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Army of Darkness - The Primitive Screwhead Edition (Released) — Page 9

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Where did all the seeds go? I saw about 25 people that were at 95% with me, and since I hit 100% a couple of hours ago, I'm the only one seeding.

FE<3OT

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No-one else stepping up to review this yet?

I just got done watching this, and I'm pretty stunned. Scott has done an amazing job (pesky aspect ratio problems notwithstanding) of putting this together, and it's made a film I've seen dozens of times seem fresh and new again. I'm not saying the new scenes make it a better film - AOD is always a film that at it's heart is a bit flabby and/or disjointed - but it's re-sparked my interest in what I thought was the least interesting and most tiresome of the Evil Dead series. The film was brighter, in terms of colour timing, than I had ever seen it - though that has more to do with me only owning dank, dark AB releases before. (Fact: the numbered, gold-case Director's Cut of AOD was the first DVD I ever bought, about seven months before I even owned a DVD player. Imagine my horror when I first found out I couldn't play it due to the region coding!)

The only real issue I had with this DVD (other than deeply picky stuff which has more to do with the sources Scott had to work with) was the 5.1 sound mix being too complex for my dinky stereo TV - scenes involving low choral voices or loud background crowd noise sounded like they were being put through a shitty guitar amp - but never mind, I'm getting a new TV soon anyway. I was particularly impressed with the restoration of the alternate opening. Has anyone noticed any differences in the second audio track? The only one I've found so far is the music being put back on the scene where Ash first steps into the windmill.

Now this is done, how about we get on with that Evil Dead Companion DVD we've been talking about for yonks? And dark_jedi, you can stop planning your AOD project, this one does the job nicely
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i went through the disc and watched it and he did, infact, do an excellent job encoding it (doesn't look bad at all) and cutting it. very well done! i applaud you RidgeShark!!

**😮ver&out:
**mumbles

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Originally posted by: reave
Where did all the seeds go? I saw about 25 people that were at 95% with me, and since I hit 100% a couple of hours ago, I'm the only one seeding.


Sorry bout that. Bad timing over here. DSL went belly up today. Back up and runnin now and I can help seed.
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So I must have missed it somewhere along the line. Does anyone know the differences between the 3 versions? Overdose, Follow the doctors orders, and overdose with original?
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Originally posted by: trip42
Originally posted by: reave
Where did all the seeds go? I saw about 25 people that were at 95% with me, and since I hit 100% a couple of hours ago, I'm the only one seeding.


Sorry bout that. Bad timing over here. DSL went belly up today. Back up and runnin now and I can help seed.


Oh, I'm not on to you about it. There aren't enough people on this thread to equal the amount of (potential) seeds I saw for this, so I'm not blaming anyone in here. It's just amazing how quickly people hit and run with stuff like this, that really should be seeded. I feel a sense of duty in keeping something like this alive. I've been seeding the Koyaanisqatsi IRE version for over a year now.

FE<3OT

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http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/3418/aodprimitivescrewheadedvx4.jpg

here is what the art set looks like,thanks to djsmokingjam

"And dark_jedi, you can stop planning your AOD project"

There is no planning I am still doing it.
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I watched this tonight, and I thought RidgeShark did a wonderful job. I didn't see a difference between the Overdose and Overdose With Original Formula.
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DJ, just thought I'd point out something with the cover art. I believe the jpg itself is designed with the white area to be cut-off. The edge of the cover is that border within the actual cover image... I think. Just a heads up.

Good luck on your version, by the way. Let us know if you do anything differently.

To contact me outside the forum, for trades and such my email address is my OT.com username @gmail.com

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klokwerk is absolutely right - yes, I intend the white lines within the artwork to be the cut-off point, to make it easier to print onto A4 paper.

The only differences between the three versions are at the beginning and end:

OVERDOSE - Regular opening and Apocalyptic ending
DOCTOR ORDERED - Regular opening and S-Mart ending
OVERDOSE (ORIGINAL) - Alternate opening (from deleted scenes) and Apocalyptic ending

Everything else in between seems to be the same.
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Originally posted by: djsmokingjam
The only differences between the three versions are at the beginning and end:


Ah, didn't check the opening! Thanks. I was wondering about that scene.

(BTW, PM'ed you about the title.)
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OK it is updated,
I was wondering why the huge white borders,this is the first time I have gotten cover art that was not already cropped and ready to go,but it is fixed now.
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Yeah sorry about that, as I said it's my first DVD art for general use so still learning the tricks of the trade and how other people prefer it as opposed to how I usually do it.
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I've been watching this post for months waiting patiently for it to be released.
Currently helping seed on piratebay - (Thanks uploader)

But for the life of me I can't grab the cover art from rapidshare, it just keeps telling me the download session is invalid and to try again

I've tried on several different PCs and is the same.

Has anyone managed to grab it?

Would they be so kind as to post it some where else (mediafire etc)
I would appreciate it so that I can keep it next to all my other Evil Dead DVDs on the shelf - I'm a huge fan of the Trilogy.

