Premieres
What follows is a list of premiere dates and certificates from as
many countries as I could find;
Dates
Certificates
USA:
19 January
1993
USA:
R
UK:
22 April
1993
UK:
15
Spain:
30 July
1993
Spain:
18
France:
5 January
1994
France:
12
Portugal:
February
1993
Australia:
M
Sweden:
15
Norway:
15
Finland:
K-16
Germany:
16
The 1993 Portugese
premiere was as the Fantasporto Film Festival
where Sam Raimi won the Critics Award for best movie.
Versions
There has been a raging debate about the various versions of the
movie ever since it's release for home viewing. Not only was there
a difference in the endings but also general differences
in certain scenes throughout the film. The list that follows will
compare the UK/US versions with the Australian and the infamous
Japanese 'Captain Supermarket' versions.
This table shows
the differences between the Australia, Japan and UK versions before
the introduction of the Special Edition DVDs in the States. This
table shows the scenes added to the UK, Japan, Australian release
not included in the US theatrical cut:
A
shot is included during the pit scene: Ash decapitates the female
deadite and a shot of black blood splashes on the wall.
Ash
and Shiela make love (tastefully) in front of the fire on a bearskin
rug. Then there's another shot on the tower: as Ash looks out
over the field, Shiela comes up to him, and places a blue cloak
on his back, they then kiss.
Lengthened
scene as Ash enters the windmill. Re-edited, shortened Little
Ash torture sequence, missing most of the music.
Instead
of "Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun," Ash says "I
ain't that good".
Ash's
return to the castle is scored with "The Forest of the Dead"
in the regular cut; here it is unscored.
Scene
featuring back and forth camera movement as Arthur's men, featuring
Ivan Raimi, argue about staying at the castle.
Extended
speech by Ash to the castles people.
Ash
encourages the troops on the stairs to the parapet: "I know
you're scared; we're all scared, but that doesn't mean we're cowards!
We can take these Deadites, we can take 'em!.....With science."
Extended "Building the Deathcoaster" sequence that includes
the complete music cue.
Evilash
asks his scout for a looking glass to attempt to fix his hair,
before tossing it away.
Ash
runs up a spiral staircase which is open on the back wall before
viewind the army's approach on the tower. This effect was achieved
through camera movement rather than cutting, as in the regular
print.
Henry
the Red's army has a different fanfare, based on the deleted theme
from "The Deathcoaster," as it appears on the album.
The
alternate ending is included as a bonus after the end credits
on the VHS PAL video version (for anybody who still has it!)
The original
US version was devoid of the above featuring only the S-Mart ending.
In the UK the cinema release featured the above plus the S-Mart
ending. The UK video rental and first sell-through releases were
altered to the 'Apocalypse' ending. In 1997 a video version was
released in the UK that featured both endings - one after another.
Now thanks to DVD you can watch both versions of the film AND an
extended director's cut