Anchor Bay's Dawn Of The Dead 4-Disc Set (1 Viewer)

[Ben Silva]

No problem

 

[Drew Reiber]

Hey, has anyone heard more about the Dawn of the Dead: Theatrical Cut problems? I heard several people had layer skipping issues on certain players and had no difficulty myself until I tried playing it on my parent's Toshiba. It freezes at 1 hour 9 minutes, and I couldn't even track forward without getting stuck at the layer switch.

I went to the Anchor Bay website and reported my problem and they haven't replied to me yet. It's been over two weeks now. Is there anything else I can do? Have they screwed me? Will the first disc of the set have similar problems?

 

[TerryW]

Drew, are you talking about the most recent Dawn release from March? If so, I have had no problems with it on my players at the layer switch. Have you tried it on a different machine? I'm sure it'll be the same master used for the boxed set Theatrical Version.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I hadn't heard anything about this but AB is usually very good about replacing faulty discs.

 

[Drew Reiber]

Every report (with the same switch issue) I've seen is a different DVD player than the one I used. I have had some audio difficulties with my Sony, but I don't know if that's the disc and I haven't heard it anywhere else. But even if it works on one player I've found, what's the guarantee it will work on my next one?

They need to get this under control, because it will only become more widespread when more people dive in with the box set. And more than anything, why haven't they responded to me? I've heard they refused to respond to the Day audio problems too. That's a terrible business practice.

 

[Robert Anthony]

Drew: I was one of the people that happened to, on an old Toshiba sd-1600. It seemed to be only in a VERY early batch--I think I got mine a day early, something like that. went home, it got stuck, took it back to the store down the street--replacement worked perfectly fine.

I think some of the first discs out the plant were glued together poorly, that's all, because where it sticks is the layer switch. you must have caught one of the bad ones. It was an anomaly, from what I understand, certainly not anything they "need to get under control." A lot of pressings sometimes have weird little flaws here and there. I wouldn't sweat it--just one of the annoying little quirks that come with automated mass production. Don't even send it back to Anchor Bay--just take the case and the disc, head down to a B&M, if you can, say you need to exchange it, the disc is faulty--and they'll swap it out for you, and send the damaged one back to Anchor Bay for you.

What's weird is that you say it worked just fine with other DVD players. None of the other instances of this glitch had that going on. I tried it in my girlfriend's player, the same thing happened-stuck. Had to eject the disc. I remember other people reporting the same thing--layer switch froze the players they tried it in, DVD ROM included. I don't think the problem was player-specific at all.

So that's really weird, that it'd cause one player to totally freeze up and the other had no problems with it.

 

[Drew Reiber]

What is B&M? The disc I bought is definitely part of their early batch (glossy cover), but didn't show problems until now. I can't take it back to the store I got it from (Deep Discount DVD) and unless AB responds, I don't know what else to do. Thanks so much for your help, btw.

 

[Robert Anthony]

B&M = Brick and Mortar. Basically--just take it back to any retail store that sells DVD's and has a copy. the SKU will be the same, and the brick and mortar will be reimbursed the copy you take home. Almost any store anywhere will do a recieptless straight-up exchange for the exact same product, provided it doesn't look damaged at all. Just be like

"I need to exchange this. The DVD locks up about halfway through the movie and doesn't play. I have to eject it, I can't even push stop to stop it."
"You have your reciept?"
"No, I don't have a reciept, sorry. I just want the exact same disc, hopefully one that plays all the way through."

Then they take the disc out, check for scratches, find none, go get a new one off the shelf, and either give you the new one, or open the new one, pull the new disc out and plop it into the case you brought with you, and send you on your merry way.

I know it SOUNDS kinda shady, but it's not. Not from what I understand (and it was something I did regularly, my managers as well, when I worked at Sam Goody back in 97-99) Deep Discount DVD doesn't lose any money, and neither does the store you return it to--they'll get a replacement copy of the DVD in their next freight shipment, to put back on their shelves in exchange for the defective copy they send back today. And you get the working DVD that you paid for.

 

[Paul D G]

Sometimes you just have to look past the low budget limitations of some films. I agree the makeup could be better and the blood more realistic.

But your first comment is interesting. I never found it scary either, but that doesn't mean it's not a good movie. I never thought it was supposed to be scary; more of a action/drama taking place in a world where zombies run rampant.

I also agree the remake was more exciting and scary.

I'm curious about other people's thoughts.

(as for the boxed set: I am SO there! Same with the remake)

-paul

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Ben, remember that this movie is now 26 years old and cost $1.5 million dollars to make. I find that staggering - that such scope and excitment could be produced from such a small budget (Star Wars was in cinemas at the time it was being made and Lucas' trailblazer cost $10m and took a year to complete).

Dawn of the Dead is low-budget guerilla filmmaking at its finest.

But I can see how newcomers could be disappointed with the original after seeing the souped-up remake.

