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

[JYokogawa]

Speaking from the viewpoint of someone who's seen the movie dozens if not hundreds of times, it's distracting. It's unbalanced as well. The first 20 minutes of the film are extremely dark in comparison to what the DVD version was. You lose so much color in the whites/yellows/reds/greens during those early scenes. It's very noticeable.

What I don't get, is that the last 5 minutes of the film almost seem untouched. I didn't sit through the entire thing frame-by-frame, but I sat there and skipped around for about 10-15 minutes, checking in on key scenes, and it's shocking how much better the last five minutes look in relation to the rest of the film.

That said, the actual clarity of the picture is refreshing, so not all is lost, but it's by no means perfect.

Once Harry and the rest of the company joins the film, it doesn't seem to be so bad, but anytime the lights are out, or they are outside at night, it's just not a comfortable look.

Kind of upsetting, but I'll live. Definitely hanging on to the DVD, and I can't say that I'll be going back to the Blu-ray more than the DVD. Not yet anyways, maybe once I sit through the entire thing.

[thephantomcat]

Here's a positive review of the Blu-ray that makes no mention of blue tinting.

http://mcbastardsmausoleum.blogspot....dead-1990.html

[thephantomcat]

Here's another positive review that does mention the blue tint and posts a comparison. He also posts other images from the Blu-ray, but the issue doesn't bother him much and still considers the Blu-ray worth keeping. He does acknowledge that there is an uproar over the tint.

http://slasherfilmsanctuary.blogspot...-time-blu.html

[Ill_Be_Back]

Originally Posted by thephantomcat

Here's another positive review that does mention the blue tint and posts a comparison. He also posts other images from the Blu-ray, but the issue doesn't bother him much and still considers the Blu-ray worth keeping. He does acknowledge that there is an uproar over the tint.

http://slasherfilmsanctuary.blogspot...-time-blu.html

Great thanks

[EffenBlue]

Look, it's obvious I know nothing about nothing okay and I don't want to start an argument. I want to say that how sure are we that the DVD was accurate as to what the movie was supposed to be, I haven't seen it in theaters so I don't know. When did DVD's become the holy grail as to how accurate movies are supposed to look?

In that case Payback with Mel Gibson should always be blue and my HDDVD is inaccurate. Anyway, that's what I want to say but I can't because I'm not buying Star Wars on Blu until it's the untouched theatrical cuts, so I can understand the frustration.

[thephantomcat]

Originally Posted by Ill_Be_Back

Great thanks

No problem! I'm very eager to see it for myself.

[Ill_Be_Back]

Originally Posted by thephantomcat

No problem! I'm very eager to see it for myself.

Yeah me too, I can't wait to get mine. Some of those screenshots don't look too bad.

[BluRayFiend]

I hate to break the bad news but if your going to compare the dvd to the theater its almost spot on from when it was in the movies I saw it just a couple of years back at the midnight movies an no it wasn't some digital remaster like ET or some TCM release . It was the plain old movie reel an I can tell you now the dvd an that were almost identical. Not trying to stir the pot sorry

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by thephantomcat

Here's another positive review that does mention the blue tint and posts a comparison. He also posts other images from the Blu-ray, but the issue doesn't bother him much and still considers the Blu-ray worth keeping. He does acknowledge that there is an uproar over the tint.

http://slasherfilmsanctuary.blogspot...-time-blu.html

That's because he was reading this thread

[thephantomcat]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

That's because he was reading this thread

Indeed. This thread was pretty nasty until it got cleaned up. At first I was excited to see so many people loved this movie as much as I did. Now..... not so much.

[EffenBlue]

Originally Posted by BluRayFiend

I hate to break the bad news but if your going to compare the dvd to the theater its almost spot on from when it was in the movies I saw it just a couple of years back at the midnight movies an no it wasn't some digital remaster like ET or some TCM release . It was the plain old movie reel an I can tell you now the dvd an that were almost identical. Not trying to stir the pot sorry

Okay, I just wanted clarification from someone outside the heat of the moment who's actually seen the theater version.

[Dickieduvet]

The Cinema release back in 1990 was identical to the DVD, Laserdisc and VHS!!

The Blu-Ray.....Not so much

[Nielsb90]

Looking at those screencaps it looks.. Bad...

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by thephantomcat

Here's another positive review that does mention the blue tint and posts a comparison. He also posts other images from the Blu-ray, but the issue doesn't bother him much and still considers the Blu-ray worth keeping. He does acknowledge that there is an uproar over the tint.

http://slasherfilmsanctuary.blogspot...-time-blu.html

Wierd pixelization around her eyes in the BD screencap

[Nielsb90]

The DVD looks pretty damn good for a DVD, no?

[Ill_Be_Back]

Originally Posted by Nielsb90

The DVD looks pretty damn good for a DVD, no?

Yeah it is, i still have the old Sony anamorphic DVD. It looks good upscaled...

[BJQ1972]

Originally Posted by tele1962

We only have the screen grabs and the dodgy Youtube video to go off but i have asked a couple of people i know to take a look and maybe shed some light (excuse the pun) on what has been done to the transfer.

Asked a couple of people you know, or simply posted a question on another forum?

[Ill_Be_Back]

Originally Posted by BJQ1972

Asked a couple of people you know, or simply posted a question on another forum?

No need to get so touchy...

[dsman71]

Originally Posted by bgart13

After watching it, my feelings are:

- Sharp looking transfer, some great detail in it with minimal grain (not DNR'd but fine).
- Color scheme has been desaturated and contrast (or whatever the term for this element) has been dimmed (or made darker).

Much of it works for me, but I agree this is different than how it's been presented before. The effects design for the corpses is different due to the saturation/color changes (Savini said in past interviews he wanted a realistic quality for them, yellowed and rotting) -- the corpses now have a pale look to them. I think the technicians -- with or without the filmmakers' involvement -- decided to try to update the image design to be more modern and realistic, maybe more polished than it originally appeared. In fact, THE WALKING DEAD might be to blame for a lot the changes.

I'm... unsure... how I feel about the alterations at this time. I'm not a die-hard fan of this remake, I think it's a bit of a wasted effort honestly and the effects/gore were under-used to the detriment of the final product. It didn't need to be done as there's absolutely nothing about the original that could be proved upon.

I couldnt agree with you more Ben - I also didnt have a problem with the darker *look* to it. And the original NOTLD is still the best, or one of the all time best zombie films. Nothing can touch that movie.

[xiaNaix]

Originally Posted by thephantomcat

Here's a positive review of the Blu-ray that makes no mention of blue tinting.

http://mcbastardsmausoleum.blogspot....dead-1990.html

I question whether that guy even has the disc. The screenshots used don't even match the less blue ones here everyone is considering to be the "good" ones. He also claims " it's sourced from a very nice print, most likely the same Columbia master used for the DVD" which is just ludicrous. Wait for reviews from reliable sources, not random Blogspot sites no one has ever heard of.