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Do people still care about DVD extras?

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Bleepey

Member
DVD is the same disc that goes in the DVD + Blu combo.

DVD is already short on space, so most just go for a higher bitrate on the movie for the DVD disc with a minimal menu and no extras to speak of.

With Disney films, the digital version includes all of the extras if you watch via the DMA app.

Look at the DVD special features of HKL dvds:

Police Story said:


Project A said:


Naked Weapon said:


This was an independent publisher. What's your excuse Disney?
 

Jacob

Member
My man.

The other thing that really FUCKS ME OFF is a "Blu-ray" set that contains actual DVDs of extras. I still haven't bought the LOTR set because the special feature discs, last I checked, were just straight up DVDs.

In the case of LOTR, the guys documenting the production weren't filming in higher than DVD quality, so there'd be nothing gained from putting them on BRD anyway.
 

Hex

Banned
Damned right I do.
I love making of, behind the scenes, commentaries.
I really feel no sympathy for people who have stuck to DVD.
 

Syriel

Member

Those all take space.

From the TFA box, the DVD has English, French and Spanish 5.1, English 2.0 descriptive audio, plus subtitles.

Keeping extras off allows for a higher bitrate encode. It's a trade off. Do you want a better quality film? Or do you want a lower quality encode, but plenty of extras?
 

gnexus

Member
I listen to the commentary tracks on every movie I own, if it's available. Some of them are very entertaining..
 

Bleepey

Member
Yes. I sat and watched all of Blade Runner's extras for around 4 hours. I love that stuff.

I could probably watch Blade Runner's commentaries and documentaries all day, which is funny since I think the movie is kinda boring. I loved the SFdebris, Nostalgia Critic and a few other people's retrospectives despite not being a fan of the movie. I think commentaries should be done for film archival purposes.
 

samn

Member
Those all take space.

From the TFA box, the DVD has English, French and Spanish 5.1, English 2.0 descriptive audio, plus subtitles.

Keeping extras off allows for a higher bitrate encode. It's a trade off. Do you want a better quality film? Or do you want a lower quality encode, but plenty of extras?

i want a second disc
 

Bleepey

Member
Those all take space.

From the TFA box, the DVD has English, French and Spanish 5.1, English 2.0 descriptive audio, plus subtitles.

Keeping extras off allows for a higher bitrate encode. It's a trade off. Do you want a better quality film? Or do you want a lower quality encode, but plenty of extras?

Any difference is negligible.

This was Episode 3

Exclusive deleted scenes with introductions by George Lucas and Rick McCallum
"Within a Minute" documentary film about the making of the Mustafar battle
"The Chosen One" featurette: George Lucas traces the myth of Darth Vader through episodes 1-6
"It's All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III"
A 15-part collection of Lucasfilm's Web documentaries
Star Wars Battlefront II trailer and Xbox game demo
Star Wars Empire at War PC game trailer
"A Hero Falls" music video
Poster and print campaign
Trailers and TV spots
Never-before-seen production photo gallery
DVD-ROM content includes a free trial of Hyperspace, the ultimate online Star Wars experienceH
 
I used to love extras and would only buy movies that had ENOUGH extras on them (not just dvd commentaries) that were equal to or longer than the length of the movie itself. Then it felt like buying the dvd had a lot more value to it.

Today though I don't watch every extra for every film that I buy, I rarely even listen to the commentaries.... but they are there in case I ever want to and that's nice to know.
 

Maengun1

Member
I always check to see what features are available on a blu ray, and it does make a difference. If I'm on the fence about whether or not to make the purchase, a lot of interesting-sounding extras can push me into the buy and none will usually hold me back.

Commentaries are the main feature I really care about. I always give them a listen, and a great commentary pretty much doubles the replay value of the film for me. Commentaries that are just "oh they were so great, this scene is so great, all the actors and crew are great" are death though.
 
Netflix has pretty much proved people only give a shit about the movie.

I think the fact over 10 years of DVD saturation proving that 9/10ths of all extras are watch-once fluff at best helped push people to that point, too.

