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Evil Dead, a strange difference!

#1
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10/10/06 at 10:07pm
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I was comparing the Elite DVD, Elite LD and the Japanese LD from 1995 to see what version have the best image for the original 1.33:1 ratio (haven't seen the old Anchor Bay DVD yet). Then I thought, just for fun to test the old Japanese LD released 1985. And I found this:

Elite DVD (same as LD, and new Japan LD)



Old Japan LD


Do anyone know why the newer release are so much zoomed in? I have not check the whole LD yet, so I don't know if there is more places like this. But the few places I check the old one have a little more on all sides, but not as much as in this scene!
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#2
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10/10/06 at 10:50pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Wow...that's truly bizarre. I'll have to check the newer Book of the Dead against the Elite dvd release to see how the cropping is on the sides of the frame in comparison in this scene.
-Kevin M.

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#3
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10/10/06 at 11:19pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!


here's a screenshot from the book of the dead edition
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#4
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10/11/06 at 1:58am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

I remember reading somewhere that it was done deliberately when the Elite transfer was made. Sam Raimi felt that the tighter framing gave the shot more impact.
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#5
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10/11/06 at 3:11am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Yes, the matted BOTD version has no zoom in on her face....strangely the elite version seems like a different take because the zoom in looks very shaky as if it were a physical push in or an in camera zoom, not just a zoom in on the 1:33 frame during the transfer....it's the same shot though, you can tell by comparing the two shots above. Odd.
-Kevin M.

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#6
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10/11/06 at 4:36am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Thanks Kevin! Do anyone knows if the old 1.33:1 Anchor Bay DVD are the same as the Elite DVD/LD? If someone have it could check, maybe do a screenshot too.

Simon, do you remember if there are any more scenes that they did this? I think I must rewatch this old LD again.

Btw, I must say that I vastly prefer the old version. Much scarier IMO.
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#7
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10/11/06 at 7:25am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Here's a cap from the Anchor Bay disk. It's almost the same transfer as the Elite disc. Both are also missing the lightning strike which can be seen in the trailer.

evildeadcapturesn6.jpg
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#8
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10/11/06 at 7:44am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Thanks Vincent! I think I will rewatch Evil Dead tonight and see if there are any more places that are different.
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#9
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10/11/06 at 10:27am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Quote:
I remember reading somewhere that it was done deliberately when the Elite transfer was made. Sam Raimi felt that the tighter framing gave the shot more impact.

Yeah, I'm always puzzled when people bash the BOTD edition while claiming the Elite edition is some sort of pure OAR release.

The fact of the matter is this: Raimi supervised the Elite transfer and added a couple of "Lucasisms" (omitting the lightning strike and adding the artificial zoom) whereas Bruce Campbell supervised the Anchor Bay widescreen transfers (supposedly to Raimi's specifications) with a (to me) pretty obvious and straightforward attempt at presenting the film as it screened theatrically.

If you watch the movie theater scene in "Donnie Darko" you'll see that it's roughly 1.85:1 in that film (for what it's worth) and that movie was produced over a year before the "Book of the Dead" edition came out.

Don't you ever, EVER compare me to "Family Guy," you hear me Kyle? Compare me to "Family Guy" again and so help me, I will kill you where you stand!

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#10
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10/11/06 at 1:06pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill GrandPre
Yeah, I'm always puzzled when people bash the BOTD edition while claiming the Elite edition is some sort of pure OAR release.

The fact of the matter is this: Raimi supervised the Elite transfer and added a couple of "Lucasisms" (omitting the lightning strike and adding the artificial zoom) whereas Bruce Campbell supervised the Anchor Bay widescreen transfers (supposedly to Raimi's specifications) with a (to me) pretty obvious and straightforward attempt at presenting the film as it screened theatrically.

Do you know if there is more scenes where he did change it? And I don't think he did that when supervising the Elite transfer (1999). The same zoom effect are on the Japanese LD from 1994-1995.

But I still feel the Elite version is much close to a right version than the BOTD release, that are way over-matte IMO.
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#11
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10/11/06 at 4:47pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Wow, the fcontrast is horrible on TBOTD screncap!

I much prefer the color timing on the LD edition also. My only major beef with DVD is how studios feel it necessary to alter the aesthetics of the original film to suit the digital expectations of the format, if that makes any sense. It's seen all the time with color and lighting changes, etc. I find the LD caps much more appealing and closer to what would've been shot, based on the girl's features.
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#12
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10/11/06 at 5:43pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarcoBiscotti
Wow, the fcontrast is horrible on TBOTD screncap!

I much prefer the color timing on the LD edition also. My only major beef with DVD is how studios feel it necessary to alter the aesthetics of the original film to suit the digital expectations of the format, if that makes any sense. It's seen all the time with color and lighting changes, etc. I find the LD caps much more appealing and closer to what would've been shot, based on the girl's features.
to be fair that may be the settings on my computer after looking at a similar screenshot at horrordvds.com

http://www.horrordvds.com/modules.ph...article&id=417
but hey i was just trying to do a quick and dirty screencap to show the framing
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#13
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10/11/06 at 6:12pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Raimi changed the framing on the latest release from the original full-frame OAR to have matted 1.85 bars because he simply liked the way it looked. Don't know how this resulted in such different zooming--i assumed that they just threw matte bars over the original image.
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#14
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10/11/06 at 8:28pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

I watched the old Japanese LD tonight and there are "only" the two changes we have mention here (didn't compare the audio fully). The zooming in of the face and the cut out of the lighting as you can see here:

When they are in the basement, maybe 16 min in the movie, Bruce reads the "Book of the dead". The scene ends like this:



And next we see:


In the old version, there are 1-1,5 second of a lightning strikes a tree between the those two scenes. Here is some shots of that.

