 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1992 release Army of Darkness now This is what I have to show you This is a DVDI watch which will be different than the version that some people have seen This is the director's cut as you can see Bruce Campbell versus Army of Darkness and it's actually kind of funny because they're calling it like the bootleg edition So they actually put in here like it's a burned disc. It's kind of funny So that's the version I've had for a long time So that's what I watch now the ending on this one is different since it's the director's cut But I'll talk about that towards the end I will say that I like the theatrical ending more than the director's cut one, but once again I'll talk about that later So directed by Sam Raimi Obviously and this was done right after he had directed the film Darkman and by the way This was part of kind of a deal with Universal where since Darkman actually did well and was profitable He was then given backing to go ahead and do Army of Darkness now if you remember well if you've watched my review for Evil Dead 2 You would know that this concept that is Army of Darkness was what Raimi wanted to do for the second Evil Dead film But Dino De Laurentiis who was his financial backer and was a backer also for this film Had said no to that because he wanted it to be more like the first film So finally Raimi gets to do basically what he wanted to now With the second film he wrote that with Scott Spiegel But Spiegel wasn't available because he was working on some other film at the time So he ended up getting his brother Ivan Raimi Involved who I think did a pretty solid job with him with the comedic stuff although You know the first Evil Dead has not a whole lot of comedy to it the second Evil Dead 2 has a decent amount of comedy to it and Army of Darkness goes to that next level of comedy where it's Very over the top. It's very, you know high on comedy and Back when I originally saw all these films. I think Army of Darkness was I think it was the second Evil Dead was my favorite then Army of Darkness then the original Evil Dead But that's back when I wasn't huge into horror So I think that it's definitely changed since then and I actually liked them in the order They came out basically so the first Evil Dead is now my favorite then the second then Army of Darkness and I think that's because after You know seeing the first one again and falling back in love with it I just like the more serious tone and as it gets more ridiculous like it's still fun And I like it, but it just makes me wish that it was more serious. So, you know, that's just my personal thing So anyway Ivan Raimi ended up working on scripts for Darkman Spider-Man 3 drag me to hell and the TV show asked for Ash versus Evil Dead, which I will be doing a review for I don't think I'm gonna go by season. I think I'm just gonna watch it all and then do one review for it Bruce Campbell was a producer on Army of Darkness, which is cool. That's kind of him moving up the ladder to a degree There was 11 million dollar budget and ended up making 21.5 million dollars, which is very nice for the universal folks Practical effects for this one were done by Tom Sullivan who worked on the other two films Greg Nicotero's company who worked on the second film and Tony Gardner who did effects for Darkman the Adams family Lord of illusions seat of Chucky curse of Chucky and cult of Chucky That's a lot of Chucky Getting the film made out. I talked about that. That was part of the universal deal Inspirations through the story were this is interesting the three stooges that is obviously seen with all the physical comedy the Physical comedy in the aspect of a lot of people getting hurt mainly ash getting hurt Yankee Sorry a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court, which I have not seen and don't know a whole lot about Gulliver's Travels, which I think can easily be seen in the part where all the little Mini ashes tie him down. There's this that's a scene taken directly from Gulliver's Travels the seventh voyage of Sinbad Jason and the Argonauts and Conan the Barbarian. I Mean you can see like if you know those Influences you can see them in the film. So it's cool to have that backstory The working title for this film was medieval dead, which sounds cool, but I'm glad they went with army of darkness I think that's more fun more interesting They shot for 100 days and the castle that they built for this film was built close to the Mojave desert So it was pretty challenging just because the days were super hot and the nights were pretty cold So it was just like this flip-flop of extremes for people. So it was pretty uncomfortable with the filming Campbell had to learn a series of choreography. I mean obviously he did a lot Choreography wise a lot of fighting and stuff like that So they kind of used like this number system to so he could get down like each of the moves he needed to make And it was particularly challenging apparently because a bunch of the times he wasn't actually fighting anything It was what a situation where they were putting the enemies in later So he was fighting nothing So he literally had to know know this number system to