The Arrow Thread - Page 297

J Harker · #**2961** 19th April 2014, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vipp

Does any one know why Arrow haven't yet made a nice Night of the Living dead to go with my Day and Dawn Blu Rays? my shelf looks unfinished.

As Michael Brooke above has said James White (Arrows restoration expert) has said in interviews that it's one film he'd love to work on because he doesn't feel it's yet had the restoration it deserves.
So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that eventually they do put out a truly definitive release which either pulls together a lot of the existing extras into one package or commisions some brand new material.

Michael Brooke · #**2962** 19th April 2014, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vipp

Well how do i ask? Maybe a kickstarter would encourage a great massive set like the dawn of the dead.

There's no point asking anyone - Arrow is well aware of the importance of this title and its appropriateness to their line-up, and their in-house technical guru James White has explicitly said that he'd love to work on a restoration. His exact words:

Quote:

I’d also love to do a proper restoration of Night of the Living Dead. It's already been released on Blu-ray a couple of times by the likes of Network and StudioCanal (née Optimum Releasing), but none of them are right. It's been out of copyright for years, which is part of the problem.

However, the original materials are still with [director] George Romero and his producer. So, hopefully, one day we can see a proper release done at the level it deserves. Because that film - the film that arguably ushered in the new wave of modern horror more than any other - should look and sound a lot better than it currently does.

So from that you can conclude that it's out of Arrow's hands right now.

Incidentally, while there will undoubtedly be more Arrow Kickstarters, it wouldn't really be appropriate for a project like this. Night of the Living Dead is one of the most important horror films ever made, and if I was George Romero I'd only want to grant access to the original negative to a distributor who agreed upfront to underwrite all the relevant costs - why would you let someone access something so valuable otherwise?. Arrow's sole Kickstarter to date has been to fund the restoration of a film that has always had very limited commercial appeal, and future crowdfunding campaigns will most likely be for similarly risky projects.

Vipp · #**2963** 19th April 2014, 09:13 PM

That response can't be misinterpreted. Thank you. I look forward to the day it happens.

keirarts · #**2964** 20th April 2014, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vipp

That response can't be misinterpreted. Thank you. I look forward to the day it happens.

In the meantime, this release is the best Blu doing the rounds at the minute.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Living...he+living+dead

fuzzymctiger · #**2965** 20th April 2014, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keirarts

In the meantime, this release is the best Blu doing the rounds at the minute.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Living...he+living+dead

I was under the impression the Japanese one was?

keirarts · #**2966** 20th April 2014, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzymctiger

I was under the impression the Japanese one was?

Nope. It's marginally better quality but a lot more expensive. The release in the uk offers decent picture quality and will set people back a lot less. As other people have stated, there is no real definitive HD release of NOTLD out there. Personally I would also say it might even be worth sticking to the SD millenium edition which has a ton of decent bonus features and looks fine in upscale.

****EDIT***

Worth noting though the japanese one does have some of the extras ported from the DVD. It also contains extra image detail at the edges. (though bare in mind i'm using my mates copy as comparison and hes has a much better telly than I do) but frankly I stuck to the cheaper optimum disc as its almost inevitible someone will go back and do a proper restoration job.

I'm aware DVD beaver rate the japanese release better but the difference between the image quality is far from night and day.