Talk:Army of Darkness

Plot Edits

I put some information about the director's cut ending in the plot area, because it's still part of the plot.

Sheila is not Arthur's daughter as expressed in the plot section. The only reference to her family in the movie is when Arthur returns to the castle Sheila asked Arthur where her brother was only to find out that he was killed by Henry's men. She then takes out her anger on A chained Ash. Someone needs to fix that. It's insulting to the people who are fans of the trilogy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jasonk1216 (talk • contribs) 23:00, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Disputed text

Army of Darkness did not earn a lot of money at the box office, however, and Raimi has been unable to find funding for a new Evil Dead movie. There have been rumors of a movie staring Bruce Campbell's character in the Evil Dead films starring in a sequel to Freddy vs. Jason, referred to as Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash. Both Raimi and Campbell have expressed interest in another Evil Dead film.

This is in dispute: see Talk:The Evil Dead

Edit Request

From what I've read in other movie articles here, it would be keeping with Wikipedia standards for someone (a better writer than me) to add a little blurb about how the ending of Evil Dead II and the begining of Army of Darkness don't exactly match up and what budget/director/producer/studio forces led to this small inconsistancy.

Wiki Tiki God 15:31, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Also -- and I'm not positive on this -- but I think the version I saw had a different ending: Ash drinks the potion but messes up his counting and ends up sleeping for too long. Is that just an 'alternate' ending, or is the article in need of an update? 207.216.10.54 (talk) 01:09, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Kind of weird to resurrect a 6-year old thread, but alright. In any event, see "Unsourced Material" below. I believe it's the newest thread. Doniago (talk) 15:37, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

Category:Time travel films

Re: [1]. No, the "beginning and ending" of the film do not contain time travel. The beginning does, in the recap. The ending, in all versions, has no time travel; Ash is returned to his native time period after ingesting a sleeping potion. Other than one scene in the entire film, time travel plays no important role in the story; it's not at all a meaningful aspect of the film, it's strictly a means to an end. As such, I don't believe that this category should be included here.--SB | T 06:35, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Time travel is not incidental to the film, it is the primary objective of the main character. Time travel brought him to a mythical past and brought him back in the end. If this does not consitute a time travel film, then what does? How is this different from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court? Abisai 06:20, 17 June 2006

Time travel doesn't occur in the alternate end of the film, Ash just sleeps for a very long time, not really time travel! Alastairward 09:24, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Again, how is this different from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court? A man awakens in the past and sleeps back into the future. Both plots feature this. One is considered the first instance of fictional time travel according to Wikipedia. The other was removed from the list of time travel films. I do not comprehend this distinction.Abisai 11:25, 20 June 2006

Time travel is important to the plot of the three films, if Ash didn't go back in time to seize the Necronomicon, how else would he be featured in it? (I agree, its a time travel film) Alastairward 18:55, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

It's definitely a time travel movie. The ending is time travel, though the alternative ending is definitely not. In the alternative ending Ash has to swallow six drops of the juice to sleep six centuries and awaken in his own time. In the happy ending he has to swallow the juice and recite the magical words exactly to awaken in his own time (a bit ambiguous, I guess the line was taken verbatim from the other ending), though his retelling of the story suggests he just "appeared" in his own time and that his failure to recite the words properly is the cause of the "she-bitch" appearing in S-Mart.

That the entire premise of the movie is that Ash travels through time into the past and introduces modern aspects into a medieval setting makes this rather obviously a time-travel movie (see the Yankee note above). Of course it's also a fantasy/horror movie because of the legion of the undead, but it's supposed to be a historical setting within the alternative universe the prequels established (i.e. where the undead are very real indeed). — Ashmodai ^{(talk · contribs)} 13:34, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, pretty much what everyone here said. The important aspect of time travel fiction is not the depiction of the time travel method, rather it is the presence of the character in a non-naturally occuring time period. JHG 03:18, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Fantasy

On TV they said it was a Fantasy movie. 216.174.135.175 19:27, 8 January 2007 (UTC)jamhaw

So?--SUIT⁴² 05:47, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, and Raimi and Campbell admit that it's more action-adventure than horror. I agree. But that doesn't stop all sorts of people (apparently people who have seen about a total of 4 horror films) from calling Army of Darkness one of their favorite horror films. What are ya gonna do? Suggest Evil Dead 1 or 2 and move on.

