Dawn of the Dead (1978) / Zombi 4K

[Behemot]

Does anyone know if this upcoming 4K/BD combo will have English audio:

https://www.amazon.it/gp/aw/d/B01LTH...=51b6Otr%2BGbL

I managed to preorder it at a great price a while ago, €35 delivered, but it won't do me any good if it's not in English

[Telecine]

Originally Posted by Behemot

Does anyone know if this upcoming 4K/BD combo will have English audio:

https://www.amazon.it/gp/aw/d/B01LTH...=51b6Otr%2BGbL

I managed to preorder it at a great price a while ago, €35 delivered, but it won't do me any good if it's not in English

Yes english audio too!

[Bumblefeet]

Looks like a nice set but if this is going to be like the previous Italian DVD boxset of Dawn of the Dead with the multiple cuts prepare to have Italian audio commentary tracks and special features with no English subtitles.

And yes, I also consider it a shame that the worst cut of Dawn of Dead is getting this treatment.

[MrBrown]

Originally Posted by Bumblefeet

...

And yes, I also consider it a shame that the worst cut of Dawn of Dead is getting this treatment.

That's just your opinion. I think the european cut is much better, compared to the US one, because it is much darker, especially the Musik is better.

It would just be cool, if all 3 cuts would have gotten the treatment.

[Geoff D]

Eh. I love the Argento cut, but it's not like Midnight Factory are doing this remaster to that version only out of spite. It's the localised European cut of the film and (thankfully) the rights to it don't lie with a certain Mr Rubinstein who is apparently asking for waaaay too much money from anyone in the US/UK who wants to licence this title for a remastered release. People wanna complain, send an email to New Amsterdam pictures.

Oh, and it's nice when a foreign release has English subs for the special features but I'd never expect it as a matter of course, nor am I disappointed when they're not included.

I can't freakin' wait to get this on UHD.

[thegeminiman]

Got my German mediabook for sale on ebay in readiness to replace it with this one. I'm not 4k ready yet but it seems apt that just as the dreadful Elite double sided dvd of the Cannes version was my first ever dvd purchase in 1998 that the Argento version will be my first 4k purchase.
I expect Arrow will have it all out on UK disc before I get a 4k tv

[Geoff D]

Wasn't that double-sider from Anchor Bay? I had their not-quite-theatrical cut on DVD (still have it actually, along with the UK 4:3 DVD of the longer cut for the Savini commentary).

[keija]

I see Four Flies On Grey Velvet is also coming out as a special edition the same week in Italy. I wonder if it has been remastered also?

[thegeminiman]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Wasn't that double-sider from Anchor Bay? I had their not-quite-theatrical cut on DVD (still have it actually, along with the UK 4:3 DVD of the longer cut for the Savini commentary).

Yes I think you're right. The double sider though was the longer version although in line with the agreement Elite made when they licenced it they were referring to it as "the directors cut" when it was nothing of the kind.
It was basically a dvd version of what Elite had available at the same time on Laserdisc and Anchor Bay seemed to take practically all the Elite content off them when it came out on dvd like their Hammer and Argento titles although Elite did release a definitive dvd version of Night of the Living Dead and it was one of a selection of NTSC imports that were sold by MVC.

I don't think even Video Watchdog worked out how that initial "Theatrical Version that actually wasn't" came about.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by thegeminiman

I don't think even Video Watchdog worked out how that initial "Theatrical Version that actually wasn't" came about.

Anchor Bay had form for that sort of thing didn't they, as they did the same to Manhunter. Not only that, but somehow they managed to source that extra "theatrical" footage in far better quality than Mann's 1" tape copy of the DC.

[billyearle]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Eh. I love the Argento cut, but it's not like Midnight Factory are doing this remaster to that version only out of spite. It's the localised European cut of the film and (thankfully) the rights to it don't lie with a certain Mr Rubinstein who is apparently asking for waaaay too much money from anyone in the US/UK who wants to licence this title for a remastered release. People wanna complain, send an email to New Amsterdam pictures.

Oh, and it's nice when a foreign release has English subs for the special features but I'd never expect it as a matter of course, nor am I disappointed when they're not included.

I can't freakin' wait to get this on UHD.

It'll be a few years before I can go 4K. Thought I could get the cheaper version, but I'm curious about the the full frame version in the expensive set. Your comments give me doubt over another 4KBD of the Euro cut ever coming, so I suppose I could save that disc for the future. Just hope 4K TVs and players are affordable by the time my 5 yr old set breaks down.
It'll be interesting to hear how the non-restored Theatrical version compares to the UK and JP releases, as there's room for improvement.

