What are your favorite / least favorite special features?

I'm a fan of the cast & crew feature you tend to find on older dvds. It's too bad they don't include it on more recent ones. And I know I could easily look up actor's filmographies on IMDB or elsewhere but it's nice having it already made.

Blooper reels are always nice, especially on more serious films.

And I think a trailer should be mandatory for all film dvds. It's pretty stupid when they have 90 special features and no trailer. It just doesn't make sense.

I love commentaries and I used to listen to every single one I came across, even if I disliked the movie but I just don't have the time anymore. Cast commentaries are always the best. Producer / scriptwriter comms can be torture. And director commentaries are hit or miss. It depends on the director. Guillermo del Toro can pull off a great commentary on his own.

Favorites

Alternate endings
Deleted scenes
Blooper reels
Story board and concept art (for animated films)
Theatrical trailer
Interactive games
Music videos

Least Favorites

When movies have trailers for other movies except it's own
If there is only 1 or very few special features to begin with

It really depends on the movie for me. If the movie was bad, like worse than crapfest (if that is even possible lol!), I wouldn't wanna know any more about it because I wasted like an hour and something minutes just watching a real sleeper. If it's movie I just LOVE to death and would watch over and over and such, I'd wanna know EVERYTHING about it lol!

But generally speaking.....
FAVORITES:
Behind The Scenes
Making Of....Features of all kind
Interviews with cast and crew
Atlernate/extended scenes (including beginnings and endings)
A feature where they answer questions from fans or viewers
All the trailers and tv spots, etc.
On Set during the movie being made
Screen/voice tests
Feature(s) on the fans


I have not experienced this feature yet so don't know if it's on any movies. But considering how instrumental the music is to the films, special features where the movie's shown in full. Except there is no dialogue, no sound FX. Only music is heard. I believe with the technology that's out there, this may be possible. And should be put on DVD/Blu rays since scores releases usually leave out material and then like 10-40 years later, an limited number of extended editions come out. That's so annoying lol.

The features I posted don't just pertain to movies. They apply to tv shows and even video games too cause games rarely, if ever get a OST release and when they do, the OST is missing stuff too. As for TV shows.....lots of shows have yet to have an OST released on them at all.

Great thread, avilslare.

I have not experienced this feature yet so don't know if it's on any movies. But considering how instrumental the music is to the films, special features where the movie's shown in full. Except there is no dialogue, no sound FX. Only music is heard.

I wouldn't be able to list any besides one but I have seen this feature on a number of dvds over the years. Last time I saw it was on the Pee-Wee's Big Adventure dvd. There was an alternate isolated audio track for Danny Elfman's score. I'll try to find a few more later on.

I wouldn't be able to list any besides one but I have seen this feature on a number of dvds over the years. Last time I saw it was on the Pee-Wee's Big Adventure dvd. There was an alternate isolated audio track for Danny Elfman's score. I'll try to find a few more later on.

So you're saying the Pee-Wee move played in it's entirety and all that was heard is music during this feature? Cause that's what I'm talking about. I believe, if I am not mistaken, The Crow had music only tracks. But maybe just for certain scenes, not the whole movie. I could be wrong on that. I can definitely see that being on DVD's. Just don't know any specific ones.

I'm a fan of the cast & crew feature you tend to find on older dvds. It's too bad they don't include it on more recent ones. And I know I could easily look up actor's filmographies on IMDB or elsewhere but it's nice having it already made.

I liked those, too; especially when they gave filmographies.
Quite often Chinese films get released under 2 or 3 different names in different regions; they’ll maybe have different covers and may even look like different films! It was that kind of thing that made me aware of Project S and how it fit in with the Police Story series.


... director commentaries are hit or miss. It depends on the director. Guillermo del Toro can pull off a great commentary on his own.

I generally like director commentaries.
John Carpenter does a good commentary (you probably know that already).


Cast commentaries are always the best.

