LET'S DO A PETITION: DAWN OF THE DEAD '78 Restoration !!!!!

[The Alive Man]

Guys,

Quite simple, let's got it straight:

'ZOMBI' and the 'EXTENDED VERSION' are just mere oddities, bonus tracks if you want, and we can do well with the versions we got.

BUT please:

According to many of you, the THEATRICAL VERSION of DAWN'78 (which is the *CANON*, opposite to the other two versions) is not *RESTORED*. Scratches, spots, and a substantial lack of that "digital sheer" you claim for.

They can do that. They can re-animate this dead corpse as well. It's not matter of the stock Romero used to film the movie. It IS possible to restore the movie... trust me.

Let's do a petition.

:shifty:

[axlish]

The Theatrical Cut is the most polished of all the releases.

[Philly_SWAT]

I suggest that perhaps you actually watch the Theatrical version, preferably a newer pressing, and then see what you think about the scratches, spots, etc.

As a bonus piece of information within this post, here is a much more plausible explanation for "the stretch" than the stretch. From wiki:


An anachronism (from the Greek ανά, "against," and χρόνος, "time") is something that is out of its proper time. For example, if a play set during the Roman Republic portrays a person using an electronic computer, the computer is an anachronism, more specifically, a prochronism.

There are two types of anachronisms, parachronisms and prochronisms. Parachronisms are when the assigned date is too late for the appearance of the anachronisms, for instance horse drawn carriages on a freeway. Prochronisms are when the assigned date is too early for the appearance of the anachronisms — George Washington wearing a digital watch, for example. Additionally, an anachronism can be real or fictional; if fictional, it can be intentional or accidental.

[capncnut]

The Theatrical Cut is the most polished of all the releases.

I agree but still, it's not as digital as it could be. Just look at the recent Nightmare On Elm St dvd , damn it's like your'e standing there behind the camera 'cos it's so sharp.

[The Alive Man]

I agree but still, it's not as digital as it could be. Just look at the recent Nightmare On Elm St dvd , damn it's like your'e standing there behind the camera 'cos it's so sharp.


Knutman,

Well said. Let's do this muthafukking petition, for Christ's sake! :|

[HLS]

Knutman,

Well said. Let's do this muthafukking petition, for Christ's sake! :|

Didi they not already restore the movie? Well its going to take more than the few people here to get hollywood to do anything.:confused:

[creepntom]

isn't there enough versions of this already?

with the theatrical, director's, extended, & euro version, i'd think all bases are covered

what's next, a 3-D remake? :eek:

[The Alive Man]

isn't there enough versions of this already?

with the theatrical, director's, extended, & euro version, i'd think all bases are covered

what's next, a 3-D remake? :eek:

Ehm, RESTORATION is a different request.:rockbrow:

[coma]

Those that saw Dawn on it's original release know that it was never pristine looking. For example; the bad cut from the newsroom to the Project 107 scene. I Think its the shot of tear gas. It looks like a projectionist splice but I noticed it the first time I saw the movie.
I think the Untimate transfer is really good.

[MinionZombie]

Agreed, the Ultimate Edition is the prettiest Dawn has ever looked.

Quite frankly, the image is ideal, spot on as it stands in its latest incarnation. Also, quite frankly, I wouldn't want to see it polished up to ridiculously high heights. I want to feel that 70s vibe and I want to see it.

Just as long as the film doesn't look like total ass (which Dawn UE DVD doesn't, it looks fantastic) then it's fine and dandy. I'm all for restoration, but you can't make a film from 30 or more years ago look all digitally crisp like, I duno, Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift.

I want to see the history of a film in it's print, clean it up right nice, but don't go to extreme lengths - if it was possible to go there, which it isn't.

Restoration put to good use - an example:

Films like "M" or "Metropolis" or "Nosferatu" - the restoration gives us a print we can retain forever that is viewable and restored to the best we can achieve - but importantly, they retain the feel of the time in which they were filmed.

