DVDs: The Super Collector Edition Thread

[huntergrayson]

I promise I won't make you buy the two-disc "never before seen" thread later on. So here's the place where we can chat about those shiny metal discs and all they contain* -- are the special features any good or not so special? How does the film look? Do the deleted scenes deserve to be? What movies are we still waiting for?

I'm a sucker for the Criterion Collection -- fine, addict -- in large part because the supplements are almost always interesting and informative. Or just plain cool, in the case of the outtake reel from My Man Godfrey -- watching old movie stars cuss like sailors is so very fun.

I also adore restoration demonstrations, vintage movie trailers and very big booklets, which GWTW and West Side Story have. I got giddy that the upcoming Hitchcock Collection will have a 36-Page Booklet. I dunno why I love them so, but I guess it's like having liner notes for a film.

Moulin Rouge's multiangle feature on the dance sequences was a smart inclusion since many felt that they were over-edited.

*Moldy wants this thread to be more about the DVDs than the movies, if that makes sense.

[GirlyGhoul]

How about this angle on the discussion: I've thrice been burned by buying a DVD I'd really been salivating about, only to have them come out with a much BETTER version later. As soon as it was released I bought The Howling (the first movie that spurned my lifelong passion for horror flicks) and it was a pretty crappy DVD. No extras at all, and the transfer was darkish. It only took them a few months to come out with the "Special Edition"- loads of extras, great commentary by the cast and director and a much cleaner picture. So why release the first version at all .

I also spent I don't know how long trying to get an out of print copy of Angel Heart off eBay. I don't think I paid too much for it (some copies were going for $100 or more. I managed to get it at $20 or so because it was at a time when lots of people were selling them at once). It had only a brief behind the scenes featurette as an extra- but I was glad to get the movie at all. But again, just a few months after that they released the Special Edition verson- Director Commentary- a mind boggling interview with a probably stoned Mickey Rourke and tons of featurettes about the History of Voodoo and the Facts and Myths as they're portrayed in the film. All for less than the $20 I paid for the dinky version

I also eagerly snatched up the DVD of Willy Wonka on its first release- not realizing it would be Full Screen only. They came out with a Widescreen a few months later. Damn it! It still had good extras, but some of the Oompa Loompas get snipped off in the FullScreen version.

Now I tend to wait too long for the "Best" version to come out. Sometimes DVD's go out of print while I'm waiting .

On the flip side, I did manage to get the original Exorcist Special Edition (not the "Exorcist You've Never Seen" version- though it has all the cut scenes shown seperately) It has a full hour documentary called "Fear of God" which delves into the real life case that inspired the story and also has interviews with the living stars of the movie (Jason Miller was still alive at the time). I don't think the new DVD's have this documentary.

I also snagged the early version of Lair of the White Worm which has HILARIOUS commentary by director Ken Russell where he not only goes off snarking on Catherine Oxenberg and Hugh Grant, but also admits to being drunk during the recording. Great stuff! And they don't make this version anymore. Shame. (Sometimes you can still get it on ebay. I managed to get one for a friend for Xmas so she would quit whining and coveting mine)

[proper stranger]

The Moulin Rouge DVD was the first I owned and still one of my favorites. I love the "choose your own camera angle" for the dance sequences.

On the Singin' in the Rain set, clips from the movies in which the songs originally appeared are included. It's interesting to watch the early talkie "Singin' in the Rain", which was filmed in a fairly static proscenium-shot fashion and contrast it to the dynamic camera that moves along with Gene Kelly during his version of the song.

I also adore restoration demonstrations, vintage movie trailers and very big booklets, which GWTW and West Side Story have.

I love that the West Side Story booklet includes a reproduction of the original program sold in theatres. I remember looking at the program my mom bought when she saw the movie at the Chinese theatre back in 1961 and it was cool to get a copy of my own.

I'm still waiting for a special edition of Blade Runner, including both the original and director's cuts. I think there's some controversy with the rights, though, which has prevented that from happening.

[Deleted]

If you like old, classic movies on DVD, I can recommend the restored version of Frank Capra's Lost Horizon (1937).

Here are some of the features I remember:

Quite literally, they assembled the original footage from many different sources they found around the world. I've seen the movie many times and have a great memory for movies and there was a LOT of new footage I'd never seen before.

They included a very long section showing the growing love between the characters played by Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt which has always been missing when I've previously seen the film. The most seen version of this movie barely explained this plot development.

In one case where they had only the audio and no video, they used existing still shots to show you what was going on during those scenes. This was for a scene featuring Edward Everett Horton - a supporting actor. The extra footage helped to "flesh out" his character.

The additional audio track explained where they had obtained the new footage, how they patched it together, and polished up the final result.

This was a great example of those "restored" films.