Cast commentaries I’m not so keen on. Like you said with directors, it depends who it is. It’s possible to lose all respect for someone when they open their mouth and something unscripted falls out. eg. I like Donnie Yen but when you see him give an interview he’s nearly always an arrogant asshole.

Arnie does the worst commentaries. “Here I am with a gun. I shoot. Guy falls. Hurr. Now here I am with a bigger gun. I shoot. Many guys fall.” For 90 minutes. Jebus. :notgood:

I watch a lot of Asian films, and love a Bey Logan commentary. Bey is a kind of living encyclopaedia film historian but he also loves the medium. He puts things into historical and cultural perspective for people not fully versed in foreign culture. Sounds boring when written down like that but it’s not in practice. He translates the visual things. The Chinese Lion dances that look like Dragons? Bey knows why that is, and it’s a wonderful story that really adds an extra layer of depth to the scene.


Interviews with cast and crew

Crew, yes, definitely. Cast… if they’re egocentric then no. (Yea, Donnie…!)



Deleted scenes should be mandatory, preferably in chronological order. If a movie has no deleted scenes then the director:
- is a storyboard genius
- lacked funding and used every bit of footage available to fill the running time
- is a damn liar.

I like the opening night Q+A that sometimes happens, especially if it's a smaller, independent release (Moon had one).

Behind the scenes is always fun. I get bored seeing green-screen stuff so I prefer if those are on a physical set, seeing the tracks and markers on the floor etc. Trivial boring stuff to most people but I enjoy it. :erm:


I have not experienced this feature yet so don't know if it's on any movies. But considering how instrumental the music is to the films, special features where the movie's shown in full. Except there is no dialogue, no sound FX. Only music is heard.

There are a few discs that have that; here’s a list (use the tabs to go A-Z). * DVD Music (http://www.soundtrack.net/dvd/?cid=NUM)

*Pee-wee is there. :D

So you're saying the Pee-Wee move played in it's entirety and all that was heard is music during this feature?

Yes

Cast commentaries I’m not so keen on. Like you said with directors, it depends who it is.

A few good cast coms which I can recommend: the two on the May dvd, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Grudge American remake (theatrical cut), and End of Evangelion.


I watch a lot of Asian films, and love a Bey Logan commentary. Bey is a kind of living encyclopaedia film historian but he also loves the medium. He puts things into historical and cultural perspective for people not fully versed in foreign culture. Sounds boring when written down like that but it’s not in practice. He translates the visual things. The Chinese Lion dances that look like Dragons? Bey knows why that is, and it’s a wonderful story that really adds an extra layer of depth to the scene.
Reminds me of the commentaries available on the Bava collections dvds featuring author Tim Lucas. He wrote a book about the life and career of director Mario Bava called All the Colours of the Dark, so he has tons of stories and anecdotes on a number of topics.


Deleted scenes should be mandatory, preferably in chronological order. If a movie has no deleted scenes then the director:
- is a storyboard genius
- lacked funding and used every bit of footage available to fill the running time
- is a damn liar.

I once listened to a director's commentary where he said there were no deleted scenes available because he considered them failures and shouldn't be viewed by anyone. I wish I could remember the film.


Behind the scenes is always fun. I get bored seeing green-screen stuff so I prefer if those are on a physical set, seeing the tracks and markers on the floor etc. Trivial boring stuff to most people but I enjoy it. :erm:

Check out the sfx featurette for Monster House. Actor Kevin James and others in tight black leotards with little white balls taped everywhere. So funny.

Commentaries are usually insightful and explain things that aren't in the movie. It helps fills those gaps to answer many questions viewers have during or after watching it. I'd love to hear commentaries by just about everyone as they all offer their own insight: cast, crew, etc. And yes, even JR and a wrestler doing commentary on some of their matches!

And yes, even JR and a wrestler doing commentary on some of their matches!

I also rather enjoy audio commentaries on wrestling matches. Listened to some recently on HBK's My Journey dvd. One I didn't enjoy very much was JBL's commentary on ECW's One Night Stand dvd.

