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Title: Night of the Living Dead (30th Anniversary Limited Numbered Edition) (1999) |
Review of Night of the Living Dead (30th Anniversary Limited Numbered Edition)
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Comments for Night of the Living Dead (30th Anniversary Limited Numbered Edition)
- Posted on 2007-12-06
This is a travesty. DO NOT BUY THIS.
The original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is a true classic. This is John Russo's incredibly lame attempt to milk more more from the project that he was clearly the weak link in. George Romero has told Russo that he will not badmouth this version because they are friends, so Romero remains silent on the issue. I think that says it all.
Score: 1
- Posted on 2007-05-17
The much-maligned version
I liked this film more than most of the others here did. Giving the devil his due, the new footage does kind of interfere with Romero's original vision. I'll give you that. But, when the original was released, way back in '68, there wasn't enough money in the budget to execute it as intended. Romero should've redone it himself, granted, but this version tells where the first zombie came from. It's kind of funny, because Bill Hinzman is noticably heavier now, he has put on some weight over the years, so to see him somehow lose 10 or 15 pounds from the time he arises from his pine box, to the time he attacks Barbara and Johnny, it is a problem in the continuity, and mildly funny. But at least, it was the original actor.
And Scott Vladimir Lucina, as the minister, or priest, whatever; good musician, but he really should never give any serious thought to acting. I took this role with a grain of salt, because we all know at least one religious nut-job who acts like this. I just looked at him as an eccentric character. And bad acting may have actually helped here. And his real contribution, I feel, is the redone soundtrack music.
The original footage has been beautifully restored, and unlike some who don't like it, I think the new soundtrack, as well as the new footage, is good. Exaggerated, spooky music almost always adds to a horror film. Although, sometimes, no music is better, notice the conspicuous absence of soundtrack music throughout most of "The Exorcist?" But here, it helps (just an opinion).
If you look hard enough, you will find many flaws in this film, but if you dwell on this, the story and production lose their camp value. The dialogue at the beginning, for instance, where Johnny and Barbara are talking about having more daylight from setting the clocks ahead, conflicts with the dead leaves on the ground, a sign of Fall. And in the house, where the undead are trying to get in, reaching through the boards over the windows, Tom hits one of the zombies' hands with a hammer. But, by some coincidence, it is the only hand that looks like it's made of wax. A sharp blow to the head is all that can actually "kill" them, but after one such head injury, the injured zombie opens his eyes and looks around the room as he is dragged outside. And these are all in the original footage. So, when the purists lambaste this version, even though I do sympathize, as I much prefer original versions of films to remakes myself, this isn't bad. I do like this incarnation, I think because the new material does compliment the old. The new scenes have the truck that Ben found at the truck stop, it was the one driven by the two grave diggers featured at the beginning, and they are shown as zombies prowling around after the firey truck accident that killed all those people, the one being described in the radio's news report.
Given the whole thing, I would have to say, what I didn't like was the new ending they put on, with the new actors. The original ending, was the ultimate in tragic irony. "Good shot! Okay, that's another one for the fire!" They should have left it at that, and gone straight to the closing credits. And this is what cost it a star in this review.
In its original form, this film was the ground-breaker, and in this form, it is given a little boost.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2007-04-23
Good idea, bad execution
I've been putting off watching this version of NOTLD for quite some time...every review I'd read about it warned me away from wasting my time and money on the 30th Anniversary edition, but finally curiosity got the best of me, and I rented it tonight. While it's not as terrible as most reviewers would have one believe, it definitely could have been done better. The idea itself had a lot of potential, but this potential is never realized. I can see four main problems with this version.
First of all, the new scenes stick out like a sore thumb...as well-filmed as most of them are, and as much as some of the new scenes truly do serve the story (the scene of the family killed in the car crash coming back to life is as disturbing as any zombie scene from the original), they look far too "clean" to be grafted into the original 1968 version. Surely there's some way to "age" this footage to make it look just as grainy as the original footage...even the near-pristine Millennium Edition released by Elite isn't quite as clean as the new scenes. There should have been some attempt to keep some consistency between the orignal footage and the added scenes, even if it was at the expense of the picture quality of the new footage.
Second, there's the music. Scott Vladimir Licina has composed a new score for the film that would sound right at home on a Midnight Syndicate album...but as much as I like that style of music, it has no place in a film that is as established a horror classic as NOTLD. Here and there, the score of the original version, which was not composed specifically for the film but expertly pieced together from the Capitol Records Hi-Q Library, peeks through for a few minutes, but then is overtaken by Licina's modern synth-heavy score. Just as with the new film footage, there is a big problem with consistency here. The film should have either been completely re-scored with Licina's modern music, leaving out all of the original soundtrack (not an option I'm fond of, but an option nonetheless), or the original score should have been kept intact, possibly supplemented by compatible musical themes from the Capitol Records library or whatever its equivalent would be today.
