Night of the Living Dead: Elite ME vs Fox

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 22 Sep 2006, 16:40

Elite's Millennium Edition is clearly the winner. It's the best available version UPDATE**** A newly 1080P remastered DVD is due to come out this spring!
The Fox version also includes a colorized version. I have mixed feelings about the color but I'll let you decide.

Region One Elite vs Region One Fox

Elite

Fox

Fox colorized

Elite

Fox

Fox colorized

Elite

Fox

Fox colorized

Elite

Fox

Fox colorized

Elite

Fox

Fox colorized

Elite Pros: great clarity, finer detail is seen, hardly any dirt
Elite Cons: slight amount of compression artefacts, transfer is from 1994 laserdisc = composite video.

Fox Pros: ummmm, color and a DTS track
Fox Cons: Badly zoomed in image, plagued with dirt and lines, extremely dark, contrast is way up ( cap 4, his hair), way too soft with a loss of detail.

Still not sure about the color. I can't see myself choosing that over the black and white version.

Examples of the bad cropping

A red outline has been placed over the Elite version. The area inside the box represents what is seen in the Fox black and white and the color version.

Here the Fox image has been laid over the Elite image. The corners are highlighted so it is easier to see.

Keung · Post by **Keung** » 22 Sep 2006, 17:00

Great comparison for a great movie. Well done!

I'll get my Trilogy Of The Dead set found out and get some caps up for this.

Keung · Post by **Keung** » 22 Sep 2006, 17:21

Ok, just found the disc out but it's useless, the first cap you posted isn't on this disc as new footage has been added and it gets rid of the opening sequence of them driving to the cemetary. Also I couldn't find caps 3 and 4 but from what I could see, it looks to be a really crap print.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 22 Sep 2006, 18:15

Elite is easily the best of the three.

Colourised? Yuck!

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 22 Sep 2006, 19:22

Oh well that's ok. The colourization does suck. No matter what anyone says I don't buy it. It just looks so fake like someone coloured it with crayons. I bought the Fox version because the store didn't have the Elite copy. Then a few weeks later I just ordered if off amazon and that was the best move. The 20th century Fox version is terrible.

I thought I would try something new by adding the red box on a cap. And overlapping them really shows the loss of picture and the lackluster quality of the Fox.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 22 Sep 2006, 19:39

You want to see the Ancor Bay extended dvd!!!! if you think any of these are bad you have never seen anything in your life like the Anchor Bay (I own it sadly

) after every shot, the film goes funky! and it happens from begining to end! its kind of a freeze frame effect! Anchor bay needed shooting for it, the extra footage doesnt even blend into the film, its a shambles!

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 22 Sep 2006, 20:00

If you have the caps go ahead and I'll add them into the comparison. I've never seen that copy but have heard bad things. I almsot bought that once, thank God I didn't.

Keung · Post by **Keung** » 22 Sep 2006, 21:07

The Anchor Bay DVD is the one I was referring to in my above post.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 22 Sep 2006, 21:51

Yeah I know. Just saying I never saw it.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 22 Sep 2006, 22:01

Keung94 wrote:The Anchor Bay DVD is the one I was referring to in my above post.

Is that the same as the american dvd? I thought the UK one is just the normal film, not the extended 90's cut crikey didnt know that.

But Surley when they ported over that appauling Region 1 dvd to the Uk they got rid of the massive frame doubling problem!

morons

Still as the film is Public Domain (they forgot to put the copy write credits on the film, dohh!!) theres maybe more dvd releases of this than any other film ever, I have seen maybe 6 alone in the UK! america has tonnes too.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 22 Sep 2006, 23:14

Yeah there's quite a few. The R1 Anchor Bay has the crappy 30th anniversary movie and the original with a new music track.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 22 Sep 2006, 23:29

You mean the 1990 version?

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 22 Sep 2006, 23:45

This one. 30th anniversary 1998 DVD

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 22 Sep 2006, 23:58

In short people: buy the Elite DVD and ditch everything else.

Sorted. 8)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Sep 2006, 00:01

Yuck the colourised versions looks awful. Why bother? Honestly who'd prefer that?

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 23 Sep 2006, 03:18

No kidding.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 23 Sep 2006, 11:03

Thanks Captain Joe, didn't realise.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 23 Sep 2006, 14:07

The coulorised version has its place, as hell some people wont watch black and white films and colourised fad was a big one for a while, it didnt exactly work but it still got people to see the film. I think I watched it colourised 1st mind you

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 23 Sep 2006, 14:14

If people refuse to watch a film in black and white... fuck them!!

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 23 Sep 2006, 14:17

er no, obviously not as the colourised many films back then, and it worked. People saw them, so job was done.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 23 Sep 2006, 14:25

It didn't work. It's vandalization. Like cropping a scope film to 4:3 or putting it in the wrong language. It's a bogus practice once popular only in the US and it's wrong to defend it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Sep 2006, 16:04

romerojpg wrote:The coulorised version has its place, as hell some people wont watch black and white films

True but the colour version doesn't even look really. It makes real people look like dodgy paintings.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 23 Sep 2006, 19:13

hey,

and yea, that extended cut of NIGHT was a reeeeaaaallly bad idea. Cutting out good scenes by Romero and inserting worse by some of his initial crew. Coupled with the fact that the score was entirely replaced and you've got yourself a classic turned into a turkey. Almost deserves to be seen.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 24 Sep 2006, 00:39

Knetan wrote: Almost deserves to be seen.

you can buy my limited edtion from me

as I am never watching that crap again, the music is hideous

and you get a cd with my set! hell on earth for your ears.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 24 Sep 2006, 05:04

hey,

oh I did buy it upon release...think I still have it?