Re-animator: Elite Millennium vs. Anchorbay Collection

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captainjoe
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Re-animator: Elite Millennium vs. Anchorbay Collection

Post by captainjoe »

Re-animator
Millennium Edition vs Anchorbay Collection
audio, video and extras review






The Elite Millennium Edition DVD






Image Comparisons


Top: Elite 1998 non-anamorphic edition
Bottom: Elite Millennium edition



When i first watched this new disc of Re-animator, I was blown away with the crystal clear presentation.
It still had it's grain but less artefacts than before. It was a new experience.
So when I did this screen comparison I was surprised by how much darker the movie looked compared
to the first edition. Let me tell you, when watching this transfer it does not look as dark as the captures
show. The image is almost pristine but a few occasions of dirt and specks do pop up from time to time.
The 16x9 anamorphic widescreen presentation is a very great effort. The other version has nothing on
this one. Don't judge the transfer by the darkness of them, if you decide to not purchase it based on the
darkness then you would be making a big mistake as many times you will find a good balance between
darkness and lightness.



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The "Anchorbay Collection" Version




Top: Elite Millennium edition
Bottom: "Anchorbay Collection" edition



Anchorbay's re-issue has used the same print with the exact same framing and same colour corrections
(with minutely deeper colours). However, Anchorbay has fixed the previous issues by deleting most
if not all of the dirt from the original version. Only one cap shows matching dirt. Overall the transfer is not
worth the upgrade as it is pretty much the same master with some better compression and less dirt.

NOTE: The way i noticed the deeper colours and compression was by putting each cap in a separate window and switching back and forth between them.



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Audio

Elite has provided pretty much everything I would have wanted in the way of audio presentation.
5.1 DTS, 5.1 Dolby, 2.0 Dolby surround and original mono.
It's great. The DTS track sounds wonderful and those who don't have a decoder can enjoy the Dolby track in all its glory.
Those with just television setups can use the dolby surround and the purists can enjoy the original mono. Every track
sounds great free of hiss, pop and crackle. It's great to see older films getting this kind of treatment on DVD. The DTS and Dolby remixes can sound a little lacking when compared to today's standard, of course, but fans will be happy about the feel of the new mixes.

The Anchorbay tracks are in fact different surround tracks. The DTS track sports more bass during the credit sequence. This gives Anchorbay the edge over Elite's soundtracks. It's just too bad Anchorbay decided to drop the Music Only audio track as it was a great add-on.

Menus

The menu system adds to the campy value of the movie. It's appropriate and fun. When it main menu starts you can't wait
to select Play. The commentaries are under the audio menu, the special features menu is pretty much
pointless. The menus are 16x9 enhanced.

The new Anchorbay menus are great on their own with music and amazing 3-D environments, but they aren't, in my opinion, as good and as fitting as Elite's.

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Supplemental Materials

I've decided to break down the extras part by discs.

Disc One

Audio commentary by Stuart Gordon this is a great informative listen from Gordon, the director. He discusses the
history of the project, filming and releasing it. (Both Discs)

Audio commentary by Brian Yuzna, Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton and Robert Sampson It's
clear from listening to this that these guys are all friends and that they had a good time making the movie.
Jeff is hilarious and makes fun of he and Bruce's acting skills while Barbara remembers the people on-screen. Robert
has great memories of the make-up and working on the project. Brian is just there. He rarely speaks only to answer one
of their questions. (Both Discs)

Isolated Score
Also a 5.1 track featuring the movie's score is available, always a great addition. (Elite Only)

Disc Two

Re-Animator Resurrectus 70 mins
Anchorbay Only
I can't give enough thanks to Anchorbay for this documentary. Running over 70 minutes, it provides so much material for fans of the film and movie buffs in general.
In the beginning there is discussion of the start of Stuart Gordon's career in theatre, from there we learn about how Re-animator ending up in his lap and the methods that follow as to how he casted the actors and got the movie greenlit. Also worth of noting is the discussion of how it was originally going to be a mini-series on PBS and how Gordon wanted to shoot it in black and white.

Once we get into production we get a complete overview of the film from start to end with many making of stories for almost every scene. Special effects artisits stop by with stories of how every single effect was done, literally ever special make-up effect is covered in great detail throughout this documentary. As we move through the documentary the cast and crew tells us how the Director of Photography was truly helpful to Gordon as this was his first movie.

Post is just as interesting as we learn about the first cut being over 2 hours. Then there are the stories about the cultural impact the film had and the fan base it has gained over the years. Truly this is a great documentary full of interesting making of information about almost every scene in the film. If you think you know Re-animator, wait till you see Re-animator Resurrectus!

