Fans Complain That ‘Shaun of the Dead’s Latest Release Has Been ‘George Lucas-ed’
The greatest zombie movie to feature weaponized Sade albums, Shaun of the Dead, marked its 20th anniversary last year. In addition to making a lot of people feel super-old, this milestone also meant that we got a new “remastered” version of the film, which was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray this past December.
While the film is mostly identical to the version that came out in 2004, director Edgar Wright did subtly tinker with one memorable scene. In the original film, Shaun visits his local shop for a soda and a Cornetto ice cream cone, and is completely oblivious to the apocalyptic carnage around him. After failing to notice two bloody handprints on the cooler, he slips on what we can only assume is a puddle of blood.
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Of course, we don’t actually see the blood that he slips on, because it’s not really necessary. But now, in the remastered edition, that scene has been digitally altered to include the hazardous blood, thus preserving the realism of a movie that co-stars hordes of flesh-eating ghouls.
But not everyone is happy about the change. When the new edit played in theaters last fall, fans on Reddit complained that Wright “George Lucas-ed” the movie, and arguably made the joke less funny by showing the blood on the floor before we see the slip.
This is an especially surprising development considering that Shaun himself, Simon Pegg, has repeatedly complained about Lucas’ changes to the Star Wars trilogy, once claiming that he “ruined” the films with his CGI meddling, and adding, “I’m kind of a purist as is very well known. I just wish he’d leave them alone.”
In Wright’s defense, the CGI blood is a pretty minor change, and a far cry from whatever the hell this is:
Unlike Lucas, Wright has claimed that he made the alteration, not to satisfy his own decades-old vision, but to appease those fans who have called attention to the continuity error. Addressing one such comment on Letterboxd last year, Wright teased that the new cut would feature an “Easter egg,” but he stressed that it was “not quite like the Star Wars special edition.”
In a Q&A following a screening of the remastered version, Wright said that he decided to “fix just one thing.” But when he told Pegg about the idea, the actor pointed out that this would just create a new continuity error, suggesting to the director, “But then you should put it on his shoes as well.”
“For the 30th anniversary, he’ll have blood on his soles,” Wright joked.
Why not throw in some dewbacks and walkie-talkies while you’re at it?
