Post by james on Aug 18, 2009 6:41:49 GMT -5
So, being a big Romero fan, I listened to it this weekend. Excellent show, guys. A couple of comments. The European version of Dawn of the Dead was a cut supervised by Dario Argento. In exchange for financing the film, Argento asked for the distribution rights in Europe, and he recut the film accordingly. I haven't seen this version, but from what I've read Argento removed much of the social satire and character moments to make the movie more of an action film (leading Romero to suggest Argento didn't understand the movie). There is a pricey Anchor Bay box set which includes Romero's final cut, this version and an even longer "preview" version that played at a few film festivals before Dawn went into general release (plus two "making of" features).
And, yes, the irony that a $50 box set exists for such an anti-consumerist film is not lost on me.
I liked Day of the Dead more than you guys did, I guess. In the wake of the many (mostly Italian) zombie films spawned by Dawn, Romero tried a different approach and depicted a world set long after the rise of zombies, instead of the start, like previous films (including his). If the film looks haphazard, that might be due to the fact that the budget Romero was promised by his backers was greatly reduced just before he started filming, and he needed to improvise accordingly. But as far as "end of the world" films go, Day is about as bleak as it gets. The movie depicts a world truly near the end of human survival with the few resources left dwindling.
Not sure if this was out when you recorded this episode, but around 2007 or 2008 Dimension Films released an excellent DVD of Night of the Living Dead, remastered with digital assistance (and Romero's approval), about as well as the movie will ever be. The technicians behind the restoration made some minor changes (like zooming in slightly on a few shots to cover production errors), so you're not quite watching the same film viewers saw in 1968, but this is definitely the best version of the film I've seen.
On the topic of the popularity of Romero's films in Europe, there is a very good 1974 film (made in Italy but set in England) called Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. I don't know if it is the earliest European film influenced by Night of the Living Dead, but it's the earliest that I know (and it follows some of the same story beats as Romero's film, very closely). It's not as stark and haunting as Night, but quite a good movie all the same.
And, yes, the irony that a $50 box set exists for such an anti-consumerist film is not lost on me.
I liked Day of the Dead more than you guys did, I guess. In the wake of the many (mostly Italian) zombie films spawned by Dawn, Romero tried a different approach and depicted a world set long after the rise of zombies, instead of the start, like previous films (including his). If the film looks haphazard, that might be due to the fact that the budget Romero was promised by his backers was greatly reduced just before he started filming, and he needed to improvise accordingly. But as far as "end of the world" films go, Day is about as bleak as it gets. The movie depicts a world truly near the end of human survival with the few resources left dwindling.
Not sure if this was out when you recorded this episode, but around 2007 or 2008 Dimension Films released an excellent DVD of Night of the Living Dead, remastered with digital assistance (and Romero's approval), about as well as the movie will ever be. The technicians behind the restoration made some minor changes (like zooming in slightly on a few shots to cover production errors), so you're not quite watching the same film viewers saw in 1968, but this is definitely the best version of the film I've seen.
On the topic of the popularity of Romero's films in Europe, there is a very good 1974 film (made in Italy but set in England) called Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. I don't know if it is the earliest European film influenced by Night of the Living Dead, but it's the earliest that I know (and it follows some of the same story beats as Romero's film, very closely). It's not as stark and haunting as Night, but quite a good movie all the same.