Doomsday Doomsday
Nov
20
2008

Twitch-O-Meter: WHEN EXTRAS ATTACK (or: when disc 2 is actually better than disc 1…)

Posted by Ard Vijn at 5:10pm.

Posted in Twitch-O-Meter .

As a Twitch-O-Meter, this post will remain up on top of the page for one day. There might be newer posts below this, so don’t forget to take a look!
When you start collecting films it sometimes is hard to stop, especially when you finally land the sort of job which gives you the financial thing to buy a crazy thing or two. Looking at my collection I certainly did my share of “blind buying” and sometimes that means you end up with a few duds. Then again, really bad movies are a fun and beloved genre all by themselves, and sometimes you even see truly crummy movies get a lovingly lavish DVD edition.
Sometimes I have the mind of a magpie. I can’t resist shiny things.
Which means I have bought a few titles solely on the basis of them being rather flash editions, or having a set of extras I was really interested in. It’s an odd thing when the “making of” documentary is more fun than the film it describes, but that does happen. Sometimes it’s because the feature is an epically bad movie and therefore easily eclipsed by some standard extras, but sometimes the movie isn’t really bad, yet the documentary is just so damn good.
A good example of a film I grabbed solely for the extras was “Faces of Death”, which I reviewed earlier this week.
Even though I hold that film (and indeed its entire genre) in low esteem, the commentary track and documentaries on the disc easily warranted acquiring this disc.
 
So after the break you can see my list of five other examples of DVD-editions where the extras in my opinion outshine the main film.

But first a runner up, a picture of which you can see at the top-left corner of this article.
I’m talking about the humongous 6 disc ultimate edition for “Mindgame”, but even the vast amount of extras (both on the discs and in the books) were unable to distract from the fact that the film itself is a pretty damn groundbreaking piece of adult feature animation.
Still, a very nice try nonetheless!
On to the real list:

1: Equinox
You cannot write an article on extras without mentioning Criterion of course: they invented the Special Edition as we know it, and when brandished by them that term still means something. Thing is, Criterion is not really known for releasing crap movies.
Thankfully, on occasion Criterion chooses history over quality and with that mindset they released a stellar DVD for “Equinox” . While the movie is hardly a masterpiece, it was made by people who became very famous as special effects wizards later, like Dennis Muren. As such the effects are impressive because of their scale and lack of budget, even though they look quite hokey at the same time.
What isn’t hokey though is the quality of the extras on this double-disc edition. Loads of documentaries, a nice commentary track and other early works by these people (like the famous King Kong Volkswagen advertisement) make this set a delight to own.

2: Lord of the Rings Extended Edition(s)
I fully expect to receive some flak for this, but I have little love for Peter Jackson’s famous adaptation of Tolkien’s trilogy. There is loads of stuff in there that I like but the very tone throughout these movies was just not to my taste, starting with the faux Shakespearian acting required by the director and continuing with the casting choices. For example I would have preferred it if they had switched Christopher Lee with Ian McKellen and vice versa, and the same goes for Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen (not that I’m saying they did a bad job with the roles they got, but the other way round could have been soooo much cooler…).
But I fully commend Peter Jackson for pulling off what he did, it’s just that his taste clearly differs from mine. It’s an example of a director getting an “A” for achievement, even though the movies themselves leave me with a “C-” feeling.
But then we got the Extended Editions on DVD. Not only did these contain (in my opinion) better versions of the three movies, they also had a veritable onslaught of extras which were funny, entertaining, informative and showed just how groundbreaking an effort this film project was. Each film had no less than four commentaries attached, ranging from informative to laugh-out-loud hilarious, especially whenever Billy Boyd and Dominic Monagham started having fun. And the documentaries on the designs, models and effects were particularly stunning. These sets are still a highlight in DVD-history, and became a benchmark in their own right.

3: Virgins from Hell
You don’t have to look far in the exploitation genre to find lots of cheaply made action flicks. Look a bit harder, and in all the trash you’ll find some entertainingly barmy ones. And that’s where “Virgins From Hell” comes in. This sunny little offering from Indonesia combines a women-in-prison film (with the abundant rape and torture which that implies) with your regular A-team episode plot.
It sure isn’t boring, but leave your brain in neutral while watching this.
Enter Mondo Macabro, who not only released this little-seen gem regionfree to the Western market but also include a whole disc full of documentaries about the Indonesian exploitation film industry. And to top it all off they put 70 minutes of Indonesian movie trailers on it, including notorious titles like “Mystics From Bali”.
Ah, bliss!
A fascinating insight into an unknown film industry and over an hour of “best-of” moments (these trailers are pretty shameless in showing all the money shots) lift this release far above the quality of the film on it. 