I'd also like to mention Sense and Sensibility due to the excellent secondary audio track. Emma Thompson provides great commentary where she really talked about making the movie, how and why certain actors were chosen for their roles, etc. Many of the extra audio tracks I've heard are pretty bad. Emma Thompson's was great. It really added to the enjoyment of the movie.

[monsterzero]

How about this angle on the discussion: I've thrice been burned by buying a DVD I'd really been salivating about, only to have them come out with a much BETTER version later. As soon as it was released I bought The Howling (the first movie that spurned my lifelong passion for horror flicks) and it was a pretty crappy DVD. No extras at all, and the transfer was darkish. It only took them a few months to come out with the "Special Edition"- loads of extras, great commentary by the cast and director and a much cleaner picture. So why release the first version at all .

I'm a sucker for the Criterion Collection -- fine, addict -- in large part because the supplements are almost always interesting and informative. Or just plain cool, in the case of the outtake reel from My Man Godfrey -- watching old movie stars cuss like sailors is so very fun.

And their choices are always on 'good movies' as it means 'good movies in every decade,' not 'good movies that are always stuck pre-1950s.' I love that they got ahold of some David Cronenberg stuff like Videodrome and Naked Lunch and did them right. Warms my black heart. Especially the excellent treatment they did for Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. Utterly Fantastic.




What makes this even more funnier is that this SE sold initially for $15, apparently that extra $5 was for that useless slipcover that went over the DVD case that had the SAME ARTWORK. What the hell was that about?

[huntergrayson]

$15? I thought the list prices were 29/39, respectively. Yeah, the packaging is completely ungainly. Which I hate on DVDs -- like the Six Feet Under sets. The first was oversized, the second was as well, yet completely differently shaped. I should just be happy that WB moved away from those cheap snapper cases.

I feel GirlyGhoul's pain -- I've had a DVD player since 1997. Since before Fox and Paramount were even releasing DVDs. So I currently have a stack of soon to be sold discs -- Titanic, Hitchcocks, old James Deans, etc. The ridiculous thing is that they are releasing so many SEs now, but still want to switch to HD-DVD soon. I tell myself that it won't make a difference for older movies anyway. I really liked that Exorcist SE and it's the one I've kept -- I thought that the subsequent theatrical re-cut was a crock -- the scenes were deleted for a reason. The commentary is interesting -- it has the woman who played the possessed voice describing the hell she went through of chain-smoking, raw eggs and whiksey to get the rasp right. And I learned something I never noticed before about the film -- the use of extreme sound design. The director always cuts from extremely loud scenes to near-silence.

That is really cool, MissMarple. I hope they do the same for Greed and Magnificient Ambersons. Because I feel like taunting the Gods: the OOP Dead Ringers disc is mine, all mine!

[monsterzero]

I hear you, I still want those Criterion John Woo discs that are out of print. And what the fuck is up with the delayed Blade Runner SE? Come on! I've had to go to extraordinary measures to get a freaking original cut DVD sourced from a freaking laserdisc print and it made me hungry for a professional release. Come ON!!

[goggle]

I'm going to whine now about all the LOTR DVDS: Why so many special editions? Yes, I know, to make money, but there's got to be at least 3 different DVD releases for each film. The sad thing is, there probably are people who own them all.

The commentary for UHF is very good. It's surprising how they remember the addresses of the places they filmed more than ten years after.

I'm an anime fan, and my beef with the DVDs is that it's often $30 for three episodes - even for short series this can be a lot of money.

[monsterzero]

The commentary for UHF is very good. It's surprising how they remember the addresses of the places they filmed more than ten years after.

It's one of the best DVD deals you can get for $10. Commentary, extras, and the deleted scenes are a hoot with Al's commentary. It's up there with MGM's Phantasm disc.

The Criterion edition of The Royal Tenenbaums is really good...there's a lot of interesting stuff about set construction and the house they used for it.

The best part about that? That's Criterion's way of vanilla-releasing a movie. They do fairly good recent ones in order to get money to remaster lost treasures like 8 1/2 and such. That's why they put out Armageddon.

[Maddiemoo]

I'm going to whine now about all the LOTR DVDS: Why so many special editions? Yes, I know, to make money, but there's got to be at least 3 different DVD releases for each film. The sad thing is, there probably are people who own them all.

There's only 2 for each, actually. One is the original version seen in theaters and has your basic promotional behind the scenes stuff, trailers, etc. The second version is the extended edition, which takes up 2 discs, then has 2 more discs including documentaries, photos, and more in-depth stuff for the nerdier folks. There's also a lot of really fun commentaries from the director, writers, and actors, amongst others. There's nothing in the theatrical version that's also on the extended edition and vice versa, so you're never buying the same thing twice. They really don't try to rip you off at all with the 2 editions, and I appreciate that.

And yes, I do own them all.