If you're not gonna put real time and effort into your extras, they're just bullet points on the back of the box to make it look like you're getting more bang for your buck. they're the entertainment equivalent of styrofoam peanuts. You can make a package look big as hell you pack enough peanuts into the box, yunno? That list of bullet points appeals to people who care almost as much about the perception of "deals" as they do the movie they're supposed to be wtaching.

I'll take a documentary from producers like David Prior and Charlie De Lauzirika, over any other extra. Film commentaries used to be interesting, but that's when they were being recorded long after the film had been produced, and the commentaries had time/energy poured into them, with moderation steering the discussion to specific points, multiple takes, and the presence of serious hindsight adding to the value of the words being recorded.

Now commentaries are slapdash two-take affairs at best done in a single afternoon while the movie is still in post. So the commentaries end up sounding samey, because there's no perspective but "this is how we want it to play, we hope it plays like that." The good ones in that vein don't even stay scene specific for long, so you might as well just consider it a podcast that just happens to refer to a movie playing in the background.

I will buy the barebones edition of a blu-ray in a heartbeat, so long as the encode on the film is good. Because that's all that matters. If I find out that the extras are taking up space that could have been used to improve the transfer? I get a little disappointed. Usually that doesn't happen, though.
 

Strax

Member
Film commentaries used to be interesting, but that's when they were being recorded long after the film had been produced, and the commentaries had time/energy poured into them, with moderation steering the discussion to specific points, multiple takes, and the presence of serious hindsight adding to the value of the words being recorded.

Those are by far the worst imo. Also the hindsight can only be added with time. Of course films pre-DVD are going to have more hindsight so its not fair to compare those two things.
 

Megasoum

Banned
I just recently rewatched the 2002 Ben Affleck movie The Sum of all Fears with the DVD commentary.

The movie was trashed by critics when it came out but it's one of those guilty pleasures of mine.

Anyway, the commentary is by the director and Tom Clancy himself and it's fucking amazing.

Clancy clearly doesn't want to be there and is slightly racist/sexist so it's a bit awkward but at the same time he keep telling great CIA and Pentagon stories and anecdotes. A ton of "Oh yeah, I've been to that place" everytime they introduce a new cia/pentagon location.

It's fucking great.
 

Xero

Member
say what you will about his movies, christopher nolan usually has some pretty spectacular behind the scenes stuff on his movies.
 

X05

Upside, inside out he's livin la vida loca, He'll push and pull you down, livin la vida loca
Yes, I love them, and watch them all :D
I especially love when they come with several discs of extra material and plenty of in-depth documentaries, like the LotR and Hobbit EEs, Nolan movies, PotC, Avatar SE, Titanic, Jurassic Park trilogy, earlier MCU movies, etc.

Good extra go a long way. The lotr extended editions are the best dvd releases are amazing in part because of their extras. The hobbit extended editions are worth owning for the extras
This is the truth, the EE's extras are nothing short of amazing (and some truly hilarious). The fact that The Hobbit EEs' appendices are a continuation of the LotR EEs' is a nice touch.

That would be great. Some documentaries about the making of a film are better than the film itself.
Iron Man 2 comes to mind, had a great 2 hour long making-of documentary.

My man.

The other thing that really FUCKS ME OFF is a "Blu-ray" set that contains actual DVDs of extras. I still haven't bought the LOTR set because the special feature discs, last I checked, were just straight up DVDs.
Yes they are, but they were shot at DVD quality anyway so nothing is lost really
 
What was the movie where Arnold sounds high as fuck on the commentary track? Conan?

Also the LOTR Extras are INSANE, Hobbits also.


Ive watched them so many times....

Orlando: "Now every time I see him.... I see the white light....."

lol
 
I usually watch all of the extras, except for the commentary track. I don't really consider the disc watched until I get through all of that.
 

Enthus

Member
I really hope the new Star Wars trilogy gets special editions with features comparable to LOTR. I can watch the LOTR appendices as often as the films.
 

sethbot

Member
I haven't watched any extra content like that in years. Don't really see myself caring about it anytime soon either, maybe if it was a film I really liked.
 