I hope someone can help me out.

Big THANKS to RidgeShark for the awesome work, I loved watching this again in a new light and it was an excellent job
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Hi Conky, the disc and cover art are now upped to Mediafire. http://www.mediafire.com/?8yhjdzki9xp
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Wow!

Thanks for the quick response and appreciate the help.
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It's been a while...

First, I would like to apologize to those I never got around to sending discs to. My life, for the last few months - well it's been a long story. If those I promised discs to have not yet downloaded the torrent, please message me again with your address and I will quickly send you out copies. Again, sorry for the delay and being so damned irresponsible.

Anyways, it appears that my test disc has become the official Primitive Screwhead release. You guys! I might have known that something like this was going to happen after I disappeared. I have to admit that I really get a kick out of how it all worked out - and having it released by none other than the world-infamous Garrett Gilchrist; I have to sincerely say - it's an honor. The guy has done some amazing work, and his encouragement along the way has meant a lot to me. Anyways, yes, I do consider the version released to be a test disc, though I never expressed these feelings to Garrett. I felt confident with the disc I had come up with and doubted that any of the testers would come up with anything major. So for all intents and purposes, the test disc was essentially the final single-layer version, though I did not want to call it final in case anyone spotted some serious problems that I had missed.

So far, looks like the critiques are minimal. I'm not surprised that the multiple aspect ratio presentation is not popular with everyone. My decision to go with this format came about due to the fact that the tv version is not entirely open-matte - the first tv only sequence is open-matte for the most part, while the 2nd tv only sequence goes back and forth from a bit zoomed-in to open-matte. The way I presented it reduced the overcropping that would've occurred if I tried to fill the entire 16:9 frame, but I can see that it's a bit too distracting for some folks. On a side note, I originally tried marrying the zoomed-in shots from the tv version to the wider workprint footage. The outcome was very disgusting and much more distracting than my multiple aspect ratio solution. From the visual distortion to the dirt and screwy colour, the available workprint footage is one hell of a beast. The only shot that came out looking decent was the shot of Ash looking over his shoulder - and so it got left in as a curiosity. Anyways, if enough people dislike the multiple aspect ratio, I don't mind going the overcropping route for version 2.0.

As for the audio - it does sound a bit strange when it's coming through tv speakers, though it sounds fine to me when playing on my 5.1 surround setup. My audio editing and processing skills are a bit limited, especially when it comes to 5.1 mixes, so it's hard for me to know exactly where I went wrong in the mix. I would prefer to create a version that sounds fine on any equipment it's played on. Hopefully it wasn't too detrimental to anyone's viewing experience.

It seems like there's only a few reviews out there - If anyone else has viewed my cut, please respond here and let me know what you did or didn't like about it.

And now to clarify a few things -

1) I did not use an HD version for my cut. The majority of the footage comes from the MGM PAL Region 4 Australian release, which is visually superior to the Region 3 NTSC Director's Cut. Not only is there more detail in the R4 image, but there is also a little more picture on the left, right, and bottom sides of the video. Although PAL has more resolution than NTSC, the resulting Army of Darkness video produced when resizing the PAL footage to NTSC was still superior in detail when compared to the Region 3 video transfer, which was likely softened a tad by MGM in order to reduce compression-artifacting. Although this is unnoticeable on smaller displays, I figured it only made sense to include higher quality footage in my cut.

2) The single layer Primitive Screwhead Edition was not shrunken from a dual layer version. In order to keep the quality as high as possible, the single layer MPEG-2 video encode was made directly off of my 68gb Huffy Lossless Compressed video master. Despite the relatively low bitrate, the majority of the MPEG-2 Compression artifacts you see in the video actually come from the original sources and not my encode.

3) I do intend to create a Dual Layer version featuring a high bitrate video transfer. Although a higher bitrate won't necessarily improve the soft, lower quality tv and workprint footage, it will better present and preserve the higher detail from the PAL conversion I mentioned eariler.

Before I end this message, I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who has helped out with the project - Ocpmovie for the suggestions, encouragement, for releasing the disc for me, and also for making a copy for Henry the Red himself! Djsmokingjam, for the cover and disc art which are just fantastic. JHammondC and Molly, your comments had a big impact on the message that jump starts my cut . I probably have some more thanks to give, but I'm dead tired at the moment and can't recall everyone - so I just want to give a big thank you to everyone for their interest and the help they offered.

Also - Dark Jedi, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the movie. If I can help in any way, let me know.
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Hey dude. Good to hear from you! Glad to know all is well. Welcome back.
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Wonderful to finally hear from you again Scott, and very glad you liked the artwork I put together. Hope life is treating you well, and don't worry about issues with the disc - they are minimal and do nothing to detract from the overall enjoyment. Well bloody done
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Just checked out IMDB and this version has it all. Just wondering though IMDB makes mention of a scene where a Deadite is carrying the Cowardly Warrior's (Ted Raimi) severed head. Is this a real scene or made up? I didnt see it in the Primitive Screwhead edition or did I miss something because this version seems pretty complete.
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I believe the scene you're talking about occurs after Ash unknowingly flattens the "I'll cut your gizzard out!" deadite. He then jumps into the scene you're talking about and says "Come to papa!" - in the beginning of this shot, in the background, you see a deadite holding a severed head. After Ash's "papa" line, it cuts to Evil Ash who says "Get him!" - then it cuts to a closer shot of the deadite holding the severed head.
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Just putting in my own $0.02 worth here. It's amazing how the power of editing can change a movie, even if it's just moving exactly the same scene in a different position in the movie's sequence, which is where my story begins.

