Army of Darkness - Dark Lord's DVD Collection.

"Klaatu Barrada Nnnn... Necktie... Nickel... It's an "N" word, it's definitely an "N" word!" - Ash

Army of Darkness

Army of Darkness Year of Release - 1992
DVD Release - MGM - 2002
Region 3 - NTSC - Unrated
Running Time - 96:16

Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, Richard Grove.
Music: Joe LoDuca with Danny Elfman

This review bears similarities to my Region 2 Army of Darkness review.

After after the successful Evil Dead II, Dino De Laurentis commissioned Sam Raimi and Co. to film another sequel. At one stage, titled The Medieval Dead because of it's setting, it was later dubbed Army of Darkness for it's release. I would assume that it's connection to The Evil Dead was intentionally omitted from the title to attract a wider audience. And rightfully so, because this movie is vastly different to the previous Evil Dead films.

SYNOPSIS - "Yo, she-bitch! Let's go!" - Ash

At the end of Evil Dead II our reluctant hero, Ash (Campbell), is sucked though a time-vortex to medieval England. Taken prisoner by Lord Arthur (Gilbert), Ash meets fellow captive Duke Henry the Red (Grove) and they are dragged in chains back to Henry's castle. Sheila (Davidtz) asks Arthur if her brother has returned, but he tells her that her brother faught valliantly, but fell in battle with Henry's men. Believing Ash to be one of Henry's, she spits on Ash and slaps him around a little.

Arthur condemns his prisoners to be thrown into "The Pit" - of which houses a Deadite - part of the evil that has begun to plague the lands. After winessing the bloody demise of one of Henry's men, Ash is thrown into the Pit. The Wiseman (Abercrombie), believing that Ash is "the Chosen One" assissts him by throwing Ash's Chainsaw down the pit with him.

After defeating the Deadites in the Pit and scaring the hell out of the people with his "Boomstick", the Wiseman is convinced that Ash is the Chosen One, but Arthur is still sceptical. Sheila falls for Ash, although Ash is not quite as forgiving, he falls for her too.

To get Ash back to his own time and also to rid the land of the Deadites, the Wiseman sends Ash on a quest to retrieve the Necronomicon from it's resting place in the Cemetary. Before he can remove the Necronomicon, Ash must recite the words, "Klaatu Barrada Nikto", otherwise a great evil will be awoken.

On the way, Ash is chased by the "evil force" and he takes refuge in a Windmill. He is assaulted by an army of "Little Ash's". One of them jumps down his throat and Evil Ash (also Campbell) is born. Ash blasts Evil Ash in the face with his Remington and buries him.

Ash reaches the Cemetary, fails to recall the words, but takes the Necronomicon anyway. Evil Ash rised from the grave and "lives" again!

Evil Ash rounds up the Army of the Dead and prepares to assault the castle to retrieve the Necronomicon, but first he sends one of his winged minions to kidnap Sheila to make her his Queen.

Can the cowardly Ash rally Arthur's men, defeat the Army of Darkness and save Sheila? Or will the Deadites recover the Necronimicon and plague the world for eternity?

VIDEO - "Excellent...excellent." - Evil Ash

The tranfer is in 1.85:1 and enhanced for 16:9 TVs. This transfer is taken from original film prints and has been cleaned up superbly. As opposed to Anchor Bay's efforts which are taken from a VHS master, this transfer has amazing colour and clarity. The most telling comparison between MGM's release and any of Anchor Bay's releases is during the Windmill scene. The MGM DVD is remarkably clear where the Anchor Bay DVD looks like a cheap video.

This isn't hype and it isn't splitting hairs either. This transfer has to be seen to be believed.

AUDIO - "I got it, I got it. I know your damn words, right?" - Ash

This DVD only has the two Audio tracks. The film is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and the Audio Commentary is in Dolby Surround 2.0. It seems to me that the quality of this 5.1 mix to Anchor Bay's 5.1 mix is an improvement. I dare say that it is better than Anchor Bay's DTS track (not having DTS capability, this is pure speculation).

EXTRAS - "Come get some." - Ash

Audio Commentary - Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell & Ivan Raimi

As with all of Sam & Bruce's commentaries, this is a very funny, but informative commentary. Along with the Evil Dead II commentary, this is one of the best ones in all of DVD-dom.

Deleted Scenes

These deleted scenes can be viewed with or without commentary by Sam Raimi and Bruce Cambpell. All of these were taken from a video of a work print, so the quality of these are terrible.