The story obviously took a lot from the lord of the rings. 75.5.100.86 (talk) 12:38, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Also known as

Where the hell do all those alternate names come from? 199.126.137.209 08:08, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Comics

Anyone fancy starting a new section for the comics? It'll get a lot of heat thanks to the Marvel crossover and people will be interested in fidning out more about the others. Army of Darkness (comics) seems appropriate. (Emperor 22:41, 24 February 2007 (UTC))

Non-POV?

Isn't this article in violation of Wikipedia's non-POV requirement for article entries? The whole page reads like one long advertisement for the mega-corporation S-Mart and its fiscal conglomerates. --Teetotaler

What are you talking about?--$UIT 05:21, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

What am I talking about? Notice how the article mentions S-Mart over and over? In fact, the films original conclusion has Ash ending up in the future, but because of corporate pressure from Holywood and S-Mart, the Raimi brothers were forced to change the film's ending so that Ash winds up working at S-Mart. I know S-Mart's CEO has denied these allegations, but one need not look much further than this article to realize the insidiousness of their marketing strategy and capitalist ploy. Does the phrase Manufacturing Consent help one to realize the pervasiveness of corporatism and pecuniary interest? In light of these undeniable facts, one ought to reread and edit this article with caution so that it reads less like an advertisement for S-Mart than an entry on a movie which makes the stories of Edgar Allen Poe seem as unterrifying and dauntless as the US government. --Teetotaler 20 May 2007

The original ending was too depressing for me. Glad they changed it. And so what if he ended back in S-Mart? I always believed it was to lead the audience to think that either: A:Everything's back to normal or B:Everything may have been a dream-up untillthe deadite shows up.JackorKnave (talk) 20:57, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Release date?

intro says 1992, but infobox says 93. Which is it? Murderbike 04:47, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

-- same here. IMDb ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106308/releaseinfo ) says the movie was released in 1992, it's only the wide release that came in 1993 (and that in the US, Taiwan got it's wide release already in 1992). Have a copy of the MGM R3 version at my hands right now and the copyright in the end credits says clearly "Copyright (C) 1992 DINO DE LAURENTIIS COMMUNICATIONS". Hence it ought to be "1992", not "1993". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.119.186.5 (talk) 14:11, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Robotic hand?

Was it really "robotic"? Or was it simple wires running down his arm? So when he extends his arm or twists his arm it pulls on wires which are connected to the fingers, closing/opening them?

-G —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.117.158.83 (talk) 02:50, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Ben Croshaw

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw said this was his favourite film. He wrote the most positive review about it he ever made. Perhaps worth noticing? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.89.108.51 (talk) 14:53, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

In Popular culture

Wikipedia discourages these kinds of lists of trivia so I've moved this section until it can be converted to prose and properly cited.--J.D. (talk) 19:50, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Army of Darkness has garnered a cult following since its release. Most of the traits and dialogue that the character of Ash is known for in pop culture derive from this film as opposed to the first two (The exceptions being the chainsaw hand and use of the word "Groovy" which derive from the second film). Among other things, the one-liners Ash speaks are often quoted by fans, and have made their way into other media. For example, in the PC game Duke Nukem 3D, the title character Duke Nukem has several direct quotes from the movie throughout the game, such as "Hail to the king, baby!", and is also reportedly inspired (at least partially) by the character of Ash. Campbell did not entirely approve according to interviews on the subject. The Finnish rock band Lordi has a song entitled "The Deadite Girls Gone Wild," which may or may not be a reference to the film. Also, the video for "Blood Red Sandman" appears to be a deliberate Evil Dead reference. The song "Dead by Dawn" by Showbread, which was written about the Evil Dead series, quotes Ash's line, "Hail to the king, baby!" The popular internet writer Maddox had a tribute on his site to this movie. The Boston-based horror-rock band Bad Ash takes its name from this film.

