The Return Of The Living Dead (1985/MGM Blu-ray)
Picture: B- Sound:
C+ Extras: B+ Film: A-
In 1985, when George Romero's zombie films looked a
bit long in the tooth, Return of the Living Dead came on the scene to
liven things up, and succeeded. It put a
fresh and comical spin on Romero's zombie lore while Day of the Dead was
then floundering in theaters that same year.
Today, most zombie fans have embraced the bleak tone that dominates Day
and recognize it as a genre classic. At
the time, however, Return of the Living Dead trumped it at the box
office. Since then, a string of low
quality sequels have tarnished the reputation of the ROTLD franchise, in
spite of the fact that it too is an excellent movie, and is backed by its own
cult following.
The film as shown was conceived as a follow up to the "real" events
that transpired in the 1960's and formed what Night of the Living Dead
would then be based on. Return
takes several liberties with the established "Romero zombie" mythos
and is where the ideas of zombies craving brains began.
This story is a departure from writer John Russo's novel, but the late director
Dan O'Bannon felt that making a direct sequel to Romero's original film would
not be proper. So, changes to the source
material were made to have it be more of an alternate universe take on the
original series. While the film as
completed is quite a riot, it would make an interesting comparison to someday
have a faithful adaptation of the original novel as well.
Extra content is largely unchanged from the previous DVD release of the film. There are two audio commentaries,
documentaries, and trailers. There are
some more frivolous offerings as well, such as zombie subtitles for the film,
and a featurette - In Their Own Words - The Zombies Speak. Unsurprisingly, the zombie subtitles are
rather tiresome to sit through, and you're likely to be turning those off
rather quickly.
The 1080p AVC @ 24 MBPS digital High Definition image on the Blu-ray is
slightly better than that of the included DVD which is anamorphically enhanced.
Both format transfers have an aspect
ratio of 1.85:1. There is good color, and little to no grain. An exception to this is seen in some later
sections of the film with model shots, but that is to be attributed to faults
in the original materials. The sound
quality is good, with Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono mixes on both discs, and a well
done 7.1 DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless remix on the Blu-ray edition.
Some viewers have mentioned a change from the original release, stating that
several songs from the soundtrack have been removed. I was unable to notice any variation between
any of my copies of the film, so the change was likely made some time ago. This does not lessen the impact of any
alteration, however, and with any luck we will someday be able to hear it as it
was first screened.
The DVD included on this set has been available individually for some time, and
owners of that edition should be somewhat reluctant to double or, in some
cases, triple dip. The differences are
fairly subtle between that disc and the Blu-ray, plus there aren't many
additional features this time around, excepting the inclusion of a
multi-channel mix.
Everyone out there still holding on to the oldest DVD edition from 2002 may see
this as a good opportunity to upgrade. The
quality has been stepped up twice over since then, and with this set, you get
both formats for one price.
- David Milchick