[coma]

Restoration put to good use - an example:

Films like "M" or "Metropolis" or "Nosferatu" - the restoration gives us a print we can retain forever that is viewable and restored to the best we can achieve - but importantly, they retain the feel of the time in which they were filmed.
Very good use and 3 unbelieveably excellent films.
M is a film every fan of horror/crime films should see.
Restoration should mean restore, not redo.

[Moon Knight]

Agreed, the Ultimate Edition is the prettiest Dawn has ever looked.

Quite frankly, the image is ideal, spot on as it stands in its latest incarnation. Also, quite frankly, I wouldn't want to see it polished up to ridiculously high heights. I want to feel that 70s vibe and I want to see it.

Just as long as the film doesn't look like total ass (which Dawn UE DVD doesn't, it looks fantastic) then it's fine and dandy. I'm all for restoration, but you can't make a film from 30 or more years ago look all digitally crisp like, I duno, Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift.

I want to see the history of a film in it's print, clean it up right nice, but don't go to extreme lengths - if it was possible to go there, which it isn't.

Restoration put to good use - an example:

Films like "M" or "Metropolis" or "Nosferatu" - the restoration gives us a print we can retain forever that is viewable and restored to the best we can achieve - but importantly, they retain the feel of the time in which they were filmed.

Exactly! I love the old look of certain movies. In Dawn's case, it really does give it a classic look.

[MinionZombie]

Exactly, restore to the point of what it would have looked like when it was fresh from the camera ... and maybe a little bit further (in cases of poor quality equipment or a glaringly obvious visual bugger up). A couple of split-section, barely noticeable scratches or dots are not worth it, in fact, it was only when I looked closely and deliberately that I saw any such mere 'defects' (if you could even class them as that) to the image.

Defects - not at all. The ultimate edition restoration is superb.

Fiddling with the image too much is assinine - like making a film shot in 4:3 fit on 16:9 TV sets *ug*, it's like the mirror of Pan & Scan.

[Philly_SWAT]

isn't there enough versions of this already?

with the theatrical, director's, extended, & euro version, i'd think all bases are covered

what's next, a 3-D remake? :eek:
You mention 4 versions. There are really only three (unless you want to count some of the 'unofficial cuts', like the Japanese version that cuts out all the gore). You say the director's cut and extended cut. The extended version is sometimes mislabled the director's cut, this must be what you are thinking. If anything, the Theatrical version is really the director'c cut, it was the version that GAR made after the extended version.

[coma]

You mention 4 versions. There are really only three (unless you want to count some of the 'unofficial cuts', like the Japanese version that cuts out all the gore). You say the director's cut and extended cut. The extended version is sometimes mislabled the director's cut, this must be what you are thinking. If anything, the Theatrical version is really the director'c cut, it was the version that GAR made after the extended version.
There was an R Rated Theatrical cut released in a doublr bill with Firday the 13th that was pulled from release after a week or two.

[The Alive Man]

All your responses are very witty, and they definitely put my fear in the refrigerator.

Many thanks to everyone, glad to know that the classic has been well preserved!



Quite frankly, the image is ideal, spot on as it stands in its latest incarnation. Also, quite frankly, I wouldn't want to see it polished up to ridiculously high heights. I want to feel that 70s vibe and I want to see it.



Damn true, I agree. ROMERO's movies are truly cinematic "documents" of the specific times they were realized, and if they would erase that "vibe" they are gonna flush the whole point behind them...