The one thing that had always bugged me when watching the original Director's Cut (DC) was the placement of that little scene in which two of the deadites exclaim: "Retreat, retreat!", "Let's get the hell out of here!". This scene was originally placed near the beginning of the final battle which made it look as though the deadites were the kind of fellows who would flee at the first signs of their comrades meeting their maker for the second time, and hence making it seem as though they were absolutely no threat to the living. However, place this same scene at the end of the battle when Henry the Red's men save the day at the last minute, and you now find the deadites are genuinely scared witless of the inevitable crushing defeat that they will suffer.

Considering the DC was the first in the line of many of its re-interpretations as dictated by the studio/producer/distributors (at least in terms of the actual number of them that were officially released, more so than for any other movie I suspect), this DC pretty much represents a work-in-progress. As such, when the second round of re-edits were ordered, the scene in question was given more time to have its placement in the movie evaluated and essentially given a second chance to prove its worth when it was inevitably found to be in the wrong spot. An oversight of this size could have easily been missed even in the second round and beyond, but no doubt Sam Raimi picked up on it eventually.

I would like to thank RidgeShark for having noticed this oversight when he was recreating this all-time classic, since this scene's position at the beginning is located in the studio cut, not the DC. Anyone else doing this fan-edit probably would not have bothered shifting its placement in the battle sequence since it was just another one of those "unimportant filler scenes", or at the very least may not have realised that it wasn't in the same spot in all versions. Either way, a scene like this would usually go unnoticed by the general uncaring population as having no bearing to the overall feel of the movie ... but I guarantee you that it does.

Again, kudos to RidgeShark for having taken as much time as he has to putting this project together, and then for going that extra mile to foresee how all those other little moments really do count to the movie as a whole. This seemingly insignificant little four-second quotation is ultimately given more prominence, relevance and ultimately humour to it when it is placed near the end rather than its mistaken position near the beginning.

The other thing that I don't mind at the end of the day from this fan-edit (FC) is the use of the alternative takes as seen in the studio cut ... personally, I was always a fan of the original "I ain't that good". However, the artistic side of me is not terribly keen on the use of the slapstick music in the Windmill sequence as well as the "Chinese Jet-Pilot" quotation, both of which I believe feel like when the typical school bully decides on a whim to push us over the other side of fence from the side of "comic horror" to just "pure comedy" (not that bullies are any fun).

Ultimately, I wouldn't really have seen the point of watching this FC if all it was going to be was some insertions of the deleted scenes that are already on the DC DVD anyway, no matter how masterfully they were integrated into the main feature. This project is really meant to help showcase the very best of everything else that this movie has ever been, and it's wonderful that between the DC and FC I have the choice to enjoy whichever version suits me at the time, both of which have now become the perfect set of bookends.

Finally, all the best bits of AOD are now viewable in two superb editions, giving us direct access to everything single moment that the movie has shown us in its various incarnations. Now, if only I can get a hold of the Waterworld Ulysses Cut, I think I can finally die happy.

Klatu Verata Nicktu.
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Pulling the dvd at the moment at home. I printed off the cover and it has those white borders. Anyway of getting a cover that is already "cropped"? Can't wait to check this edit out. If anyone needs the SciFi edit on dvd, let me know because I have a dvd5 of it.

I've got better things to do tonight than die! - Springer, Transformers the Movie

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Dr Gonzo, the new link I posted above from Mediafire has the cropped cover. (http://www.mediafire.com/?8yhjdzki9xp) Enjoy!

The Sci-Fi version really needs to be part of a custom ED boxset IMHO. It could be laid out as such:

Disc 1
    Evil Dead 1 - rip from Japanese laserdisc with bluer colour tones? If not then maybe the "Book Of The Dead" fanedit ReverendBeastly was working on ages ago, if it was ever finished?
    Book Of The Dead trailer
    Evil Dead uncut trailer (most DVD versions are missing the Knowby narration at the beginning!)


Disc 2
    ED2 workprint
    ED2 behind-the-scenes video
    ED2 UK TV spots (starring Sam Raimi and Jonathan Ross)
    Behind The Screams (featurette from the laserdisc)


Disc 3
    AOD Sci-Fi Channel version
    AOD EPK and behind-the-scenes video (downloadable from Zooma Zooma's website)
    European AOD trailer? (This might be on the MGM discs, don't know)


Disc 4
    Evil Dead The Musical
    The Incredibly Strange Film Show (uncut!)
    Within The Woods


Any other ideas?