Original Opening - 03:02 - The origninal opening was a lot darker and spookier than the one that was eventually used. It utilises a lot more footage from Evil Dead II and it suits the original ending a lot better, too. This is of extremely poor video and audio quality.
Ash Confronts Arthur - 02:05 - This scene is quite good and sets up Ash's hatred of Arthur, but assumingly it was cut for time reasons. This is of extremely poor video and audio quality.
Original Windmill Scene - 06:19 - A lot sppokier and reminiscent of the first Evil Dead film, this scene featured Ash leaving the Windmill and searching the forest. He then sees himself standing in the door of the Windmill. Ash runs in to confront the figure, but crashes into the mirror. Cut purely to quicken the pace of the film, I'm sure, but is fantastic. This is of extremely poor video and audio quality.
Ash Recruits Henry the Red - 02:57 - After Arthur's men pledges allegiance to Ash, this scene sees Ash searching for Henry the Red in an attempt to recruit him and his men to the cause. This is of extremely poor video and audio quality.

Alternate Ending - 10:14

This is the "S-Mart Ending" that featured on the Theatrical releases of Army of Darkness. This ending is a lot more fun than the "Apocalypse Ending", but it would be hard to say that it is better. One factor that tips the scales in favour of this ending is that it has Ted Raimi in yet another role, some more Deadite action and Ash utters the now immortal lines, "Come get some." and "Hail to the King, baby!".

The audio (Dolby Surround 2.0) and video quality of this is fantastic. The reason for the length of this feature is because it has the Alternate Ending along with all of the End Credits.

Photo Gallery

This features several production photos and poster art. Not bad, as the pictures are of good quality.

Trailer - No Time Code

This is the original theatrical trailer. The same trailer that is on the Region 1 Army of Darkness and Disc 1 of Army Of Darkness: Boomstick Edition and Disc 1 of the Region 2 The Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness - Double Disc Presentation. It is of a reasonable quality.

OVERALL - "Shop smart, shop S-mart!" - Ash

The Evil Dead is a Horror with a touch of Comedy. Evil Dead II is a Horror/Comedy. Army of Darkness is an Action/Adventure/Comedy. Dropping the "audience unfriendly" burden of a Horror movie, and indeed The Evil Dead in the title, enabled Army of Darkness to reach a wider audience. What they found however that the mass audience didn't like the main character, Ash. Much like Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China, Ash is not your typical movie hero. Clumsy, abraisive and cowardly, Ash was a hard character for them to become attatched to, especially if they hadn't seen the previous Evil Dead films. As such, the film did not do very well at the box office.

But don't let that put you off. Army of Darkness, while still having flaws, is a minor classic of a film. Sure, the Medieval England in the film looks remarkably like the arid regions of California. Sure, the special effects look "primitive" by today's standards. But considering it's pedigree, it's budget and the intended "good-fun" feel of the film, these flaws are forgiven very quickly and you go on to enjoy the film immensely. And if you don't enjoy Army of Darkness, then you'd have to be an extremely pretentious film critic, have a heart of stone, or you are lying.

This Region 3 DVD is the Director's Cut of Army of Darkness and it is UNCUT. It includes the scene in which Evil Ash tears down the top of Sheila's dress before he kisses her. All previous DVD releases do not have this scene, but it was in the Australian Theatrical cut and consequently on the Australian VHS release. This DVD is not quite the same as the comparable Region 1 releases, Army Of Darkness and Disc 2 of the Army Of Darkness: Boomstick Edition and Disc 2 of the Region 2 The Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness - Double Disc Presentation. It misses out on the Storyboards and the Creature Concept Drawings features, but it does have the Photo Gallery and the Trailer, not to mention the superior picture and sound.

The Director's Cut is generally considered to be superior to the US Theatrical cut and in most ways, it is. One thing that the US Theatrical cut has over the Director's Cut is that Henry the Red arrives on the scene a lot earlier in the final battle. This makes mores sense and it makes Henry's arrival more significant. Henry's earlier arrival also is in the Australian cut of the film.

Bruce Campbell, again hits the ball out of the park with his portrayal of Ash and the rest of the cast are fabulous as well. They get the joke and play their roles very seriously which highlights the character of Ash.

With an over-the-top main character and an over-the-top story, Army of Darkness is one of the most oft quoted films of all time. It has a well deserved cult status and is often an entry point into people viewing The Evil Dead for the first time and consequently other Horror pictures.

This Region 3 DVD is outstanding, with extras comparable to the respective Region 1 releases. The audio and video quality is to be seen and heard to be believed and it has it's competition beat.

If you want the Director's Cut of Army of Darkness on DVD, then get hold of this Region 3 release. You will not regret it, I promise you.

The Film:
The Disk: 1/2