Day of the Dead

Anchor Bay's opulent two-disc "Divimax" special edition will no doubt be an essential acquisition for fans of George A. Romero's zombie trilogy, as the set contains all the bells and whistles one could ask for--not just a crystal-clear widescreen transfer, but also two audio commentaries (one by Romero, legendary effects man Tom Savini, star Lori Cardille, and production designer Cletus Anderson; the other by filmmaker Roger Avary), a new 39-minute retrospective "making of" documentary, behind-the-scenes production footage, trailers and TV spots, innumerable stills and posters, Romero's original (much more elaborate) script on DVD-ROM, and even a promo reel for the underground industrial site that served as the location. Whether or not the film is worth all of this attention is another question entirely. Upon its initial release in 1985, Day of the Dead was generally thought the weakest of the three pictures--a talky, gory tale of badly outnumbered humans experimenting on zombies in their heavily-guarded compound that lacked the satirical edge of its predecessors and was horribly overacted. Today, revisionists hold it in much higher esteem (though I'm inclined to stick with the original judgment). This release will certainly be a treasure trove for aficionados, but it's still likely to appeal only to those fans that are, in their own way, as rabid as the flesh-munchers featured in it. Optional. (F. Swietek)