Russo cheated GAR fans

[The Alive Man]

Let's get this straight: The 30th anniversary edition is RUBBISH; the worst thing ever happened to human race since World War II. The new footage is Russo's way to mess up with our lives. ORRIBLE FOOTAGE which destroyed the movie by all means and perspectives. L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y. A slap in the face. We have to be happy for the MILLENNIUM EDITION, that finally restored the piece of art in the way the great painter conceived it in 1968. Russo's name will be encapsuled in the current human history as the one belonging to a trickster, a funny clown who loves to play with human feelings.

[Danny]

i dont think anyone would disagree with you but does this really need to be a thread?

[The Alive Man]

i dont think anyone would disagree with you but does this really need to be a thread? Yes, because he cheated us, and this truly deserves to be OFFICIALLY STATED somewhere.

[Philly_SWAT]

Yes, because he cheated us, and this truly deserves to be OFFICIALLY STATED somewhere. Not to burst your "I am the first to officially state this" bubble, but much worse than that has been posted about Russo on this site throughout the years. To play devil's advocate for a moment, "The System" cheated all of the Image Ten folks, that for a mistake with a copyright symbol, they had no legal rights to their own movie which they just made, and enjoyed minimal profits off of it. The 30th with the additional footage, while indeed very much horrible, was their attempt to actually have a copyright on their own work, which it is hard to blame them for this. It is an overstatement in my opinion to say that RUSSO CHEATED US! Without Russo, their would have been no original Night, and a logical follow through that there would have been no Dawn, or Land, or Day either. It would be accurate to say that the additional footage was dumb, didnt fit in with the original footage well at all, and greatly took away from an original classic, but its not like anyone had to buy it if they didnt want to. In fact, I saw tons of them a couple of years ago at Big Lots for $3.99. So while your enthusiasm is admirable, it may be a bit over the top.

[zombiethomas]

I'd like to chime in on this if I may. John got the idea for the revised edition of "NOTLD" because of the "Star Wars" special editions. I remember talking to John about this just before the 30th Anniversary went into production. He was excited because at last it was possible to bring some money back to the original investors known as 'Image 10.' What people often forget is that due to a copyright snafu in 1968, "NOTLD" had, up until 1978, been public domain. (What a lot of people still don't realize is that "NOTLD" was officially copyrighted in 1978. Check the 'red' edition of the one-sheet poster and you will plainly see this copyright) In any case, various studios and distributors continue to put out unauthorized versions of the film, and other than just a few DVD editions currently available, the various editions are unauthorized. I think John's intentions were sincere at the time. The problem was, John had already been accused over and over again of 'bastardizing' the original film and this seemed like a major insult to fans and purists of the film. Many people made up their minds to HATE the "30th Anniversary" before it ever went into production. I, on the other hand, remained open-minded and somewhat excited about what this could turn out to be. After viewing the film TWICE, I came to these conclusions: Preface: After reading Harry Knowles totally destroy the film, I was expecting the cinematic equivalent of dog-****. Personally I thought Harry went way overboard in his review. He doesn't have to like the film, but he had no right to verbally mutilate John Russo in the process. In any case I had great reservations about even watching the film, but did so, and I did it twice in one day. 1. The look of the film was pretty amazing. I thought the blend of the 'new' and 'old' was pretty convincing, especially in the accident sequence. Frankly, Russo and crew scored big points with me in that department. 2. The new footage overall was interesting. I liked the beginning and most of the added material that followed. I did NOT like the sequence featuring the fire n' brimstone preacher and the hospital segment that followed. It didn't work at all for me, and I wish John would have cut all of that and kept in the original footage. I think people would have been kinder to this version, had John not removed some of the original footage. 3. The new sound EFX were very entertaining and provided a whole new experience in watching the film. 4. The revised score was a mixed bag for me. I liked it overall, but I would have absolutely loved it if someone would have taken those old Capitol Music Library tracks used for the original film and re-arranged them with trumped-up strings and a few rockier moments ala "Goblin.' 5. The 30th Anniversary DVD is an interesting assemblage of the old and the new, and I was entertained by the various extras. Conclusion: My opinion is that this was a noble but misguided effort on the part of John Russo and company. Perhaps some die-hard fans of the original should have been asked to contribute some ideas. I think the "30th Anniversary" should be viewed as an entirely different movie ... a 'curiousity piece' if nothing else, and not as a separate version of "Night of the Living Dead," arguably the single greatest horror film of all time. Thomas Brown

