I was reading that the directors cut of Army of Darkness is actually just the international version and that the true director's cut is longer than that.

True?

edit: I guess it is and the best version is the Hong Kong one.

That's a great cover. Waiting on reviews before purchasing, though.

I own 2 versions of this film and might as well make it the lucky 3 and buy this one too.

I'm not sure yet, but I'll probably pick it up.

Don't believe everything you read on Wikipedia. The Original Director's Cut that's available on DVD is not the same cut as was released internationally. The most notable difference is in regards to when Henry the Red appears at the final battle.

Also, there isn't really one "International Cut," the film received different edits and endings in various markets overseas. Also, what was released theatrically in a country may differ from what was released on video there.

IMDB has a brief rundown:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106308/alternateversions

Note that the Original Director's Cut is just that: the cut that the director originally submitted to the studio, before the studio requested changes. Raimi took the opportunity of a re-edit to make some changes of his own. Thus, some changes made were for the worse, some for the better, as the commentary on the DC attests. There isn't a "true" director's cut of this film though, since Raimi has never had free reign to make his own edit of the film after the original one he submitted.

The R3 DVD is just the Original Director's Cut with a few seconds of dress-slashing added back in. It's not an "ultimate" version of the film, although it does contain the most footage so far of any version released on DVD.

still never got this so I'll probably pick it up.

Just out of curiosity, how could anyone consider themselves a fan of this movie if they haven't bought at least one of the countless versions by now?

Maybe he's not a fan? :)

PS
I've just recently converted someone to the Evil Dead/Bruce Campbell. All it took is one showing of the original Evil Dead. The person then bought and watched the other two on their own during the next two days and is a huge fan of anything Bruce Campbell-related. My life is complete now :)

Don't show them The Man With the Screaming Brain or you'll undo all your hard work!

Oh c'mon, it's not THAT bad!... Ok, yes it is... But I sort of liked it :)

No kidding. If you've got the Elite disc of the first, pretty much any release of the second, and the R3 version of AOD, you're pretty much set. Are there enough Evil Dead release yet? I swear...

ok so do i need to keep my elite dvd, or the book of the dead on this one

I never owned this before and got the new edition, which has fantastic packaging that I find far superior to the stinky book of the deads.

If I'm not mistaken, the original Elite release was the OAR version - 4:3 aspect ratio and it went OOP. However, DVDCompare refers to the following fact about the follow up Book and SE releases: "The 1.85:1 Anamorphic Aspect Ratio has been authorised by Director Sam Raimi but is a Re-Framed Version based on the OAR of 4:3."

So, 1) the original release could not be had for some of the film purists and 2) there's some question if the follow up releases are .... I don't know, acceptable?

Just wagering a guess, really. I haven't seen both versions to see whether or not any video information was lost (or gained) in the widescreen conversion process.

I'm sure there must be an expert on the matter that could chime in ... as I'd love to know what the ".. a Re-Framed Version based on the OAR of 4:3" really means ... in general and with respect to the Evil Dead releases.

I sold my Elite version, and probably will sell my smelly BOD too.

I think this set is pretty damn good and will be the last purchase ever of the film for myself. The only thing that would make me consider repurchasing it,is if everything here + the original mono mix were included.

Otherwise, it contains the full uncut untampered with film(no deleting lighting striking tree for example,as in Elite print). The picture is not as excessively bright as past releases. The full frame unmatted image that looks framed better than excessively tight widescreen version. And the movie and special features are all closed captioned.

So all in all, this is a worthy release to have.

The only thing that's missing from the Elite is 'Behind The Scenes Footage & Outtakes' (18mins) although that footage might have been integrated into 'The Evil Dead: Treasures from the Cutting Room Floor'.
From the BOTD, it's missing Fanalysis and Talent Bios. Also, the BOTD has the above 'Behind The Scenes Footage & Outtakes' so I'd say keep the BOTD, mainly for Fanalysis, and get rid of the Elite.

I almost bought this on Tues, but why couldn't they give the full-frame version on disc 2 the same audio as the widescreen version. They give an improper ratio cut DTS, but the proper full-frame ratio gets 2.0? I know people like to have the original mixes, but I would have liked to have the option for a better audio track, especially considering that my Elite version has a 5.1 track.

ah, but AB needs reason to reissue this movie again...

Where's the Blu-Ray?

Is this the absolute best release for this movie? I've seen this movie released dozens of times in the last 9 years.

I'm holding out until they release a version with Evil Dead: The Musical

Mike

Yeah, pretty much.

If you're gonna be a video purist, why can't you be an audio purist too? Especially when the original audio mix was frikkin' mono, the surround tracks hardly make a difference...

Considering how bad the film stock is, I don't really think Evil Dead is one of those movies to take any advantage of hi-def. Hell, you could even argue that it's supposed to look like crap, like Bad Taste or other amateur movies...

True, but even if that were the case a DTS mix would beef up the sound considerably, regardless of where it's coming from. I know it's a front-loaded track, but, video purist or not, I want my dead sounding as loud and clear as possible.