[Cinematt]

Just got an email from amazon.it to ask me to double check my payment details as this is about to ship. Much excite.

[thegeminiman]

Originally Posted by Cinematt

Just got an email from amazon.it to ask me to double check my payment details as this is about to ship. Much excite.

I got that also and its the first I can recall ever getting an email about checking payment details BEFORE there was any kind of problem

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by thegeminiman

I got that also and its the first I can recall ever getting an email about checking payment details BEFORE there was any kind of problem

Same here, I've never had anything like that before from amazon. Maybe they've been having lots of problems with us dirty foreigners lately? Or perhaps they're afraid that Brexit has meant we've all run out of money?

Pfft, the money's in there, my address is fine, NOW SHIP MY 4K DAWN MOTHA****AS!!

[Member-222782]

I also got the email. My Google translator wasn't working so I did my best to self-translate the message but I figured it out. Why would they ask to verify the payment details? Could it be a scam? Can't be too careful with so much internet hacking and phishing going on. Anyway, why is this only coming out from Italy? I won't lie - I'm a bit skeptical about this set being the definitive release it seems to want to be. There's barely any chatter about it on these forums.

[thegeminiman]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Same here, I've never had anything like that before from amazon. Maybe they've been having lots of problems with us dirty foreigners lately? Or perhaps they're afraid that Brexit has meant we've all run out of money?

Pfft, the money's in there, my address is fine, NOW SHIP MY 4K DAWN MOTHA****AS!!

Not had issues with Amazon Italy before but my Amazon Spain order for Fright Night 2 and FX2 that was shipped on the 8th seems to have vanished on the 10th but I have to wait until the 22nd before they deem it lost

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by cine74

I also got the email. My Google translator wasn't working so I did my best to self-translate the message but I figured it out. Why would they ask to verify the payment details? Could it be a scam? Can't be too careful with so much internet hacking and phishing going on. Anyway, why is this only coming out from Italy? I won't lie - I'm a bit skeptical about this set being the definitive release it seems to want to be. There's barely any chatter about it on these forums.

But who's calling it "definitive" apart from people who witheringly label it that because they're plainly pissed that it's not coming out in their neck of the woods? It is what it is: a localised release for one specific market, just like Turbine's recent (and awesome) Blues Brothers set in Germany.

Look, the Italian version of Dawn of the Dead is its own unique cut of the film, the rights to which do not appear to be overtly controlled by Richard Rubinstein, producer of the original film. Said gentleman has performed an extremely costly 3D conversion of Dawn and is apparently asking for silly money from any Blu-ray distributor who comes a' callin' about the rights. He's holding out for a proper theatrical run to try and recoup some of the alleged $6M spend, so until something changes we're not going to get anything "definitive" in the UK/US any time soon.

But because the Italian cut by Dario Argento doesn't come under those rights an Italian distributor has fronted up the cash to do a new 4K restoration of the Italian cut for the Italian market (with the help of a Danish director to nab some column inches). See the link there? If I sound arsey it's because all these comments are getting a little frustrating as they all seem to be rather myopic as to the wider world of video releases.

[Geoff D]

And just to add some more perspective: even if this was a single-disc 4K release of the Argento cut I'd still be buying it, so everything else in this package - "definitive" or not - is gravy to me.

[thegeminiman]

The Mediabook version of the Argento cut was a bit disappointing so a new restoration is great but what really made it an essential purchase was getting HD versions of all 3 cuts in one release.
Not checked the details but I hope this new releases keeps the 75 minute documentary.
The Anchor Bay dvd boxset also has the 4 main cast members do a commentary but it was on the Argento version so that would be a nice addition too.
Can't see a reference to either on the pictures though

[Geoff D]

There is that, yep: the extended cut hasn't had too many outings in HD so that may be worth it to some. There's still no word on whether it's the smeary old HD master as seen (in theatrical form) on the AB and Arrow/Umbrella discs or whether it's the newer HD transfer with wonky levels (PC instead of video) on the Japanese/Austrian discs.

From the looks of it the extras are (again) very specific to this localised release so I would caution against expecting any extant extras. That's what the Anchor Bay 4-disc DVD set is for, I've also got the Umbrella BD so between the three of them I'm gonna have a kickass 11-disc Dawn set