know where he was going because there wasn't even anyone there to Indicate okay, there's a person coming at you from this side or this side He would have to remember that and be like well, there'll be one from here and now there'll be one from here So it's it's interesting and I bet that was tough The film originally got an NC 17 rating Raimi cut it, but it ended up still getting an R rating They were going for lower than that then Universal sent it to an outside editor who cut it further But it's still got an R rating. So they just ended up releasing it like that They wanted they wanted to get it down to the PG-13. It just never happened and after trying enough They were just like, okay, whatever it is what it is Danny Elfman did the theme song March of the Dead Very cool Danny Elfman very well known Due to legal issues with Universal the events of Army of Darkness were actually not allowed to be referenced in the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV show which I thought was interesting until the second season when those issues got resolved and Then that's why you see in season 2 of Ash vs. Evil Dead. They actually do reference Army of Darkness a Bunch of comics have actually been released Having to do with Ash and Bruce Campbell and Army of Darkness and I'll name a few that sounded very interesting to me I wish I could find these but they've been out for so long. Good luck Dark man versus Army of Darkness Army of Darkness versus Reanimator I think I'm most interested in that one and Freddy versus Jason versus Ash Which I'm sure a lot of people know that was actually rumored to end up being a film at some point But it just never happened Okay, so getting into the events of the actual film the voiceover in the beginning for the recap actually works in this instance If you saw my review for Evil Dead 2, I did not like the voiceover recap of what happened prior to the events of that film Mainly because it was just some random dude So it works for Army of Darkness because it's it's Ash. It's Bruce Campbell. It's Ash as a character Giving the recap so that makes sense as opposed to some random person giving the recap So I'm fine with it this time around Ash's dire situation is believable as people try to destroy what they don't understand Also, I love them fighting his car So when he first shows up in these medieval times the fact that they don't know who he is he looks weird He's in the vicinity of Henry the Red and his guys They immediately see him as a threat and it kind of speaks to the issue where if people see something They they don't understand something. They know something seems foreign. They automatically have a more hostile Approach to it especially Longer ago like in me medieval times when things were more violent So yeah, but like I said, I like the aspect of when he shows up like his car comes with him And then the guys are kind of like poking their swords at the car like they're trying to fight the car Which you know, not their fault. They don't know what it is The comedy in this works bet a little bit better at times than the last one I'd say that mainly because there are a lot more memorable lines in this of dialogue so for me personally like I like the Verbal comedy a lot more in this one versus Evil Dead 2 I like the physical comedy in Evil Dead 2 more than this because It's a little more toned down like it's funny enough in army of darkness It just goes so far and like I said like it's still fun But for me what I personally want from like continuing this story I want something closer to the original one, but I know you're not really gonna get that So maybe closer to the second one and that's fine, but personal opinion The blood guys are from the pit is awesome. I I love I know I've said this on reviews before Anytime, there's just an inordinate amount of blood flying. It always makes me giddy It's always such a fun thing to watch So like the anticipation that you get in that scene because they're just focusing on the pit for so long And then all of a sudden it's just like this crazy guys are blood You weren't really expecting that and that's what's even more fun about the guys are blood It is such a triumphantly awesome moment for Ash when he jumps up and connects his hand to the the chainsaw when he's in the pit It's just this moment of like everyone just getting a charge the audience I'm assuming as well of just like oh, yeah, here we go He's got the chainsaw back because you know, that's one of the most interesting things They did a good job of setting up the events to make Ash a legend to those people and they made it Seem for the context of the movie Believable that those things would happen and then people would then treat him like oh my gosh He is you know the one from the prophecy in the Necronomicon Getting the metal hand actually opens up a possible a lot of possibilities for this film especially from more of a functional standpoint and Easier for acting for Bruce Campbell, but I actually think that it's just you know It's just not as cool as the chainsaw. Obviously. I'm sure most people would agree with me on that They do a good job working in more backstory to the Necronomicon And I like how Ash is actually part