Righteous Recommendations
Other Releases Available:
Releases Reviewed:
Everybody wants in on releasing their own version of The Last Man on Earth. This one is difficult to summarize because there are so many different remastered and “collector's” editions without any one being a truly definitive release. Usually I can just point out a few releases that stand apart from the others, but this time I'm having a hard time grouping them together in such a way that gives you all the pertinent details without taking a full day to read through them.
There are multiple DVD's that offer remastering, different aspect ratios, and fancy edition labels to make you want to buy a particular one over the others out there. I also found a Blu-ray combo pack. So what I will do is limit this to releases that have comments, good or bad, about the quality.
I'll start by comparing 2 very different transfers from a couple of different budget packs I have to give you an idea of the differences in quality out there.
The first version I owned was in the Horror Classics 50 pack.
Video:
N-A widescreen: It's close to a 1.33 ratio (probably 1.66) but is non-anamorphic which means it's essentially presented in a full-frame window resulting in black boarders on all sides of the screen of a widescreen TV. It is washed out, riddled with lots of lines, is a bit shaky, and is pixelated and grainy. This is not a great presentation.
Audio:
1.0 mono: There is a good bit of white noise and a generally weak mix. The dialogue is clear enough to understand at least.
Packaging:
This particular disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve contained in a Velcro-fastened box though it's been repackaged in plastic. You can read about the set as a whole in great detail in the Horror Classics (50 pack) guide.
Extras:
There are no extras of any kind.
Other Editions:
The Ultimate Horror Classics Blu collection seems to be part of a slowly growing trend (or perhaps attempt at a trend) of using Blu's storage capacity to fit a lot of movies on a single disc. 18 public domain films (some very common, some fairly rare) reside on a single disc in standard 480i definition (no HD here). The best I can say for these is that they seem to occasionally present the original image ratios and may be very slightly improved quality over some of the cheaper DVD budget packs. Otherwise they offer nothing special aside from being exceptionally self-space friendly. They offer no extras and can be somewhat hard to find.
The one I saw getting the most praise was the MGM release. This can be found on its own or in a 2 pack with Panic In Year Zero. It is a 2.35 widescreen release and is said from multiple reviewers to be better than others they have seen. Extras include a trailer and a feature with one of the co-writers and why he was unhappy with the script. Audio is mono with none of the reviews I read specifically mentioning anything about it. Look for the Midnite Movies double features to find this one.
Next up is the colorized version from Legend. Some details mention widescreen while others mention being full-frame so I don't know which is accurate (it could just mean that it is also non-anamorphic). The original black-and-white version is included and is remastered. Reviews say that the quality is good but not as good as the MGM release.
One of the multi-packs that looks promising at first is the “3 Vincent Price Greatest Horror Classics of All Time” which offers 3 movies and a Halloween CD. Reviewers say that the quality of this package is exceptionally terrible so avoid it!
Lastly is “An Evening with Vincent Price and Friends” which offers 3 DVD's full of various movies. Reviews say that the quality of this one is also especially crappy with sound that drops out way too frequently.
Final Thoughts:
The Chilling 20 pack transfer is better than the Horror Classics one and might actually be on the verge of almost being mildly impressive if not for cramming a widescreen formatted film into a full-frame window. The MGM DVD sounds like your best bet for quality unless you want color in which case you should go for the Legend release. There are numerous other relases, but they'll be a gamble unless you can find some reviews on them that I missed. I didn't see any info that would cause me to choose any other release over the MGM one if I were going to buy it again.
Want to get your hands on something you read about? Click the links below.
Next up is from a 20 pack called “Chilling.”
Video:
N-A widescreen: While the whole thing is presented in a non-anamorphic full-frame window like the other one the aspect ratio for this one is very wide, possibly closer to 2.35. Unfortunately being squeezed into a 1.33 ratio makes the final image tiny even on a large screen TV. There are black boarders on all sides if watching on a widescreen TV, and I feel like I'm watching it through slats in a fence. The quality, though, is fairly sharp with only a little trash. It's still a bit pixelated and grainy but not badly so.
Audio:
1.0 mono: There's still a little white noise, and the mix is not fantastic. It's not horrible, though, and the dialogue is clear.
Packaging:
The disc comes in a paper sleeve that lives in a plastic case. You can get more details about the set as a whole by checking out the Chilling (20 pack) guide.
Extras:
No extras for this one, either.
