Night of the Living Dead (1968) (1 Viewer)

[darkrock17]

Why hasn't there been a blu release of this classic film yet, I know it's in public domain, but still some studio could of released it by now. Dimension released a 40th Anniversary back in 2008 and it looked great, so since all of the other Dead films are on blu, the original should be as well.

 

[bgart13]

$$$$

 

[dana martin]

i would love to see this done, and done correctly, with the involvement of Romero and from the original negative, and what ever else he might have, not from one of the majors, I am thinking Vinegar Syndrome, this would defiantly have the potential, of going well above a limited to 3000 release.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Honestly I'm not sure. NOTLD doesn't appear to have the same moneygrabbing arse copyright holders as Dawn does (it being accidently PD and all), so pretty much anybody could release it on blu (however they'd have to go directly to George Romero for the best elements/transfer possible).

 

[Ignatius]

There are already two editions available in the UK. One (from Optimum) features a good quality print but a cropped image, the other (from Network) is a poor quality print with more image available. There are also editions available in Japan and France but they've been reported to be direct ports of the Optimum transfer.

Why nobody has taken in upon themselves to do a proper special edition I don't know. There's already a trove of special features that could be licensed from the existing DVD editions. The fact that it's a public domain film may have something to do with it but that hasn't stopped Kino in the past.

While I'm sure Vinegar Syndrome would do a great job of it I doubt they'd be interested in taking it on. They're focused on obscure titles with little release history, as well as exploiting the material in their archive.

 

[JColl]

This has probably been covered already, but is the negative still around? Does Romero control it?

 

[bgart13]

It costs a lot to access the negative, which either Romero and/or the Image Ten folks have. And who knows, maybe the Weinsteins have thrown some kind of monkey wrench into the works too. No one should release a bd of it unless it comes from the negative, but at this point I guess it's saturated the market so much that there may be a risk in releasing a bd of it in the US.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

I noticed that The Weinstein Company now has a VOD channel on YouTube, and their print of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is offered there for viewing. So it would appear for now, they would have rights to a licensed Blu-Ray edition if they were so inclined.I suspect what may also be affecting the matter is that after the collapse of Genius Products, the DVD label that TWC owned majority stock in, they had to essentially mortgage those rights to Vivendi, their rackjobber, in exchange for operating money to keep the company going. This is why subsequent TWC releases have gone out through Sony and Anchor Bay, as they chose not to take on the expense of operating their own label. So it's possible that it may be Vivendi's lack of interest in doing anything with NOTLD that's kept if off Blu-Ray. Come to think of it, the only real new Blu-Ray activity I've seen on the Weinstein's catalogue was the release of the complete GRINDHOUSE a few years ago, and the licensing out of DEATH PROOF to Lionsgate for their "TARANTINO XX" box set.

 

[Jari K]

If the original Night is released on Blu-ray again, they should do a major restoration and go back to the original negatives. Frankly, I don't see the point otherwise.And Romero isn't getting any younger. He should see the film restored in his lifetime.