



Scream Factory: Army of Darkness Collector's Edition Blu-ray Release Detailed Posted September 9, 2015 03:34 PM by



Scream Factory, the horror-thriller offshoot of independent film distributor Shout Factory, has detailed its upcoming Collector's Edition Blu-ray release of Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness (1992), starring Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, and Richard Grove. The three disc set will be available for purchase on October 27.



Synopsis: Forced to lead a makeshift Dark Ages army against the demonic Deadites, who possess all the deadly magic of hell, the shotgun-toting, chainsaw-armed, reluctant 20th century time traveler Ash must save the living from the dead, rescue his medieval girlfriend and get back to his own time.



SPECIAL FEATURES AND TECHNICAL SPECS:



DISC ONE Theatrical Version (81 min.) 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1), DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0

NEW Medieval Times: The Making Of "Army Of Darkness" featuring interviews with star & co-producer Bruce Campbell, actors Marcus Gilbert, Ted Raimi, Timothy Quill, Richard Grove, Bill Moseley, Patricia Tallman and Angela Featherstone, director of photography Bill Pope, editor Bob Murawski, production designer Anthony Tremblay, composer Joseph Lo Duca, costume designer Ida Gearon, special make-up effects artists Howard Berger, Tony Gardner, Robert Kurtzman and Greg Nicotero, "Pit Bitch" performer and effects artist William Bryan, mechanical effects artist Gary Jones, first assistant director John Cameron, visual effects supervisor William Mesa, and stunt coordinator Christopher Doyle (96 min.)

Original Ending

Original Opening With Optional Commentary by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell

Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell

Theatrical Trailer

TV Spots

Home Video Promo DISC TWO Director's Cut (96 min.) 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1), DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0

Audio Commentary with director Sam Raimi, actor Bruce Campbell and co-writer Ivan Raimi

NEW Additional Behind-The-Scenes Footage From KNB Effects (55 min.)

Vintage Creating The Deadites Featurette (21 min.)

Vintage "Making Of" Featurette

Extended Interview Clips with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert DISC THREE International Cut (88 min.) 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1), DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0

NEW 4K Scan of The International Interpositive

Television Version With Additional Footage (90 min., Standard Definition (1.33:1), DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0)

Theatrical Trailer

NEW Still Galleries With Rare Behind-The-Scenes Photos from production designer Anthony Tremblay, visual effects supervisor William Mesa, and special make-up effects artists Tony Gardner and KNB EFX, Inc. (Over 200 Stills)

NEW Still Gallery Of Props And Rare Photos from the collection of super fan Dennis Carter Jr.

NEW Storyboards for Deleted or Alternate Scenes

Vintage The Men Behind The Army Featurette (19 min.) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM SCREAM FACTORY



Even being as detailed as we could here, we anticipate that there are questions you may still have about the cuts of the film. Our Blu-ray producer has provided a couple of Q&As that we felt might come up and that some may be curious about:



Q: Is the U.S. Theatrical version a new transfer?

A: Unfortunately, we were not able to do a new transfer of the theatrical cut (which was

provided by our partners at Universal). However, we did do additional color correction.



Q: Why is the International version a 4K transfer and not the Director's Cut?

A: Our original intention was to do a new 4K scan on the director's cut, so we started with

elements that were available in the MGM vault. Unfortunately, we could not find all of the

additional footage (film and audio) for the 96 minute Director's Cut.





Source: Blu-ray.com | Permalink | [Country settings]



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Top contributor

Top contributor willo007 Sep 09, 2015 DAY ONE! RiffFan924 Sep 09, 2015 YESSSSSS!!!! Will gladly get rid of the Universal Blu I have for this!

SUPERMAN311 Sep 09, 2015 This sounds awesome!! Even has the featurette from the previous blu-ray (so that's gone). This appears to be the definitive set and I no longer have to keep the previous releases. The new Medieval Times: The Making Of "Army Of Darkness" documentary sounds great!! Well-done Scream Factory!!

filmgrainiac Sep 09, 2015 what a bummer.... they are using the same exact terrible transfer of the theatrical cut that Universal botched up BIG TIME. "Army of Darkness makes its highly-anticipated Blu-ray debut with a disappointing 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The transfer appears to be the victim of noise reduction; it looks overly processed and far too sharp, lending to it an artificial appearance rather than a pleasant, film-like look." ...and this is what they think is worthy of releasing ....AGAIN??? What a DISAPPOINTMENT!! Why put something out if they're not gonna do it right? So frustrating!