[The Alive Man]

Zombiethomas, Thanks for the delucidations. There's nothing left to say except: what a mess! I hope the MILLENNIUM EDITION is selling tons and tons of copies, that's the ONE and ONLY 'NIGHT' we love so much. Any other "proper" and good DVD editions to point the finger at? And no, please, the "colorized" version is as laughable as Russo's 30th disaster movie. I hope ROMERO got his hands on the rights and now he's storing the original negatives of the footage somewhere.

[Philly_SWAT]

Any other "proper" and good DVD editions to point the finger at? And no, please, the "colorized" version is as laughable as Russo's 30th disaster movie. There is a sticky at the top of the Dead Discusion page that lists all of the best versions to get.

[The Alive Man]

Thank you, Philly... !!! ... well, as far as NIGHT is concerned, the threat lists only the MILLENNIUM.

[Philly_SWAT]

Thank you, Philly... !!! ... well, as far as NIGHT is concerned, the threat lists only the MILLENNIUM. Yep. Thats the best.

[The Alive Man]

Let's hope they will produce it for many years to come.

[Philly_SWAT]

Let's hope they will produce it for many years to come. I bet you are one of those guys that always has to have the last word, eh?

[The Alive Man]

No. LOL! I still wonder if there will be an even better version in the future to come under Russo's belt... a good way to redeem himself. And by all accounts, his ALTERED version should have been named 'RUSSO's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD ALTERNATIVE CUT' and not the more generic '30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION' ---> he was fooling people, and that's called "swindle"! If they would have gone for such title, Alternative Cut, I would have appreciated their mess better.

[Adolf Kitler]

If you just gotta get a altered version of NOTLD, get the Mike Nelson (of Mystery Science Theater) fame. It has it's moments, and allows you to watch it without Mike's commentary/wisecracks. If only they didn't colorize it, but at least it done better than Turner's version, and you always have the option to turn the color off your tv. Speaking on the lousy version Russo threw up a few years ago, I knew before buying it that it blew chunks, since one of my customers lent me a copy, but I went ahead and bought one believing that it would put some money back in the pockets of the original creators. Don't know if I'd do the same today.

[capncnut]

I think John's intentions were sincere at the time. The problem was, John had already been accused over and over again of 'bastardizing' the original film and this seemed like a major insult to fans and purists of the film. Many people made up their minds to HATE the "30th Anniversary" before it ever went into production... Personally I thought Harry went way overboard in his review. He doesn't have to like the film, but he had no right to verbally mutilate John Russo in the process... The look of the film was pretty amazing. I thought the blend of the 'new' and 'old' was pretty convincing, especially in the accident sequence. Frankly, Russo and crew scored big points with me in that department... I did NOT like the sequence featuring the fire n' brimstone preacher and the hospital segment that followed. It didn't work at all for me, and I wish John would have cut all of that and kept in the original footage... The new sound EFX were very entertaining and provided a whole new experience in watching the film. I totally agree with you on all these comments ZT. The 30th anniversary edition of Night is by no means perfect but I feel that a lot of the new elements worked. I have the biggest respect for Jack Russo. Okay, he could've got rid of that dips**t priest and some of the new music sucked beyond belief (which the priest dude was also responsible for) but I applaud Russo's little stab at reviving the movie for a newer audience. The only thing I would have to pull him up on though is the way the voice-over on the trailer kinda lead you to believe the extra 'footage' was previously missing material but hey, you gotta sell the movie somehow!

[The Alive Man]

Is Russo partially behind the Millennium edition anyway? There's a commentary, and surely he provided ELITE with the negatives... right?