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

[Stige]

Originally Posted by buck135

I just bought this. The subtitles can be turned off. The transfer is the same as the Happinet bd. It is a BD50, however it is region B locked. The 80 minute documentary "Reflections of the Dead" is awesome. It was filmed in the early nineties, and features a round table discussion with Romero, Streiner, Hardman and Russo. Later on, Hardman and Eastman go over photos taken from the film and then discuss the music. Finally, there is an interview with Judith O'Dea. There are also interviews from Hooper, Craven, Landis and more. The disc also contains the "One for the Fire" documentary. Bottom line, if you're region-free, this is the version to buy in my opinion (I have nine different blu-rays of this film).

good to know
ordered it yesterday with bride of chucky

(does amazon.fr always charge a fortune in shipping?)

[buck135]

Originally Posted by Stige

good to know
ordered it yesterday with bride of chucky

(does amazon.fr always charge a fortune in shipping?)

I'm happy to have helped. For whatever reason, Amazon.fr wouldn't ship to me here in the States. Even the third party sellers wouldn't sell here. I had to go through eBay.fr. With shipping, I got it for $25 so I can't complain.

[Stige]

they wouldn't ship to me either, so I ordered from another amazon seller

224 kr for both

about 38 USD with the present exchange rate

[buck135]

Originally Posted by Stige

they wouldn't ship to me either, so I ordered from another amazon seller

224 kr for both

about 38 USD with the present exchange rate

Nice. Not bad at all. I received mine within a weeks time from the seller in France. The Limited Edition German BD Digibook of NOTLD took about a week as well from Amazon.de. The Australian Umbrella BD however took about a month to get here.

[X-human]

Originally Posted by buck135

The Limited Edition German BD Digibook of NOTLD took about a week as well from Amazon.de.

This one?


How is that? I hear it's the same master as the Network one but nobody's confirmed if it's missing the same amount of footage.

[buck135]

Originally Posted by X-human

This one?


How is that? I hear it's the same master as the Network one but nobody's confirmed if it's missing the same amount of footage.

That's the one. It is the same transfer as the Network blu. Both are region B locked. I haven't watched either in their entirety, however I will try to this week. The Digibook (though in German) is awesome. The most positive thing that can be said about this transfer is it's not cropped. However, there are many frames missing and vertical lines run through the print throughout. For those that have seen the Happinet or Forgotten Films BD's, you'll wonder if this isn't an upscaled DVD. Lastly, the extras are bizarre. The "Making of" documentary is about the 1990 remake (which is on the old Sony DVD). The "Fan of the Dead" doc can be found on many other bd's as well as YouTube. The only exclusive to this disc is the German trailer. Still a decent buy though for fans, and is apparently "limited."

[zbinks]

Originally Posted by buck135

That's the one. It is the same transfer as the Network blu. Both are region B locked. I haven't watched either in their entirety, however I will try to this week. The Digibook (though in German) is awesome. The most positive thing that can be said about this transfer is it's not cropped. However, there are many frames missing and vertical lines run through the print throughout. For those that have seen the Happinet or Forgotten Films BD's, you'll wonder if this isn't an upscaled DVD. Lastly, the extras are bizarre. The "Making of" documentary is about the 1990 remake (which is on the old Sony DVD). The "Fan of the Dead" doc can be found on many other bd's as well as YouTube. The only exclusive to this disc is the German trailer. Still a decent buy though for fans, and is apparently "limited."

Out of curiosity, do the "Network print" Blu-Rays offer any sort of A/V benefits over simply watching the Elite Millenium Edition DVD upscaled or is that DVD still the way to go as far as getting NOTLD in Full-Frame OAR? As far as I'm aware, the Elite DVD was sourced from the same elements as the "Dimension transfer" Blu-Rays and DVDs, but from an older, SD transfer that had none of the windowboxing inherent to that transfer.

[buck135]

Originally Posted by zbinks

Out of curiosity, do the "Network print" Blu-Rays offer any sort of A/V benefits over simply watching the Elite Millenium Edition DVD upscaled or is that DVD still the way to go as far as getting NOTLD in Full-Frame OAR? As far as I'm aware, the Elite DVD was sourced from the same elements as the "Dimension transfer" Blu-Rays and DVDs, but from an older, SD transfer that had none of the windowboxing inherent to that transfer.

I'm not sure which print the folks at Dimension used. They did an amazing job, it's just a shame that it was cropped as much as it was. I would have to say that the Elite Millenium is the better of the two when compared with the Network/German BD's. The Forgotten Films BD and the BD's featuring the Dimension transer are just absolutely breathtaking visually. I do still watch my Elite Millenium DVD every so often. The reason why I own so many versions of this film is because trying to find the perfect transfer is my holy grail search.