Third, there's the issue of Bill Hinzman's character...as awesome as his original graveyard zombie was, there was no need to "resurrect" him for the new footage. One could honestly mistake the zombie in the new footage as having been played by a different actor...the new scenes show him with a far pastier, paler complexion than his 1968 performance, and his hair isn't even consistent (but then, if you look closely in the original version, his hair is average-length in the cemetery scenes and is then in a crew-cut in the attack at the end of the film, so maybe this aspect is excusable, albeit in a tongue-in-cheek fashion). This could have been worked around by simply not showing his face in the new footage...done properly, the audience would still be able to make the connection.
Finally, the ending was completely uncalled for...the radiation explanation suggested (but never completely established) by the original was more than adequate. The "One Year Later" nonsense forces us to sit through more apocalyptic ramblings by Licina's annoying priest character, who had already worn out his welcome by the time Hinzman's zombie puts the bite on him. It also is a bit confusing, since at the very end we jump back in time to the bonfire and the gritty stills showing Ben's final moments.
In the bonus features, I saw John Russo, Russ Streiner, Bill Hinzman, and even Karl "Harry Cooper" Hardman participating in the filming of the new footage, but the one person from the original NOTLD crew who could have possibly pulled this off was nowhere to be found. George Romero had nothing to do with this production...he likely knew better than to try improving on his original masterpiece. In any case, while I may come back to view this version now and then just for something different, it in no way supplants the original version, no more than Dean Lachiusa's downright disrespectful "Survivor's Cut" does (but we'll save that for another review). It's an intriguing aside, but the real collector's item is and always will be Elite's Millennium Edition.
Score: 2
- Posted on 2006-06-17
Refers to the anchor bay 30th anniversary limited edition
This is a majorly disappointing dvd. The transfer is poor; with the image cropped slightly and white tones that are too grey (leading many to think the movie is murkier than it is). These complaints are pretty much moot when you consider the real failure of this dvd. THE ORIGINAL FILM IS NOT ON IT.
This disc includes two different versions of the film but NEITHER are the original. The new extended cut was made without George Romero's involvement...actually lets not even debate that. The fact of the matter is the new cut is really poor. The new opening for the film is frustrating, and all the footage that has been added of the preacher is tedious and annoying.
Many people have thought that the other version on the disc is the original, and i will admit i made that mistake. It is not. It is a version of the movie "trimmed" by the producers to make it move a little faster. If you can live with this edit, thats cool. I want the original film.
Let's also mention the second disc including the score. I've rarely heard a more inappropriate theme for a movie like this (it is not the original soundtrack). I once bought a dollar store version of cabinet of dr. caligari that had loops of circus music put under it. I feel similarly raped by this.
The only good thing is that this is a limited edition, which will hopefully keep it out of the hands of most people.
Personally, i recommend the Elite Entertainment millenium edition, which was made with Romero's involvement.
Score: 1 - Posted on 2006-05-18
A travesty, avoid it like the plague!
The only reason I have given this a single star, is because I could not post this comment with NO stars, but it deserves none.
Quick, do yourself and true film fans a favour, GO FIND THE MILLENIUM EDITION OF THIS FILM, AND BUY THAT!
THAT version IS the definitive DVD version of the original classic.
Clean images, clean audio, great supplements and commentary.
THIS version?
Well, let me put it this way.
You will appreciate the 30th Anniversary Edition of NOTLD only if you think it's okay for the guy who built the frame for the Mona Lisa to repaint it with lousy colors.
Or if you think the guy who delivered the blank tapes to Capitol and Apple should legally be able to recut and remix all of the Beatles tunes.
This DVD is a travesty.
John Russo has no talent to make a NEW film (a quick glance at Children of the Dead will bear this out), so he continues to ride the wave of the original NOTLD's classic status to give himself permission to destroy the very elements which made it a classic in the first place.
To remove 17 minutes of original footage is enough of a crime.
To replace those scenes with 18 minutes of amateurish, poorly acted and poorly conceived 'new scenes' is the bottom of the barrel stupidity.
Add Scott 'Anton LeVay-as-Preacher' Licina's horrible acting and derivative, irritating and ineffective score, and you've got a recipe for a lousy DVD.
Is the picture good? Yes, but since this is NOT the original film, it's hard to praise the technical merits of this DVD.
It saddens me to think there are people who did NOT see the original NOTLD before this dismal failure was released, and may think THIS is the definitive version.
It is most assuredly not.
Even if you can't find the Millenium Edition... even the grainy, cheap public domain $5 DVD's at discount video stores are better, if only because they are showing the REAL original film.
This one is a crime.
Score: 1
