Ditto for the commentaries. At their best, commentaries illuminate the director’s intent, as in the John Borrman commentary on the Zardoz DVD. His comments helped me understand exactly what he was trying to say in the movie, which certainly cleared up a lot of questions I had. I also enjoy the scholarly commentaries, especially for foreign movies which contain cultural references that are alien to an American viewer. Michael Jeck’s commentary on Seven Samurai is outstanding. Ditto for the commentaries from film historians on the Universal monster films. I find film history and scholarship, not to mention good old Hollywood gossip, endlessly fascinating.
I also enjoy documentaries. Sometime they’re just promotional fluff, as in the HBO: First Look puff pieces on A Knight’s Tale and Independence Day, but sometimes they are fascinating glimpses into the creative process, as in the Full Tilt Boogie documentary on the second disk of the 2-disc From Dusk Til Dawn DVD, or the documentary on the Hedwig and the Angry Inch DVD, Whether You Like It or Not: The Story of Hedwig, whcih covers the evolution of Hedwig from a solo performance piece performed at a drag club in Greenwich Village to an Off-Broadway musical to a motion picture.
I am a full-on DVD addict!