[evildeadfan123]

Millenium edition is the way to go, but I also own the colorized version, and the 30th anniversary edition, but the Millenium is the best of all three. On the colorized version, I think it has commentary from Mike Nelson from MST3K.

[buck135]

Originally Posted by evildeadfan123

Millenium edition is the way to go, but I also own the colorized version, and the 30th anniversary edition, but the Millenium is the best of all three. On the colorized version, I think it has commentary from Mike Nelson from MST3K.

In regards to the available DVD's, absolutely the Elite Millenium is the best in my opinion. I own both versions of the 30th anniversary (with and without the soundtrack) for some reason and the Fox colorized DVD. It does indeed contain the Mike Nelson commentary which is hysterical.

[othervoice1]

So far I am leaning just going with the Millennium edition dvd. Sounds like the video quality is pretty solid and after upscaling probably not much difference even from the better blu rays out there. The Japan and French blu rays seem like the best of the blu bunch so far but pretty expensive to obtain.

Course I wonder if the 40th anniversary dvd is actually better in picture quality but just not as good extras as the millennium edition? I saw this little quip about it:

"This 40th anniversary edition features a fully restored and re-mastered cut of the film with features overseen by George Romero himself. First, there are two audio commentaries: One featuring Romero, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, and John Russo. The second features Producer/Actor Russ Streiner (Johnny), Judith O' Dea (Barbra), Kyra Schon (Karen Cooper), and Karl Hinzman (cemetery zombie).

The main attraction of the 40th Anniversary Edition is the brand new, 83-minute documentary that covers the film from beginning to end. The documentary opens in black & white as an SUV drives through a cemetery. The film switches to color as Streiner and O'Dea visit the same grave where they placed a wreath forty years earlier. The documentary features comments from almost all the surviving cast members including Eastman, Hardman (who just passed away recently), Schon, Hinzman, George Kosana (Sheriff McClelland) Bill Cardille (reporter who played himself), and Ella Mae Smith who played a zombie, along with Romero, Russo, and others in the crew."


Anyone own both the millennium and 40th anniversary dvds and know if one is better then the other in picture quality and sound?

[X-human]

I'm tempted by the French and German Digibook. Mostly to have both transfers and the odd fact that I have the remake on Blu-ray but not DVD so the 90's Making Of would suit me fine.

[buck135]

Originally Posted by othervoice1

The main attraction of the 40th Anniversary Edition is the brand new, 83-minute documentary that covers the film from beginning to end. The documentary opens in black & white as an SUV drives through a cemetery. The film switches to color as Streiner and O'Dea visit the same grave where they placed a wreath forty years earlier. The documentary features comments from almost all the surviving cast members including Eastman, Hardman (who just passed away recently), Schon, Hinzman, George Kosana (Sheriff McClelland) Bill Cardille (reporter who played himself), and Ella Mae Smith who played a zombie, along with Romero, Russo, and others in the crew."


Anyone own both the millennium and 40th anniversary dvds and know if one is better then the other in picture quality and sound?

Yes, I have both DVD's. The Elite Millenium DVD has an excellent transfer and isn't cropped. The 40th Anniversary DVD has a much more cleaned up transfer, but it's cropped. The 40th Anniversary is the transfer used for the Japanese and French Blu-ray's, just now in glorious 1080p. I'd be lying to you if I said that the jump from the DVD to the Blu-ray was negligible. The blu-ray's are jaw-dropping gorgeous. As far as sound, I'm far from an audiophile, so I'm not really the person to give a proper answer here.

The documentary you speak of is called "One for the Fire." It is in 1080p on the Japanese and French blu-rays.

[buck135]

Originally Posted by X-human

I'm tempted by the French and German Digibook. Mostly to have both transfers and the odd fact that I have the remake on Blu-ray but not DVD so the 90's Making Of would suit me fine.

Just be advised that you need to be region-free. Also, be aware that the difference in picture quality between the German Digibook/Network blu-ray and the French/Happinet blu-ray are night and day. I can guarantee that you will only watch the French/Happinet blu-ray once you see it. I just bought my tenth version of this film on blu-ray. It is from Austria (NSM Records) and is region-B locked. The cool thing about it is it's limited to only 131. So there are only 130 left in the world now. It indicates that there is a "hidden feature." I'm more than curious as to what it is.

[othervoice1]

So basically the Japan and French blu-rays are the best - Japan's is region A so will play on U.S. players correct? The French release is region locked but has better extras? - Im tempted but I hate to plop down 50 bucks for the Japan release when I can get the dvd for 5.00 <: ho hum - still deciding...