Top contributor

Top contributor Socko Sep 09, 2015 "A: Our original intention was to do a new 4K scan on the director's cut, so we started with additional footage (film and audio) for the 96 minute Director's Cut. "



And then?



English is not my native language, but it seems that answer is not really an answer or I have no clue what it says exactly.



Anyway, I'm thrilled by this fully packed release! LexInHD Sep 09, 2015 This is probably rushed because of the Starz series which hits a few days after the BD release, on Halloween. I'd rather delay the BD so we can get a 4K remaster of the DC.

Catastrophe Sep 09, 2015 There's info missing from the answer to the second question. This is Scream Factory's full answer: "A: Our original intention was to do a new 4K scan on the directors cut, so we started with elements that were available in the MGM vault. Unfortunately, we could not find all of the additional footage (film and audio) for the 96 minute Directors Cut."

Catastrophe Sep 09, 2015 Either way, I'm so looking forward to this release. Not ashamed to say that Army is my favourite of the original three Evil Dead films.

Cactus Sep 09, 2015 So we are STILL going to wait for the definitive release.

madmojo Sep 09, 2015 Seriously? 4 cuts of the film, tons of extras, and their hands were tied by Universal on doing a new transfer for the theatrical cut (I guess the other cuts may be different?), and we still have complainers? Wow.

JoeBuck Sep 09, 2015 I dont know why Universal is so intent on pushing that garbage version of the theatrical cut. Still my favorite version of the film.

Still looks like a great release but agree with Cactus, it wont be definitive until this mistake is finally corrected.

Mark Smith Sep 09, 2015 Considering what is currently available now..good enough for me on day 1. More than I expected actually for bonus features.

SUPERMAN311 Sep 09, 2015 Instead of saying "This appears to be the definitive set," I should have said it's the best release yet and more than likely the version to own!!

BobbyPeru Sep 09, 2015 So are they at least going to remove the DNR from the U.S. release or am I going to have to keep the UK release ? Riddler95 Sep 09, 2015 I am happy to see that the Collector's Edition of Army of Darkness will be extremely loaded with extras. I am slightly annoyed that they will be using the same transfer for the Theatrical Cut from the Screwhead Edition Blu-Ray, but I'll let it go considering how much content this new Collector's Edition will have.



I've never seen the Director's Cut so I am happy that I will finally be able to. It would have been nice if they did a 4K scan of the Director's Cut but I'm sure that they have done the best they can with the film elements they have been able to locate.



I guess I'll give away my old Screwhead Edition Blu-Ray since this new Collector's Edition annihilates it.

yoda-sama Sep 09, 2015 Even though it is only standard definition (which is a shame), I am still thrilled to see the Television Version appear for purchase in some fashion, it is easily my favorite cut (now that I think about it, hopefully it won't be stuck with TV censorship). Truly would like to see something close to the spirit of the Television Version properly cleaned up and elevated to a definitive cut status, as there is really no clear mix of all the best elements to rally around as it stands.

gjk2012 Sep 09, 2015 Not really a big fan of this sequel but with everything included I might just get this.

anomaly7 Sep 09, 2015 Will there ever be a boxset of all the films? That's what I'm waiting for.

Ray_Rogers Sep 09, 2015 Interesting.

CandyStalker Sep 09, 2015 I can hold my breath for a long time.

Poya Sep 09, 2015 Not to be a "complainer" and I do appreciate the new extras, I guess I'll have to wait on this. I don't necessarily trust Scream/Shout, after the whole Escape/Mad Max situation.