4: D-War
If you need any sort of plot in your movie, the Korean fantasy action-thriller (?) “D-War” isn’t for you. Shim Hyung-Rae’s insanely ambitious epic redefines the term “plothole” but don’t let that stop you if you happen to like dragons, for this film has loads of them. Pretty good special effects and very impressive modelwork combine with a very shallow fairytale into a perfect matinée flick to satisfy your inner twelve-year-old. I’ve watched parts of it extensively, yet cannot bring myself to watch the whole movie a second time. It is THAT bad.
But, being Korean, it got a hell of a special edition. The packaging and design are a sight to behold, and the extras on the second disc are actually pretty nice. Seeing people create the many, MANY creatures in this film is far more interesting than the film itself. And I felt like cheering for the guys who created the medieval village as a model, just for the purpose of blowing it to bits! Groovy…

5: Star Wars episode 1: The Phantom Menace
George Lucas didn’t rape my childhood. I still have happy memories about seeing the original Star Wars trilogy in the cinema, multiple times during the eighties. I even enjoyed re-watching them on the big screen at the end of the nineties (although I will always keep saying that HAN SHOT FIRST!!!). So when I saw that first teaser poster for “The Phantom Menace”, the one with young Anakin with the Vader shadow, I got major goosebumps. When the first and especially the SECOND trailer arrived, I got ecstatic. When I saw the movie, I was shocked by how little it manages to touch me even though there was plenty of cool stuff in it. So… enough about that.
Then the DVD arrived, and it contained loads and loads of extras, most of them quite good. But what topped it was one of the best film documentaries of its kind: even though it lasts only an hour, “The Beginning” shows a surprisingly candid and meticulously crafted view on how George Lucas restarted the franchise which made him a household name. Frankly, if this extra would have been the only one on the disc I would already have been satisfied, but the others are pretty decent as well so this release definitely makes it into my list.

And that concludes my top 5.
Do you have any discs which you think should be mentioned in this context? Please let me know!

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Reader Comments

  1. misteresh 11/20/2008 @ 5:20pm

    So you were just listing bad films that had decent extras? Though I will probably receive some flak from the LOTR fans.

  2. Ard Vijn 11/20/2008 @ 5:26pm

    Actually, I listed those where I thought the extras warranted the purchase of the DVD, instead of the film itself.
    Decent extras are hard to find for good films, let alone bad ones.
    Confession time: I was nearly tempted to put both “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuss” in this list because the extras are so fine on those.

  3. Papigiulio 11/20/2008 @ 8:22pm

    LOTR mega collection is awesome. I love the movies and admired Peter JAckson for all his hard work he put in the three movies as you can see from the making off’s. The making off’s were like a story on it’s own, how the cast grew closer to each other during the production.

    I have to say I would add “Shinobi”. Actually I bought that mainly for the goodies:
    # A T-shirt
    # A ninja star
    # 2 makibishi pins
    # A special booklet
    # Hotarubi’s small handbag (containing “gold dust” and pomelo-scented “bathing powder”)
    # Five Igaban character cards
    # Five Kogaban character cards

    Still the movie aint THAT bad raspberry

  4. nikthewerelion 11/20/2008 @ 11:27pm

    which shinobi?  shinobi heart under blade, if its that one then i would like to find that version of it.

  5. Papigiulio 11/20/2008 @ 11:33pm

    @nikthewerelion: Aye that one. Actually read about that DVD box on Twitch (if I’m not mistaken), but found it for sale in Japan, where I eventually bought it smile

    Can’t find the special edition online anymore, only BLUray special edition, ill try to find a link

  6. nikthewerelion 11/20/2008 @ 11:35pm

    yeah i found it on yesasia, but wouldnt matter what version since its region 2, grrr,  i hate it when they do that supre rare versions that arent US friendly.

  7. Papigiulio 11/20/2008 @ 11:37pm

    Ah yeah the region problems. I actually don’t play my dvd’s on a DVDplayer, but on the pc instead. Everything works there smile

  8. Peter K. 11/20/2008 @ 11:46pm

    The Alien Quadrilogy is still the finest DVD set I have ever owned. I don’ t think I’ve finished watching all there is to watch on the several discs. The docs are incredibly informative.