of the Prophecy because that basically says that all the events in his life before that have been predetermined like that's been his destiny And I just think that's cool. It makes him Going from some poor person who just ended up in a bad situation had to fight their way out To someone who is always destined to be there and do that and basically Fight the deadites forever until they're gone for humanity So it just like elevates his level and it makes him basically a legend like he becomes in army of darkness The splitting trees is a very nice addition for the evil rushing through the woods POV shots I I don't think they did that neither of the last two films So I really like that addition of you know as it's coming the trees splitting open It's a cool visual and I like that and it just shows like the force of that evil He's very used to being chased through the woods Ash it's once again. I mean it happens in every every one of the movies now He's getting chased through the woods by this evil. So at this point, it's just you have to have it in the film It's gonna be there And he's also used to fighting parts of himself, which happens again, you know Obviously, I'm referring to the severed hand from the second film where he has to fight that one This one obviously where he has to fight the little ashes Which just like the fight with his severed possessed hand in the second one feels very Tom and Jerry cartoon Ask very slapsticky very over the top very three stooges as we talked about for an influence The little evil ashes if you notice come from broken pieces of a mirror now mirrors have been used a lot in Evil dead in the first evil dead There was the mirror on the wall that ends up getting used that he sticks his hand into Then in evil dead 2 there was or and then there's also always been for Linda that mirror pendant Which serves a purpose in in the second one to bring ash back from being evil And then there's also the mirror situation where he is looking in the mirror and goes from being good to being evil because he starts choking himself So there's been this play throughout the the films of mirrors as Showing the two sides of a person in the situation ash And so it continues here where he finds a mirror He breaks the mirror and then all these little ashes come through the mirror That's once again like in the second film the evil side of ash coming out But in this instance since the mirror was broken. It's in numerous pieces So it's a bunch of little ashes which has you know fun in itself the concept of that fight, which is pretty cool The scene of the disposal of bad ash it is shot the same as The shed scene in the evil dead and evil dead to whenever there are the moments where he's going to the shed to like Saw things and get things ready. It's that kind of like, you know close up Seeing the chains pulled over that's used in every single film And I like the continuity of that because it's a cool. Those are cool shots and they work really well I love how ash sneakily looks around Even though he's alone He like sneakily looks around before he flubs the Klaatu Varate Nick to Line before touching the neck neck or nom con. It's just like this extra added comedic thing that works really well Plus, you know, that's just a wonderful scene because love My wife watch this movie with me I talked her into watching it and she did particularly think that was a funny part of the film And this is the thing like she didn't she would not like the first two evil dead films But she kind of enjoyed this one because it doesn't feel much like horror really because it's more of like a Comedy action film more than anything. There's horror to it. Obviously. Yes, but it's more comedy action Ash just wants to go back to normal but ends up realizing he has no choice But to be the hero that he never wanted to be That's that whole issue of him fighting with his internal struggle of I just want to be a normal person But then eventually understanding that this is my destiny if nobody else if I don't do this Nobody else is gonna do this. I need to take care of these deadites I'm the only person who can do this right now and he fights against that initially when he says I just want to go home, but then he comes back and it's just like yeah, you know what? I'm gonna be the hero showing that he's complicated. He's not a straight-up hero. He's You know fighting between wanting to just be a normal dude and accepting this mantle of being this legend All the skeleton effects in this I love I think they're awesome Even though they're old at this part at this point. They just still look fun to me anything. That's like physical you can touch Well, the people making it could actually touch. I like as opposed to CG Notice real quick There's a Fangoria magazine in the trunk of Ash's car when he's getting in there to like get everything out because He's gonna use science to win the battle, which I thought was a fun quote where he was talking about The modified car is epic. I love the shots of it going through with that giant The blades on the front just like Knocking apart the skeletons and just like causing carnage. That's a lot of fun I love when they have that scene showing you that it's just like