Extended Scenes 20 mins A collection of all the scenes cut from the original 95 minute cut. Features mostly extra
character scenes including the hipnotizing by Dr. Hill and West using his re-agent to help him stay awake. Interesting stuff.
Presented in 16x9 widescreen. (Both Discs)

Video Interviews approx. 90 mins A great set of interviews with Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna, Dennis Paoli, Richard
Band and Tony Timpone. (Both Discs)

Music Discussion, 4 scenes 12 mins Composer Richard Band discusses scenes from the movie, then the scenes
play with the music track only. Good stuff. (Both Discs)

Deleted scene 2 mins A scene that was cut from the 95 and 86 versions of the movie. (Both Discs)

Multi-Angle Storyboards 5 mins
Similar to those found on the Simpsons DVDs, this feature presents the storyboards for certain
scenes and the movie clip in the corner. Anchorbay only displays the storyboards on single frames and drops the picture-in-picture method. (Both Discs)

Trailers and TV Spots 6 mins Self explanatory. (Both Discs)

Cast and Crew Bios A really in-dept look at tons of actors and crew from the film. Better than most of these
you find on other discs. (Anchorbay Only has bio of Stuart Gordon)

Photo Gallery Over 100 photos from behind the scenes of Re-animator. Excellent stuff that's always good to see. (Photo's differ between sets but edge goes to Anchorbay with more photos.)

Anchorbay also included the original Screenplay and Story by H.P. Lovecraft


Final Thoughts
It's great to see someone take such good care of a classic horror film from the 80s. This is one of the better two disc dvds I own.

Anchorbay has truly made the ultimate DVD of Re-animator. Can I recommend this if you already have the Elite 2-disc? I say yes and no. If you're a truly big fan and want to learn the about making the movie then I'd recommend this as an upgrade. But if you feel satisfied with the Elite 2-disc then you'll probably be fine just keeping that. For those without the movie, definately grab the Anchorbay, there's no loss of features, except the music-only track and it has a neat little pen

Elite Millennium Edition:
Video: 7/10
Audio: 7/10
Extras: 8/10
Menus: 10/10

Anchorbay:
Video: 7.5/10
Audio: 8/10
Extras: 10/10
Menus: 8/10
Last edited by captainjoe on 03 Jan 2008, 23:55, edited 15 times in total.
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

yep, very essential, very well taken care of and I had no problems with the new transfer at all either. Well spotted.

These are special films to me. I even liked Beyond Re-Animator to a certain extent (fun finale at Combs being Combs enough times).
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Post by romerojpg »

Nice work :) great film yes, very 80's it has to be said (which I like).
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Post by EvaUnit02 »

I have the Millennium Edition as well. It's a lovely set.

I recommend getting Elite's Night of the Living Dead: Millennium Ed. as well, which is also a fantastic set. The remastered picture is beautiful.
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Post by bradavon »

Great review Captain Joe. I won't be getting this but decent review.
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Post by EvaUnit02 »

bradavon wrote:I won't be getting this but decent review.
Why not? Re-Animator is absolutely hillarious, a comedy-horror classic.
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

"Don't expect it to tango, it has a broken back"
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Post by captainjoe »

True. Very true.
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Post by captainjoe »

The Elite version of Night of the Living Dead is great, EvaUnit02
Good extras and absolutely great picture.
Maybe a review in the future. 8)
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

only thing I missed from the new Elite disc was that pre-movie tease where the movie starts and it looks like shit. Out comes the Elite or THX logo and soon we're into the remastered print. *phew*. :)
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Post by captainjoe »

Yeah I've never seen that but heard it was amusing. They shouldn't have dropped it.
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Post by captainjoe »

The Anchor Bay release is coming out on Tuesday the 20th. Once I get a copy I'll most likely update this review with matching caps and I'll fix the image sizes.

Anyone else planning on getting this???
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

not really, can't say I'm convinced now that the documentary will add new dimensions to it all. Feel free to convince me otherwise. :)
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Post by saltysam »

Just to add i just watched the new anchor bay version,to my eyes it looks slightly better than the elite but tbh it's hardly discernible. As this is joe's thread i'll leave him to post caps from the new release 8)
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Post by captainjoe »

I heard it is slightly better. I'm picking it up in an hour or so so I'll have caps up and an updated review in a few hours or so.
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

you're familiar enough with the prior extras to judge whether that doc. will be a new fresh injection? :)
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Post by captainjoe »

Since writing this I have watched the video interviews and all except for Gordon's commentary track, which I have only sampled for certain scenes. I'll post comments after watching it if it has new information or is just a rehash of the commentaries.
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

the Gordon commentary and the sitdown he has with Yuzna are pretty exhaustive in their own right but perhaps the doc. will allow the actors to explain more calmly their experiences instead of the tomfoolery that goes on in their track. Combs, as much as I love him, in particular was guilty of this.
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Post by captainjoe »

Can't argue with that. The actors' commentary did get out of hand from time to time but it was still fun. I sampled some of the doc. and it does seem full of insight into the film. Nicely edited as well!. Now I'm gonna get some caps and the like.
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Post by captainjoe »

Updated with caps and the review has also been updated with comments about the Anchorbay Collection disc. Once I finish the documentary, I'll review it and complete the entire review.
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Post by saltysam »

working class blu-ray fan
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Post by captainjoe »

Fully updated, hope you enjoy. :)
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

thanks for the added comments. God damn it, may as well upgrade...when it goes for a few bucks less.
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Post by captainjoe »

I watched this last night on my PS3 and checked the audio bit-rates and both the Anchorbay disc and Elite disc feature UNCOMPRESSED DTS TRACKS at about 1.5 MBPS! That's pretty cool for DVD.
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