{"id":10512,"date":"2015-10-30T09:05:48","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T16:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=10512"},"modified":"2021-11-29T16:47:31","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T00:47:31","slug":"review-armyofdarkness-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2015\/10\/review-armyofdarkness-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Army of Darkness: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This \u201cCollector\u2019s Edition\u201d for Army of Darkness<\/em><\/strong> brings together all versions available and a great selection of bonus material, that I believe also ported over from previous releases, to go along with great video and audio transfers.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

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Army of Darkness<\/span>
\n(1992<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Horror, Comedy, Fantasy
\nShout Factory | R\/Unrated \u2013 81 min. \/ 96 min. \/ 88 min. \/ 90 min. \u2013 $34.99 | October 27, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u>Directed by: <\/strong>Sam Raimi
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Ambercrombe, Richard GroveDISC INFO:
\n<\/u>Features: <\/strong>Commentary, Featurettes, Interviews, Deleted Scenes, Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots, Still Galleries
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>3Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), English (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.85 (TC); Widescreen 1.78 (DC, IC), Full Frame 1.33 (TV)
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>44.5 GB (TC), 44.5 GB (DC), 39.2 GB (IC\/TV)
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\n** Click Here to Purchase Army of Darkness<\/em> on Blu-ray from Amazon.com<\/a><\/strong> **<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>Back to do battle with the hideous \u201cDeadites,\u201d Ash (BRUCE CAMPBELL), the handsome, shotgun-toting, chainsaw-armed department store clerk from S-Mart\u2019s house wares division. Demonic forces time warp him \u2013 and his \u201973 Oldsmobile \u2013 into the Dark Ages, where he romances a beauty (EMBETH DAVIDTZ) and faces legions of the undead. Can Ash save the living from the evil dead, rescue his girlfriend, and get back to his own time?<\/p>\n

Quick Hit Review:<\/strong> Army of Darkness<\/em><\/strong> takes a sharp turn in tone over the previous two installments which some fans have found jarring but for myself, this probably is my favorite of the trilogy. The movie is far more comedic and takes advantage of star Bruce Campbell\u2019s more zany antics (at times he even reminds me of Jim Carrey… when Carrey was actually funny) and while the effects haven\u2019t particularly aged well, there\u2019s a certain nostalgic element with the stop motion that takes one back to something like Jason and the Argonauts<\/em> (which was Sam Raimi\u2019s intention).<\/p>\n

Army of Darkness<\/em><\/strong> is an all around fun flick that, although different from its predecessors, is still worth a watch; though check out the first two beforehand.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 5.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This impressive 3-disc set comes housed in a standard Blu-ray amaray case. Included is a matted slip cover<\/strong> with custom artwork. The inner cover matches but can be reversed to reveal the original poster artwork.<\/p>\n

Disc 1:
\nMedieval Times: The Making of Army of Darkness<\/em> (1:36:34; HD)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 This feature-length making-of documentary takes viewers behind-the-scenes on how the movie came to be and includes interviews with Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, Bill Moseley and many, many others. It\u2019s easily one of the better features put together by Shout Factory.<\/p>\n

Original Ending (4:37; HD)<\/u><\/strong> is what is referred to as the Rip Van Winkle or Planet of the Apes<\/em> version (and seen in the director\u2019s cut).<\/p>\n

Alternate Opening (2:58; HD)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 This one opens with dialogue by Ash recapping events up to AoD<\/em>. An optional commentary with Raimi and Campbell is available.<\/p>\n

Deleted Scenes (11:06; HD)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Here we get a selection of scenes either edited to removed due to various issues. These are in rough form. As before, there\u2019s an optional commentary with Raimi and Campbell.<\/p>\n

Also available is the Theatrical Trailer (2:05; HD)<\/u><\/strong>, some TV Spots (1:56; HD)<\/u><\/strong> and the U.S. Video Promo (0:32; HD)<\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Disc 2:
\nAudio Commentary<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Director Sam Raimi, Actor Bruce Campbell and Writer Ivan Raimi sit down for a low-key yet informative track talking about this cut of AoD<\/em> and providing some insights into how the film was made.<\/p>\n

On-Set Video Footage Compilation (4:40; SD)<\/u><\/strong> is some raw footage from the set.<\/p>\n

Creating the Deadlites Featurette (21:29; HD)<\/u><\/strong> shows how some of the effects were created for the army.<\/p>\n

Behind the Scenes Footage (53:54l HD)<\/u><\/strong> is more fly-on-the-wall video showing how some scenes were filmed.<\/p>\n

Vintage \u201cMaking of\u201d Featurette (4:51; SD)<\/u><\/strong> is an older promotional feature with on-location interviews with members of the cast and crew.<\/p>\n

Extended Interview Clips (5:02; SD)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Here we get more comments, made for the vintage featurette, with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Producer Rob Tapert.<\/p>\n

Disc 3:
\nTelevision Version (1:33:03; SD)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 For the completists out there, this edited cut is available to watch.<\/p>\n

This disc also includes the International Theatrical Trailer (2:08; HD)<\/u><\/strong>; Still Galleries (28:16; HD)<\/u><\/strong> with rare behind-the-scenes photos; Still Gallery (4:05; HD)<\/u><\/strong> of props and rare photos; Storyboards (7:37; HD)<\/u><\/strong>; The Men Behind the Army (18:58; SD)<\/u><\/strong> featurette; and a Special Thanks (0:50; HD)<\/u><\/strong> name scroll.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

VIDEO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Shout Factory, through their Scream Factory line, releases Army of Darkness<\/em><\/strong> onto Blu-ray presented in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a nice 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture has good, albeit not great, detail throughout and colors appear to be well balanced without seeming pumped up. There is some natural grain but it\u2019s not overbearing and the transfer itself looks clean free of major dust or debris.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

AUDIO \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The movie comes with both 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks, either of which are more than satisfactory and certainly and upgrade over any of the DVD releases. Dialogue is generally clear and comes through the center channel while the front and rears are mostly used for ambient noises and side action, though these aren\u2019t entirely dynamic. Even though the depth could be better, this still is a nice transfer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

OVERALL \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, this \u201cCollector\u2019s Edition\u201d for Army of Darkness<\/em><\/strong> brings together all versions available and a great selection of bonus material, that I believe also ported over from previous releases, to go along with great video and audio transfers. This is probably one of the best Shout Factory releases which is no small feat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published: <\/strong>10\/30\/2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cCollector\u2019s Edition\u201d for Army of Darkness brings together all versions available and a great selection of bonus material, that I believe also ported over from previous releases, to go along with great video and audio transfers.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[4086,1001,3083,2462],"class_list":["post-10512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-army-of-darkness","tag-bruce-campbell","tag-scream-factory","tag-shout-factory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10512"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27428,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10512\/revisions\/27428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}