I'm surprised my local Wal-Mart had Return of the Living Dead on DVD. (1 Viewer)

[StephenA]

I was in there earlier looking at the cheap 9.44 discs, and what do I find? Return of the Living Dead. This ain't exactly a movie that is hugely popular, so I was very surrised to find it, and of course picked it up. This is a DVD I'd expect to find at Best Buy, Suncoast, Circuit City, Sam Goody movie department, and others that carry rarer or cult stuff, not a store like Wal-Mart.

 

[Jerome Grate]

I'm not surprised. I've found some really great titles there for cheap. The Quick and the Dead, Lethal Weapon 1,2 and 3 the (DTS versions) etc. In fact some of the titles I purchased from there I would not have normally purchase at Best Buy or CC only because the prices. Walmart is actually competing with these stores, I remeber LOTR was 14.77 for the dual disc set. Great movies at Walmart, exchange policy very liberal.

 

[Andrew Chong]

Wal-Mart in Canada isn't bad at all; got the Memento special edition there.

 

[JJR512]

I always thought that "Return of the Living Dead" was the sequel to "Night of the Living Dead". But yesterday on eBay I saw the LD set "Dawn of the Dead" and looked up what it was about, and saw that this was the sequel, and "Day of the Dead" was the sequel to that. Now I've looked up how RotLD fits in, and find it's not even part of the same series at all! It also looks like this movie has three of it's own sequels.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Now I've looked up how RotLD fits in, and find it's not even part of the same series at all! It also looks like this movie has three of it's own sequels.

Return of the Living Dead was a parody of Night of the Living Dead. It more or less was poking fun at it. And what fun it was As for the Wal-Mart angle, it doesn't suprise this cat...our Wal-Mart seems to carry alot, not everything mind you, but more than I assumed they would.
Bruce

 

[Malcolm R]

I also got "Last House on the Left" at Wal-Mart, and saw "The Evil Dead," "Army of Darkness," and "The Fog" on the shelves recently, as well.

I've never understood why Wal-Mart will not sell music with a parental advisory, but will sell "R" and Unrated films. Seems rather illogical to me. Though I'd be willing to bet it's probably just a means of cheap "family-friendly" marketing and publicity since most music with advisory stickers is largely confined to one genre (rap) and the labels provide edited versions. "R" rated movies, on the other hand, probably make up a significant portion of the home video market and the studios do not provide altered versions.

 

[Chuck L]

Well my partner and I have the same thinking when it comes to products and what people will carry.

Blockbuster. Everyone knows how hard it is to find unrated and uncensored movies at their stores. Yet films that have been released by companys that have the balls to release their product unrated, their products are in Blockbuster. Or if the studio will put BOTH versions of a movie on a disc, it is there. Examples...Dressed To Kill, Last House on the Left, Evil Dead.

Walmart seems to have the same method of thinking. In the releases that are unrated, or feature both version, they don't have a choice. They either don't carry it, or they carry it and make money. Yet, when there are two different version available seperatly, they tend to go with the edited version...examples, Van Wilder or The Sweetest Thing.

Don't give them the option, and they will carry the title anyway.

The same goes with music. When there are two version to choose from, they take the safe road out. When their isn't the choice, they will carry it if they want to make the money.

 

[BradG]

"Walmart seems to have the same method of thinking. In the releases that are unrated, or feature both version, they don't have a choice. They either don't carry it, or they carry it and make money. Yet, when there are two different version available seperatly, they tend to go with the edited version...examples, Van Wilder or The Sweetest Thing."

Surprisingly, in my local Wal-mart here in Canada, the only versions of Van Wilder or The Sweetest Thing were the unrated ones...quite unbelievable, but true. Picked up Van Wilder there...good price.

 

[Malcolm R]

Don't give them the option, and they will carry the title anyway.

This is my same argument with Wal-Mart and pan-and-scan DVD's (i.e. they could still carry DVD's if they were WS-only) but no one in a decision-making capacity seems to agree. :frowning:

 

[JJR512]

The same goes with music. When there are two version to choose from, they take the safe road out. When their isn't the choice, they will carry it if they want to make the money.

Not necessarily true. Sometimes the urge to appear "family-friendly" overrides their desire to make money, or I guess they think that by appearing family-friendly, they'll end up making more money in the long run than the amount of money they'd lost by not carrying a specific family-unfriendly title. The example that sticks out the biggest in my mind was Nirvana's In Utero, a CD that Wal*Mart refused to carry at all. There have been others.

 

[Walt Riarson]

Just thought you guys would be interested, I was looking through my local Walmart's MGM rack and noticed that they had sold out of Return of the Living Dead completely. Seems to be selling pretty well.