Why So Blu?

Shaun of the Dead (20th Anniversary 4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook Review)

Shaun of the Dead came out the same year I graduated high school.  I was ready to leave school forever, ignoring that I was starting college in the fall, and I was listening to Yeah! by Usher way too much.  I was also giving myself a film education at the time.  I began to reach beyond typical commercial films and looked for things that were different.  Among those different films was Shaun. Randomly falling on a DVD copy of the film with a good friend, I was a huge fan after the first few moments.  20 years later, does the film stand up? And how does the new 20^th Anniversary 4K edition stand up to the one released in 2019? Find out more about my love for Shaun of the Dead as well as all the new add-ons to the home media package for the film! Don’t leave the front door open, and make sure you don’t have red on you either!

Film

There comes a day in every man’s life when he has to get off the couch…and kill some zombies. When flesh-eating zombies are on the hunt for a bite to eat, it’s up to slacker Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his best pal Ed (Nick Frost) to save their friends and family from becoming the next entrée. Satisfy your bloodthirsty appetite with the movie that masters of horror and film critics alike are hailing as a screamingly hilarious zomedy that will have you dying with laughter.

As the film begins, Shaun is in a rut of sorts.  His girlfriend Liz is unfulfilled. Shaun is also content to be his best mate Ed, who doesn’t work and doesn’t clean up after himself.  Content to play video games and drink at the local pub, the rut doesn’t do Shaun any favors. As his world of mediocrity begins to change around him, Shaun discovers that it’s not the world changing, but a Zombie Apocalypse falling upon his country!

As Shaun stumbles around London trying to get home, things seem weird but Shaun is still unaware.  When Ed and Shaun find a girl in the garden, they fight her off and she’s impaled by an umbrella stand. Learning from a newscaster that to kill the zombies, one must destroy the head and brain, Shaun and Ed get creative in kills, to say the least.  The two devise a plan to go pick up Liz, Shaun’s family and some other friends to wait safely at their beloved pub. Of course, as we know of any film, let alone a zombie film, Shaun’s plans begin to go awry.

Shaun of the Dead is a beautiful example of genre and idea melding.  The movie makes good use of thriller and horror elements, but also brings lively comedy and action beats to the story.  The horror elements are not just of the zombie variety either. There is also the idea of disease control, and paranoia too.  Comedy is slapstick or just in sly line delivery. Either way, the laughs are solid throughout with no letup.  Even the kills can be quite funny.  There are also a few moments that tug at your heartstrings.  For me, Shaun of the Dead has it all.

If you’re reading this review, I have no doubt you’ve seen the movie.  You should know that Simon Pegg began here along with Nick Frost and the two have gone on to make other films together and apart.  Pegg himself has gone on to be a reliable character actor in a few franchises.  Frost is consistently funny, and his good humor has carried him far as well! Bill Nighy and Penelope Winton as Shaun’s mother and stepfather ground the film.  Nighy plays the straight man with some cringe-worthy seriousness and is wholly believable while Winton is the sweet mother to a T. You’ll find yourself falling for her charms as much as Ed does.

There are so many memorable scenes but of course the best bits are the ones where Ed and Shaun are running from or fighting zombies.  The record throwing scene is hysterical, as is the mass zombie fight to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now.  You also can’t help but crack up seeing Shaun’s plans fall to pieces one by one over the course of the film.  We also can’t review the film without referring to the brilliant writing by Pegg and Edgar Wright.  The pair made two other films as a writing team, and they’re equal in quality to this one, while somehow being able to be so very different from one another. Edgar Wright has also proven himself a master of genre hopping, making an action masterpiece in Baby Driver and going left with Last Night In SoHo which for me was an unexpected surprise.

20 years on, and Shaun of the Dead continues to be a fun experience.  The film is funny, quick, shocking, and endearing.  The action beats hit to this day, the musical score and soundtrack are affecting.  The direction is fabulous, and the story elevates beyond a typical horror/zombie film.  The result is now a timeless comedy masterpiece that is universally appealing and eternally classic.

Video

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-100

HDR: Dolby Vision

Clarity/Detail: I have had Shaun of the Dead in quite a few formats over the years.  I own the 2019 4K UHD Blu-ray and it was an admirable upgrade to the 1080P version from 2009.  Now that I have this new 2024 edition in my hands, I can say that it’s an out and out upgrade to that version.  Visually the film is a shot-on-film grainy experience with lots of detail coming from its traditional filming.  Here, this is elevated by an excellent Dolby Vision pass, that refines the grain and gives the world around Shaun a much more sumptuous look.

