I got Isaac a Doctor Who DVD for his birthday which has two documentaries on it totalling almost two hours.
Is that too much? I haven’t watched the docos yet, but it is a truly classic story (Genesis of the Daleks), with plenty to talk about in terms of how the story was written and produced, and the history of the Daleks themselves.
Memorably, the Twelve Monkeys DVD includes a movie-length documentary about the making of the film. Far from being the usual stuff about how they did the special effects, and the celebrity interviews with Bruce and Brad, it goes through the early script development, financing, and problems with final editing and test audiences.
Of course it’s all a bit over-the-top if you’re not at all interested in movie-making. Personally, I am, at least to a certain extent. So provided the extra material is well done, and not superficial vapid publicity fluff, I’ll usually take a look.
5 replies on “DVD extras: How much is too much?”
I love DVDs…. wonder how will I move my 1000+ DVDs collection to Australia…:(
I recommend checking out the extras disc for the film “Alien” which comes as part of the bordering-on-the-ridiculous nine disc set of the “Alien Quadrilogy”. It has some excellent interviews with the guys who wrote the original story as well as Ridley Scoot, the guys who wrote the screen play and Sigorney, Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright etc. It is done in a very unbiased way. For example it is very interesting the difference in opinions between how much input into the story was made by the original writers and the screenplay ‘adapters’ showing both points of view. Also talks about some intersting casting issues etc. All pretty cool if you are into the behind the scenes type stuff (especially if you are fan of this film). NB: this bonus material may be available on the 2004 release of the Director’s Cut version of Alien as part of two disc set (rather than having to source the full nine disc’quadrilogy’.)
Roby: I suggest a box, perhaps many boxes.
There’s a 2 disc set of the making of King Kong by Peter Jackson. This doesn’t come with the movie, it’s a seperate thing altogether.
“Peter Jackson will take fans on an unprecedented behind-the-scenes journey in this beautifully crafted, limited edition work of art. The DVD details an exciting, exclusive first-hand account of the intense 8-month production process of the most anticipated film of the year. Peter Jackson will showcase his vision as he takes viewers into the daily filming of KING KONG with over 3 hours of footage, including an all new Diary exclusive to the DVD.”
Over the top, maybe, but it would be fascinating. I wouldn’t mind tracking down that ‘Alien’ Quadrilogy for all the extra stuff. That’s it man, game over man, game over!
If the making-of specials had making-of specials, I’d still watch them. I love DVD extras. I go through all of those before I even watch the movie – even if I haven’t seen the movie before. I watch the LotR specials more than I do the movies. They’re fascinating.