I am over the whole DVD extras thing.
It is sort of interesting to watch some outtakes or deleted scenes. But otherwise they are overwheleming.
I just finished watching Batman Begins. I really liked the movie. I am a big Batman fan. But I could not be bothered watching the 10 documentaries on the 2nd disc.
Every action movie has to have the doco on how all the fight scenes were filmed…snoozers.
Every movie has a commentary made by the costume designer’s electrician.
Even on Seinfeld episodes-some of the commentaries were terrible. In some cases they obviously just got some of the stars to watch the shows while recording what they mumbled to each other. At least put some preparation into it.
With a good movie made by a good director, producer and editor the deleted scenes in general have been deleted for good reason. Do readers ask to see the author’s first rough edit of his novel ? Only if they are obsessed or doing a course on it.
Most of the time I would be happy with just the movie on disc. I wish you could pay $10 less just for the movie by itself on disc. I wonder how the sales would go for a DVD with all the extra crap at $20 versus one without all the extra crap at $10.
They often do provide exactly that, especially for people such as yourself who aren’t interested in it.
I, on the otehr hand, seek out special editions and sometimes won’t purchase a DVD at all if they don’t provide extras of any worth - because to me it’s the biggest part about DVDs that I like so much.
My only complaint is that it’s films like Batman Begins that get the second disc of multiple documentaries, etc. while films that are actually interesting and that warrant documentaries, commentaries, outtakes, screen tests, and further explication tend to get shafted when it comes to extras.
The latest Rob Schneider movie will have three commentaries and a bonus disc, while Godard’s Weekend has a “theatrical trailer” and that’s it.
I like to listen to the audio commentaries, especially if the writer and/or director is present. DP’s also often give good commentaries. Actors’ commentaries can be amusing but are usually pretty uninteresting. My favorite commentary tracks are the ones given by Sam Mendes, especially on American Beauty.
I think it depends (as VCO3 said) on the quality of the film.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy had optional extras and I think they are fantastic.
Form the vision of the artists (who worked for years on the film drawing everything from proposed locations to sword belts), through the comments of the actors and special effects people, to Peter Jackson and his two co-writers - they all have something interesting to impart.
The extra scenes really add to the film (and to the length :eek: , which is why they were left out of the cinema version).
Sick of it? I don’t know. I don’t have to check them out, but it’s nice to know that they are there if I want them. Especially if it didn’t cost me extra.
Again, some extra material really is fantastic. Simpsons commentary tracks and Criterion’s Bergman research comes to mind.
I like the extras as well. They add new dimensions to a movie and provide, among other things, a behind-the-scenes look at what went into the movie. I especially enjoy viewing outtakes/bloopers and deleted scenes. Director commentary is also nice, too. I say keep the extras.
I will watch deleted scenes, occasionally outtakes and bloopers, and sometimes the theatrical trailers. I virtually never bother myself to watch commentary from pretty much anyone.
So yeah, most of the time I’d rather a cheaper, bare-bones movie disc.
Some films demand them. A couple months ago I watched The Battle of Algiers via Netflix. I mentioned it on another board and asked if anyone had info on the filming. I couldn’t believe that some of the scenes weren’t newsreel footage.
A nice person on that board loaned me the whole set with the extras, which increased my appreciation of that film by a 10000%.
With some films, like Lord of the Rings and Firefly, I like to watch outtakes, but I’m not so interested in the “making of” parts – seeing the green screens and CGI being done decreases the magic. I want to believe the Ents were real.
Fog of War turned out to have over 40 minutes of deleted footage! The film as released was only 107 minutes long. I didn’t get to bed till midnight that night.
Another pro-extras fan, especially of the audio commentaries. For really exceptional movies (especially any of the Pixar animated films), they’re a must-have, but even having them on a lackluster movies doesn’t bother me any.
What does get my goat are the lame-ass “games” that some DVDs come with, most notably Dreamworks’ and Disney’s kidvid stuff. I have yet to see a DVD game that wasn’t a dull, ponderous waste of space.
I’m not a fan of the extras. Most of the time, they aren’t worth bothering with: deleted scenes are nearly always deleted for a very good reason, commentary is often dull, self-serving, and tedious, and “making of” flicks are snoozers.
The films where these might be interesting are few and far between, and most of them are older fare where the film has proven its worth.
There are exceptions, of course, but overall, I wouldn’t care in the slightest if the DVDs came without them.
I don’t care about making of features, but some deleted scenes interest me and some commentaries (Naked Gun series, Fight Club) are fantastic. I suspect that if the DVD makers dropped all extras, DVD prices would remain pretty much unchanged.
I like the extras, especially the out-takes, deleted scenes and bloopers. The occasional commentary, but they are very hit or miss. Even the bloopers are spotty, as they mostly consist of actors muffing their lines, which gets old quick. It takes a true madman to improvise as well as Nathan Fillion did in an out-take from Serenity.
MAL:Put Book front and center. He’s our friend; we should honour him. Kaylee, find that kid who’s taking a dirt nap with baby Jesus. We need a hood ornament. Jayne! Try not to steal too much of their shit.
I, too, must respectfully disagree with the OP. Yes, some extras are totally worthless space-filler (I agree with rjung about games - the Harry Potter series comes to mind). But the bad ones are easy to skip. On the other hand, some mediocre movies are greatly improved by their commentary tracks. Armageddon, for example, goes from idiotic explodearama to comedy gold while listening to Ben Affleck’s suspiciously inebriated-sounding commentary on the Criterion edition. Showgirls trancends it’s usual hight of unintentional hilarity with David Schmader’s eviscerating (yet loving) commentary.
I will concede, though, that if you’re a DVD buyer and you’re given no other choice but the 2-disc, “pocket lint of the production assistant!” extra-special expanded and extended time-waster edition, it’s a drag. But you could wait for them to turn up used on Amazon or eBay and at least not pay full price.
I too generally like the extras. I was very pleased when DVDs first emerged and ‘extras’ quickly became a standard part of the selling proposition. Nowadays, of course, even while a movie is in production they look for opportunities to record behind-the-scenes stuff specifically so they’ll have some tasty ‘extras’ to offer. Of course, the quality varies, and the extras can be really enjoyable, interesting and worthwhile or something of a disappointingly tedious waste of time. But they’re never actually a problem… if you don’t like 'em, don’t watch 'em.
Ditch the documentaries, but keep the commentaries. Only include deleted scenes if they fit on the same disc as the movie; multiple disc releases annoy me. I won’t buy a DVD without a commentary track, but pretty much nothing else appeals to me.
Hey, uh, I tried to email you and it first delayed, then failed. (It was a mass email to all the He Hate Me owners.) I’d appreciate it if you could send me an email. (My addy in profile.)
Back in the beginning when I first got mine (over 5 years now) it was new and fresh to me. Since then I’ve fallen out of love with movies and generally no longer care what’s added unless it’s a nice short like with “The Incredibles.” All I make sure of is that I get them in their original format.
