"Army of Darkness" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Old Guy]

Writer & Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell
Genres: Horror-Comedy/Dark Comedy
Running Time: 1 hr. 21 min.
Release Date: February 19, 1993
MPAA Rating: R
Distributors: Universal Pictures Distribution, Dino De Laurentiis Communications

Summary: Ash goes through a time warp and finds himself in England in the 1300s. With fighting going on all around him, he must locate the Book of the Dead in order to return to the present day.

[Old Guy]

I know most people prefer Evil Dead 2, but I like this one best because it sets itself apart. Plus the comedy is top-notch.

[Hobbes829]

Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart!

[asphaltviking64]

This was the most fun to watch. Ash was so out of character but that's what made the movie. The one liners, the shots, and the story made it.

"Give me some sugar baby."

"Yeah, I could have been king, but in a way I am king, of my own time. Hail To the King Baby."

"This is my Boomstick!"

Best quotes ever.

[Michael24]

Now this is the best of the bunch, IMO. I only rented it because I had been watching The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. at the time and saw the poster art on the back of a comic book, and thought, "Oh, cool, Brisco made a movie." The first time I watched it, I thought it was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen, but I loved every second of it. The crazy camera work, the snappy one-liners, the big climactic skeleton battle, Campbell's endless charisma and physical comedy skills. This actually became a staple of "Family Movie Night" in our household for awhile. LMAO!!!

I only wish we could one day get a truly definitive DVD version. Anchor Bay's "Director's Cut" looks like crap since the restored scenes were taken from a VHS master. My friend has the Region 4 release of the "DC," and it looks very sharp and pristine throughout. I also prefer the alternate "S-Mart Ending." Despite what Bruce Campbell thinks, I didn't see why Ash should get screwed over at the very end and instead wind up in a post-apocalyptic future.

[Old Guy]

Ash was so out of character but that's what made the movie.

Ash was a constant evolving character. In the first movie he was a wuss. He was the character you expected to die first. Then, in the second movie he finally got some guts but also lost his mind every now and then. Now, in this movie he has experience with the deadites so he's a little cocky and he's also fed up so he just wants to go home.

I also prefer the alternate "S-Mart Ending." Despite what Bruce Campbell thinks, I didn't see why Ash should get screwed over at the very end and instead wind up in a post-apocalyptic future.

Both endings work in my opinion. The S-Mart ending works perfectly as a finale to the series. The cave ending, however, was great as a set-up to a fourth movie but since that ain't happening I guess the S-Mart ending is my choice.

[Temple Fugate]

I agree, the S-Mart ending is fantastic. One of the best scenes in the entire movie. However, I like the idea of ending every film with Ash still in an unfortunate situation. You could theoretically have an endless series of films using this premise...though it would undoubtedly get stale after a while.

Even the video games and Dynamite AoD comics never let Ash have a good ending for long. He's just a character who is destined to be screwed fighting Deadites for eternity.

[Michael24]

The cave ending, however, was great as a set-up to a fourth movie but since that ain't happening I guess the S-Mart ending is my choice.

Have you read the Freddy vs Jason vs Ash comic that was based on the unused screenplay? I read the Trade Paperback when it came out and thought Sam Raimi made a bad choice in not letting them use Ash for the FvJ sequel. I'm sure it was condensed somewhat to fit a six-issue mini-series, but otherwise I thought it would have made a really fun little flick that brought Ash back to the big screen. I don't think Raimi had anything to worry about Ash being used improperly; Bruce Campbell could have kept an eye on that, especially since he was open to the idea from the get-go.

Though I would have preferred a different title, like Freddy vs Jason: Hail To The King or something like that.

[AlphaPrime]

Have you read the Freddy vs Jason vs Ash comic that was based on the unused screenplay? I read the Trade Paperback when it came out and thought Sam Raimi made a bad choice in not letting them use Ash for the FvJ sequel. I'm sure it was condensed somewhat to fit a six-issue mini-series, but otherwise I thought it would have made a really fun little flick that brought Ash back to the big screen. I don't think Raimi had anything to worry about Ash being used improperly; Bruce Campbell could have kept an eye on that, especially since he was open to the idea from the get-go.

Though I would have preferred a different title, like Freddy vs Jason: Hail To The King or something like that.

I read it, twas groovy hehe, and yeah your title sounds cooler.

So its Raimi's fault that FVJVA didn't get made?

[Michael24]

So its Raimi's fault that FVJVA didn't get made?

From what I could tell, yes. They had talks for awhile, but then basically Raimi decided it "wouldn't be fair" to tell another director what he could and couldn't do with Ash. Which doesn't make much sense to me, since all he'd have to do is read the script and have them change anything he didn't like. And like I said, I think Ash is just as much Bruce Campbell's character as Raimi's, so I think it would have been in safe hands. It's not like they had planned to kill Ash or anything.

There are some moments in the comic that I would just love to see in action, particularly the scene where Freddy attacks Ash in the dream world and the big final battle on Crystal Lake.

[Old Guy]

If memory serves me well the idea was scrapped because Raimi had plans on doing an Evil Dead remake instead. Which, of course, never happened.