Given the billions of dollars brought in by DVD in recent years, it’s no wonder studios happily spend millions making and promoting the shiny silver discs.
In fact, DVD costs (and future revenues) are now regularly factored into a feature’s production, and many technologically savvy filmmakers consider DVDs not as an afterthought but as the final step of the filmmaking process.
With sterling sound and a sharp picture the norm, it’s the special features that distinguish a great DVD from a merely OK one.
The best DVD supplements cast a film in an entirely new light, and an illuminating and intelligent commentary track can be more effective than several discs of making-of footage.
That said, there are some multidisc sets that comprise this year’s 10 best DVDs, but there are a few surprises as well.
Even an obscure or overlooked film can score big on the small screen.
1. “Black Hawk Down: Deluxe Edition” (Columbia TriStar): Ridley Scott’s chronicle of the 1993 Somalia tragedy cried out for more context, which these three discs thankfully provide. Disc three includes a pair of excellent documentaries on the military disaster itself, while disc two covers the shoot in great detail. But disc one contains three riveting commentary tracks, one from Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, one from screenwriter Ken Nolan and “Black Hawk Down” author Mark Bowden, and the last from actual Rangers who recount their horrifying firsthand experiences in Mogadishu. It took nearly 10 years for the lessons of Somalia to sink in. Thanks to this generous, informative and tasteful set, maybe a consensus on Scott’s ambiguous and uncomfortably received epic will come sooner.
2. “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (Criterion): Terry Gilliam’s ambitious flop gets the four-star treatment on DVD. Of course, Gilliam has a lot to say about his pet project on his commentary track, as do stars Benicio Del Toro and Johnny Depp (the latter of whom inadvertently reveals, per Bill Murray’s warning, that once you start speaking like Hunter S. Thompson it’s hard to stop). But the best commentary track features Hunter S. Thompson himself, in all his rambling, gonzo glory. There’s also a whole disc of extensive archive material that’s sometimes more fascinating than the film itself, as well as a funny introduction filmed by Gilliam when the film became embroiled in nasty screenwriter credit dispute.
3. “The Lord of the Rings — The Two Towers: Extended Edition” (New Line): The blueprint of how to do a director’s cut justice on DVD, “The Two Towers” replicates the comprehensive, user-friendly format of the previous “Rings” special edition DVD. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — the four commentary tracks will help fans brush up before part three, while the expertly and passionately put together supplements on the extended “Two Towers” should stay fresh until New Line inevitably announces an even grander box set of all three films.
4. “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (Warner Bros.): Beautifully restored to a luminous Technicolor sheen, this swashbuckler is only one of several stellar classic movie DVDs released by Warner Bros. in 2003 — including “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” “Casablanca,” and the delightful, long-in-coming four-disc “Looney Tunes Golden Collection” — but it may be the best. The disc is classic movie bliss with plenty of pithy supplements that do justice to the film’s iconic reputation.
5. “Russian Ark” (Wellspring): A jaw-dropping achievement made even more thrilling with great anecdotes and how-did-they-do-that? trivia, “Russian Ark” seems made for DVD. Shot digitally as one uninterrupted hour-and-a-half take, the film truly benefits from the commentary and behind the scenes material, which not only reveals the revolutionary shooting techniques, but also provides some much-needed insight into Russian history.
6. “Alien Quadrilogy” (Fox): Nine discs is borderline excessive, but this special edition boxed set of all four “Alien” films is surprisingly well organized. Sure, the second two films are stinkers, even in shiny new cuts, but at least the participants in the overwhelming supplements are honest in their assessments.
7. “The Mystery of Picasso” (Image): A film about art that is itself a work of art, the classic documentary gives you a canvas-eye view of Picasso at work, at first in black and white and then suddenly and spectacularly in vivid color. Two invaluable (if academic) commentary tracks delve into Picasso’s life and technique, but the hypnotic movie works just as well as a silent installation.
8. “Straw Dogs” (Criterion): Still controversial after all these years, and oddly contemporary, too, Sam Peckinpah’s violent parable of vengeance is enhanced by some thoughtful supplements. The perceptive commentary track is calm and measured (key given the confrontational material). There are a feature length documentary, a few testimonials and Peckinpah letters responding to some of his critics.
9. “The Life of Mammals” (BBC): A captivating and beautiful compendium of awe-filled nature footage, the four-disc “Life of Mammals” offers one revelation after another. Why does a herd of elephants venture deep into the jungle late at night to a specific cave? Why does a sloth descend from the trees only once a day, always to the very same spot? Affable host David Attenborough reveals all.
10. “The Directors Label: Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Chris Cunningham” (Palm): Music videos may be the flashiest new medium of the past two decades, but the first three installments of “The Directors Series” also are the first music video collections compiled not by artist but by director. Given the wild creativity of Jonze, Gondry, and Cunningham, whose works transcend MTV, the trio deserves the star treatment. Each set comes complete with commentaries, rarities and — in the case of the Gondry set — a surreal two-part documentary about the director’s life.
