Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Out of Print

[odriley]

I just watched the whole thing and heres my final word on what I think.

First 5 minutes look good. A little darker but I can live with that.

Then after that it starts getting darker and turns blue.

Ok im not talking NEON blue. But still tinted blue. From what I can tell whoever did the transfer or approved by whoever.. decided to make the bright day scenes into dusk or night. They didnt do a good job as they made it more blue instead of making it work.

Like i said Im a huge fan who has seen this movie countless times. My frustration at just seeing a CHANGE from what ive seen for the past 20 years... You Star Wars fans should understand.

Then it stays darker with a blue tint until Cooper comes upstairs. At that moment the color all of a sudden improves. The colors are muted for the rest of the movie (which i could live with). Until Barbara ventures outside near the end...then back comes the blue tint. Then the day scenes comes and it gets better (muted colors) again.

Others have already mentioned the audio changes which are also annoying.

It seems like whoever did the transfer just did a half ass job of making the day scenes darker. You lose so much of the great day scene zombie fx / makeup because of it. Im really curious to hear from Savini what he thinks. Im really hoping he had no hand in changing it.

Ive seen the movie 100s of times including in theaters, dvd, vhs, and the HD copy. It has never looked like this so naturally im disappointed. I had the same frustration when Return of the Living Dead was first released to dvd with all of its little changes after seeing it for years and years on VHS intact.

I dont think its wrong to be annoyed on how this bluray turned out to those of us that know this movie inside and out and have seen it a certain way for 20 years.

[crujonesbmxchamp]

I had to open mine with all the negatives i'm hearing and decide for myself.Being a long time fan i really wanted this transfer to look good but jesus it is way to dark so dark that it's hard to even see tony todds face in the house and when i adjust the brightness it only made it worse.The blue tint is there but not as bad as most are saying the biggest distraction is the darkness, overall the picture looks great when you can see it lol.I am not mad at TT a little disappointed in Sony though for screwing this up but i never thought this would ever see the light of day on blu ray so i'm happy as a clam to own it.As for the audio it sounds great to me with the 5.1 treatment.On a positive note it does brighten up after about 20 min. of pure darkness crap just shows you what this transfer coulda been with the right treatment...Owell i really hope they fix this and recall these discs i think for how long us fans have waited we deserved better.

[Lemmy Lugosi]

Originally Posted by whitesheik

Night of the Living Dead 90s version is the "biggest" title they've ever released? Man, I must live on a different planet because some B-movie from the 1990s is not something I would ever consider to be a "big" title. Budget - around four million. Gross, around five million = box-office loser. But you know what the most frightening thing about this Night of the Living Dead is? The people who are admitting to seeing this film over 100 times. THAT'S scary.

It's absolutely the biggest, as far as the speed of selling out goes. Name a bigger one, smart guy.

[odriley]

Anyone know who owns this overseas? In the UK for instance?

[STD]

Originally Posted by ScooterMan

I'm probably going to return my order based on these screencaps, if they're legit.

Ed's going to shit his pants....I ordered, umm, extra copies.

Greedy speculators will try to sell their copies quickly then if that fails they will return them.

[Kentai]

Originally Posted by odriley

Its not just the dvd.... it was how it looked theatrically, on vhs, on dvd, the HD versions that are available.

That's the smoking gun for me; the "neutral" color timing was good enough for Vudu and HDTV, but suddenly the Blu-ray gets a radical new color timing? The hell?

Somebody at Sony - not Twilight Time, who were simply handed a master and slapped it on a disc, as is their M.O. - thought this was a good idea. I doubt it was Tom Savini, since director approval is usually the sort of thing bandied about as a positive thing, even when the results are terrible.

Why would Sony bork it up of their own accord? I honestly don't know. But they did, and Twilight Time shrugging and saying that they trust the licensor absolutely isn't a particularly good excuse. If they had posted a short interview with Savini explaining that he asked for these changes, eh, fine, whatever. But to suggest that it's not their business to know what materials exist and when these changes occured is ridiculous. They may not have minted the 2K scan themselves, but it's still their product... and more importantly, it's their reputation this is going to damage.

