Best Version of Romero's Dawn of the Dead

[Bladerunner5375]

there is a thread for the original NOTLD, but does anyone have a suggestion for the BEST blu-ray version of George Romero's 1979 Dawn of the Dead? These are some of the ones i'm familiar with:

U.S.- Anchor Bay, OOP
U.K.- Arrow Films, OOP(?)
Japan-Ultimate Edtion 35th Anniversary--contains three cuts including Argento cut

Europe--Dead Trilogie(NOTLD, DAWN, DAY)

anyone know of any others? which do you guys think is the best? I still hear that the Ultimate DvD set made by Anchor Bay is the BEST, albeit not in HD. Your thoughts, my fellow "Dead-Heads"?

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Bladerunner5375

anyone know of any others? which do you guys think is the best? I still hear that the Ultimate DvD set made by Anchor Bay is the BEST, albeit not in HD. Your thoughts, my fellow "Dead-Heads"?

I am just sticking with that DVD until a good bluray comes out. None of the blurays are very good, so no point in buying something crappy that will inevitably have to be upgraded again this generation.

[kidglov3s]

All I can speak to is that the Anchor Bay disc is a disaster thanks to a weird ghosting/motion trail problem, that also carries over to the Arrow disc, as seen in this Caps-A-Holic comparison.

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

(for comparison here's the US compared to the FR Argento disc that for its obvious flaws doesn't suffer the ghosting silliness.

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich )

[Bladerunner5375]

thank you both! sounds like the DVD is the way to go, then! cheers!

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Bladerunner5375

thank you both! sounds like the DVD is the way to go, then! cheers!

Yes, I highly recommend it, that ultimate set is one of my favorite discs in my collection, I've watched every version of the movie with the commentaries at least once and have watched all the special features several times.

[Jaymole]

Originally Posted by kidglov3s

All I can speak to is that the Anchor Bay disc is a disaster thanks to a weird ghosting/motion trail problem, that also carries over to the Arrow disc, as seen in this Caps-A-Holic comparison.

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich

(for comparison here's the US compared to the FR Argento disc that for its obvious flaws doesn't suffer the ghosting silliness.

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...ss=1#vergleich )

It's amazing that the review here on the forum raves about the transfer:

Starz presents Dawn of the Dead in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with a 1080p transfer. This is a drab film that has always looked a little dark to me. This may sound strange, but this is a movie you can almost smell based on the visual look (and a lot of the time, especially early on, it doesn't smell good). The Blu-ray presentation is nothing short of remarkable when compared to the most recent DVD release. There are a few speckles of dirt here and there, but overall this is a clean and clear transfer. I didn't notice any overt edge enhancement like what I saw in Evil Dead II. Fine detail that wasn't noticeable in previous versions is here. There is a depth to the text in the opening credits I never noticed before. Flesh tones never falter and the overall color palette never wavers. Blood actually looks red in this release! The blood issue is mentioned in the commentary and though they admit it looks fake, the filmmakers believe it adds to the cartoonish feel of the violence. Nevertheless, it looks great here, the best I have seen it yet. I've seen previous editions where there was a definite heavy orange tint to the blood (I've never seen the film on anything but home video). Minute detail in the gore, especially splatterings and drippings of blood, look dramatically improved here. There was quite a bit of noise on the old DVD editions, even the most recent one, but the print on the Blu-ray is pristine. I didn't think this was going to be a huge upgrade from the DVD while I was watching it, but to my surprise it blows the DVD away. There is no question that, video-wise, this the best Dawn of the Dead has ever looked on home video.

I have not watched the blu-ray, is the ghosting very noticeable?

[kidglov3s]

Originally Posted by Jaymole

It's amazing that the review here on the forum raves about the transfer:




I have not watched the blu-ray, is the ghosting very noticeable?

I found it to be immediately noticeable, maybe because it reminded me of watching ghosting videos on my PSP. Honestly when I go to watch Dawn of the Dead (my favorite movie tied with Umbrellas of Cherbourg) these days I watch my HBO/Image laserdisc. Lossless audio, video without DNR bullshit tinkering or compression artifacts. AND ITS ROTTED ON SIDE ONE! Still preferable to me over the DVDs or the AB Blu-ray.