Depth: Camera movements can be intentionally swift in some moments, and the overall look is sharp and focused.  This look gives us a chance to see lots of textures on faces and clothing and gives interiors moe of a pop too.

Black Levels: Black levels are exceptional in this new release, looking dark and shadowy without blobbing out.

Color Reproduction: Colors are natural looking here.  Blood reds and greens are the ones that pop the most, but the colors in this transfer are better than ever before at home thanks to the Dolby Vision pass.

Flesh Tones: Dead and undead alike look just as intended.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, Spanish, Spanish (Castellan), French, Italian DTS 5.1, Deutsch DTS:X

Subtitles:  English SDH, Spanish (Castellan). Spanish, French (Canadian), Deutsch, Italian

Dynamics: In 2019, Shaun overwent an immersive overhaul in DTS:X. The track had decent immersion and bass response, but it was more like a souped up 7.1 track.  Now in Dolby Atmos, the audio has been fully remastered with discrete effects going to the proper channels in ways that weren’t present before.

Height: Height speakers work to provide the moments of quick motion in the camera cuts.  They also hold music, zombie moans and pub noise too. The heights are active when needed and move sounds around the room as the movie goes on.

Low-Frequency Extension: Bass is loud and punishing.  The floorboards rumble for music, zombie kills and car chase moments.  This is an active track for lovers of bass in their movie audio.

Surround Sound Presentation: Lower surrounds work magic with ambience and side to side effects.  The score pops up in the lower surrounds too, and background noise swirls around you.

Dialogue Reproduction: Lines are delivered with no loss or degradation.

Extras

Extras for Shaun of the Dead have always been decent, and this release features all of the previously released bonuses and adds a new 25-minute retrospective feature also.  The release comes in a standard slipcover version and a new Steelbook variant.  The steelbook calls back to a 2010 Blu-ray steelbook (I had that one too!) but improves upon that release with new comic book style artwork. Each release comes with the 2009 Blu-ray and a digital code bundled inside the package.

BONUS FEATURES on 4K Ultra HD, BLU-RAY^TM & DIGITAL:

• SHAUN OF THE DEAD: 20 BLOODY YEARS!* (NEW)
  • Director Edgar Wright joins actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to reflect on the funniest zombie movie ever made
• MISSING BITS
  • Kitchen Pow-Wow
  • Body on the Line
  • Body on the Line / Yvonne
  • Taxi Driver
  • Bathroom Blowout
  • In the Bedroom
  • Meercats United
  • Alternate Ed
  • The Dopplegang
  • Q.W.A.
  • David vs. Shaun
  • More Peanuts
  • Rifle Trifles
  • David’s Redemption
  • Bar Extension
• OUTTAKES
  • The Man Who Would be Shaun
  • Funky Pete
  • Plot Holes
• RAW MEAT
  • Simon Pegg’s Video Diary
  • Lucy Davis’ Video Diary
  • Joe Cornish’s Video Diary
  • Casting Tapes
  • Edgar and Simon’s Flip Chart
  • SFX Comparison
  • Make-Up Tests
  • EPK Featurette
• TV BITS
  • T4 with Coldplay
  • Fun Dead
  • Trisha – Your Nine Lives Are Up
  • Trisha – I Married a Monster
  • Remembering Z Day
• TRAILERS
  • US Trailer
  • UK Teaser Trailer
  • UK Trailer
  • UK TV Spot #1
  • UK TV Spot #2
  • Fright Fest Trailer
• AUDIO COMMENTARY
  • Feature Commentary with Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright
  • Feature Commentary with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Kate Ashfield and Lucy Davis
  • Feature Commentary with Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton
  • Feature Commentary with the Zombies

*4K Disc & Digital only

Summary

You can’t deny that Shaun of the Dead has always had a big wave of longevity.  The film is universally likeable, and houses in it a comedy, a horror film, a romance, some drama and plenty of action too.  There isn’t a slow moment in the film, and the performances are excellent throughout.  The writing and direction are top-notch too.  There is no denying that the film is a 21^st century masterpiece.  Now the film has itself an excellent definitive edition, and it’s high time indeed to give this film the ultimate collector’s love it deserves.  In my opinion, the steelbook option is the way to go, but either way you’re getting the best Audio/Visual iteration of the film, either edition you choose.

Order your copy of Shaun of the Dead 20th Anniversary Edition HERE

Order the Steelbook edition HERE