[creepntom]

You mention 4 versions. There are really only three (unless you want to count some of the 'unofficial cuts', like the Japanese version that cuts out all the gore). You say the director's cut and extended cut. The extended version is sometimes mislabled the director's cut, this must be what you are thinking. If anything, the Theatrical version is really the director'c cut, it was the version that GAR made after the extended version.

see how confusing it is :p

[Danny]

wait. you just want them to look more clean and modern?!?

thats frikkin cinematic blasphemy thats like watching ringu and complaining its "kinda grainy" THE GRAIN IS PART OF THE CHARM, it gives it a sense of home-movie style fim makeing yet at the same time seperates you from it to such a degree you still know the horros in your head, man i friggin hate when people need to do this kind of stuff, just like george lucas and those friggin star wars re-realeases he does every few eyars.

films are what they are, nospheratu wouldnt be as cool wihtout the grainy 1900's style picture, if you want a clean cut thing view the damn remake dont try to change a directors work to be more suitable on a hdtv, thats like saying dawn should be shot more like dawn 04' because the natural lighting was too fake:rolleyes:

[MinionZombie]

*ahem* Nosferatu - 1922 :D That thar is a 1920's vibe, a vibe where the film was all-but destroyed completely due to people whinging about copyright back in the day, thankfully someone managed to preserve most of a copy long enough for folk today to restore it. Just a shame some of the scenes were lost forever.

And indeed - Dawn of the Dead comes in 3 (official) flavours:

Extended - incorrectly labelled as "the director's cut" in the UK with the 1997 BMG release. It was the Cannes cut that GAR originally showed at fests before cutting it down to...

Theatrical - GAR himself considers this not only his favourite cut, but he considers it his director's cut.

European - Dario Argento comes along and adds in a bunch of deleted shots/scenes which are cool to see, but the never-ending wall-to-wall misplaced Goblin music is grinding, it spoils the true vision GAR had in my opinion.

[axlish]

The Rated R cut mentioned earlier would be nice to have on disc somewhere as a novelty, but to be honest, I'd probably only watch it once just to see what they removed.

I'll go a step further. The Theatrical Cut is too re-mastered. I prefer a DVD that I made from the full screen Cannes Extended Cut VHS. It features the dull ghastly whites from the dawn sunlight shining through the mall's skylights.

Dang it, SCREEN CAPS COMING SOON...

[MaximusIncredulous]

There was an R Rated Theatrical cut released in a doublr bill with Firday the 13th that was pulled from release after a week or two.

The R version I saw was teamed up with Creepshow back in '83.

[capncnut]

The R version I saw was teamed up with Creepshow back in '83.

Yeah, to make the double bill Dawn had to be cut down to Creepshow's certificate apparently. I heard they were pretty brutal.

[The Alive Man]

wait. you just want them to look more clean and modern?!?

thats frikkin cinematic blasphemy thats like watching ringu and complaining its "kinda grainy" THE GRAIN IS PART OF THE CHARM

It seems to me that the DAWN 4-disc set presents unnoticeable scratches at some points, but it doesn't look GRAINY, ain't it? :eek:

[Monrozombi]

theres only some much polishing you can do to a film, any film. A film like DOTD is only going to get to a certain point where it won't be able to be refined any further. Will we see an HD-DVD or Blue-Ray version of this film, probably not. The 4 disc set that came out has the best remastering of the film ever. I just got a 42" plasma tv and thats the first thing I played on it, and I played it on an upconvert dvd player and it came out looking better then it did when I watched it on a standard tv.

A restoration of the Argento cut would be nice but thats about it. Movies made back in the day (before the 80s) will never look as good as something filmed today. The film stock used was probably not the best, especially if the film wasn't big budget to begin with. A good example of a great restoration is the Elite dvd of NOTLD 68. It still has its flaws but looks great none the less

[MinionZombie]

Have you still not bought the 4 disc Ultimate Edition of Dawn? Geez man, just buy the damn thing, it IS the best version of Dawn on DVD out there, it's fantastic and like I've said several times before - the image is fantastic.

JUST BUY IT!!! :eek::dead:

[Philly_SWAT]

According to many of you, the THEATRICAL VERSION of DAWN'78 (which is the *CANON*, opposite to the other two versions) is not *RESTORED*. Scratches, spots, and a substantial lack of that "digital sheer" you claim for.
They can do that. They can re-animate this dead corpse as well. It's not matter of the stock Romero used to film the movie. It IS possible to restore the movie... trust me.
Let's do a petition.