I also rather enjoy audio commentaries on wrestling matches. Listened to some recently on HBK's My Journey dvd. One I didn't enjoy very much was JBL's commentary on ECW's One Night Stand dvd.

You should check out the commentaries Austin and JR did on Stone Cold's Bottom Like set. The three matches they did commentary on were hand selected by Austin himself. Honestly, I found them entertaining and informative.

I also enjoy video commentaries for some reason. But I tend to like audio commentaries more for some reason lol.

HBK's My Journey....few questions about the commentary:
1. Who provides commentary?
2. What matches have commentary on them? Hope Taker vs HBK at WM25 has alternate commentary, That match deserves to have audio commentary by both Taker and HBK. How awesome would that be??!! But Taker's character understandably would prevent that so I'm thinking HBK and JR do audio commentary for Taker vs HBK?

I LOVE JR's work. I really do. But it's also awesome to hear the opponents commentate on their own match. You can't get more insight than that. I think HBK & Nash did audio commentary on their No Holds Barred match from IYH: Good Friends, Better Enemies on one of the previous HBK dvd's. I think it was the Heartbreak And Triumph one from 2007??? Not sure though.

Superstar documentaries....don't know how you feel about it. But IMO, best and only time to release documentaries on superstars in after their career's over or after their HOF Induction for those that are inducted once their careers end. That way they can document the whole career from start to finish meaning for longer documentaries, something WWE usually, if not always excels in. I can easily see a Bruno Sammartino set released considering the profit WWE would make from it. Actually, this really goes for any documentary WWE does. Look at The Attitude Era set. That was done after that era ended. Sure, they skipped some good stuff. But the potential to document everything was definitely there. That potential to document everything is why I think it was a bit early to have documentaries on HBK (2007) and Big Show because when they were released, the two guys were still active. Just my opinion.

Love to see a documentary sets on Taker, Sting, Vader, JR, among others.

HBK's My Journey....few questions about the commentary:
1. Who provides commentary?
2. What matches have commentary on them?

1.) HBK and Michael Cole
2.) Intercontinental Championship match - HBK vs Bret Hart (June 2, 1992), HBK vs Ric Flair - Bad Blood (June 15, 2003), Boot Camp Match - HBK vs Triple H (December 19, 2005).

The Undertaker vs HBK match at WM25 is included but no commentary.


Superstar documentaries....don't know how you feel about it.

I'm a fan of them even if it's not a complete career retrospective. WWE has to cash in on their talent and producing dvds is one way to do it. There are so many great matches that one collection just isn't going to cover everything, so I think it's fine to have multiple dvds on one wrestler.


Love to see a documentary sets on Taker, Sting, Vader, JR, among others.

I would love to see a documentary/match collection on Dean Malenko. He had a long history in Japan and had some great wrestling matches in ECW, WCW and elsewhere.

I like deleted scenes / bloopers, but my main love is commentaries. Both crew and cast versions can be fun - although I often prefer crew commentaries for the geek side of things. My favourite though for sheer originality (and one to consider for those who find most commentaries bland) is John McTiernan's director commentary on The Hunt for Red October (it's definitely on the Bluray, and probably also on the DVD though I haven't checked). He basically goes through the whole film saying "This bit was terrible", "This bit was terrible", "I really hate this bit". Despite the negativity it hasn't lessened my love for the film any.

Shaun of the Dead has some cool extras.


A few good cast coms which I can recommend: the two on the May dvd, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Grudge American remake (theatrical cut), and End of Evangelion.

I'd like to get May on dvd but it's sitting just outside my price range. It's not super expensive, it's just more than I usually pay for a dvd. I check ebay regularly to try and get it at a better price but so far no luck. :sad:

The Grudge I haven't watched. I adore the original, and don't see why it had to be remade. And with SMG. :notgood:

End of Evangelion is VERY far outside my price range. Getting any Eva on R2 (except the rebuilds) is a costly affair.


I once listened to a director's commentary where he said there were no deleted scenes available because he considered them failures and shouldn't be viewed by anyone. I wish I could remember the film.

