Day of the Dead Blu-ray - Lori Cardille

(aka "Zombie 2")

directed by George Romero
USA 1985

The final installment in Romero's Living Dead trilogy somehow failed to replicate the impact of Night of the Living Dead (1968) or Dawn of the Dead (1978), although not through any fault of its own. Some months after their emergence, the zombies are everywhere in the ascendant. A depleting scientific research team conducts experiments on captured zombies in a cavernous Florida bunker under increasingly despotic military protection. There's no radio contact with the outside world, and the pressure is taking its toll: the soldiers are impatient for results that Dr Logan's social conditioning tests just aren't going to meet. Tense rather than terrifying, and with a strong black comic undercurrent, it rests on the mordant observation that zombies or no zombies, chances are the living will tear each other apart. A fitting conclusion to a remarkably astute series, a landmark in the horror genre.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 19 July 1985 (USA)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL vs. Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Scream Factory 'Collector's Edition' - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the DVD Reviews!

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC	Arrow Video Region 0 - PAL	Arrow Films (UK) Region FREE - Blu-ray	Shout! Factory Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:40:45	1:36:36 (4% PAL speedup)	1:40:49.084	1:40:58.052
Video	1.84:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.7 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.25 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	Disc Size: 24,281,202,666 bytes Feature Size: 17,556,486,144 bytes Average Bitrate: 24.35 Mbps Single-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video	Disc Size: 43,984,518,645 bytes Feature Size: 26,268,506,112 bytes Average Bitrate: 30.00 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate DVD
Bitrate Arrow DVD
Bitrate: Arrow Blu-ray
Bitrate: Shout! Factory Blu-ray
Audio	English DTS-ES 6.1; English Dolby Digital EX 5.1; English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround	English Dolby Digital 5.1; English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1746 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1746 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) DTS Audio English 1509 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit DTS Audio English 768 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1982 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1982 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentaries: Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitles	English Closed Captioning	None	None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.84:1 Edition Details: • DISC ONE: • Commentary by George A. Romero, Tom avini, Lori Cardile, and Cletus Anderson • Commentary by filmmaker Roger Avery • DISC TWO: • MANY DAYS OF DAY OF THE DEAD documentary (38:40) • DAY OF THE DEAD: Behind the Scenes (30:50) • Last audio interview with actor Richard Liberty conducted by Taso N. Stavrakis and Telleria (16:08) • Gateway Commerce Center featurette (8:12) • 7 Still Galleries • George Romero Biography/Fimography • 3 Trailers • 3 TV Spots • DVD-ROM: Original 166 page draft of DAY OF THE DEAD; Production Memos DVD Release Date: August 19th, 2003 Digipack Chapters 19	Release Information: Studio: Arrow Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • DISC 1: • Audio Commentary by effects team Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger, Everett Burrell, and Mike Deak • Joe of the Dead (16:9; 48:58) • Travelogue Tour (16:9; 17:04) • DISC 2: • The Many Days of DAY OF THE DEAD (16:9; 38:42) • Behind the Scene Zombie Footage (4:3; 20:19) • The Audio Recollections of Richard Liberty (15:41) • TV Ads of the Dead (4:3; 2:27) • Romero Zombiography • Photo Album of the Dead • Souvenirs of the Dead • Wampum Mine Promo (4:3; 8:11) • Trailers for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD • 2 sleeve art options, collector's booklet, 24 page comic book, 2-sided fold-out poster DVD Release Date: 20 September 2010 Digipack in Slipcase Chapters 20	Release Information: Studio: Arrow Films 1.78;1 Disc Size: 24,281,202,666 bytes Feature Size: 17,556,486,144 bytes Average Bitrate: 24.35 Mbps Single-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: Exclusive 25th Anniversary 2 disc collector edition. This Amazing Edition contains: • 1 Blu Ray & 1 DVD • 4 sleeve art options • Double sided fold-out poster • Day of the Dead: Desertion Exclusive 24 page collector s Comic Book • For Every Dawn there is a Day Collector s booklet Disc One (BD) • Theatrical Feature (1080p) with 5.1 HD DTS/2.0 • Commentary with the special effects team including Greg Nicotero. Howard Berger, Everett Burrell and Mike Deak • Joe of the Dead (1080p) • Travelogue (1080p) Disc Two (DVD) • The Many Days of the Dead Documentary • Behind the Zombies Footage • Romero Zombography • Photo Album of the Dead • Souvenirs of the Dead Blu-ray Release Date: March 29th, 2010 Standard (UK) thick Blu-ray case Chapters 20	Release Information: Studio: Shout! Factory 1.78:1 Disc Size: 43,984,518,645 bytes Feature Size: 26,268,506,112 bytes Average Bitrate: 30.00 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • New Documentary - World’s End: The Legacy of Day of the Dead (1:25:26) • NEW! UNDERGROUND: A Look into the DAY OF THE DEAD mines (7:37) • Audio Commentary with writer/director George A. Romero, Special Make-up Effects artist Tom Savini, Production Designer Cletus Anderson and actress Lori Cardille • Wampum Mine Promotional Video (8:12) • Audio Commentary with filmmaker Roger Avary • Behind-The-Scenes Footage from Special Make-up Effects Creator Tom Savini’s archives (30:32) • Photo Galleries • Theatrical Trailers (5:55) • TV Spots (1:35) Blu-ray Release Date: September 17th, 2013 Standard Blu-ray case with cardboard slipcase Chapters 12

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION- Shout! Factory (Scream Factory) 'Collector's Edition' - Region 'A' Blu-ray - September 2013: Well, I have no idea at all which is more accurate but the two transfers exhibit different colors - most notable in the (human) skin tones which are significantly warmer on the Scream Factory disc. Actually, the US Blu-ray colors are different from all three of the other transfers being 'greener'. The Region 'A' transfer is more robust with a higher bitrate but I actually may prefer the Arrow (also 1.78:1) - which may exhibit some manipulation - I think it will boil down to a personal preference. The Scream Factory shows more grain textures.

