Comparison between the cut US Director's Cut by Anchor Bay and the uncut German Director's Cut by Koch Media (the latter is identical to the HK DVD by MGM).


- 5 differences (without logos)
- Total length of the cuts: 17.8 sec.



There's no need for many words about this cult movie starring Bruce Campbell and the confusing mess with all the different versions has also already been explained sufficiently. Basically, there are three versions - the US theatrical version, the export version and the director's cut. But the latter isn't the same in all countries, so to cut a long story short: the DVD released in America by Anchor Bay is not just average in terms of quality, it's also incomplete. The slightly sexual scene in which Sheila gets her dress torn off is almost completely missing. This looks suspiciously like a typical censorship by the MPAA, especially because the whole scene was already heavily cut for the American theatrical version and lacked this particular part.
A previous scene, the one in which Ash is holding the chainsaw over his evil twin, is already missing, but this is probably due to some sloppiness with the master tape used by Anchor Bay, because this scene was contained in the US theatrical version. The same goes for three further alterations, which aren't that important, hence no pictures.

The old MGM DVD from Hong Kong was uncut already and was based on a good master tape with a great picture quality. Fortunately, they could use the 720p footage from MGM Hong Kong for the German re-release by Koch and they accurately inserted all of the DC scenes into a Full HD master of the European theatrical version. Consequently, it's not always HD throughout the whole movie, but the changes are hardly even noticeable and it's definitely the best release you can get, in terms of quality; plus it's the longest version available.


The German Ultimate Edition box was kindly provided by Koch Media. Thanks also go out to magiccop, who helped us out with the US DVD.



Running time indications are in the order
US Director's Cut DVD / German Director's Cut Blu-ray.

Logos
00:00-00:11 / 00:00-00:12

Different production logos.

German DC 1.8 sec. longer

US Director's Cut	German Director's Cut

35:07 / 35:09-35:10

A few minor frames get lost during the transition from the dancing mini versions of Ash to the normal Ash, who is screaming in pain.

1.4 sec



39:57 / 40:00-40:08

A shot from a little further away is missing in the US DC when Ash is lifting the chainsaw to kill his evil clone.

8.4 sec

55:58 / 56:09-56:16

The shot is longer and the hands already move towards the straps of Sheila's dress. Evil Ash greedily tears down the dress in a medium long shot; Sheila looks shocked.

6.2 sec

72:41 / 72:59-73:00

Ash drives around in his vehicle slightly longer.

0.8 sec



85:16 / 85:35-85:36

The view from above onto the battlefield is insignificantly longer.

1.2 sec



Only the German Director's Cut features the MGM logo after the end credits (not counted to the amount/length of cuts).

5 sec