OldPangYau Sep 09, 2015 I have waited 15 years for this... well, at least 15 years to upgrade since getting the 2-disc DVD back in fall of 2000 ;-) It's also nice to see the TV cut as a bonus, considering it has footage missing from the three main cuts (Ash's full first meeting with Arthur, Ash being tricked by the reflection in the windmill house, etc). The extras alone make this worth the upgrade, IMO. Yes, the lack of a new transfer of the theatrical cut sucks, but I'll take the superior DC transfer AND the new 4K mastered international cut... especially since that's the one cut I've never seen :-P

Jonathan D Sep 09, 2015 I'll hold judgement until we see how the Theactrical cut looks here. Grindhouse took a inferior elements from the botched Arrow release of The Beyond, and with "color correction" and tweaking, made a damn fine looking disc. The extras here are stacked and make up for what might not be perfect PQ. How many Screwhead Editions hitting eBay tonite, I wonder? Thinking I'll pair mine with the early ED2 blu that I have collecting dust.

Kill Bren Sep 09, 2015 will buy based on the a/v quality of the director's cut

jradford Sep 09, 2015 I'm all in on this...can't wait! film11 Sep 09, 2015 My copy of the DC is on the standard DVD "Boomstick Edition" and isn't even 5.1 Being able to now see it in HD/DTS plus a 4K of the International (which I've never seen...anyone know the differences?) will be a treat. Scream Factory, you have my thanks for the time and effort put into this release and you will have certainly my money.

Rich65 Sep 09, 2015 Will be getting this for sure but I will still keep my Universal blu, I got it signed by Bruce Campbell. Looking forward to seeing the different cuts. uther Sep 09, 2015 Wonder if it's going to be the over sharpened US BD or the slightly better pq of the HD-DVD version?



IP scan? Pass. Gac-Man Sep 09, 2015 We are finally getting all the cuts of the film!! jeffarent Sep 09, 2015 Since Universanl owns the film, why wouldn't they have the footage? Why would MGM have it?

DrVenkman99 Sep 09, 2015 I can't seem to find anything on the international cut. Anyone know the differences between this and the director's cut? Top contributor

Top contributor donthitpause Sep 09, 2015 THIS



http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Army-of-Darkness-Blu-ray/82960/

Top contributor

Top contributor MrClarke Sep 10, 2015 wow... i never even knew there WERE so many cuts of this movie... can't wait to pick this one up!

Xen11 Sep 10, 2015 HOLY SH!# THEY LISTENED



http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=16986



And not only are they giving us the theatrical, directors, and television cuts, but they went one step beyond and gave us the International Cut IN 4K!!!!



Take my money and gimme some sugar, baby.

format916 Sep 10, 2015 if never seen this movie front to back, and evil dead is not my favorite series...but looks like a great package. reaperx187 Sep 10, 2015 I'm definately in for this one price might be up there due that it's 3 disc but there are always Scream Factory sale's though. jerad Sep 10, 2015 Let's just hope they do not add dnr or edge enhancement in international cut or the directors cut.

Pondosinatra Sep 10, 2015 Shop smart.....shop S-mart. omahajon Sep 10, 2015 Day 1, stop complaining.

Dylan34 Sep 10, 2015 Does anyone know if the Universal master for the theatrical cut of AoD has the DNR/EE baked in? If not, then it has a shot of looking bettter than the Screwhead Edition. Especially with the Color correction. jerad Sep 10, 2015 Dylan you must not of read this?

Q: Is the U.S. Theatrical version a new transfer?

A: Unfortunately, we were not able to do a new transfer of the theatrical cut (which was

provided by our partners at Universal). However, we did do additional color correction.

Grifter02 Sep 10, 2015 @jeffarent

Universal holds the US version, MGM holds the international version. Sounds like MGM played ball by giving them original elements, Universal didn't.

Grifter02 Sep 10, 2015 @jerad

Dylan's question is valid. Just because Universal's Blu-Ray doesn't look so good, doesn't mean that's how the source looked. It's possible the DNR is not in the source and was only added for the Blu-Ray. Unlikely, but possible.

Top contributor

Top contributor JackForrester Sep 10, 2015 Groovy!