  9. sarkoffagus 11/21/2008 @ 7:01am

    The Japanese collector’s edition of Takashi Miike’s SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO was great, with plenty of features and a booklet and a killer box design. I’m sure it would’ve been even better if I could understand Japanese. The booklet had pretty pictures, though…

  10. Gohatto 11/21/2008 @ 8:17am

    My Fave DVD Box/Collector editions with GROOVY EXTRAS..
    1.)  Jap special edition of the (new) Gamera films.
          from postcards,booklets and Gamera toy this was
          a sweet purchase and the films kicked ass.
    2.)  Jap special edition of Virus
          Both films and cool extras poster, booklet
    3.)  Korean special edition of Kurosawa’s 7 Samurai
            I actually love this better
            than Criterion’s
    4.)  Jap edition of Twilight Samurai
            beautiful artwork booklet along with detailed
            packaging. ( Sometimes I can not resist the
            packaging or cool box art.
    5.)  Korean special edition of Nabi.
            EXTRAS,EXTRAS,EXTRAS + PACKAGING
    6.)  Jap edition of the Returner
            great extras and a very cool PACKAGE
    7.)  Start with KAIJU and end with it. Godzilla: Final Wars
            special edition. The extras made up for the mediocre
            film. The BOX itself FLAWLESS.
    on box set I wanted but missed was the Damaijin box set with TOY. ARGHHHH.

  11. Mr.Jagil 11/21/2008 @ 8:33am

    Mind game intrigued me to the max, so i looked around. And jesus titties christ, does that edition really cost 260§?? 260§§ for 103 min of film? That’s pretty far out.. Can’t say i’m not temptet to get it though :p

    http://www.yesasia.com/global/mind-game-perfect-collectors-box-limited-edition-japan-version-english/1003889612-0-0-0-en/info.html

  12. nikthewerelion 11/21/2008 @ 8:34am

    to papigiulio,  yeah thas cool , i us pc dvd player as well but it only alows u to only change it a limited number of times, which sucks. wish there was a way to get around this.  so i guess i am stil stuck to using region 1

  13. Jeff 11/21/2008 @ 10:36am

    I’m not a big fan of 12 MONKEYS but bought the DVD for the feature length making of doc which was made by the same directors who did LOST IN LAMANCHA.

  14. conbarba 11/22/2008 @ 3:53am

    well, the one i think is really the most outrageous of all is the big Ghost In the Shell Innocence box, with the doll, 4 dvds, and 2 books. What they dont tell you is the fantastic box design the set has. Mindgame is also pretty awesome considering everything that contains inside, the full manga included. Millennium Actress was awesome and it included a little towel(?) and the first sequel dvd of Tchiguishi Retsuden came with a pair of chopsticks to eat your soba. Lately i was prety surprised with the Kemonozume box: it includes all the extras (designs, artwork, storyboards, etc) in pdf format, so you can print them nicely. And how about that Lagaan wood box? some of them had a ticket to have dinner with Aamir Khan! Not dvd related, the box of the soundtracks of Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. that comes with a small tachikoma usb drive full of voices of the robots.

  15. Hunter Rose 11/22/2008 @ 8:56am

    FYI - there is a free program that you can download called: Region Killer for PC’s.

    So long as you have it running - you can play any region dvd on your PC

  16. nikthewerelion 11/22/2008 @ 3:31pm

    cool thanks hunter, now i just need to get a wicked cheap different regioned dvd to test it out. anyways, since this has turned into the super rare dvd set Thread. Dragon Tiger Gate gift set which is limited to only 2000 copies, which i own,  is a cool set but the movie was just ok and i still havent got around to watching the english subbed special features. the Tartan 3 disc set of Oldboy that comes in a metal box and contains a graphic comic and a piece of film reel is pretty sweet. the movie is awsome, its kinda long and i think theres stuff i missed, probly in translation, although i am sure its one of those films u can watch a few times over and get new things from. i saw a super rare korean version of this once on eby but it was insanely expensive.

  17. Ard Vijn 11/23/2008 @ 11:29am

    For those wanting to see DVDs on their PC without being bothered by regions, you might try VLC Mediaplayer.
    Not only does it disregard regions alltogether, but it also disregards the “user override”, giving back total control over menus and content. As in: now you CAN skip those anti-piracy adverts, or Disney trailers, or whatever. You even can pause a menu if you’d want to.
    And, icing on the cake, it allows you to take screenshots.
    Did I mention it’s also both legal to use and free?

  18. nikthewerelion 11/23/2008 @ 11:33am

    yeah i am sure most people know of vlc, a media player doesnt help much if the actual dvd drive is region protected which is what regionkiller is supposed to help with, but i havent tested it yet. i will get back to everyone on when i am able to get my hands on a different coded dvd.

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