CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › Day of the Dead on DVD
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Day of the Dead on DVD

post #1 of 16
8/20/03 at 12:01am
Thread Starter 
Has anyone bought this movie yet. I got it today at Best Buy, and the DVD cover is awesome, unique, and a great idea. Haven't got to the extra features but hopefully Rotten or Butane will get a review done quickly. oh, and when the hell will Dawn of the Dead come out on DVD?
Reply
post #2 of 16
8/20/03 at 12:28am
I suppose you're talking about the big super-edition yet to be released Dawn set from Anchor Bay? According to my notes from last year, it was supposed to come out in spring of 2003. I guess it's been pushed back.

There's other DVD editions of Dawn out there, but I'm holding out for the next one. It's supposed to have both the U.S. and European cuts.
Reply
post #3 of 16
8/20/03 at 12:30am
I'm about to watch it now. Can't wait to hear what they did with 6.1 audio. The editorial in the booklet is great and reading that sorry ass review by Ebert was funny. Fitting to have it the first thing in there. So here it is...

"In the earlier (Living Dead) films, we really identified with the small cadre of surviving humans. This time, the humans are mostly unpleasant, violent, insane or so noble that we can predict with utter certainty that they will survive. According to the mad scientist in "Day of the Dead", the zombies keep moving because of primitive impulses that create the appearance of life long after consciousness and intelligence have departed. I hope the same fate doesn't befall (director George) Romero's zombie movies. He should quit while he's ahead."

-Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, August 30th, 1985

I wonder how much hate mail he got..
Reply
post #4 of 16
8/20/03 at 1:09am
It's a fantastic disc - just a great all-around package. The movie looks better than I've ever seen it.

As for the Ebert quote, I don't think it's quite fair to lambaste Ebert for his Day of the Dead opinion as the liner notes make clear, Ebert's opinion reflected the popular sentiment among both mainstream and fan audiences at the time. In his 1986 book Horror Holocaust, genre pundit Chas Balun refered to Day's inability to live up to the hype, saying that Romero "seems burned out by the whole thing."

I remember a local film critic coming to talk to my high school video class in '85 and I asked him what he thought of Day of the Dead. He just made a face like "ugh."

I was pumped that I got to see it in theaters - being only fifteen at the time - but I was definitely of the "that's it?" school of thought. It was still one of the first videos I ever bought for myself, though.
Reply
post #5 of 16
8/20/03 at 1:55am
Thread Starter 
You guys are so lucky, those who saw this in theaters, if only I was old enough. They don't make horror movies like they used to. Day of the Dead are one of the movies I wish I saw in theaters, oh well... Thank God for VHS, and now DVDs .
Reply
post #6 of 16
8/20/03 at 2:27am
Dolarhyde, the voice of reason. True that seemed to be the mainstream way to think about it but me and my fellow young and slightly older horror fan buddies dug it quite a bit back then. I did not like it as much as Night or Dawn but I did like it. Now I think it's the best of the three.

It looks fantastic though. The 6.1 mix was kind of weak with the biggest impact coming in the beginning with the megaphone in the deserted city. Other than that it didn't seem to be used very effectively. Then again this movie isn't one that lends itself to the high-end audio spectrum easily. Still, it never has looked or sounded better. I'll be digging in to the extras later. There's a ton. Great packaging. Much nicer than the Night Millenium Edition.
Reply
post #7 of 16
8/24/03 at 3:05pm
I just watched my new Day of the Dead DVD last night. It was fantastic! Its got a great opening and I liked how George filmed the city sequence. I watched all of the extras too and they were pretty good also.

While watching the documentary on Disc 2, I felt real bad for George Romero. It seems that whenever he makes a movie he runs out of money in the midst of filming. I think its mentioned that he's had this problem with all of his films except for Creepshow.

Also on Disc 2, he talks about making a 4th dead film (no secret here) and says that it will not be called Twilight of the Dead . He's thinking about calling it Dead Reckoning (You guys probably already knew that already ).

Aside from one character in the film (the guy who played "Rickles" is a bad actor), this might be the best-acted "Dead" film in Romero's trilogy and it has a terrific claustrophobic feel to it. I'm glad I bought it.

Reply
post #8 of 16
8/24/03 at 4:28pm
Hey you guys know if the document of the dead is coming out with new re-release of Dawn!?!?