• The magic words Ash must use to claim the Book of the Dead are "Clatto Verata Nicto" - a reference to "Klaatu, Barada, Nikto", the words used to command the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

• "Hail to the king, baby." can be heard In the video game Twisted Metal 4 as sound your custom car can make
• In the acoustic version of the song "Junesong Provision" found on Coheed and Cambria's Delirium Trigger EP, the line "All right you primitive screwheads, listen up! See this?! This... is my boomstick!" is played during the intro.
• In the MMORPG Guild Wars a quest is based on when Ash finds the Book of the Dead and raises an undead army by an accident.
• The Stiletto Formal named their second EP This Is My Boomstick after the line from the film.
• In the video game Blood, Caleb states "I live...again!" at the start of the game when his tomb opens.
• In the video game Blood, Caleb states "Good..Bad...I'm the one with the Gun.", "You're pissing me off, you ugly son of a bitch!" and "Give me some Sugar, baby".
• In the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, the rifleman unit delivers the line, "This... is my boomstick!" if clicked continuously. Also, when the mountain king hero unit is created, it delivers the line, "Alright. Who wants some?"
• In the video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, a half-dead necromancer says "I live...again" upon having his hand rejoined to him and becoming an evil spirit.
• In True Crime: Streets of LA, when a shotgun is equipped Nick Kang yells: "You see this?! This... is my boomstick!"
• Dance music producer Scott Brown sampled the boomstick scene for his massive UK hardcore track "boomstick"
• The Cyberpunk 2020 GM's Guide is titled "Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!"
• Pop-Punk band The Gamits titled their first EP This is my Boomstick!.
• Thrash Punk band Common Enemy released a 7" entitled Groovy in which all four songs are based on the Evil Dead series.
• In the weekly video-game review series, Zero Punctuation, Ben Croshaw describes it as "A glorious celebration of boyish fantasy violence."
• Also in the video game World of Warcraft, the Dwarven race saying "This is my Boomstick!" when you type /silly repeatedly.
• In the video game Army of Two, if you kill 250 enemies with the shotgun you get the achievement "This Is My Boomstick."
• In Strapping Young Lad's music video for their hit song "Love?", the entire video is Evil Dead-themed, including a solo being playing by a possessed hand and a chainsaw dripping blood.
• Ska-Metal band from Massachusetts named Skarmy Of Darkness.
• In the video game Mass Effect, your teammate Ashley Williams can be heard saying "Nothing like a nice, relaxing stroll on the beach...blasting bad guys with my boomstick!"
• The phrase "It's a trick. Get an axe." could be read at the bottom of the Friend Game page on Facebook.
• The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy features a recurring character, Hoss Delgado (played by Diedrich Bader), who is a parody of both Evil Dead's Ash Williams and Snake Plissken of Escape From New York.

References

Journal of Popular Culture

This could be a worthwhile replacement for the trivia above that was removed:

• Wilson, D. Harlan (2008). "Schizosophy of the Medieval Dead: Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness". The Journal of Popular Culture. 41 (3): 509–535. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2008.00533.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Hope it helps! —Erik (talk • contrib) - 16:38, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Critical analysis of medieval elements

• Grindley, Carl James (2006). "Arms and the Man: The Curious Inaccuracy of Medieval Arms and Armor in Contemporary Film". Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies. 36 (1): 14–19.

The above article has this passage:

It is irresponsible to discuss comedic takes on the Middle Ages without mentioning the seminal work of cult director Sam Raimi. His classic film, The Army of Darkness, like so many other films, contains scenes set in a generic Arthurian milieu. Although not identified by name in the film, the local lord is named Arthur, who possesses an important albeit short-lived sword, and there is an unidentified wizard (named Wiseman John in the script) replete with pointed hat, robes, and long white beard. Regardless of Twain-esque in-jokes, Army of Darkness' armor presents a genuinely acceptable vision of medieval arms and armor. In one of the film’s earliest scenes, where the picaresque protagonist Ash—played by Bruce Campbell—confronts Lord Arthur's men, there is a plethora of bland and realistic armors, and they are treated as absolutely mundane objects by Bruce Campbell’s character. Indeed, Campbell's anti-hero disregards the film's armored reality entirely. The film's costuming appears to be functional and, in many ways, serves as a counterpoint to the work’s more fantastic elements.