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#15
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10/11/06 at 8:32pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Quote:
Originally Posted by mike kaminski
Raimi changed the framing on the latest release from the original full-frame OAR to have matted 1.85 bars because he simply liked the way it looked. Don't know how this resulted in such different zooming--i assumed that they just threw matte bars over the original image.


This is not true. Sam did not supervised the BOTD release, it was Bruce that did. I remember that they had to tilt and move the matting many times, because just a standard matting would have masked of a LOT of info. Even with that, I and many others, are thinking that it's over matted and the 1.33:1, that Sam did supervised, is a much better ratio for the movie.
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#16
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10/11/06 at 9:24pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

There are a big difference between the old Japanese LD's color and the new Elite/AB version.


Elite vs Old Laser












I prefer the old LD colors, even if they are not perfect, I think they are better IMO.
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#17
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10/11/06 at 9:26pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Well, Bruce matted it under Sam's wishes, I like the composition of the unmatted version better as well as it's color balance and detail (as well as the fact that the matting totally obscured the "bandaid" joke) however I could live with the matted version as a good representation of it's theatrical AR IF the image wasn't as overly dark in spots as it is and the blurry image quality in so many spots.....matted is fine with me if it is done well but I don't think TBOTD version is as good as it could have been.
-Kevin M.

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#18
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10/11/06 at 11:30pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Quote:
(as well as the fact that the matting totally obscured the "bandaid" joke)

It's not totally obscured, it's still visible but admittedly only to the point where only those that are familiar with it's position would notice it.

Don't you ever, EVER compare me to "Family Guy," you hear me Kyle? Compare me to "Family Guy" again and so help me, I will kill you where you stand!

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#19
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10/12/06 at 6:29am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

I don't really like the colors on the Elite. Look at the shot with Bruce face. On the old LD you can easily see that he have a bruise on his cheek, where on the Elite version, it's almost gone!
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#20
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10/12/06 at 1:58pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

That doesn't even look like color boosting... it looks like they completely digitally painted over the entire scene. The fleshtones, hair color, shadows, detail in the background, wood, etc. is terrible. It gives the entire picture a very phony and unrealistic look.
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#21
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10/12/06 at 10:14pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Quote:
That doesn't even look like color boosting... it looks like they completely digitally painted over the entire scene. The fleshtones, hair color, shadows, detail in the background, wood, etc. is terrible. It gives the entire picture a very phony and unrealistic look.

There's no way anything that sophisticated was done in '98 when the Elite transfer was done.

Don't you ever, EVER compare me to "Family Guy," you hear me Kyle? Compare me to "Family Guy" again and so help me, I will kill you where you stand!

Do you have any idea what it's like? Everywhere I go: "Hey Cartman you must like 'Family Guy,' right?" "Hey, your sense of humor reminds me of 'Family...

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#22
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10/13/06 at 6:31am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

I was referring to TBOTD screens.

The Elite transfer looks great.
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#23
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10/13/06 at 10:32pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

But the side by side picks that Mattias_ka has above are from the Elite LD transfer (which is also the Elite SE-DVD transfer) and the older Japanese transfer....which ones do you prefer, Marco?

Quote:
It's not totally obscured, it's still visible but admittedly only to the point where only those that are familiar with it's position would notice it.

I dunno Bill, the bandaid box looks pretty obscured to me. (click on image for larger view)

-Kevin M.

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#24
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10/21/06 at 12:26pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

How can I tell the old Jap. LD from the New one? Can you post picture of the covers or catalog numbers?
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#25
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10/21/06 at 12:33pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

I still think the Elite DVD looks the best. I actually watched the BOTD edition earlier this week (I own both the BOTD and Elite) just because I haven't watched that version in a while and I forgot how washed out it is. It's actually kind of hard to watch. The image is pretty soft, the colors are dull, and detail is lacking. The Elite transfer has solid blacks, better color, and looks sharper. Plus I prefer the full frame framing on the Elite DVD.
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#26
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10/24/06 at 6:45am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_Wilson
How can I tell the old Jap. LD from the New one? Can you post picture of the covers or catalog numbers?


Hi, sorry, should have done the right away


BEAM Japan LD from 1994-1995



Herald Videograme, Japan 1985




It's the Herald version to get if one likes the darker/scarier, bluer image + the lightning and no reframing.


*the screenshots was taken with a HLD-X0 and a PDI Delux capturing card*


J-EL, The way you feel about the Elite vs BOTD version, I now feel about thr older version vs Elite/AB DVD's/LD. I will probably never re-watch any of them just the older one.
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#27
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10/24/06 at 8:11am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Thanks, I figured it out this weekend by watching it. I have the BEAM one, oh well. Thanks for the caps.
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#28
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10/24/06 at 6:01pm
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin M
But the side by side picks that Mattias_ka has above are from the Elite LD transfer (which is also the Elite SE-DVD transfer) and the older Japanese transfer....which ones do you prefer, Marco?

Sorry, meant to specify the old ld transfer.

Those screens look far truer to the production in my eyes.
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#29
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10/25/06 at 8:58am
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Re: Evil Dead, a strange difference!

What's your favorite EVIL DEAD line?

"Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if I had remained on the hot coals burning my pretty flesh."

Creepy movie.

- Colton
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