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>>>I don't understand the point of the added features on DVD.<<<
Initially laserdiscs and DVDs were high-priced, luxury product aimed primarily at cinema enthusiasts, who would likely want to study the film more thoroughly than the casual viewer. Now that DVDs are becoming more and more widespread, "extra features" are seen as obligatory on even the most shallow and worthless films.
Obviously they're not of interest to everyone, but I get enormous benefit out of them - I've learned a tremendous amount about the art of visual storytelling from listening to director's commentaries on DVDs, without the exorbitant cost of attending film school. I like to put on a DVD and listen to the commentary while I work.
It depends on the disc, as well - certain directors provide fascinating, thorough and very insightful commentary, and some are utterly pointless. The commentary track on Pleasantville, for example, was very interesting indeed and gave me a whole new appreciation for the film, while on his commentaries John Carpenter does very little more than blandly narrate the onscreen action.
The Criterion Collection is a label devoted to showcasing significant contemporary films, usually with an impressive array of supplementary material for the avid film student. The Criterion set of Brazilis fantastic, with the feature-length documentary The Battle For Brazil, (detailing Gilliam's battle with Universal for control of the film, which is almost as good as the film itself), and two different edits of the film - Gilliam's definitive cut and the studio-castrated television version, which is fascinating to watch to see how dramatically editing can alter a film.
Ultimately what should be done is to release two versions of any given film - the "special edition" with all the supplements, and a no-frills version at a lower price point. (They already do this for many films, but they invariably release the special edition 6 months after suckers like me buy the bare bones disc. Fuckers.)
[ 04-12-2001: Message edited by: CameronStewart ] |
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