Upcoming EVIL DEAD release -- full screen? (1 Viewer)

[chris larralde]

At one point I heard that they might release it as 16:9 "matted" from the full screen version.
Anyone hear otherwise? Now that I've got my Toshiba 56H80, I kindda hoping for a 16:9 transfer.
regards,
chris

 

[Ivan Berisic]

1.33:1 is the correct aspect ratio, so I hope that's the way it will be presented on the DVD.
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[Iain Lambert]

As Ivan says, this film was shot 1.33, which is the intended ratio. Frankly, I think it would look horrible matted down to 1.77, but you're welcome to try it using the zoom mode of your TV.

 

[Mitty]

The film was shot on 16mm stock, and then blown up to 35mm for distribution (not many commercial theatres would be able to handle 16mm).
I'm sure it was shown in many theatres matted to 1.85:1 as they probably just treated it like any other 35mm (non anamorphic) film.
But that doesn't mean it's correct.
You'll just have to watch the OTHER Evil Dead movies on your new TV.

 

[Adam Tyner]

I'd heard for years that "The Evil Dead" was always intended to be full-frame, but "The Evil Dead Companion" states that the film was framed at 1.66:1 (page 82, if you're curious). Perhaps due to the micro-budget, camera-flinging nature of the shoot, "Evil Dead" doesn't quite work with the usual sort of matte, which is why Campbell is rumored to be going through the movie shot by shot for the widescreen presentation. Regardless, I hope Anchor Bay includes both versions on the upcoming set, and if not, I'll always have my Elite DVD...
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My DVD list | My personal site

 

[Eric Wickitt]

Don't hold your breath Adam.

 

[ChristopherM]

The R2 Project has posted a review of Anchor Bay UK's upcoming R2 PAL release:
http://www.r2-dvd.org/article.jsp?se...articleId=2479
To quote: "The picture has been matted from it's 1.33:1 to 1.85:1 and on the whole it suits its new framing".
There is no mention as to whether or not the matte is director-approved.

 

[Julie K]

If that picture on the UK site is any indictation, matting ED to 1.85:1 is a horrible idea. But even if it were framed for 1.66:1 you're still going to lose some picture by matting it to 1.77:1.
As cool as that Necronomicon box is, I'll have to think real hard about buying it if there isn't a 4:3 version available. I really, really hate it when directors (or even the venerable Bruce Campbell) mucks around with films from the past. Leave them alone, guys. They are a part of history, and should remain a window to a vanished era.
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"Some people think I'm over-prepared, paranoid...maybe even a little crazy. But they never met any pre-Cambrian life forms, did they?"

 

[james e m]

Hey where can I get info about this release? I can't seem to find any about it. When's the release date? Thanks...
james
ps if anybody cares I talked to Bruce and he said that his new movie Bubba Ho Tep might be released straight to video. cool stuff.
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When in doubt...Rock it out.

 

[Ben Motley]

And why would Campbell get to reframe Raimi's masterpiece???

 

[Jason Seaver]

And why would Campbell get to reframe Raimi's masterpiece???

Raimi's sort of been insanely busy between The Gift and Spider-Man for the past couple of years.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Regardless, I hope Anchor Bay includes both versions on the upcoming set, and if not, I'll always have my Elite DVD...

I thought I read that the Elite transfer wasn't near as good as the Anchor Bay transfer?? I think somebody here did a comparison and found the AB version to be superior.
Jeff

 

[PerryD]

I'm always a bit confused with the argument of those who do not want to see the Original Theatrical Aspect Ratio. In the case of Evil Dead, it must have been created to be seen in the theaters, correct, or was this movie a direct-to-video production?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I thought I read that the Elite transfer wasn't near as good as the Anchor Bay transfer?? I think somebody here did a comparison and found the AB version to be superior.

If you are talking about the currently available versions, the reviews I remember ranged from saying they were the same to maybe a slight edge for the Elite in terms of video quality. It's entirely possible that someone disagreed with this, but it was not the prevailing opinion. Audio and supplements were hands down in favor of the Elite, though due to the presence of the 5.1 mix on the Elite version and the absence of any extras on the AB release. This has nothing to do with the forthcoming Anchor Bay edition, though.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Anthony Thorne]

Not from what I've heard. Every comparative review between the two discs I've come across said that the Anchor Bay transfer was superior. A review at www.mondo-digital.com and threads at www.mhvf.net have all generally agreed with this assessment.
The Elite disc was the disc of choice at the time as it contained all those exclusive supplements. Many of these will likely be on the new AB release.
Bruce Campbell was involved in the disc transfer of the earlier Elite LD/DVD. The location of the original neg and Anchor Bay's improved telecine facilities are probably two of the reasons that he's involved in making yet another transfer.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

It has a DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 track baby! Hail to the king.
I think 1.66:1 anamorphically enhanced sounds about right. Anchor Bay will probably do a great job on this film if they're spending the time to get Bruce Campbell in on it and remix the stems to 6.1 discrete.
Dan
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Stop HDCP and 5C-- Your rights are at risk!

 

[Artur Meinild]

As a response to the topic header I'd say why not?
All other Anchor Bay release I own have the choice between fullscreen and widescreen, why should this new Evil Dead be an exception???
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~ Stud. Polyt. ~ Artur Meinild ~

 

[Julie K]

I think 1.66:1 anamorphically enhanced sounds about right

But to do that, wouldn't you have to window box it? 16:9 sets are 1.77:1 so fitting a 1.66:1 movie to that shape without adding bars on the side would involve cutting off portions from the top and bottom. This is the exact same principle as P&S - making a movie fit a shape other than what it was framed for.
And I doubt that the upcoming AB release will contain both versions. They have before because they've used player generated mattes. But in this case, Bruce Campbell is going through Evil Dead on a frame-by-frame basis and re-framing the movie to fit some other shape (sounds like P&S to me) so information on the top and bottom of the picture is being lost even before it gets to us.
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http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mc.asp?alias=fishhead&type=O&sc=C&ls=T
"Some people think I'm over-prepared, paranoid...maybe even a little crazy. But they never met any pre-Cambrian life forms, did they?"

 

[Tom Bley]

Hi Julie,
I think anamorphic enhancement for a 1.66:1 ratio on a a 16x9 screen is ideal, it would fill the screen top to bottom but, not all the width...still it would use more of the width of my 16x9 screen than a 4:3 image.
On a 4:3 set a 1.66:1 ratio would fill the screen width and only have very small black bars on top and bottom.
New Line Cinema has done this with some of there 1.66:1 movies and it looks great on both 4:3 and 1.78:1 sets.
Have a nice day,
Tom
my theater: www15.brinkster.com/tbley1

 

[Julie K]

Tom,
I agree, a 1.66:1 windowboxed and anamorphic release would be ideal. But I was under the impression that Anchor Bay is cropping it even more to 1.77:1 so that there wouldn't be side bars on the 16:9 display. A recent R2 Evil Dead was matted to 1.85:1!
I would love to be proved wrong, but I'm worried that this will be a vertical style of P&S.
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http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mc.asp?alias=fishhead&type=O&sc=C&ls=T
"Some people think I'm over-prepared, paranoid...maybe even a little crazy. But they never met any pre-Cambrian life forms, did they?"