I saw Dawn of the Dead in the theatre when it came out. Good film, and I like the social commentary (consumerism wins over common sense). I have a VHS copy in storage somewhere, and IIRC it’s missing a scene that was in the theatrical release. Maybe it’s one I taped off of cable way-back-when, and not the legitimate version I bought later. I don’t remember.
Anyway, I pulled Night of the Living Dead (DVD) off the shelf tonight, and I thought maybe I should get “D of the D” (as we used to call it) on DVD as well. When I got to Amazon, I see that there are three versions:
[ul][li]U.S. Theatrical Cut[/li][li]Original Director’s Cut[/li][li]Divimax Edition[/ul][/li]I bought the 30th Anniversary Edition of NotLD, and hated the new musical score. I don’t want to get “stuck” when I get DotD on DVD. Should I get one of those that I listed? If so, which one? Or should I take the advice of one of the reviewers and wait until after the re-make is released? (He thinks the Divimax edition is a rush job.)
If the Divimax is the one just released last Tuesday, it is the one I bought and it is a pretty good re-master of the film. The film looks good and the music is just perfect.
The Director’s cut is with the alternate “unhappy” ending, if I recall correctly. There is supposed to be a new Special Edition somewhere around September which will include the theatrical and directors cut on one DVD.
Well, the first two discs of DotD have been long OOP, so you’re stuck, for now, with the Divimax DVD. Best Buy has it for $11.99, so it’s reasonably priced. In September, Anchor Bay is supposed to release a super-duper 3-disc edition of Dawn, with the theatrical cut, the director’s cut, and Argento’s European cut. There are supposed to be cast and crew commentaries, a retrospective documentary, and possibly Document of the Dead as well. All this is mere speculation, however, because Anchor Bay has yet to release specifics.
There is no “unhappy” ending. It may or not have been filmed (depending if you listen to Romero or Savini), but the footage does not exist today. I’ve seen the director’s cut, and the main difference is an extended scene at the docks featuring Joe Pilato playing a cop on the run.
burn your 30th anniversary travesty and find a copy of the Elite Millenium Edition–it’s the definitive version of Night and suppposedly OOP now.
I just ordered the Divimax edition, even though I already had an earlier edition (the one with the extended scene on the docks). Mainly, I wanted to hear the commentary from Romero and Savini, and hopefully see a clearer transfer. So now, I may be buying another edition in September? What a sucker I am!
Thanks for the clarification, I do recall reading the script with the “unhappy” ending and most likely I read somewhere online that the Director’s Cut included this ending. I guess you can’t believe everything you read online. :smack:
What is the story between Romero and Savini’s version? Which one claims it was filmed?
Two quick questions, since this has branched a little from DotD:
1.) Is this the Night of the Living Dead version you are talking about?
2.) Anyone have the Divimax version of Day of the Dead? Reviews, thoughts, etc.?
Savini says it was; Romero says he doesn’t remember it being filmed. In the commentary on the new Dawn disc, Savini points out that the exploding head in the beginning of the film was a cast of Gaylen Ross’s head that was supposed to be used for the downbeat ending where she sticks her head up into the helicopter rotor.
That’s the one.
I have that, too. The transfer is excellent and the sound is very good, although there have been complaints about a couple of curse words being removed. There’s still plenty of swearing on the audio, so I haven’t noticed the lack. There’s an informative documentary with several of the cast members, with an old, fat Pilato getting most of the screen time. It’s an outstanding DVD.
I ordered the Millennium Edition yesterday. The availability statement says “Please note that titles occasionally go out of print or publishers run out of stock. We will notify you within 4 to 5 days if we have trouble obtaining this title.” So I suspected it was recently OOP. I can always pick up a used copy if they are unable to obtain one to fulfil my order.
Okay; so Anchor Bay is releasing a 3-disc version in September, but they’re not saying what extras are on it? Just having the three versions on one DVD is enough for me to wait until September. Sounds as if the reviewer who said the Divimax version rushed onto the market to coincide with the release of the remake. (Don’t they make original films anymore?)
