Night Of The Living Dead DVD Retrospective

[JohnIan101]

PART II: THE REMAKES - A2

Controversy.



Barbara (Patricia Tallman) has something else to fear besides the ghouls outside.

I do not own this - I'm not into Blu-Rays.

Doesn't do it for me, could go into a long rant, but won't.

Lets dive in...



Released on October 9th, 2012 from Twilight Time (through Screen Archives Entertainment) for $29.95 was the limited edition Blu-Ray (UPC# 8-51789-00332-0), only 3,000 produced worldwide of the 1990 remake. The region A/1 (1080p) came in a common BR case, normal wraparound.

There was an insert, an eight page booklet; production notes by film historian Julie Kirgo.

The motion picture is eighty-eight minutes long.

- - -

Extras:

* Newly remastered print
* Commentary: director Tom Savini
* Isolated Score: composer Paul McCollough
* Theatrical Trailer (in HD)
* Catalog Ad: "The Rains Of Ranchipur" (1955) and "Bonjour Tristesse" (1958)

- - -

Audio:

* 5.1 DTS-HD MA

- - -

NOTES/RANT

Missing from the BD is the making-of featurette, "The Dead Walk: Remaking A Classic", though the Savini commentary carries over.

All of this entry was researched; spent hours online, looking about and reading: blogs, message boards and HD reviews - taking a lot of notes. I believe I can write about this.

There are subtitles in English SDH.

Blu-Ray is not dubbed in any language(s).

It is presented in anamorphic widescreen.

This was the first title from Twilight Time that sold out in eight days (on pre-order). Impressive. A pre-order sold on Ebay for $150.00. It has a current auction price of $95.95. And selling on Amazon for $144.95 new.

The problem hit the web shortly after folks got their copies and watched; upset fans vented their displeasure.



These pixs are from a YouTube video from Auzorann; called "1990 NOTLD DVD vs Bluray Comparison". It's short, thirty-five seconds. Download the HD video; the stills were not altered by myself. The change is explicit, everything has a dark blue tint.

The image details were dimmed by the HD new transfer - which is the opposite that you would expect from high definition.

The trailer isn't Smurfed.

The days that followed, news came out - the company never examined what they were selling.

A step back...

In 2010 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment was working on a deluxe edition of the 1990 flick; 20th Anniversary release. A new transfer was made. The project was supervised by the film's director of photography, Frank Prinzi. He claims this is how the film was suppose to look. I'll get into the contradiction and dissension in a few.

For whatever reason, Sony terminated the project; transfer sat on the self for two years.

Along comes a new company, Twilight Time (releases limited edition BDs of hard to find/vintage films) who learn of the new transfer and want to release a BD. The upstart buys the licensing rights, an exclusive three year contract - which expires this month.

The rest is history.

To combat the MASSIVE negative comments, Twilight Time posted the following on their Facebook page:

UPDATE: As promised, we have discussed NOTLD at the studio and are able to verify via SPE’s Mastering Department, that our Blu-ray is indeed the approved transfer from 2010, generated for the film’s 20th anniversary, and done in consultation with the film’s director of photography. As you will have also seen on this page and elsewhere on the Internet, director Tom Savini has now had a chance to view the end product and declared it "fantastic." As we are aware that some fans of the film will remain disappointed, our offer of a full refund still stands if you wish to return your copy. However, we would caution you with this thought: this is a limited edition run of 3,000 copies, and the title is sold out. Right or wrong, it is a collector’s item, and there are no guarantees this title will ever be repressed. Going forward, if TT encounters another situation where the new transfer differs greatly from the old, we will bring that to collectors’ attention prior to the disc being offered so that you may know of the changes beforehand. Thanks for all your support.

Savini posted on his Facebook:

You know what...I watched it last night and it's beautiful. I can't see anything wrong with it and I watched it on my 70 inch high def Sharp.

- - -

A commenter on IMDb with the moniker Zilla7777 made this post (October 9th, 2012) in the message board for the 1990 movie:

It turns out that Tom Savini "gave his okay" on this version after it was long-sold-out. I know, because I just got done talking to him (I initially contacted him via email, the same one he uses on his public website for contact: tom_savini@msn.com). He also told me that he was PAID FOR HIS "OPINION" by Twilight Time, the label that released this dreck.

That invalidates his quote about how great the transfer is; conflict of interest, damage control.

Here's a quote from the DVD featurette from actress Patricia Tallman:

When we started shooting, we started with the beginning of the script, which was the graveyard scene. This was spring time in Pittsburgh; we wanted to have that gloomy, rainy kind of thing going on - which I believe is the way it is in the original. Instead we had these glorious, sun shining, blue days with birds chirping in the background. Not scary at all. But at the end, Tom loved it, 'cause its the opposite; it was the opposite of what you expected. And that's what he kept doing in that scene.

So this talk about how great the BD picture is pure BS.

Still trying to save face, Twilight Time later posted this on Facebook:

Well, the Blu-ray is an accurate representation of the transfer...obviously things like bright/dark levels are utterly subjective. The transfer was undoubtedly approved by the filmmakers.

An indigo screen is subjective?

Some claimed the situation can be fixed by adjusting their TVs, no; the tint is too far embedded to revert. Worse yet are the folks who see nothing wrong. Don't know what to say to them. The word apathy comes to mind.

A quote from online denizen named Project-Blu:

the scary thing is, some people (the revisionists in this case) just don't understand the betrayed emotions people get when something they love and are familiar with changes. if someone took their pet and shaved it bald, they'd be upset, and others would state if it didn't harm the creature it isn't THAT big a deal.

Apathy. Like those folks who recorded that guy getting beat up on the street with their smart phone - not helping, just recording; wondering how many 'Likes' they'll get.

There is another issue that hasn't gotten as much attention - the audio.

Sound effects are missing/deleted from the new transfer. It's present on the DVD. The clicking sounds from Cooper's shotgun after he fired all his rounds is truant. So is the camera noise from the end credits; the sound effect of a camera's motor, moving the image forward for each end credit still is absent. I have no answer. Are there more deletions? Probably.

Should be in the discount bargain bin at Wal-Mart.

- - -

Twilight Time shouldn't have taken all the heat, but they're not 100% blameless. They should've seen what they were selling before shipping.

And if they did? They should still sell; have a disclaimer and a video comparison and stills (online) for buyers to decide. It would've made money. And all this mess on their heads wouldn't have exist - blame would fall solely on the studio for creating a bad transfer.

Sony had to have known about this image situation; they made it. Perhaps knew this wouldn't go sit with fans and HD connoisseurs.

What if they gave this inferior product to Twilight Time? Let them take the wraith of angry buyers and get some money back with licensing rights. After three years, they'll re-release a collector's edition. Speculation.

They now know that there is a rabid fan base, granted a niche market. The newer title will be done proper and become a good seller.

Not that outlandish since there exist TWO hi-def transfers. The other was not tinted navy blue, both owned by Sony. When was the second made? Don't know, but I can tell you it's on the streaming service VUDU from Wal-Mart.

So questions on the abandoned 20th Anniversary. How many special features were produced before the plug was pulled? Was the bad transfer the tipping point? Sony didn't want to spent the money to fix it and decided to kill the project?

Back to subject; so the film's director of photography is to blame? That's not what the director was going for.

But he did approved the transfer?

Didn't he?

The ugly transfer finally received a legitimate answer; exposed November of 2012 from the website, Cinema Lowdown.

Discord continues next Thursday. See you then.