Dawn of the Dead-
Ultimate Edition
(Anchor Bay Region 0 NTSC DVD)
(1979)
review by Head Cheeze

It's a sickness, this DVD obsession of mine. To think that, within the next month or so, I'll have no less than five versions of Dawn of the Dead (including the remake) sitting on my shelf. And it doesn't stop there! Oh, no, certainly not. I've got five different Night of the Living Deads, three Carnival of Souls, and even two bloody Resident Evils, even though I don't really care for that film much at all. It's people like me that DVD companies count on for their multi-editions of classic (and not so classic) films, secure in the knowledge that, as long as I've got the dough in my pocket, I'll be buying whatever they throw at me.

So, it's with a great big sigh of relief that I can say that the new Dawn of the Dead Ultimate Edition from Anchor Bay is one of those purchases that is truly worth the extra space on your DVD shelf. Chock full of pretty much everything Dawn related, this set simply has to be the last word in Dawn of the Dead DVD's. I mean, c'mon; with all the stuff that's included here, can anyone anywhere possibly dig up more?

This four disc set features a nifty fold out sleeve, housed in a simple and effective black slipcase with the Dawn logo embossed in white and red. Open her up and there's a Dawn of the Dead comic book (first chapter, anyway) tucked away in the inner sleeve, and our four discs.

Disc One features the unrated U.S. Theatrical Version, presented in a gorgeous widescreen anamorphic transfer, 5.1 DTS sound, and all sorts of goodies including a commentary track featuring Romero, and Tom Savinin, amongst others. The disc also includes trailers, posters, radio spots, and assorted ephemera.

Disc Two features the Extended Version, which runs 12 minutes longer thanks to the addition of some unnecessary expository stuff cobbled together by producer Richard P. Rubenstein, but makes for an interesting watch nonetheless. This disc also features a commentary by Rubenstein and DVD producer Perry Martin, that ol' Monroville Mall commercial, photo galleries and more.

Disc Three features the little seen (at least on these shores) European cut, which was overseen by Dario Argento, and features some extended dialogue scenes, but trims down a few of the gorey bits (I have no clue as to why, seeing as this IS Dario Argento we're talking about) and features the best soundtrack of the three versions as it is exclusively the music of Goblin and cuts out all of the silly "catalog" music Romero opted for in his cut. This disc features an all new commentary by Emge, Foree, Reiniger, and Ross, as well as a U.K. trailer and many photo galleries.

Disc Four is the coolest disc of the lot, as it features loads of the behind the scenes goodies Dawn fans have been clamouring for, including the awesome new 75 minute documentary, The Dead Will Walk, as well as the excellent feature-length Document of the Dead. There are also some on-set "home movies" (w/commentary) and a tour of the Monroville Mall featuring Ken Foree.

As you can see, Anchor Bay has not only emptied the vaults for this one, they've scraped the insides for any residual Dawn goodness and heaped that on as well. It's a completist's dream, and, while you probably already own just as many versions of this film as I do, it's a safe bet to say that you not only want this set in your collection, you need it, baby. You need it.