Day of the Dead - Errors in 5.1 sound mix?

[EvilNed]

Hello,

A friend of mine directed me toward this blog post;
http://www.istherefood.com/day-of-the-dead-arrow-uk-release

It appears that the 5.1 sound mix of Day of the Dead included in the Anchor Bay and Arrow Films DVD & BluRay releases feature some pretty weird errors. Take a look at the blog post and listen to some excerpts. SOme lines of dialogue have been dubbed over for some reason. Anyone know why?

[MinionZombie]

I'd heard of this quite a few years ago. I've got the Divimax R1 DVD and I think these 'differences' go way back to then. I've also got the film on VHS and that has all the 'correct' audio.

Strange that these differences are even in there. Perhaps it's alternative takes, or bits of alternate takes got jumbled up in there somehow ... it sure is baffling.

I'd hope that, should a new Blu-Ray be released at some point in the future, that they make sure to fix these issues. They're not huge, but they should be fixed. However, considering a certain someone's alleged attitude towards licensing fees, I think we'll be left waiting for a long time. :(

[bassman]

I seem to remember there being some rather lengthy discussions about this issue, but to my recollection, nobody knew why the changes were made. I haven’t heard mention if the issue remains on the Shout Factory release?

EDIT: it appears the recent Shout Factory release doesn’t contain these issues, however it’s only in the original 2.0 audio, rather than 5.1.


Unlike the Starz/Anchor Bay release, this new Blu-ray sports only the film's original mono mix, presented via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. While shallow, and struggling a bit with prioritization when things get sonically busy and especially when the John Harrison score comes into play, overall things are very clear and well balanced here. Dialogue and some of the frankly goofy sound effects sound clear and precise, and the track has none of the (slight) editing that plagued the faux surround mix on the Anchor Bay outing. Fidelity is excellent, and of course dynamic range is very wide courtesy of all the grunting, groaning, and tons of gunfire.

[shootemindehead]

It's been an issue for ages. Why it happened is anyone's guess though.

Mind you, there's probably a thread on it over on the Arrow/cultlabs website.

Arrow are a strange crowd. They are great for releasing classic old junk movies, but they don't half fuck things up a lot. I don't order much from them, but twice I've had to get replacement discs from them, because their pressings had odd mistakes. They were cool about offering the replacements, but it's still a pain in the arse.

[MinionZombie]

It's been an issue for ages. Why it happened is anyone's guess though.

Mind you, there's probably a thread on it over on the Arrow/cultlabs website.

Arrow are a strange crowd. They are great for releasing classic old junk movies, but they don't half fuck things up a lot. I don't order much from them, but twice I've had to get replacement discs from them, because their pressings had odd mistakes. They were cool about offering the replacements, but it's still a pain in the arse.

I think the screw ups are more a thing of the past.

The most recent I'm aware of is with Shivers - but even Cronenberg himself didn't notice the print used was a censored version (missing various snippets of violence) - however, Arrow then did replacement discs, put a video online showing exactly what was missing (and what should be there), as well as replaced all the in-store stock (I bought a copy in HMV and it was the 2nd pressing - the corrected one).

The other cases I'm aware of involve The Beyond - but that seemed to only concern the opening flashback sequence being in black & white (as it was in the print used for restoration) instead of the sepia tone version (as originally intended and most commonly seen). Again, that was corrected (my steelbook edition is all as it should be) ... and then Zombie Flesh Eaters (a very slight bit of missing footage of the boat at the very start of the film after the credits have rolled - fortunately that was also corrected and my copy is fine). Other than that I've not heard of any screw ups. About the only other complaints come down to opinions on restorations, but those were all for restorations done years ago - the tech has changed since then, as well as QC etc, and Arrow's restorations are gorgeous ("Blood and Black Lace" looks jaw dropping). Arrow seem to be very particular with their restorations these days. "Don't Torture A Duckling" has extensive restoration notes in the booklet, and "Nightmare City" has two versions - one isn't as crisp, but is very clean, the other is very crisp but has a fair bit of damage (so it's player's choice on which to watch). Heh ... I'm sounding like a shill for Arrow, but I'm just a fan of their releases. :)

Meanwhile, I've heard lots of bad things about the restoration of Terminator 2 on the most recent Blu-Ray (waxy look because all the film grain has been starched out of it, plus changes to the colour of the movie - the screenshots on Blu-Ray.com look hideous and gimme sniffs of the notorious Night90 Blu-Ray, albeit not to quite that bizarre a degree).