I still haven't seen it!?!
Reply
post #9 of 16
8/24/03 at 4:38pm
I saw Dawn of the Dead for the first time a few weeks back. It's been stuck in my head ever since, and I can't wait to check out this film. I've been told to lower my expectations, but I still think it's going to be a damn good film. Thanks for filling me in guys.
Reply
post #10 of 16
8/24/03 at 4:42pm
BTW, whatever happened to the rumor of an "Argento" cut of Dawn coming out on DVD? Isn't it the longest cut of the movie? Did it, or will it ever come out, or was it just a rumor?

- Fixxxer
Reply
post #11 of 16
8/24/03 at 5:16pm
FIXXXER, the Argento cut will be on the 3-DVD Anchor Bay Special Edition of DAWN OF THE DEAD that will be released in February/March 2004. It is NOT the longest version. In fact it is shorter than both the theatrical and the Director's cut version, even though it does contain footage that is not in either of them ... Because it is shorter it feels much more action-driven, an impression that is also hightened by the pounding Goblin score. Call me a heretic but it is actually my favorite version of DAWN.

BTW, if you're interested in the "longest" version, a company in Germany called Laser Paradise have recently cut together every single bit of footage that they could find of DAWN, from all three cuts of the film and several foreign versions, which also strangely sometimes included additional takes, to form what they call The Ultimate Edition. I haven't watched it myself but it might be interesting, even if most of it will be dubbed into German.

Reply
post #12 of 16
8/24/03 at 5:45pm
Quote:
Wetbones:
FIXXXER, the Argento cut will be on the 3-DVD Anchor Bay Special Edition of DAWN OF THE DEAD that will be released in February/March 2004. It is NOT the longest version. In fact it is shorter than both the theatrical and the Director's cut version, even though it does contain footage that is not in either of them ... Because it is shorter it feels much more action-driven, an impression that is also hightened by the pounding Goblin score. Call me a heretic but it is actually my favorite version of DAWN.

BTW, if you're interested in the "longest" version, a company in Germany called Laser Paradise have recently cut together every single bit of footage that they could find of DAWN, from all three cuts of the film and several foreign versions, which also strangely sometimes included additional takes, to form what they call The Ultimate Edition. I haven't watched it myself but it might be interesting, even if most of it will be dubbed into German.
Thanks bones. Do you, by chance, know if this Paradise version will ever be made into an american dubbed version? Also, if Argento's cut is the shortest, why the 3 disc treatment?

Thanks!

- Fixxxer
Reply
post #13 of 16
8/24/03 at 5:57pm
Quote:
Wha' Happened to Bateman:
I saw Dawn of the Dead for the first time a few weeks back. It's been stuck in my head ever since, and I can't wait to check out this film. I've been told to lower my expectations, but I still think it's going to be a damn good film. Thanks for filling me in guys.
"Day..." is definitely the strongest of the "Dead" films. Just don't expect a lot of action (There is some, but a majority of it comes later wink ).

What this film does have is some good drama and a good script. The things that the characters say are interesting . I don't think I would have liked this movie if I seen it as a kid or teenager because at that age, you're not really interested in what the characters have to say. You're just there waiting for the gore and action to start (and this film certainly has its fair share of gore ). But its a different story when you're older. You can appreciate the movie more. This really is a fascinating film.
Reply
post #14 of 16
8/24/03 at 8:24pm
Quote:
Agent FIXXXER
Also, if Argento's cut is the shortest, why the 3 disc treatment?
The last I read was that they were going to include three cuts of the film. The theatrical, the Cannes cut and the Argento cut. Don't know if that is what's going to happen, but it would definately make them expand it to a three disc set.
Reply
post #15 of 16
8/25/03 at 12:32am
That's also what I heard. One DVD will have the US theatrical cut, one the Director's Cut and one the Argento cut. Add to that the as yet unconfirmed "Document of the Dead" docu and a 3-disc set seems highly justified ...

No plans for an US release of that Paradise edition that I know of. Anchor Bay has all the rights now AFAIK so it would have to come from them and it doesn't look likely at the moment. However, if the DAWN box sells really well, I could imagine that they'd start looking for ways to make more money and release some more versions like they did with the EVIL DEAD films ...
Reply
post #16 of 16
8/25/03 at 8:10am
BTW, If anyone is interested in more info about that extra long version of DAWN OF THE DEAD (156 minutes!!!) from Germany, it can be bought right here:

<a href="http://www.xploitedcinema.com/dvds/dvds.asp?title=556" target="_blank">http://www.xploitedcinema.com/dvds/dvds.asp?title=556</a>

As I said before, no English audio, German only but as much as I hate dubs I might just have to check this out eventually.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Creature Corner Main
CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › Day of the Dead on DVD