But, for me - and many others - the original remains a landmark American horror movie and it totally worthy of a 4-disc edition. The 3 versions are different in subtle ways and are essential to fulfilling the promise of this being the "definitive" home video presentation of the film.

 

[Anthony Neilson]

BEN SILVA and RON EPSTEIN -

It's not so relevant now the post's been deleted but of COURSE I was joking. No offence was meant and I apologise to you, Ben, if any was caused.

Ironically, I get very annoyed myself when I go on to "discussion" threads and get verbally assaulted for expressing a mildly dissenting opinion.

But come on, man - it's DAWN OF THE DEAD!

 

[Travis W.]

Definitely have to use that when someone says one of my reviews sucked (a couple of kids recognized me once and got real ticked because I gave Eurotrip no stars). Good line.

Ben, did you see the remake first? If so I can see why you probably liked the remake better, I mean they're so drastically different in many ways. Going from a glossed up version to the lulls of low budgets.

For my money, the original Dawn has more meat to it but the remake is good still, that is after all my opinion since we don't live in a totalitarian state.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

I couldn't stand the remake. I thought it was uninteresting, and bland.

The sad thing, is that I wasn't comparing to the original movie when I saw it. I love the original, and have for years, but when I heard about the remake, I was told to go in not comparing it, because the two movies are very different.

Just as a zombie movie, I thought it was dull. In my opinion, 28 Days Later was a much more interesting film, with characters I actually cared about.

The remake makes the mistake of putting the zombies in the position as villain. In the original film, and all of romero's zombie movies, they're like a force of nature... that we could figure out how to survive around, if we worked together. We don't.... so we die.

In the remake, the focus is put on the action alone, and I've seen better.

Dawn may be low budget, but it's fantastic, and while people think the blood is a little too red, look at a lot of other horror films from the same time period. It just seems to me that was the style then. 4 Discs is not overkill. 2 double sided ones could do it, but I'm assuming that would just make it more expensive to produce.

 

[Colton]

OoOoOOooOOOOooo! The boxset comes with the #1 Dawn of the Dead comic booky?

- Colton

 

[Ben Silva]

Gordon, I'm not a newcomer to films, or 70s low-budget horror cinema. Texas Chainsaw Massacre did it better and with a smaller budget. I see the potential in DOTD to be very good, I just didn't enjoy it.

Anthony, thank you for your apology.

Travis, I saw the original first. There are very few remakes I think are better than the originals. And feel free to use that line whenever you want.

 

[Kevin M]

Actually if you search some of my posts in other threads you will see that I also find it ignorant that people will berate you for simply have a opinion different from theirs so no I am not saying that you don't have the "right" to your own opinion....however what I am saying is that, this being a thread for fans celebrating the SE DVD release of Dawn of the Dead, coming in here and downing it is in fact a thread fart. Nobody here is saying that you don't have a right to criticize a film you don't like but there is a proper place to do so here at Home Theater Forum, over in the MOVIES section there are several threads dedicated to opinions on the FILM of Dawn of the Dead & that is where you should post your opinions on the film itself, to do so in here may not be against HTF rules but it is considered to be rude when taking into account this thread is about.

Now you can continue to do so if you wish but don't complain or act surprised when people berate you for it. This isn't really the right section for that, this thread is talking about the box set DVD of DOTD and the differences in the cuts not the film in and of itself.

 

[Ben Silva]

Kevin, I was under the impression that this is a FORUM. By very deifintion it is a place for differnet ideas to be discussed. You're implying that just because I have a differing opinion of the film that I have no right to state so. Why does my opinon threaten you so? You don't have to agree with it. In fact, in my original post I quite clearly stated that I am in the minority on this. I wasn't trying to imflame tempers and cause riots. I was taking place in a lively discission about DOTD. I was simply stating my opinion. If everyone's was the same this would be a pretty boring forum; wouldn't it?

 

[Kevin M]

Ben, I think you need to re-read my post. That is absolutely not what I am saying. Did you read my last post at all? I went well out of my way to explain that your opinion on DOTD the film is welcome...in the right thread. This thread isn't about the film, it is about the DVD.

Re-read the post Ben, I really don't think you understood a thing I said.

 

[Matt Stone]

Kevin is actually right. This forum (as opposed to the Movies Forum) is dedicated to discussing the DVD/LD/etc releases of films...not films themselves. If you'd like to discuss your opinions of the DotD flicks (original and remake) the official discussion thread in the Movies Forum would be the correct place.

Here's the thread:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...wn+of+the+dead

 

[Brian Kidd]

I think all zombie movies suck. So there.

Anyhoo, back on topic.

I am mightily impressed with the announced contents of this set. DAWN is such an influential film that it deserves to have a set of this magnitude. Does it seem to anyone else, though, that this seems to be sort of a last gasp for AB? Time was they were releasing new titles on a monthly basis. Now they seem to only be revisiting older titles and even then only every so often. I can't tell you how many AB discs I own because they were always good for releasing the films that no one else would. Does anyone have any comments?