I'll see what else I can find. —Erik (talk • contrib) - 16:59, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Awesome, thanks! I'm going to see if I can track down the issue of Cinefantastique that had quite a sizable article(s) on the film.--J.D. (talk) 01:20, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Additional resources

• Cairns, Bryan L (2002). "The reigning masters of the macabre". Cinefantastique. 34 (6): 22–31. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

A feature overview of some of the key players in the horror genre. Includes a short profile of Bruce Campbell and a two page feature on some of his roles, focusing particularly on the EVIL DEAD trilogy.

• Jankiewicz, Pat (1994). "Graveyard shift". StarBurst. Spec. (19): 25–27. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Interview with Bill Mesa of Introvision who is overseeing the animation for EVIL DEAD III: ARMY OF DARKNESS and also about his work on DARKMAN, OUTLAND, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER etc.

• Dean, Peter (1993). "Wind up". Sight & Sound. 3 (12): 62. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

The ending of ARMY OF DARKNESS was changed for the video release.

• Newman, Kim (1993). "(untitled)". Sight & Sound. 3 (6): 46–47. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Jankiewicz, Pat (1993). "Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness". StarBurst (177): 13–18. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Interview with Sam Raimi on his aims for ARMY OF DARKNESS: EVIL DEAD 3. He also talks about writers and films which have influenced him.

• Bacal, Simon (1993). "Hellish Creations". StarBurst. Spec. (15): 60–62. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Interview with Howard Berger about the make-up used in ARMY OF DARKNESS, JASON GOES TO HELL, DOPPELGANGER.

• Biodrowski, Steve (1993). "Sam Raimi's Evil Dead III". Cinefantastique. 23 (5): 14–15. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Sam Raimi talks about difficulties making ARMY OF DARKNESS.

• Uram, Sue (1992). "Sam Raimi's Evil Dead III". Cinefantastique. 23 (2/3): 28–31. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Bruce Campbell talks about making EVIL DEAD III and its post-production problems, as well as his acting.

• Biodrowski, Steve (1992). "Army of Darkness". Cinefantastique. 23 (1): 24–53. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Extensive piece on ARMY OF DARKNESS, featuring comments from Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi and other crew members, plus a look at production design and the making of the first two EVIL DEAD films.

• Biodrowski, Steve (1992). "Sam Raimi's Evil Dead III". Cinefantastique. 22 (5): 4–5. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Cast and crew talk about making ARMY OF DARKNESS.

• Uram, Sue (1992). "Army of Darkness: Evil Dead III". Cinefantastique. 22 (5): 41. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

On the making of ARMY OF DARKNESS.

• King, Andrea (1991). "Uni warding off 'Evil' from 'Army' with Raimi film". The Hollywood Reporter. 319 (41): 6. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

'Army of Darkness' to be called 'Army of Darkness: Evil Dead 3' outside United States and Canada. Post-production de- tails.

• Jones, Alan (1991). "Darkman cometh Sam Raimi". StarBurst (149): 22–25. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Sam Raimi is interviewed about DARKMAN, his appearance in other films, the possibility of a sequel, and EVIL DEAD 3 - ARMY OF DARKNESS.

• Uram, Sue (1989). "Darkman & Evil Dead III: more horror from Detroit-based...". Cinefantastique. 19 (5): 11. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Outline of Raimi's future plans with commnet on DARKMAN and EVIL DEAD III.

Some resources retrieved through Film Index International. —Erik (talk • contrib) - 13:10, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Nice list. I have access to: *Biodrowski, Steve (1992). "Army of Darkness". Cinefantastique. 23 (1): 24–53. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) but it would be nice to get those others to help with this article.--J.D. (talk) 22:57, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Unsourced Material

Removed from the article for lacking sourcing for over 3 months. Please feel free to reincorporate with proper sourcing! Doniago (talk) 17:09, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

Apparently this information was reinserted at some point, but the only change was IMDb being used as a reference. This isn't acceptable per WP:RS/IMDb. Doniago (talk) 14:53, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Different versions

