Region 4 Winners and Losers

    This Region 4 DVD is what can be termed the Australian Theatrical cut of the film. It was the cut of the film that was shown at cinemas in Australia and that was released on Video. Personally it is my favourite non-Director's cut of the film. It has about 10 minutes more than the US Theatrical cut, but is about 6 minutes less than the Director's Cut. The good thing about the Australian cut is that it combines the best of both the US Theatrical and the Director's Cut. It has the better line when Ash shoots Evil Ash in the face, the scene in which Evil Ash tears down the top of Sheila's dress before he kisses her, the better timing of the arrival of Henry the Red in the final battle, and the S-Mart ending.

    Both the US and UK releases of Army of Darkness by Anchor Bay do not have the scene with Evil Ash and Sheila (where he tears down her dress), while the Region 3 and Region 4 releases by MGM does.

    This DVD is vastly different to all of the previous DVD releases of Army of Darkness. I will do my best to compare the different versions.

Compared to the Region 4 Army of Darkness...

The Region 1 "Boomstick Edition" from Anchor Bay misses out on:
• The Australian Theatrical Cut of the film
• More specifically - The scene in which Evil Ash tears down the top of Sheila's dress before he kisses her.
• A PAL Transfer
• German, French, Italian and Spanish Audio and a multitude of subtitles
• Many film artefacts...

    The Region 2 "Double Disc Presentation" from Anchor Bay is identical to Region 1's "Boomstick Edition", but in PAL.

The Region 3 "Director's Cut" release from MGM misses out on:
• The Australian Theatrical Cut of the film
• A PAL Transfer
• German, French, Italian and Spanish Audio and a multitude of subtitles
• Many film artefacts...

Compared to the other releases of Army of Darkness...

The Region 4 release from MGM misses out on:
• The US Theatrical Cut (Region 1 & 2)
• The Director's Cut (Region 1, 2 & 3)
• Original Ending - On the Discs with the US Theatrical Cut, you can view the Original "Apocalypse" Ending from the Director's Cut (Region 1 & 2)
• Featurette - The Men Behind the Army (Region 1 & 2)
• Biographies - Sam Raimi & Bruce Campbell (Region 1 &2)
• Audio Commentary - Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell & Ivan Raimi (Region 1, 2 & 3) - The Commentary is over the Director's Cut.
• Storyboards (Region 1 & 2)
• Creature Concept Drawings (Region 1 & 2)
• A flawless Transfer (Region 3)
• A DTS Track (Region 1 & 2)

    To be perfectly honest, I find it difficult to recommend one version over another, as they all have their good and bad points. Cost-wise, obviously the Region 4 release is favoured, plus it is the Australian Theatrical Cut - a very good cut of the film. However the transfer could be better. Also it misses out on a very highly entertaining Audio Commentary. The Region 3 release has a flawless film master transfer, but only the Director's Cut is available. Region 1 & 2 have both the US Theatrical and the Director's Cut, but the transfer is taken from a VHS master. The print quality suffers as a result.