**This version can now be found in full circulation as the Army of Darkness Bootleg Edition**

1. Region Coding: I don’t know why this is included in the "Features" of the DVD but I guess it’s pretty important, huh? I mean, it sure would be silly if they were selling a DVD in America that only Japanese players could play. So, for releasing the Region 1 DVD in America, I give it high marks.

Grade: A+

2. Color, Widescreen: Again, I have no idea why this is put in a "Features" section. As if to say..."Hey!! Don’t buy that crappy Citizen Kane movie. It’s black and white. It must suck. But look at me! I’m color!! Kinda snazzy, eh?" As retarded as it is to throw "Color, Widescreen" into the selling points of this DVD, I can’t deny that they completely deliver what was promised. I gotta give them high marks for this one too.

Grade: A+

3. Commentary by Sam, Bruce and Ivan: Okay, this is where the DVD really shines. It’s because of this DVD and most of the Kevin Smith DVD’s that I prefer to listen to the alternate audio track. It starts off with just Sam Raimi (Director of Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and the upcoming Spider-Man) and Bruce Campbell (Star of Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and played Autolycus in Xena). These two guys have been making films together since they were kids in Michigan and you can tell that they still look at it like they’re kids making movies in the backyard. They rip on each other, rip on themselves and make me laugh in the process. Later in the film, Sam’s brother, Ivan, comes in and gives us some of his co-writer input. You get a great insight of the film and the steps it took to make the film but you also gain some insight into the people who sunk their hearts into it. They’re not boring to listen to at all. Each story is entertaining and eventually reaches it’s point. Most importantly, it’s synched up to the actual film. It’s nice to have them talking about a scene that’s actually going on. You’ll find that some alternate commentaries aren’t synched up too well. It’s not a bad way to spend an hour and a half if you’re already very well versed in the film’s actual dialogue.

Grade: A+

4. 15 Minutes of Additional Footage Including the Original Ending: I had originally seen this movie in the theater back when it was released in 1993. In the theatrical release, it contained scenes that I realized were cut out of the video release. When I owned the video, I obsessed over the cut footage but watched the film so much that I soon accepted it and forgot what I was missing before. I picked up this DVD and watched the movie and realized what I had been missing. The extended scene with Ash fighting the mini-Ash’s is pure genius. I’m glad it was thrown back in. Also, the original ending was thrown back into this film. Before it’s theatrical release, Universal stressed that the movie ended too much on a downer and demanded that Sam Raimi re-shoot the ending. What theatergoers got was a kick ass, Clint Eastwood style ending where Ash is returned to his own time and he kicks the shit out of a zombie in the middle of S-Mart. A classic, to be sure. Who could ever forget the immortal line "Hail to the King, Baby" However, this was not the original ending. The original is much darker and not quite as happy but it fits the course of events of our hero. I was insanely pleased with the added footage and restored original ending.

Grade: A+

5. 4 Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes: These were really neat to see. Anyone who was familiar with the comic book adaptation of A.O.D. is sure to remember a few key scenes that were in the comic but not in the film at all. I assumed that these scenes were just drawn up for the comic book but I was proven wrong after seeing them performed for me on this DVD. Unfortunately, these scenes weren’t mastered through post-production so the audio and visual quality are quite poor but you could get the basic idea of the scenes. I was really happy with them all but the quality of the footage was just kinda rough to watch. I can’t even foresee when I’ll watch them again. I was disappointed that in no way was the theatrical ending thrown onto this DVD. I guess I’ll mention it for this section because that’s where I would have put it. I, obviously, am very happy to have the original ending on the film. It fits better, but I’d love to still have the theatrical ending on here too. That’s just me being a whiner but hey, it’s my review. I like the deleted scenes but I would have liked a little more.

Grade: B-

6. Director's Storyboards: This was very neat and I’d never seen anything like it on a DVD since. Then again, I haven’t really explored all the extras on my DVD’s yet. It wasn’t just that you could look at story boards in an individual menu. You could also make them scroll on the screen during the movie. If you turned on the Director Commentary and then started the movie, you could go and turn on the subtitles and it would show all the conceptual drawings and storyboards throughout the entire film. Whichever scene you were watching... the storyboards for it were showing in the bottom part of the screen. This made for a wild A.O.D. experience. I mean, storyboards aren’t all that exciting to look at but I like to see how a concept on paper evolves into real life. I was really impressed with the way it was applied too.

Grade: A+

Overall, I was really impressed with this presentation of the film and the extras that came along with it. I would recommend it to any fan of the Evil Dead series as well as anyone who has yet to experience the bliss of the Evil Dead.