busts out and out there into the fight Which by the way real quick if people don't know there was a I'm sure it's still available There was a a game for smartphones that came out some years ago called Army of Darkness like Castle Defense or something like that Really fun game. I've like Deleted it and redownloaded it to play it all over again numerous times over the past many years Take a look for it. It's actually pretty fun. It's very army of darkness The castle siege is a pretty long sequence now I think part of that is I was watching the director's cut so there's extra footage added so for the director's cut It's a long sequence. I think still for the regular the theatrical cut It is a long sequence and I kind of wish they would have cut it down a little bit because they don't need all that fighting, but you know personal preference Nothing brings warring factions together like a common enemy. This is a very good point You know, this is in real life and this is in film all the time I'm talking about at the end where the people who ashes with Decide to drop their swords and be friends with Henry the red and his folks because they showed up to help out and prior to Then they're there were warring factions, but like I said, you know, nothing brings enemies together like another common enemy It works The theatrical endings. Okay, so the theatrical ending like I was saying is my favorite Obviously, that's the one where he's at S Mart and the deadite shows up and it's more like modern times He made it back and he's telling his story And then he has to fight the deadite. I love that ending. I think that's a great ending now in this director's cut The ending is he accidentally takes too many drops of that Sleeping potion that he was given and he wakes he goes past his time and he wakes up in like a post-apocalyptic Area where you know buildings are you just see like the backdrop of like buildings are just destroyed and he's just like no And that's where they end it. I don't like that ending. I think it's dumb I think the S Mart one is way more fun way more interesting for setting things up for the show eventually, but they thought they were gonna do films, but The typical Raimi styles on display in this, you know with the skewed angles with a lot of really close-up shots on faces I love that type of directing But it actually does feel like there's less of that than there were in the first two films And I think maybe part of that is he was you know, Raimi's Changing his style a little bit more becoming more of like big studio cinema Style and I feel like that's where he gets to when he's doing like the spider-man movies that he ended up doing so, you know people change over time and style changes over time and then the last thing I wanted to say is that Just like yesterday, I think when I'm recording this there was an announcement that there is going to be another Evil Dead film and it is going to be called Evil Dead Rise At least at the moment. That's what it's gonna be called and apparently they're moving it to a new setting It's gonna be in a city. So deadites coming to a city now. This is something that Bruce Campbell has talked about I'm not sure Raimi's talked about it yet But Bruce Campbell has so I don't know if that means that Bruce Campbell is gonna be in it necessarily or he's just maybe producing it again or Involved in writing. I don't know at this point. There aren't a whole lot of details But I do like the idea of deadites in a city. It's very new and I feel like they could do a lot with that So anyway, that's those are kind of my feelings now. I need to give it a rating So like I said, I don't like it as much as the first one. I don't like it as much as the second one So I think it's still a good film for what it is I'm gonna give it three stars three out of five stars with that's with half stars and play as you know So yeah, put your comments down here Once again, I know there are people out there who just are in love with army of darkness This is not a knock against you. This is just my personal opinion that over time I've not loved it as much anymore So but feel free to tell me your feelings on it So put a comment down there and do me a very quick favor hit that subscribe button If you like any reviews that I've ever done any videos on here That is your best way to repay me because I'm not making money doing this or anything I'm just doing it for fun and doing it for the viewers out there So if you could do me that solid and hit that subscribe button I would greatly appreciate that and then if you are gonna do that also hit the Notification bell because then that way, you know, whenever I'm putting up new reviews or doing live streams or any of that stuff So regardless, thanks for taking your time to watch this Keep your eye open for my review of ash versus evil dead Which may take a little extra time because I got to watch through all three seasons And then I think I'm also going to delve into the remake the evil dead remake that was done in 2013 into a review of that as well I also have a playlist on the channel at the moment for all these evil dead reviews So yeah, but anyway, thanks for checking this out and until next time keep it brutal