If they were filmed then they must have been thought of as useful at one point, before editing. Even if they suck, I'd still like to see them. I wouldn't lose respect for the director... quite the opposite. If they suck I'd be praising his judgement in removing them.



He basically goes through the whole film saying "This bit was terrible", "This bit was terrible", "I really hate this bit". Despite the negativity it hasn't lessened my love for the film any.

:laugh: Sounds like fun. I've not seen that film since it came out.

1.) HBK and Michael Cole
2.) Intercontinental Championship match - HBK vs Bret Hart (June 2, 1992), HBK vs Ric Flair - Bad Blood (June 15, 2003), Boot Camp Match - HBK vs Triple H (December 19, 2005).

The Undertaker vs HBK match at WM25 is included but no commentary.



I'm a fan of them even if it's not a complete career retrospective. WWE has to cash in on their talent and producing dvds is one way to do it. There are so many great matches that one collection just isn't going to cover everything, so I think it's fine to have multiple dvds on one wrestler.



I would love to see a documentary/match collection on Dean Malenko. He had a long history in Japan and had some great wrestling matches in ECW, WCW and elsewhere.

I'm certainly not against multiple dvd sets of a wrestler. I just think career documentaries should be done after they're over. That's why I liked Austin, Edge and Bret's documentaries. They were done after their careers ended. It also helped that the individuals themselves were very hands on with the projects as they chose the content such as the selection of matches that eventually made its way onto the set. Austin was really hands on with his. He allowed fans to offer suggestions through Twitter, which was not around when Bret Hart's dvd was being made. I think Edge did take some suggestions from fans too for his set. So I'd like to see the individuals being hands on and even taking suggestions from fans on sets a lot more. Not just Superstar sets. But any set WWE intends on releasing. It helps as the fans are the ones who are gonna be buying them.

As stated, I can see one being done on Bruno. That's money right there. Would love to see it. That guy built and sold out that building more than anyone. And we're talking at at time when wrestling was just that....WRESTLING. Not talking 80% of the show and at a time where they were going to MSG on a constant basis as opposed to now.

Dean Malenko.......regarding your points on him, the same can be said about Vader except he never went to ECW.

I'd also like to see sets released on a specific decade. I think it'd be interesting as they can cover all the major matches and things of that specific decade. On the Greatest Rivalries front, I think more should be released. And I can see that happening. I'd love to see the following rivalries (whenever the rivals can participate for the interview):
Taker vs Mankind
Taker vs Kane
Taker vs HHH
Taker vs Austin
Taker vs HBK
Foley vs HHH
Austin vs Rock
Austin vs HHH
HHH vs Rock
Austin vs Mcmahon
Sting vs Ric Flair
RVD vs Jerry Lynn
and more

I really like trailers (for the movie), deleted scenes, read-throughs (for TV shows), and behind the scenes featurettes. I HATE bloopers (I just never get into them...), and trailers for other movies!

I really like trailers (for the movie), deleted scenes, read-throughs (for TV shows), and behind the scenes featurettes. I HATE bloopers (I just never get into them...), and trailers for other movies!

Yeah. The trailers are good. But a lot of times, they don't have all the trailers and the ones they do have aren't as good as the ones that were left off. As for the bloopers/gag reel, i can get into them only if the ones in the clip were naturally funny like a comedian or a actor who's experienced in doing comedy films and people like that.

I watch trailers after the main feature. It's fun to see the many ways they can lie and fool the viewer into thinking it's something it isn't, using the very same footage as the film itself.

If that doesn't make sense then watch this, it illustares it perfectly. But only if you've seen the movie 'cos spoilers: 2001: Trailer Recut. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSGsh9so_dA) Looks like an action movie. :laugh:

Definitely: Making of and behind the scenes. It's always interesting for me to see how a movie is made. Otherwise, I really like music videos and trailers for upcoming movies.

Definitely: Making of and behind the scenes. It's always interesting for me to see how a movie is made. Otherwise, I really like music videos and trailers for upcoming movies.

Agreed.