Night of the Living Dead...which version is best?

Am i the only one who likes the Anniversary edition with the additional footage and new score, perhaps even so much as to say it's better than the original film? i know it changed the feel of the film altogether, but for the better...i'm not one to yearn for explanations and such but it did improve the story. Original NotLD is of course iconic in minds of many people, but if one doesn't mind sacrilege and heresy, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the altered version.

Anyway, despite negative reactions from almost everyone, i think one should give that a chance, too. Especially if you feel your world-definition doesn't depend too much on the solidity of original NotLD

PS: Mind you, i never thought the original is such a masterpiece...it was groundbreaking and intelligent certainly, but those are not enough for a masterpiece. Even for a low budget movie use of stock music, for example, is quite an abomination...i think people just have come to forgive and overlook the flaws of the original over the years (like it's easy enough to say now that it's just those things that make it great, but...c'mon, you really think it wouldn't be better if it had a head or tail to it, or real music?). It's a great film, but not so great that it should be untouchable. And that's my point, that the Anniversary Edition actually improved on it. And it's just plain wrong to say that the apocalyptic twist to the story doesn't fit to it.

[rxfiend]

Originally Posted by sacateca

Am i the only one who likes the Anniversary edition with the additional footage and new score, perhaps even so much as to say it's better than the original film?

yes, you are.

[jscott]

Originally Posted by rxfiend

yes, you are.

I concur.

[Paff]

Even though I've not seen this "altered" version, I can't possibly imagine enjoying it more. I've never had any problem with the original version of NOTLD, whether it's the music (an "abomination"?? What's so terrible about it? I actually think it fits just fine), the low budget, or whatever.

I don't have to qualify it as a good movie "for it's time", or anything like that. To me, it's a good movie exactly how it is.

[ekent]

Russo, Hinzman and Streiner turned NOTLD into an Ed Wood style fiasco when they decided to tamper with a classic. The NOTLD Anniversary edition makes the Star Wars Special Edtions look like The Godfather.

I think that in order to have the best of both worlds, you should have the Millenium Edition DVD, and the Elite 25th Anniversary Laserdisc. The laserdisc has a ton of extra stills, and the DVD has 5.1 and what I consider to be a slightly better picture. The DVD also has one of the harshest layer breaks I have encountered, but I guess that sure beats the 10 second wait for the laserdisc to flip

[Jamm]

Originally Posted by sacateca

Am i the only one who likes the Anniversary edition with the additional footage and new score, perhaps even so much as to say it's better than the original film?

I had to resort to simply throwing mine in the trash. I couldn't even give it away, much less sell it.

[KR~!]

Originally Posted by Paff

Even though I've not seen this "altered" version, I can't possibly imagine enjoying it more. I've never had any problem with the original version of NOTLD, whether it's the music (an "abomination"?? What's so terrible about it? I actually think it fits just fine), the low budget, or whatever.

I don't have to qualify it as a good movie "for it's time", or anything like that. To me, it's a good movie exactly how it is.

To me it is a masterpiece! Sure Romero can sometimes be as subtle as a chainsaw up the ass, but NOTLD still has IMHO one of the most powerful endings in horror film history.

[X-human]

I recently picked up a VHS of the colored Hal Roach version, and I was rather impressed with the colorization. No it doesn't look good per say, but you'd be surprised by how badly it doesn't look. I only started to catch on how they did it when Duane Jones enterted the picture. Whenever his face went into black for a couple of seconds you could see a brown traveling matte where his head was. It's not nearly as badly colored as the box cover and back photos would indicate. Which literally look as if a child had drawn them in.

The biggest problem is probably that they had to brighten the image in order to make the colors stick, so a lot of the atmosphere is really lost. I had watched the Millenium Edition a few weeks before so it was fresh in my mind how impressive the cinematography was. They also wouldn't leave ANYTHING white, so white objects were a light yellow and the house was a light pink. Pink! The zombie green was rather unconvincing as well. Plus blood didn't come out that well, since it was straight black in the film.

[fceurich39]

the zombie footage with bill hinzman is good but the rest is horrible

[spawningblue]

Just watched the Millennium edition, and the only problem I had with the DVD was the extras, or lack of them. From a quick glance, the back shows what looks like a LOT of extras, but in reality there wasn't that much. I thought there would be an hour long documentary with George and the cast, but instead all there was was a quick interview and a radio interview, and then a bunch of stills and notes.

Anyways, am I the only one that thinks this movie needs a sweet 3 disc set, filled with documentaries and deleted scenes (if there are any) and what not. I know George doesn't want much to do with the film, but I'm sure if someone paid him some much deserved cash he'd jump in to do the movie the justice it deserves. And since it's on public domain, would it be such a stretch to see Criterion do a DVD for it?

[Shannafey]

Originally Posted by evildeadfan123

I own the Millinium, 30th Anniversary, and Colorized DVDs of Night Of The Living Dead, and the Millinium edition is the way to go.

Those are the 2 I have as well. Millenium is the way to go!!

[fceurich39]

there may be a new 40th anniversary dvd coming this year also on anchor bays site it says about a 40th anniversary reunion meaning maybe anchor bay will release a new dvd also i remember a while back they were making a new documentary for night of the living dead so that will probably be coming out this year with a new dvd

[maybrick]

The colorized, 30th anniversary edition in 3-D with additional Sid Haig sequences spliced in (as originally intended by Caesar Romero) is the only way to go.

[Paff]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Just watched the Millennium edition, and the only problem I had with the DVD was the extras, or lack of them. From a quick glance, the back shows what looks like a LOT of extras, but in reality there wasn't that much. I thought there would be an hour long documentary with George and the cast, but instead all there was was a quick interview and a radio interview, and then a bunch of stills and notes.

Anyways, am I the only one that thinks this movie needs a sweet 3 disc set, filled with documentaries and deleted scenes (if there are any) and what not. I know George doesn't want much to do with the film, but I'm sure if someone paid him some much deserved cash he'd jump in to do the movie the justice it deserves. And since it's on public domain, would it be such a stretch to see Criterion do a DVD for it?

There's a finite amount of stuff you can have for this movie. Documentaries? What documentaries? They barely had the money to make the movie, let alone a making-of.

I thought the Millenium Edition was pretty comprehensive, with only the exception of the still photos that were on the Elite laserdisc.

You did listen to both audio commentaries, right?

[allmessedup]

Three of the cast members have passed away, including the two leading characters. That really hurts any kind of documentary. Besides, so much of the film's story has been rehashed in various other places over the years, that I don't know how much more they could really add. Don't get me wrong, NOTLD is my favorite horror film, but it would take an awful lot to get a double dip from me. I'm really happy with the Millennium Edition.