Aja on 31/3/2009 at 23:13
So I was watching behind the scenes on the Next Generation season 2 DVD and they were interviewing the props department, and the woman was like "oh we just found some hair curlers and painted them grey and ta-da, Starbase 317" aw, maaaan, now everytime I see Starbase 317 I can tell it's made of hair-curlers. And now I notice that the walls on the Borg cube are all made from the same mould. And that the bottles in Quark's bar were all found in a flea-market (a boring EARTH flea market :( )
This is my problem with DVD extras: they ruin what little suspension of disbelief we can muster.
Angel Dust on 31/3/2009 at 23:19
I think if your disbelief can be shattered by a little making of documentary I don't think the film/show was doing the best job of helping you suspend your disbelief in the first place. I mean I've watched all the behind-the-scene footage I could get a hold of for 'The Terminator' for example but I get so wrapped up in the characters/story/action that I'm not thinking about how they did it anymore.
Scots Taffer on 31/3/2009 at 23:44
Entirely dependent on the movie and the quality of the extras.
The problem with extras is that every DVD feels obliged to have them nowadays even if they have nothing meaningful to add to the movie experience or behind the scenes intrigue - a lot of them are a few cast and crew just chatting about "ha I remember this scene... it's great".
I also pretty much never watch the commentaries for TV shows, they are criminally bad for this. Even some of my favourites, Six Feet Under and Arrested Development have some terrible commentary tracks.
Also how about a special feature to skip that unskippable junk am i rite fellas
Tocky on 1/4/2009 at 04:07
I really enjoyed the commentary for Conan the Barbarian by Arnold and the director. Funny and informative stuff. I particularly liked the deleted scene where Arnold was originally caught by the dogs chasing him too. A lot of people went gung ho on that movie and were seriously injured in the process.
TBE on 1/4/2009 at 04:54
pointless photo deleted.
Matthew on 1/4/2009 at 10:20
Quote Posted by Yell Piranha
Considering how much of a sucker I am for the 2 disc special edition I rarely watch the extras.
I have a tendency to do this too.
Queue on 1/4/2009 at 13:09
For the most part, it seems that special features have evolved into a quagmire of utter crap for the general releases. Staged "gag-reels" and a deleted scene of Owen Wilson actually being funny. Joy. So, usually, I don't bother wasting my time clicking over to any of the features (it's a hard enough battle just to get past all the damned commercials and previews). Nor will I buy a DVD because of the special features; unless it's a director (Gilliam, Herzog, the Coens), "important" film (Clerks, Barton Fink), TV series (Black Adder, Twilight Zone, Flying Circus) that I truly admire. Plus, listening to Gilliam's voiceover during his films are a hoot.
I do pay close attention to the special features from the films released on the Criterion Collection, most of the releases from Kino Video (loved all the SFs for the Fritz Lang Silent Epic box-set), and documentaries as there is always something interesting.
So I guess, for me, it comes down to who is making the film, the film itself, and who is releasing the DVD. If these are of quality, than usually the special features are worth giving a whirl.
Other than that, no thanks.
Invader Zim fucking rules...
henke on 1/4/2009 at 15:32
Yes, I usually watch Special Features, commentary-tracks not so much.
Favourite special features:
Natural Born Killers - A bunch of great deleted scenes with intros by Oliver Stone. The pick of the litter is defenitely (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vVlRP6kSPQ) the alternate ending. In hindsight, knowing that there never was a sequel, I wish they'd gone with this ending.
Wonder Boys - Just listening to Curtis Hanson ramble on about the movie is fun.
Magnolia - bunch of great stuff on this one, best of all is (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiQRNM5f-ho) the blooper-reel. Most of P.T. Anderson's movies have good bonus features actually.
Quote Posted by Queue
listening to Gilliam's voiceover during his films are a hoot.
Thanks for the tip! I normally don't listen to voice-over's but I'll turn it on next time I'm watching Fear and Loathing. :)
Kolya on 1/4/2009 at 16:19
This is lacking an option: "The rip didn't include special features. Or ads. Or previews."
fett on 1/4/2009 at 16:20
The LOTR extras were almost better than the movies themselves.
