Day of the Dead Review (Blu-Ray)

The third movie in George A. Romero’s Undead series gets a nice HD treatment care of Anchor Bay.

In 1968, director George A. Romero brought us “Night Of The Living Dead.” It became the definitive horror film of its time. Eleven years later, he would unleash the most shocking motion picture experience for all times, Dawn of the Dead. . As modern society is consumed by zombie carnage, four desperate survivors barricade themselves inside a shopping mall to battle the flesh-eating hordes of the undead.

Many years later George Romero brought us the third Dead film, Day of the Dead. This was the time (the mid 80’s) that another zombie flick (Return of the Living Dead) hit theatres. And sadly Day of the Dead did not get the recognition that deserved because people got confused by the two films. Many people thought that Day of the Dead was Romero’s darkest film as well. People were expecting the comic-book feel of Dawn of the Dead. The movies featured some of the most graphic scenes in the Dead series. Day of the Dead also had some of the harshest language. The bottom line was it was a film in a different class from Dawn and Night. And to this day it was one of George’s most favorite films he’s made.

The story is pretty simple. A small group of scientists and soldiers have taken refuge in an underground missile silo where they struggle to control the flesh-eating horror that walks the earth above. But will the final battle for the future of the human race be fought among the living or have they forever unleashed the hunger of the dead? As with Romero’s past films, he puts a ton of detail into each character. These are characters you like and hate. Rhodes has to be the most bad-ass character in horror movie history. I love his character. His “Monkey Farm” line is classic. Doctor Frankenstein is also a very awesome character. And Bub is the perfect zombie. Howard Sherman’s awesome character paved the way to Big Daddy in Land of the Dead. Tom Savini and his crew also put on some of the best FX of it’s time (and still amazing to this day).

The Transfer:

Anchor Bay did a great job doing a HD transfer. The movie does have some grainy spots. I have seen many transfers of this film, dating back to VHS. I have many in my collection (I even have a signed Anchor Bay Laserdisc signed by Greg Nicotero). This is the best transfer to date. I always thought the Anchor Bay 2-disc Divimax DVD was good but seeing it in 1080 is pretty nice. I am glad Anchor Bay is giving these old classics HD love.

The Sound:

This blu-ray disc has three tracks. It features a PCM 5.1 surround track (48 kHz/16-Bit/4.6 Mbps), a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix (640 kbps), and a mono track (192 kbps). The disc also features 2 sets of audio commentary. The first commentary is with George A. Romero, FX master Tom Savini, actress Lori Cardille (Sarah), and production designer Cletus Anderson. They all talk about some great memories. And George talks about Land of the Dead as well. This is a great track to listen to.

The second track is Silent Hill (the movie) writer Roger Avery. This track is rather boring and brings nothing new to the table. He is actually silent for most of the track. I am not sure why they picked him as the second commentator. What about having other Day of the Dead actors doing a commentary track instead of Avery (Joe Pilato, Howard Sherman or even Greg Nicotero)?

Day of the Dead Blu-Ray Features:

• Technical Specs

  • Blu-ray
  • BD-50 Dual-Layer Disc

  Video Resolution/Codec

  • 1080p/AVC MPEG-4
  • 480p/i/MPEG-2 (Supplements Only)

  Aspect Ratio(s)

  • 1.85:1

  Audio Formats

  • English PCM 5.1 Surround (48kHz/16-Bit/4.6Mbps)
  • English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (640 kbps)
  • English Original Mono (192 kbps)

  Subtitles/Captions

  • English Subtitles

  Supplements

  • Audio Commentaries
  • Documentary
  • Featurettes
  • Trailers
  • TV Spots
  • Subtitle Fact Track

As I said earlier, there are 2 sets of commentary. The Fast Film Facts are also a nice touch. All of the features on the Divimax DVD set are also here. The many days of Day of the Dead is a good documentary about making the film. There are interviews with george Romero, his wife Christine, Tom Savini, Joe Pilato, Lori Cardille, Howard Sherman, Greg Nicotero, etc… This documentary is a great feature and tells alot about how close the cast and crew of the film were and how much into the film they got.

The Blu-ray disc also included is a behind-the-scenes video of the FX supplied by Tom Savini. It shows some of the scenes and how they were done. Lastly there is the Richard Liberty audio interview (one of his last before he died) and a Gateway Commerce Center promo video (where the film was shot).

The Bottom Line:

Day of the Dead finally gets a nice HD transfer. It takes all of the great things from the Anchor Bay Divimax 2-disc DVD and puts it in a nice HD package. This blu-ray disc is a must-have for any horror fan. Forget the crappy zombie movies of today (Resident Evil) this is what a zombie flick should be.

George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead on Blu-ray is a classic that still stands by todays standards.

GCN Rating for Day of the Dead (Blu-Ray)) Review
9.5	Movie Besides George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead is one of the best zombie flicks ever made. Over the years it has gained the respect it deserves. A must-own for any horror buff
9.0	Transfer Anchor Bay did a really good transfer job. Much like Dawn of the Dead, you will still see a few scratches as well as film grain. This version is the best look Day has ever seen.
9.0	Sound Day of the Dead is presented in Dolby Surround 5.1, PCM 5.1 and Original Mono. The sounds are overall pretty good.
8.0	Extras Lots of great extras transfered from the Day of the Dead Divimax 2-DVD set. I also like the fun facts. Two sets of audio commentary, one worth listening to.
9.0	Overall Day of the Dead is a great horror film to have in your collection. It is dark, gory as hell and features some of the best FX of any zombie flicks (even by todays standards). A must-have for anybody that likes blood and gore.