Damn true, I agree. ROMERO's movies are truly cinematic "documents" of the specific times they were realized, and if they would erase that "vibe" they are gonna flush the whole point behind them...
The Alive Man.......are you arguing with yourself now??

[MinionZombie]

I know, that's what I was thinking ... so I'm not going crazy after all ... well, that's good! :)

Can I say it any simpler than this:

Dawn 4-disc Ultimate Edition DVD is the ONLY Dawn DVD you will ever need. It's fantastic.

Nuff-friggin-said, now go buy it already! :dead::eek:

[Philly_SWAT]

I know, that's what I was thinking ... so I'm not going crazy after all ... well, that's good! :)

Can I say it any simpler than this:

Dawn 4-disc Ultimate Edition DVD is the ONLY Dawn DVD you will ever need. It's fantastic.

Nuff-friggin-said, now go buy it already! :dead::eek:
I wish you would have told me this before I bought 5 Laserdiscs, 7 DVD's, and probably 10 VHS!!!! I might even have more than that!!

[Danny]

The Alive Man.......are you arguing with yourself now??

wouldnt be surprised after he ranted with himself for liking/hating imdb or something last month:bored:

[The Alive Man]

wouldnt be surprised after he ranted with himself for liking/hating imdb or something last month:bored:


I'm not so much contradictory. :cool: I'm just convincing myself. People change opinions, sometimes... I'm one of them. What's wrong with letting yourself convinced by witty and experienced people like you all?:dead:

What are the flaws of the NIGHT ELITE version, by the way? :eek:

[MaximusIncredulous]

Yeah, to make the double bill Dawn had to be cut down to Creepshow's certificate apparently. I heard they were pretty brutal.

The only cut I can remember distinctly was the shotgun scene in the beginning. Wooley kicks the door in, fires, cut to screaming woman. The audience was WTF!

[MinionZombie]

Would ya quit with pining over flaws?! You're doing my nut in! :eek::dead:

A flaw worth paying any attention to is something like a massive gash through the whole film, or piss-poor contrast, an incorrect ratio, new and crappy soundtracks and additional scenes added 30 years after the fact which aren't even a million miles near looking like the original film's scenes.

These films are old, but they're remastered on DVD - no matter what the film is, it'll be nothing more than the odd dot or small scratch for a mere split second that you'll more than likely not notice because you're looking at something else, paying attention to motion on the screen or you've blinked and missed it.

Seriously, quit it with the obsession with these minute dots/scratches, you're driving me maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!! :eek::dead::eek:

*head explodes, body shivers to the ground, solitary chunk drips from ceiling after all other debris has fallen for comedic effect*

[The Alive Man]

*head explodes, body shivers to the ground, solitary chunk drips from ceiling after all other debris has fallen for comedic effect*

Daryl Revok, principal of the Biocarbon Amalgamate Inc., has been here. :lol:

[MikePizzoff]

A flaw worth paying any attention to is something like a massive gash through the whole film, or piss-poor contrast, an incorrect ratio, new and crappy soundtracks and additional scenes added 30 years after the fact which aren't even a million miles near looking like the original film's scenes.


So I take it you're talkin about the Night anniversary edition. :lol:

[Danny]

So I take it you're talkin about the Night anniversary edition. :lol:

careful man, you might trigger a flamer-relapse, or at least a bad flashback.:dead:

[The Alive Man]

So I take it you're talkin about the Night anniversary edition. :lol:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :eek:

[OddDNA]

however I would still watch the UE most of the time, I have a 42'' HDTV and it looks great. I would like to see a HDDVD Dawn though

One thing that is good about older grainy movies (VHS) the gore didnt look as fake because the quility hid much of the smoke and mirrors.