you've seen one then you've seen them all, but the same cannot be said of Night, Dawn and Day. Different themes, varying tones.

Your other arguments are more convincing. I personally don't have any issues with the level of acting or the writing in DOTD, but I can understand those things as being genuine criticisms for some.

Snyder's film is intense and funny and visually attractive in ways that Romero has never been capable of.

Well you would hope Synder's film would be more visually attractive given the budget and equipment he was using, but intense and funny? I never considered Synder's film to be particularly funny.