Brian81 Sep 10, 2015 The HD DVD release isn't bad, so having to use Uni's master isn't a dealbreaker. It's better than a lot of the other Universal masters that have been handed over to Scream Factory (ex. Darkman). Scream might go overboard on cleaning it up, though. It's kind of dirty looking.



http://www.avsforum.com/forum/150-blu-ray-software/1180060-army-darkness-dvd-uhd-mpeg-2-hd-dvd-blu-ray-comparison-pix.html

jabba359 Sep 10, 2015 @jerad



DNR is applied after the scan/transfer. So depending on if Scream Factory got the transfer straight off the film or if they got handed one with additional post-processing (DNR/EE), we could get different end results from a single "transfer".

mongojr Sep 10, 2015 Holy $#!+



Whomever commented early this year that Scream Factory was lame should eat their words! ABCABBMovie Sep 10, 2015 I'm not too knowledgeable about the Evil Dead series, but is the Theatrical Cut considered the best cut of the four? If so, why?



Either way, I already own the first two movies (the good editions of them, anyways), and I'll DEFINITELY be picking this up. One of my oldest friends, who HATED horror movies and gore, still loved this film for how funny it is. jerad Sep 10, 2015 @jabba359 scream factory is known for taking old outdated transfers and only changing the color. They never said in does not have digital noise reduction or edge enhancement so they told us the only thing that is different is the color. Sure the codec or the disk size has changed but considering the film is under 2 hours it would only help eliminate compression issues if there were any from the 2009 transfer. It does not say all new digital scan of the theatrical cut. Perfect example is escape from new York they botched the announcement saying an all new 2k scan when only the color was drastically different!

Dylan34 Sep 11, 2015 @Jared. The DNR and EE is usually done after the initial scan is made is why I was asking. Sometimes it's baked into the master though. Hopefully, that's not the case with AoD. If its not, then we have a better shot at a different looking disc than what Universal released. This Scream disc is being framed at 1.78:1 Universal's 1.85:1 framing so that's great new that they're not using their encode.

Yautja_Warrior Sep 11, 2015 Will it be Region Free or Locked ? Do they normally lock their blu-rays ? jerad Sep 11, 2015 @Dylan34 I understand how film is made pre and post process. What i was trying to say is that scream factory in the past has never removed dnr or ee in transfers they are given from Universal. When the Halloween box set came out they left season of the witch alone.they could of given it a new 2k scan without the dnr and upgraded the audio to 5.1.same with they live,phantasm. jerad Sep 11, 2015 All scream factory blurays are region a locked.they have said in the past it cost alot of money to make them region free

HD Canuck Sep 11, 2015 Would be awesome if Scream released the entire Ash franchise ala Halloween.

Top contributor

Top contributor Nailwraps Sep 11, 2015 @Jerad

@Grifter02



Grifter02 is right. My theory is, for all we know, the theatrical version transfer Universal supplied to Shout! is a DNR/EE free version (not that I don't have a problem with the transfer we have now).

duke4711 Sep 11, 2015 I would have liked a 4k transfer on the director's cut, but past releases dictate (Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, et al) that we can't have everything we want. We merely take what we can get. This is probably the best that we will ever see for Army of Darkness, or at least the best for probably another 15 years. Day one for me!

THGhost Sep 11, 2015 Will definitely be getting this... eventually. Costs a bit too much right now.

Morsoth Sep 11, 2015 Is the International Cut (88 min.) the same as the Region 3 Director's Cut DVD (Hong Kong) with the extra scene with Bad Ash and Sheila?



I have this DVD and I hope to finally have this version in HD!!

insomniac013 Sep 12, 2015 This could very well be the definitive version of this movie, and the best release of the year!

Yautja_Warrior Sep 12, 2015 Did the DC footage ever get cleaned up for a blu-ray release ? as the drop in quality for the extended scenes on the dvd was really bad, like bootleg VHS bad.



