army of darkness bootleg

[Idle Child]

is the army of darkness R1 bootleg edition a poor transfer..? i've noticed in certain scenes

1. Ash's windmill dream sequence
2. Ash's showdown with Evil Ash at the castle in chapter 20

that the transfer quality is AWFUL!!!!! it's by far the worst i've ever seen on DVD.. these scenes are dark, saturated and resemble a VCD/poor video transfer with noticable lines where it's hard to make out the actual action on screne... !! the latter in particular is a key scene and even though it's meant to happen at night doesn't mean that we shouldn't see it clearly. Obviously Anchor Bay didn't even bother tidying up the bootleg print! :mad:


the rest of the movie is fine, infact i was surprised at the good quality of the other scenes.

does anyone else notice this defect? it ruined the movie for me because the picure quality sucked so bad it distracted me big time!

also, what exactly are the differences between the normal edition and the bootleg... 15 minutes extra of what? an original ending? but how did the original's "unoriginal" ending, end? and how else does the original differ from the bootleg? i only ask, because i've only seen the bootleg.. please use the spoiler tags.. cheers.

[DCH]

The quality is down to the source materials, not the transfer. For many of the added scenes I think the only available "master" was Bruce Campbell's own professional quality copy of the original cut.

There's some debate about this - at least some of those scenes are in the UK cut so you'd have thought decent origination materials should have been found, but hey, maybe not. For the most part Anchor Bay does a great job on it's DVD's from frequently dodgy source materials so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I don't have the Bootleg edition but the last version sure had a disclaimer on the box, and I think in the supplements too, about the quality of some of these sections.

I thought calling the new release the Bootleg version was their way of acknowledging the quality issues right up front in the title...

[Idle Child]

well, i was kind of hoping that instead of parts of the main feature film, the seperate deleted scenes may be pretty rough. - that's what i expected by "bootleg".

i'm telling ya, chapter 20 is sooo bad, it's almost unwatchable.

[Creamstick]

Originally posted by Idle Child
i'm telling ya, chapter 20 is sooo bad, it's almost unwatchable.

Given to exaggeration?

Sure, it's of lesser quality than the rest of the film, but that's to be expected under the circumstances. The extra scenes/lesser picture quality scenes are not that long, and don't detract from the film in any way.

*sweeping generalisation coming up!*

If you knew this before buying the disc, then you have no right to complain (and if you didn't know this before hand - who buys a DVD without checking the content? - you only have yourself to blame, and still have no right to complain).

[Idle Child]

i beg to differ. do you have this disc?

ofcourse i check the feature listing for a disc. it doesn't say on the back that'll be a substandard picture - in a key scene. it's not some incidental scene that lasts 30 seconds somehwere random..

but i see your point.. i should have really read an online review..

next time, i'll associate "bootleg" with "shoddy picture quality in places".

[Creamstick]

Originally posted by Idle Child
i beg to differ. do you have this disc?

ofcourse i check the feature listing for a disc. it doesn't say on the back that'll be a substandard picture - in a key scene. it's not some incidental scene that lasts 30 seconds somehwere random..

but i see your point.. i should have really read an online review..

next time, i'll associate "bootleg" with "shoddy picture quality in places".

I've got it, and I've watched it a few times now.

Don't associate "bootleg" with bad anything - that way you'd miss the stunning Almost Famous - Bootleg Edition!

[Blade Runner]

I have the original Directors Cut and agree that those scenes you mention are pretty bad quality. If you listen to the commentary they even apologise about the lack of decent source prints for these parts. :D

In my opinion the quality of Chapter 20 does detract from the viewing and at least parts of this are available on the European cut available on VHS. My VHS version has a better quality picture than some parts of the DVD. :eek:

Click this link (http://http://us.imdb.com/AlternateVersions?0106308) for information about the deleted scenes and extra endings. :)

Despite all this it is still one of my favourite films and one of my most treasured DVD's. :p

[Idle Child]

Originally posted by Creamstick

...the stunning Almost Famous - Bootleg Edition!

is Almost Famous a good movie? i've never really had the thought to check it out.. what film does it resemble?

and i thought the standard edition had a load of extras already?

ps, you've got to admit there are moments in A.O.D bootleg when the picture quality is bad. surely?

[Idle Child]

Originally posted by BLADERUNNER
I have the original Directors Cut and agree that those scenes you mention are pretty bad quality. If you listen to the commentary they even apologise about the lack of decent source prints for these parts. :D

i guessed they might do. i havent got round to hearing the commentary yet on any of the evil dead movies. i'm going to start from the first movie and work up to the last. i hear they're all pretty entertaining, so it's something i'm looking forward to doing.. :D

[Creamstick]

Originally posted by Idle Child


is Almost Famous a good movie? i've never really had the thought to check it out.. what film does it resemble?

and i thought the standard edition had a load of extras already?

ps, you've got to admit there are moments in A.O.D bootleg when the picture quality is bad. surely?

Almost Famous is great! The directors cut fleshes it out a little more.

I can't really describe it, I'd say it sits well with Boogie Nights, High Fidelity, Man on the Moon and The People vs Larry Flint.

I freely admit the pic quality is bad, I just thought you were exaggerating a bit when you said it was almost unwatchable. After reading many reviews and opions on the AOD directors cut before buying it, I was prepared for it, and so it didn't seem that bad when I watched it, in fact it hardly registered until someone I was watching it with remarked on it.

Like I say, I knew beforehand, so it wasn't any big surprise.

[deftone666]

I owned the original Ltd Edition Directors Cut and the picture quality,quite frankly,sucked. I presume this is the same film (15 mins extra,original ending etc). If your unhappy with it you could perhaps get THX certified version that has a far better picture,just missing the extra material.
The Evil Dead series will continue to be the most complicated DVD purchase in existence!!!
BTW, I've just pre-ordered my Evil Dead Book Of The Dead Ltd Edition due out in March

:rolleyes: ;)THX Version (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00001ODHJ/qid=1008722898/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_75_2/107-8598644-6521333)