Where were we? Oh yeah - Day of the Dead - yeah, why the fudge those tweaks were made I don't know. Must be to do with elements for the creation of the 5.1 mix? I always prefer to go with the original mix that was on the film when it was released. So many surround sound mixes insert really obvious new sound effects - or completely fuck it up (the most egregious example is for The Terminator ... ugh ... those new gunshots completely ruined the action scenes and no original mix option was on the disc!!!)

[bassman]

I’ll have to keep an ear out for those gunshots on my copy of Terminator. Never noticed, so I’m not sure if it’s on the edition I own or not. Same with T2, I’ll have to do some research on the best available release, as I have the initial barebones version.

[EvilNed]

I think the screw ups are more a thing of the past.

The most recent I'm aware of is with Shivers - but even Cronenberg himself didn't notice the print used was a censored version (missing various snippets of violence) - however, Arrow then did replacement discs, put a video online showing exactly what was missing (and what should be there), as well as replaced all the in-store stock (I bought a copy in HMV and it was the 2nd pressing - the corrected one).

The other cases I'm aware of involve The Beyond - but that seemed to only concern the opening flashback sequence being in black & white (as it was in the print used for restoration) instead of the sepia tone version (as originally intended and most commonly seen). Again, that was corrected (my steelbook edition is all as it should be) ... and then Zombie Flesh Eaters (a very slight bit of missing footage of the boat at the very start of the film after the credits have rolled - fortunately that was also corrected and my copy is fine). Other than that I've not heard of any screw ups. About the only other complaints come down to opinions on restorations, but those were all for restorations done years ago - the tech has changed since then, as well as QC etc, and Arrow's restorations are gorgeous ("Blood and Black Lace" looks jaw dropping). Arrow seem to be very particular with their restorations these days. "Don't Torture A Duckling" has extensive restoration notes in the booklet, and "Nightmare City" has two versions - one isn't as crisp, but is very clean, the other is very crisp but has a fair bit of damage (so it's player's choice on which to watch). Heh ... I'm sounding like a shill for Arrow, but I'm just a fan of their releases. :)


The Cat O'Nine Tails release earlier this year had a menu problem as well. They fixed that tho before shipping any discs to consumers, but retailers had gotten their discs.

[MinionZombie]

I’ll have to keep an ear out for those gunshots on my copy of Terminator. Never noticed, so I’m not sure if it’s on the edition I own or not. Same with T2, I’ll have to do some research on the best available release, as I have the initial barebones version.

The DVD release in the USA, I think, has the original audio track as an option - sadly, this was not the case for the UK release (which is pretty much a port of the American release - so all the more galling that it wasn't included!) ... the most obvious example is in the shotgun battle (after the Tech Noir encounter, IIRC) - you know, where Reese is hanging out of the car as Sarah steers and the T-800 is in the cop car and it's like duelling shotguns going shot-for-shot. Originally those shotgun blasts pummel you with their sound and are as meaty as all get out ... in the surround sound mix that they did several years ago (and which is on my DVD copy) they sound awful, lacking in substance, and sound kind of hollow and airy (more phawoosh than KA-BLAM!, if that makes sense?)


The Cat O'Nine Tails release earlier this year had a menu problem as well. They fixed that tho before shipping any discs to consumers, but retailers had gotten their discs.

I'd not heard about that - but good that they caught it before it went out to customers.

[beat_truck]

Hello,

A friend of mine directed me toward this blog post;
http://www.istherefood.com/day-of-the-dead-arrow-uk-release

It appears that the 5.1 sound mix of Day of the Dead included in the Anchor Bay and Arrow Films DVD & BluRay releases feature some pretty weird errors. Take a look at the blog post and listen to some excerpts. SOme lines of dialogue have been dubbed over for some reason. Anyone know why?
I hate this kind of shit.:mad: When I buy a movie, I want to see and hear it how it originally came out, not something somebody pasted together.

I had seen the movie on VHS many times, and the first time I watched my Anchor Bay DVD, I immediately noticed the first error on that list. I was fairly annoyed. It sounds like something they'd do for an "edited for content" TV version.:barf: I either didn't catch the others at all or not until later viewings, but hearing them side by side, they are obvious.

[EvilNed]

I'd not heard about that - but good that they caught it before it went out to customers.

Some consumers still got the faulty discs, but that was honestly the fault of the retailers who sometimes are trigger-happy when sending out pre-orders.
None who ordered from Arrow got any. But t here's a US site called Diabolik which usually ships early. I think some of those costumers got faulty discs.

Also, I'm fairly certain the release was post-poned two-three weeks because of that.