Army Of Darkness: HD DVD And DVD Combo Format Disc Review

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Title: Army Of Darkness: HD DVD And DVD Combo Format

Region: One (DVD Side Only)

Media: HD DVD And DVD Hybrid

Genre: Dark Fantasy Comedy

Stars: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, Richard Grove, Michael Earl Reid, Timothy Patrick Quill, Bridget Fonda, Patricia Tallman, Ted Raimi, Bill Moseley, William Lustig, and Ivan Raimi

Writers: Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi

Director: Sam Raimi

Feature length: 81 minutes

Extras: Theatrical Trailer

HD DVD Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound and Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Surround Sound

DVD Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Surround Sound

HD DVD And DVD Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Elite Red HD Case

HD DVD Side Chapter Stops: 15

DVD Side Chapter Stops: 16

HD DVD Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound

DVD Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1993/HD DVD And DVD Combo Format Release: 2006

American Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

In the nearly nine and a half years since DVD first debuted on retailer shelves Army Of Darkness has had the distinction of being released in one form or another, including this HD DVD And DVD Combo Format release, approximately seven times in Region One North America alone. Arguably the most popular film in the original Evil Dead Trilogy, Army Of Darkness recaps events from Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn quickly and then takes viewers along for yet another adventure featuring Bruce Campbell as an unlikely superhero of sorts named Ash, who can take a beating and dish out a beating both humorous sarcasm as the “Hero From Housewares” finds himself caught between two feuding Kingdoms in medieval England and the relentless Deadites he just can’t seem to get away from. Army Of Darkness has helped bring a whole new audience to the original Evil Dead Trilogy and it also alienated some of the fans of the first two since of the three films, Army Of Darkness is the least horrific and wisely never takes itself too seriously.

Thus the film found a wide audience on home video and in some ways I think one can see the film as sort of a forerunner to the mix of fantasy adventure and humor that Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert would successfully produce through the ever popular Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess syndicated television series of the 1990s. Bruce Campbell got himself into excellent physical shape for this film and at times looks as though he really could be a great choice for a superhero character with his signature chin and Superman like haircut. Yet what makes Campbell’s characterization, as Ash so fun to watch is the fact that he can throw himself into the character both physically and figuratively and with no shame to add, he makes the character very likeable. It is not easy to make such cliché lines as “Give Me Some Sugar Baby” or “Hail To The King” and make it work for laughs even if it is intended to be funny. Comedy writing and comedic acting in general can be one of the toughest art forms to pull off and mixing genres on top of it all adds even more complexity. Yet everyone involved in the film makes it work well because they make it look easy and that is another achievement to be commended since usually the easier it looks, the harder it probably is.

I interviewed Bruce Campbell last year and I think his description of being “A character actor in leading man’s body” is accurate, but in hindsight he is a lot more and the fact that he has embraced his cult fame is what I think makes his fans appreciate him even more. From what time I had speaking with him I can honestly state that Campbell is one of a kind not because of what he has done on both film and television, but because he has never put on any superficial façade behind his cult celebrity status. In short, Bruce is Bruce and like him or hate him, you have to give him credit for remaining true to himself in everything he does and still being a great entertainer along the way.

There are a few cameos in Army Of Darkness to look out for. Some are easy to find while others I was only made aware of after reading the cast credits. The cameos include Sam Raimi’s brothers’ actor Ted Raimi as well as co-screenwriter Ivan Raimi, filmmaker William Lustig (Maniac Cop), actress Bridget Fonda and actress and stuntwoman Patricia Tallman (Babylon 5) and actor Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects/The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2). Actress Embeth Davidtz, who plays Bruce Campbell’s medieval love interest in Army Of Darkness would go on to appear in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar® winning feature film Schindler’s List that same year. The film’s makeup effects by KNB still hold up well and the use of stop motion and some other techniques that were even dated when the film was originally released back in 1993 actually give it a sense of nostalgic charm and calls to mind the great Dynamation and Super Dynamtation techniques pioneered by the great master Ray Harryhausen, whose work has continually inspired generations of creative artists and the imaginations of viewers of all ages. Danny Elfman’s “March Of The Dead” theme fits in well with Renaissance Pictures’ composer of choice Joseph Lo Duca’s score.

Released in time for Halloween, Army Of Darkness on HD DVD is definitely the best looking presentation of the American theatrical release version of the film I have seen on home video to date with a 1080p high definition (1.85:1) aspect ratio presentation that preserves the manner in which the film was exhibited in theaters as close as possible for home video users. Unfortunately the source materials seem to be the same one used for the original Universal DVD release, which back in the late 1990s was letterboxed only. Overall it blows away both the Universal and Anchor Bay DVD releases in terms of picture and sound quality, but the image quality still reveals elements of grain and occasional blemishes that I have noticed in previous home video releases going back to the days of laserdisc. The disc also does not contain any of the extra value features found on the previous Anchor Bay DVD releases with the exception of the film’s theatrical trailer (2:03) presented in a (1.33:1) aspect ratio on the standard definition DVD side of this hybrid optical disc.

The HD DVD version of Army Of Darkness features a terrific English Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound mix as well as a Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Surround Soundtrack too. The standard DVD edition features English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Surround Sound too and the standard definition DVD side also presents the film in an anamorphic (1.85:1) aspect ratio. English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto both versions of the film as options. The interactive menus on the standard definition DVD side are standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. The menus that can be activated without interrupting the movie on the HD DVD side are well rendered and improve overall on the home theater experience of seeing Army Of Darkness.

Army Of Darkness: HD DVD And DVD Combo Format delivers on the promise of being the best looking and sounding version of the film on home video yet and hopefully the Director’s Cut and extra value features found on the various Anchor Bay DVD releases will find their way over to a more expansive HD DVD release by Universal in the future. Army Of Darkness: HD DVD And DVD Combo Format is available at retailers on and offline now courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

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