DVD Reviews

Day of the Dead (Divimax Series)

George Romero's third film in the Night of the Living Dead trilogy has been released on DVD so many times that I have lost count. This new edition has received the complete digital makeover and the film has never looked or sounded better.
A small group of scientists and soldiers have taken to an underground bunker in an effort to be protected from the undead that walk above them and to conduct experiments on some specimens. Tempers start to flare, and instead of fearing the legion of zombies, they begin to fear each other.

Romero's concluding chapter in the Dead trilogy is the weakest of the bunch when it comes to plotting and character development. The action takes a while to get going, but when it finally does, Tom Savini's gory special effects turn into high gear, and the results are quite impressive.

This is part of Anchor Bay's "Divimax" series, which stands for "digital video to the max" (in case you are interested) and hands down, is the best transfer of the film yet. The image is sharp and several of the dark scenes have been lightened up to show more detail. The anamorphic transfer is flawless and it looks like the movie could have been made today instead of almost twenty years ago.

There is talk  going around the 'net' that Anchor Bay used the "edited for TV" version of the soundtrack, not the original one for this release. I believe that all the questionable language is intact on both the DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX soundtracks.

The DTS track is slightly better then the Dolby Digital one when it comes to surround effects, but considering they were both mastered from a mono source, the audio is the best it could be.

There is also an abundance of special features on this two-disc set including commentaries, new documentaries, and behind-the-scenes footage.

This is the definitive edition of Day of the Dead and it's good to see that the "Divimax" series has lived up to expectations. I can't wait to see what they do with the superior Dawn of the Dead when a new edition finally gets released.

Review By Harley Solomon