==Different versions== There are four different versions of Army of Darkness: the 96-minute director's cut, the 81-minute US theatrical version, the 88-minute international edit, and the 88-minute US television version. The director's cut includes numerous new scenes and extensions compared to the US theatrical version. Among the changes are more violence in the pit, a love scene between Ash and Sheila, an extended windmill scene, different dialogue between Good and Bad Ash, an extended speech on the castle roof and a vastly different ending. The television version (which is not available on DVD) includes two scenes not in any other version of the film (though they do appear in rough cut form in the "Deleted Scenes" section of the DVD.) The theatrical release picks up after Ash has returned to the present, in which he stages one final confrontation with the "she-bitch" in the S-Mart Housewares Department. The alternative ending, which was favored by Raimi and Bruce Campbell, depicts Ash as he sits in his Oldsmobile (the same 1973 Oldsmobile featured in many Sam Raimi films), in a cave, the entrance caved in by some of the black powder he made earlier. As he drinks the magic potion (given to him by a person that may or may not be Merlin - the king's name being "Arthur"), he is distracted by a falling rock and takes one drop too many. Ash sleeps well beyond his time, not aging but growing a very large beard, and shouts "I've slept too long!" after awakening in a post-apocalyptic England. When test audiences did not approve of Raimi's original ending, he cut the film down to the international cut that now exists on DVD. When it was again rejected by Universal, Raimi was forced to edit it again to the US theatrical version. The original cut had an opening that was more in tune with the Evil Dead series (included as a deleted scene on Anchor Bay's director's cut DVD). The MGM Hong Kong Region 3 DVD edits together the US altered theatrical, European and director's cuts into a final, 96-minute cut of the film. The film is digitally re-mastered, compiled from original source prints (not from VHS sources as with the Anchor Bay Entertainment releases). A new Blu-ray release of Army of Darkness from Optimum Releasing in the UK was rumored to be of the director's cut, however it was released on September 19, 2008 and included the director's cut as an extra, in standard definition. The movie was released as Bruce Campbell vs Army of Darkness for the UK Blu-ray release.

Also known as

There's an edit war going on with the lead sentence, which says "Army of Darkness, also known as...", and then gives several alternate titles. A few editors have been going back and forth for a while now about exactly what the alternate titles are, and also in what order they should be listed. So, let's discuss that here, and reach some agreement about this. What alternative titles should be listed, and why? This being Wikipedia, it would be better if anyone giving their opinion could provide some references. Thanks. — Mudwater ^(Talk) 13:15, 16 January 2012 (UTC)

I propose listing the titles for which a reliable source can be provided. After that, we can either go in alphabetical order or somehow prioritize them based on the level of sourcing available I suppose. Doniago (talk) 19:50, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

Sequel not happening.

Noticed the Wiki article says he confirmed it at Wonder-con but he later denied any sequel at later time in November 2013 while now he claims he originally lied at Wonder-con since he was possibly doing it to be sarcastic. Anyway here's the new link http://screenrant.com/bruce-campbell-army-darkness-2-not-happening/ also the link includes a video as proof too here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzMjP7cE6S0 which is also included on the first website link I posted. --Ronnie42 (talk) 23:54, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Alternative titles

It seems that the alternative titles from what I can decipher are based on the following: Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness is the title that appears onscreen during the opening credits. ([2] and [3] ). I'm not sure how formally we should make this as the title as its definitely appears there, but I think we need to explain that elsewhere, not in the lead. As for the other title, I have yet to find context, without it, these alternative titles are not so useful to users. Andrzejbanas (talk) 01:36, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

Needs to be clearer

It is hard to follow a lot of this; if you can't tell what it's saying, why bother at all? But mostly, what about the part where the mirror shatters and "forms numerous small images of him, each one of which comes alive". Who is "him"? And this makes it sound like dozens of tiny, or large, reflections coming to life, but then it says "he kills it" and then later refers again to "his clone". Maybe this is talking about somethin else entirely, but either way, to a person who has never seen the film it makes no sense. A mirror breaking into pieces suggests numerous images, so why bother if just one "clone" comes out? Why "him" if there are many clones? Etc. 70.109.132.119 (talk) 06:45, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

Not based on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Somebody doesn't know what "based on" means. Sterlingjones (talk) 18:24, 23 March 2022 (UTC)

Eddsworld

“Who said anything about 3 books!?” - matt Add Eddsworld Zombeh Attack 2 to Other Media please 2603:6010:2100:D7C6:94BD:1437:B9C1:2834 (talk) 23:07, 13 September 2024 (UTC)

I'd like to assist you, but I don't understand your request. Can you rephrase it? DonIago (talk) 02:24, 14 September 2024 (UTC)