[klauswhereareyou]

Ultimate dvd set is the way to go, until a good transfer of the theatrical cut comes to blu ray (I wouldn't hold my breath for HD cuts of the other versions).

[HD Goofnut]

From my thread:

US - AVC 28259 kbps 1.85:1, LPCM 5.1 4608 kbps 16-bit, extras, DNR (Region free)
JP - AVC 36000 kbps, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 2119 kbps 96 kHz 16-bit, no eng subs (Region A)
UK - AVC 25000 kbps 1.78:1, DTS-HD MA 5.1 1698 kbps 16-bit/LPCM 2.0 2304 kbps 24-bit, less DNR than US (Region free)

The U.K. has better grain structure due to less DNR, but it has a lot of print damage. However, the U.S. disc has the correct 1.85:1 ratio while the U.K. disc is 1.78:1. Again, on the flip side the U.K. disc has the original stereo mix in lossless 2.0 as it should be. Pick your poison.

Not sure on the JP disc. Does anyone here own it?

[bigdaddyhorse]

Originally Posted by Jaymole

It's amazing that the review here on the forum raves about the transfer:




I have not watched the blu-ray, is the ghosting very noticeable?

YMMV, I watched it not long ago and didn't notice it, but I also don't get bugged by many things others here say make the worst Blu-rays ever. The only thing that has really bugged me is Predator UHE, a blind person would see the DNR on that thing!

The DVD boxset is the best, although I have no issue with the AB BD and usually go to that for viewing.

[Cortiz]

I may be in the minority here but I have to concur witht this site review. I think the AB looks fine. It's not a perfect transfer by any means, but it certainly a CLEAR upgrade over the AB DVD version. Only thing I hate about this AB release is that it only contains the theatrical cut. It would have been nice if they would have included the other cuts was well.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Cortiz

I may be in the minority here but I have to concur witht this site review. I think the AB looks fine. It's not a perfect transfer by any means, but it certainly a CLEAR upgrade over the AB DVD version. Only thing I hate about this AB release is that it only contains the theatrical cut. It would have been nice if they would have included the other cuts was well.

It looks like JP has a decent disc for the European cut of the film.

[kidglov3s]

I think the thing with the AB/Arrow transfer is that your enjoyment of it might depend upon both your knowledge of film and how film looks and doesn't look as well as how much you care about whether or not something looks like film. I find the transfer to be violently unfilmlike.

[Leterface]

I have the Arrow BD and its colors are muted and the ghosting in motion scenes disturbed me alot.

[mckee74]

I still haven't moved past the laserdisc box set! Will have to upgrade one day.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Again, on the flip side the U.K. disc has the original stereo mix in lossless 2.0 as it should be. Pick your poison.

I think the Romero cuts were originally mono.

That's one reason I kept the ABE UE DVD set.

No idea what Argento did with his cut audio-wise, that version has never interested me.

[buck135]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Not sure on the JP disc. Does anyone here own it?

I have the Happinet Japanese blu-ray boxset. It is very disappointing, especially when you consider the price.

[MrVorhees]

There are 4 new Futurepaks from Austria.
Each edition is a different cut.
I was thinking getting me the Romero cut. Is it completely uncut gore wise?

Link to all 4 editions. https://www.dvd-forum.at/news-detail...ten-futurepaks

Edit: The Romero cut contains BOTH OST tracks. English the US theatrical Romero cut OST and in german the awesome Goblin Argento cut OST.

[SleazyForWeasley]

I've never owned this, but I want to pick it up on blu or 4K. There are soooo many releases of this. Which do you all think would be the best to buy? I'm region free, so I'm leaning toward the Second Sight one. Thoughts?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by SleazyForWeasley

I've never owned this, but I want to pick it up on blu or 4K. There are soooo many releases of this. Which do you all think would be the best to buy? I'm region free, so I'm leaning toward the Second Sight one. Thoughts?

The Second Sight release is for sure the one to get