Owning these movies multiple times on dvd and the UK Trilogy blu-ray pack (with Directors Cut in Standard Def) I never felt the need to rush out and buy it on blu-ray, seems like this will be the one to get now though, with it having all versions and lots of extras.

tvine2000 Sep 12, 2015 I think we all know by now, new transfers are not cheap,and studios pick what they consider is classic film to restore or remaster. It's a shame however during this time we had the grain haters out there that wanted smooth ,clean looking movies like video games. Universal was one studio that listened to the grain haters and gave in with a bunch of shitty looking blu-rays. I doubt will ever see a good looking transfer of AOD, because right now studios are busy working on their 4k blu-rays for release later this year or the beginning of 2016. If AOD is to get a new transfer that's where it will show up. We never got new restorations of the first 6 star trek films and never will unless they show up on 4k blu-ray. OK WOK got a restoration, but the others ..nothing but clean ups If a studio isn't willing to put the money into what is considered there cash cow, why would Universal put a penny into AOD.



Army of Darkness is a cult favorite, which is usually a small following compared to a classic film like for example the Wizard of oz ,which was restored. So guys and gals stop thinking because we buy Blu-ray the studios are going to give in to every film we want restored. Its about money and the making of ..it!!If they can get away with what we consider a shit looking movie , they will time and time again. I suspect when 4K blu-ray starts to take off (and it will) will have this debate once again ,as we will when 8k comes out. accept the fact this is the way things are going to go. Unless they have come up with post production tools to clean up film elements, DNR and EE are here to stay.

luckySevens Sep 12, 2015 Saw this in a dollar theater. Have it on dvd, Blu. Now this will be hard to resist.

Jimmy James Sep 13, 2015 @luckySevens



I've lost track of how many copies/variants of this I own, but will probably end up getting this one too (either as a gift or just buying it myself).



I know that I've got at least two Laserdiscs of it though, the Japanese import and the US one.

kdo Sep 13, 2015 Once again Shout/Scream is way late to the party here, and as usual, with really nothing to offer that hasn't already been made available on previous releases, except for some new extras. My guess is that most avid Blu-ray fans have already purchased either the French or German offerings that came out almost 3 years ago now, which included the superior Director's Cut version that utilized the MGM film print used for the highly sought after Hong Kong DVD. Considering the ongoing issues Shout has continually had regarding its video transfers, if I were going to buy this, it would be only for the bonus features. Also, does anyone really care about a color-corrected Theatrical Cut for this film? The TC is so poor in comparison to the Director's Cut, I'd never even watch it again, and I think the feeling is the same for many die-hard fans of the film. The fact that the original ending was altered to the lame S-Mart sequence, still annoys me to this day. A fourth sequel with Ash fighting the Deadites of the future, post-apocalyptic England he awoke in, could have been so enjoyable. Instead, what do we get? A new, lame looking upcoming TV series...

luckySevens Sep 13, 2015 @Jimmy James

That's quite a collection you own. Seems we are all obsessed with the Trilogy and AOD.

pksmith74 Sep 14, 2015 Can't wait for this! Finally having all cuts of this film is too good to pass up. Going to have to stop by my local S-Mart and pick myself up a copy! jerad Sep 14, 2015 @HD Canuck anchor bay owns the rights to the original evil dead and lionsgate owns the rights to evil dead 2 so it won't happen considering how much money each of the films have made in the home video market!

willbfree Sep 15, 2015 "Unfortunately, we could not find all of the additional footage (film and audio) for the 96 minute Director's Cut." So they found some of it, but didn't scan it? Shouldn't that sentence end with " so we did 4K transfers of some parts of the Director's Cut, resulting in a Director's Cut is partly a new 4K scan and partly an existing scan"?

jabba359 Sep 15, 2015 @willbfree Sort of like how Star Trek: TNG couldn't find all of the film elements so did a scan of everything they did have and then up-scaled the bits they didn't. It worked pretty well there. The up-scaled parts were fairly obvious, but they were trying to match old 525 lines of resolution video masters with new 1080 film scans, a huge difference. I would think that cutting in older 2K scans of the missing parts of AOD with a new 4K scan wouldn't be nearly as dramatic as the differences on the ST: TNG material, seeing as how the old 2K AOD scan elements they'd be dropping in wouldn't need an up-scale since it already has enough resolution for Blu-ray.

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