I'm looking forward to seeing my own copy as soon as it arrives, but anyone suggesting that it's "supposed" to be an unwatchable dark blue pit is ignoring common sense. If it WERE supposed to look like that, it would have previously, and it would on the HD video services currently playing it elsewhere.

[Lemmy Lugosi]

Originally Posted by STD

Greedy speculators will try to sell their copies quickly then if that fails they will return them.

I'd rather return them rather than sell a shoddy product. I'll be opening one tomorrow when I receive my order to decide what I think of it.

I'll be certain to let you all know how it pans out.

[odriley]

Originally Posted by Kentai

That's the smoking gun for me; the "neutral" color timing was good enough for Vudu and HDTV, but suddenly the Blu-ray gets a radical new color timing? The hell?

Somebody at Sony - not Twilight Time, who were simply handed a master and slapped it on a disc, as is their M.O. - thought this was a good idea. I doubt it was Tom Savini, since director approval is usually the sort of thing bandied about as a positive thing, even when the results are terrible.

Why would Sony bork it up of their own accord? I honestly don't know. But they did, and Twilight Time shrugging and saying that they trust the licensor absolutely isn't a particularly good excuse. If they had posted a short interview with Savini explaining that he asked for these changes, eh, fine, whatever. But to suggest that it's not their business to know what materials exist and when these changes occured is ridiculous. They may not have minted the 2K scan themselves, but it's still their product... and more importantly, it's their reputation this is going to damage.

I'm looking forward to seeing my own copy as soon as it arrives, but anyone suggesting that it's "supposed" to be an unwatchable dark blue pit is ignoring common sense. If it WERE supposed to look like that, it would have previously, and it would on the HD video services currently playing it elsewhere.

Well said.

[Tybo28]

Originally Posted by odriley

I just watched the whole thing and heres my final word on what I think.

First 5 minutes look good. A little darker but I can live with that.

Then after that it starts getting darker and turns blue.

Ok im not talking NEON blue. But still tinted blue. From what I can tell whoever did the transfer or approved by whoever.. decided to make the bright day scenes into dusk or night. They didnt do a good job as they made it more blue instead of making it work.

Like i said Im a huge fan who has seen this movie countless times. My frustration at just seeing a CHANGE from what ive seen for the past 20 years... You Star Wars fans should understand.

Then it stays darker with a blue tint until Cooper comes upstairs. At that moment the color all of a sudden improves. The colors are muted for the rest of the movie (which i could live with). Until Barbara ventures outside near the end...then back comes the blue tint. Then the day scenes comes and it gets better (muted colors) again.

Others have already mentioned the audio changes which are also annoying.

It seems like whoever did the transfer just did a half ass job of making the day scenes darker. You lose so much of the great day scene zombie fx / makeup because of it. Im really curious to hear from Savini what he thinks. Im really hoping he had no hand in changing it.

Ive seen the movie 100s of times including in theaters, dvd, vhs, and the HD copy. It has never looked like this so naturally im disappointed. I had the same frustration when Return of the Living Dead was first released to dvd with all of its little changes after seeing it for years and years on VHS intact.

I dont think its wrong to be annoyed on how this bluray turned out to those of us that know this movie inside and out and have seen it a certain way for 20 years.

Thank you for writing this. I'm seeing everything you're seeing. You can say its bad, or good, but there's no denying its different. It looks cold. Totally different mood. I liked it much better the way it was always presented. Everybody is right though, you just gotta watch it for yourself and decide.

[deltasun]

Originally Posted by Trekkie313

You always have to make adjustments unless you want greyish blacks.

Not if it's calibrated.

[Retroj23]

Originally Posted by Tybo28

Thank you for writing this. I'm seeing everything you're seeing. You can say its bad, or good, but there's no denying its different. It looks cold. Totally different mood. I liked it much better the way it was always presented. Everybody is right though, you just gotta watch it for yourself and decide.

As opposed to warm? Look I'm not trolling you but I watched this with some friends tonight and while they agreed it did look darker than the DVD they actually liked this color timing better because it fits in better with the mood of the film.

[Tybo28]

Originally Posted by Retroj23

As opposed to warm? Look I'm not trolling you but I watched this with some friend tonight and while they agreed it did look darker than the DVD they actually liked this color timing better because it fits in better with the mood of the film.

