Return of the Living Dead (1985) Shout Factory BD with edited credits

[crampedmisfit1990]

Sweet! Although Part 2 is inferior to Part 1, I do really enjoy it as it's own film.

[bronan]

Yea, its certainly not the greatest haha. It reminds me a lot of Conan the Destroyer - dumbed down, more comedic, and kid friendly to try to make more money. But like Destroyer I still have a nostalgic soft spot for it haha..

[Evit]

Destroyer had a lot of good matte painting. I strongly disliked Return of the Living Dead II back when I watched it the first (and last) time, so I never bothered with the third. Is the third worth a look?

[bronan]

Yea, the third is pretty different. Different director (Brian Yuzna) and a way different tone. I actually haven't watched it in a looong time haha, it has been on my list to revisit.

[crampedmisfit1990]

I also have a soft spot for Part 2. I like 3 a lot. It's better than 2 imo. It does it's own thing where 2 tried to recapture Part 1 in a bootleg way. Part 2 even had a Tarman but he was pretty whack compared to Part 1's version.

[Evit]

I'm having a first look at the material and I want to make sure we're on the same page...

-> Shout US release crops more but is far better in details (and colors)
-> Second Sight MGM UK Blu-Ray is less cropped but it looks like a very old transfer, I can see the same problems that Uncle Buck had, a lot of dirt, no fine grain.

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/129512

Second Sight BR also looks way too yellow, I invite you to check out this shot where white walls, white helmets and white belts are anything but white.

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/129514

Not even on TV/VHS they have ever been yellow as you can see here from my early 90's recording (ignore the line above, one of my VCRs has issues)


How do you want me to tackle this? I would say that if we can forgive a bit of cropping, the Shout release is a major improvement over the previous MGM releases but I want to hear your opinion.

[Evit]

[crampedmisfit1990]

Thanks for the comparison, Evit. We wanted the Shout used for the base but it contained the edited end credits that needed fixed. That's the simple answer. Haha The Shout actually has more within the frame on some shots. For example, the scene where Tarman says "More Brains!" You can see the top of his head as that is cropped out more on the UK release.

[Evit]

Very well, just asking confirmation before I start working on it. What about the Orion logo? Do we have any reference for that? (And an HD version?)

[crampedmisfit1990]

Bronan may have a color reference from the LD. We will wait for him to chime in for that. I know of a few blu-ray releases that contain the Orion intro that we could rip it from if you need that too. I know The Terminator 4K remastered blu-ray has that intro looking very nice.