Audio is almost exactly the same with another DTS-HD Master but the Scream Factory offers optional English subtitles.

Scream Factory offer plenty of extras with two commentaries, the 1.5 hour documentary 'World’s End: The Legacy of Day of the Dead', stuff on the mines where the film was shot, behind-the-scenes, trailers etc.. It looks as though the US offers more value but it may depend on your geographic region. I suppose it is a moot point as the region FREE Arrow is 'unavailable' at present. Many still consider this the best 'classic' Zombie film ever made.

***

ADDITION- Arrow Films Region FREE Blu-ray - March 2010: Visual improvement advances from the moderate to more notable in many scenes. Single-layered - it probably could look better - but I don't suspect detail could jump any more than the manner it was produced. It has less noise, tighter color balance and shows some depth - this is probably as good as it is going to get.

Audio offers a lossless track that similarly improves with limited separations but stronger bass response. It's not demo at 1746 kbps but it does the job fairly well. Unfortunately the Arrow offers no subtitles - but, the good news, is that my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Cited as the "Exclusive 25th Anniversary 2 disc collector edition" the Arrow package is stacked It has 1 Blu-ray & 1 DVD, 4 sleeve art options, a double sided fold-out poster, a Day of the Dead: Desertion Exclusive 24 page collector's Comic Book and For Every Dawn there is a Day Collector s booklet. The Blu-ray has some supplements - a commentary with the special effects team including Greg Nicotero. Howard Berger, Everett Burrell and Mike Deak, featurettes Joe of the Dead (1080p) and Travelogue (1080p). The second disc (a DVD) has more The Many Days of the Dead Documentary, Behind the Zombies Footage, Romero Zombography, Photo Album of the Dead, Souvenirs of the Dead, Night and Dawn Trailers, The Audio recollections of Richard Liberty, TV Ads of the Dead, and a Wampum Mine Promo.

NOTE: The Blu-ray lacks the documentary found on the new Arrow DVD!

It seems obvious for fans of the cult classic - the Blu-ray is the way to go - what a package from Arrow. Highly recommended!

- Gary Tooze

ADDITION - Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL: Five months after releasing their Blu-ray edition, Arrow has put out a 2-disc SD-DVD version of their 25th Anniversary package of DAY OF THE DEAD. This is Arrow's fifth release of the film (four if you we speaking only in terms of SD-DVD) following single disc editions in 1999 and 2001 and a 2-disc edition in 2006 (HERE). The feature takes up 3.74 GB of the first disc's 6.71 GB but the image looks comparable to the BluRay image (although lacking its higher resolution). The lossless 5.1 and 2.0 tracks are replaced with Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 (at standard bitrates for those channel configurations) but it's just as well given the length of the film and presence of nearly 80 minutes of extras on disc 1 (the Anchor Bay edition has DTS-ES in addition to 5.1 and 2.0 surround but all of the extras are placed on disc 2). Both tracks feature the unaltered dialogue (the Anchor Bay editions feature some brief alterations to profanity late in the film on the remixes but the mono track is the original). Disc 2 of the Arrow set is a DVD5. For some strange reason, the behind-the-scenes piece runs 10 minutes shorter than it does on the Anchor Bay set (I do not have the latter to compare) but the 20 minute running time matched the length of the same featurette on Arrow's previous 2-disc. The new Arrow addition adds the Joe Pilato interview, the travelogue, TV spots, mine promo, audio interview with Richard Liberty, liner notes booklet, 2-sided full-sized poster, and comic book to the existing extras on the 2006 set but a trailer for the main feature (present on the previous set) is a glaring omission (trailers for the prior 2 films have been added). If you've got the Arrow Blu then you're not really getting anything new from this package. If you have not moved up to Blu-ray yet (or prefer the Anchor Bay Blu image), then this is still of value for the additional commentary track with the effects crew (the US DVD two different commentary tracks), the Joe Pilato interview, travelogue, and the paper extras.

- Eric Cotenas

NOTE: We have previously compared Anchor Bay's package to older DVD editions HERE.

***

ON THE DVD: Anchor Bay's Divimax edition is a new transfer from the original negative (following an earlier two-sided, non-anamorphic edition) with DTS-ES, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, and Dolby 2.0 Surround soundtracks. The Anchor Bay disc under review is the single disc reissue of the double disc Divimax edition but the supplements of the 2 disc version are listed above as well as the Amazon link. Despite the negative-sourced transfer, goosed-up audio options, and wealth of supplements (if you get the 2 disc version), the Divimax editions are let down by a handful of instances where dialogue was revoiced to replace profanity (the rest of the feature's dialogue is intact) described in this comparison HERE. Both the Anchor Bay and Arrow special editions feature the same primary audio commentary with Romero, effects artist Tom Savini, actress Lori Cardille (daughter of Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille who appeared in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD), and production designer Cletus Anderson.

- Eric Cotenas

Menus

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT
2) Arrow 25th Anniversary DVD RIGHT

Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - LEFT

Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Screen Captures (subtitle sample - Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray)

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

1) Anchor Bay Entertainment (Divimax Single Disc Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Arrow Video (25th Anniversary Edition) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND

3) Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

Box Covers

Distribution

Anchor Bay Entertainment

Region 1 - NTSC

Arrow Video

Region 0 - PAL

Arrow Films (UK)

Region FREE - Blu-ray

Shout! Factory

Region 'A' - Blu-ray

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