That's what I mean, some people might like it more, and some people are going to be disappointed. Like everything else, it's subjective.

[videohead]

Been in er all day, came home to two orange packages. I don't care what anyone says, I'm going to watch for the first time tonight! I'm pumped! The only blue ill complain about is balls. Booyah!

[odriley]

I hope the next release of Star Wars has a layer of brown over it. Just a poop brown color over the picture. Im going to be all over that thread talking about how I think it fits the movie better and that I think people should chill out and stop whining.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Retroj23

I watched this with some friends tonight and while they agreed it did look darker than the DVD they actually liked this color timing better because it fits in better with the mood of the film.

Exactly. I just watched it myself tonight, and I do agree the darker atmosphere suits the film more appropriately than the DVD. Many people don't like it because, it's not what they're use to seeing. This is the way the movie should have looked on previous formats. Compared to the DVD, the blu-ray is far superior. The DVD appeared to have too much outdoor, and indoor lighting to be a zombie movie...Personally, I thought the blu-ray looked exceptionally good! The video is sharp, detailed, and vibrant. The audio is an improvement as well because, the soundtrack was originally recorded in Ultra Stereo, an audio codec which was formerly utilized primarily in B movies. Tom Savini should be very well pleased of this HD transfer from Twilight Time.

[Retroj23]

Originally Posted by Tybo28

That's what I mean, some people might like it more, and some people are going to be disappointed. Like everything else, it's subjective.

Definitely agree. It really boils down to ones own personal taste. I just wished Twilight Time or Screen Archieves would put out some screenshots or review to better inform potential buyers before the pre-oders go up. But this is wishful thinking...

[keb33509]

Originally Posted by toothybaby

The only blue ill complain about is balls.

I'm surprised you still have any after you have....

Originally Posted by toothybaby

Been in er all day

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by psicon

Psicon's screen captures are the only ones I've seen yet from this thread that are representative of what I saw on my personal display, an ISF-calibrated KURO plasma.

People keep saying there is an added blue push, but that is probably not correct. The white balance would be different in the credits if that had been significantly altered. Something else has been done to the transfer, likely an intentional creative move on someone's part (the million dollar question is who?) to alter the time setting of the opening act. I'm not saying it was done perfectly, the transition is not gradual enough and starts out too dark to begin with in the first place.

[cksilvia95]

Whenever I watched NOTLD 90 DVD I always wondered how fast the movie went from mid day to night. That always bugged the crap out of me

And as for the blu...it makes the transition better going from dusk to night. Im not going to lie but when the first zombie comes out in the cemetary it did make my tv look like it was dimmed.But now it changes the whole mood and makes the movie seem much more darker.Come on its...NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD! Its supposed to be dark and gloomy.



Those of you who are complaining should give your copy to someone who missed out on the preorder

[arcadeforest]

Well I just got finished watching this. I need to state that I have never seen this before. No prior theater, no vhs, no laser disc and no dvd viewings for me. As a result I do not have any pre-reference to go by.

I thought it looked good. The questionable period to me (as debated in this thread, cemetery to dark - ending roughly 25 minutes into the film) appear to steadly grow dark. I did not see it as "blue" as much as I saw it as twilight / filtered moonlight. I may be crazy but it looked natural to me . You could see shadows cast off the moonlight. Leaves in the trees remained green while the white on the house / porched looked to be bathed in a moonglow. When Todd's character went from under the porch to out in the moonlight he lit up like you would expect someone going from the shadows into the moonlight. Yes, at times the film appeared dark but I could not really see this working all lit up like it was still daylight outside. In the house there were times when the characters faces were dark but I believe that was the intention - especially considering one of those scenes Todd's character strikes a match and his face lit up nice / natural as one would expect.

I'm sorry for those hardcore fans that are having a problem with this release. If a favorite film of mine failed to reach my expections I could see be unhappy as well. Like I mentioned I had never seen this before so I have no previous frame of reference. Just wanted to relay my thoughts as a first time viewer. I though it looked good, felt like a zombie / horror flick, good story, good acting. Overall I'm happy I got to see this and will gladly keep my copy.

For those posting what is the closest town to where this was filmed? Would like to look it up in Google Earth at some point.