Romero had intended for the film to be epic, but could not get the financing for a film as big as he had hoped. It is still a solid entry and this DVD would make a solid entry on anybody’s shelf.
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One of the all-time classic horror trilogies is George A. Romero´s "Dead Trilogy." The trilogy began with the horror classic Night of the Living Dead. The series took a more humorous, yet grander move with the second movie, Dawn of the Dead. This movie was perhaps most notorious for its orange blood, but was still a strong horror classic. The final tale in this trilogy is Day of the Dead, a more straight forward and modern horror movie than Dawn, and the goriest of all three. The movie was a fitting finale, and with the exception of some less than par acting, a classic in its own right.
A group of scientists, some military soldiers and a helicopter crew place themselves in an underground bunker with the goal in mind of finding a way to stop the hoard of living dead that has taken a "400,000 to 1" outnumbering. Some of the crew believes they are the last of the human race and should take the helicopter to some island paradise where they will be protected from the zombies and can begin to repopulate Earth. Others firmly believe that there are more people, perhaps in Washington D.C., and that they can fight the zombie menace and reclaim the planet. Others are content to stay in the bunker and die.
The scientists, led by Dr. "Frankenstein" (Richard Liberty) are trying their best to experiment on the zombies and find a way to scientifically stop them. Frankenstein believes that the zombies can be domesticated and is more of a butcher and madman than a scientist capable of saving the world. He finds a zombie he calls Bub (Sherman Howard) that recognizes objects from his past life and shows some signs of intelligence and Frankenstein appears to have domesticated him to a point. Furthermore, the zombie shows signs of being a soldier before he dies, as he knows how to use a gun and salute the military leader of the base.
Another scientist, Sarah (Lori Cardille) believes that the best method is to reverse the process or find a chemical method to stop the zombies. Sarah is also the representative between the scientists and the other groups, and is also the only female in the group. She is involved in a relationship with one of the soldiers, Miguel (Antone DiLeo), who has become weak and stressed out and is more of a joke to the others than a comrade. Because of this relationship, Sarah has problems with the rest of the soldiers, as they are wanting what her partner is receiving.
The soldiers are lead by Rhodes (Joseph Pilato) who believes that the scientists are wasting his time, and that he and what remains of his men should be flown to Washington to find survivors. He is more of a dictator than a commanding officer, and easily causes the lives of everyone around him, except a few of his soldiers to become a living hell. For some, Rhodes is just as dangerous as the zombies. He holds the most contempt for Sarah and her boyfriend and would love nothing more than to get rid of them.
With no hope in Rhodes, Sarah befriends a Jamaican and Irish helicopter crew. These two men are kept around for the purpose of flying the helicopter. They do not mix too well with the others and have isolated themselves in the caves, and created a home away from home and are content to spend the rest of their days in happiness and die in the caves. It is this friendship that will ultimately save Sarah from both the corrupted soldiers and the zombies that are massing outside the bunker compound.
The story ends with a very gory ending where the zombies get into the compound. There are a few frightful moments in this segment, and this is by far the most horrific portion of the trilogy. The overall ending is pretty predictable, yet the film does a good job convincing you at times that what you expect to happen will not happen. The acting is not very good, as Frankenstein and Bub are the best two characters. After these performances, the "living" characters put in your typical B movie performance. The zombies have more acting range than some of these characters. This acting, though bad, lends well to the overall campiness of the movie and may actually help it along during the slower scenes. There is no true humor placed in the film, and the bad acting is some sort of comic relief. The ending is truly gory, and somewhat of a surprise. This movie presents the best effects and overall imagery of the series, and if you liked the first movie, you will enjoy this one.
Video :
Par of Anchor Bay´s new Divimax Series, Day of the Dead looks absolutely stunning; especially when it is compared to the original DVD release. Within a few brief moments of watching the new DVD transfer I was simply in awe. The amount of detail present and the sheer cleanliness of the new transfer is top notch. Day of the Dead looks as good as many brand new films released onto the market. The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is without any blemishes that heavily marred the previous release. The colors are perfectly rendered with excellent saturation and contrast. They are bright and lifelike. Film grain is present in small doses, but does not distract from the viewing experience. Shadow detail is greatly improved and the A-B comparison reveals details previously missed. Credit really must be given to Anchor Bay for their constant improvement in the DVD marketplace. They started out with a few very shoddy looking DVDs and now they are on par with the very best in bringing these old films to the digital realm.
Audio :
The soundtrack has also seen a substantial makeover. The previous DVD was released in a Dolby Digital Stereo mix. This new disc features all the audible bells and whistles currently available. A Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround mix is available, but it is overshadowed by Excellent Dolby Digital 6.1 EX and DTS-ES soundtracks. The multi-channel surround mixes show excellent sound imagery. All channels are abundant with sound effects and provide support to the excellent and eerie soundtrack. The over-acted vocals are strong and clear. The sound effects that are brought to life by the DVD are well recreated. Bass response is good, but if there was a weak point to the soundtrack, that weak point would be that the .1 LFE channel could have been used a little harder. Comparing the DTS and Dolby tracks show little difference, but the DTS appears a little bit cleaner and the Dolby track may yield a minor amount more bass. I was really surprised by how much better this DVD looks and sounds when compared to my original.
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[release]11323[/release]