Colin.

Member
Yep, I quite like having extra content included. Deleted scenes, making of, commentary etc. It can be the deciding point if I even buy the blu ray at all. On that note, it would be cool to eventually get some version of Back To The Future that includes the footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty Mcfly. Would be kinda cool to see how much of an impact the change made on the final product.
 

Poona

Member
DVD extras? I'm used to them moving them onto the bluray. So if you just want basic, get the DVD. If you want extras get the bluray. Simple.
 
People still care about them, but the outrage that comes when special features are broken up among retailers or absent altogether is overdone because, sadly, most DVD/Blu-ray special features are junk these days.
 

Flux

Member
The extras for one of the Commando rereleases is hilarious. Added new interviews with the cast talking about the production.
 

lobdale

3 ft, coiled to the sky
Yes they are, but they were shot at DVD quality anyway so nothing is lost really

This is crap justification though. Put the goddamned 3 DVDs worth of special features on a Blu-ray, I don't want a stupid DVD!!!
 

Toa TAK

Banned
Yeah, I love them. I grew up watching them and the Jurassic Park and Star Wars behind-the-scenes extras are what got me really interested in the film-making process. I know a lot of people don't care about that anymore, but it's the main reason I still pick up Blu-Rays now (beyond the movie looking good on blu-ray). If I only cared for the movie itself I'd just own it all digitally. I loved the King Kong Extended edition for all it's extra-goodness.
 
Those are by far the worst imo

Commentaries that are well-edited with no blank spots, no filler, and really fun/interesting observations that flow just as solidly as the movie it's accompanying are "the worst?"

As opposed to one-take ramblefests where semi-bored participants are just looking for lazy one-liners to fire off between drinks?

, sadly, most DVD/Blu-ray special features are junk these days.

They were always mostly junk.

If I only cared for the movie itself I'd just own it all digitally.

There is no way a digital-only version of a film is going to hang with a blu-ray in terms of audio/video quality. It hasn't happened yet.
 

Strax

Member
Commentaries that are well-edited with no blank spots, no filler, and really fun/interesting observations that flow just as solidly as the movie it's accompanying are "the worst?"

As opposed to one-take ramblefests where semi-bored participants are just looking for lazy one-liners to fire off between drinks?

I like it when its different people watching a movie together they worked on, had fun and act like normal people while taking about the making of the movie.

As opposed people going through notes trying to find something interesting about each scene and coming off like they are acting during the commentaries, that "now, when I say this you say this" feeling, while everbody is getting frustrated at how long its taking.





See, I can play this game just like you.
 
I like it when its different people watching a movie together they worked on, had fun and act like normal people while taking about the making of the movie.

The number of those that go right is woefully small compared to the ones that are just listless and annoying.

Kevin Smith is both the best and simultaneously the worst thing to happen to the film commentary, primarily because he's good at just rambling and making it entertaining, and a lot of people who attempt that are not. Also: This isn't really an either/or thing. What I'm saying is that most commentaries are boring and lame, and not worth the time to record or to listen to, and the ones that ARE good tend to be the ones that have distance and perspective, and time and thought put into them.

Basically, much like filmmaking itself, the extras are only as good as the effort being put into them. Fluff EPK bullshit, one-take commentaries being done during a break in post-production, and 15 minutes of deleted scenes aren't anywhere near as interesting or worthwhile as an entertaining, informative commentary track, and a well-produced behind the scenes documentary.

I'm not "playing a game," I'm explaining myself and asking you to do the same. You keep trying to highlight how important to you it is that people not really plan for what's going to come out of their mouth and I think more often than not that shit is lazy and tiresome. Not everyone is John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Not everyone is Kevin Smith. Hell, not even Kevin Smith is Kevin Smith: That commentary he and Mosier did for Road House is ass. People who aren't great at extemporaneous speaking need help, and notes, and direction, and editing, just like any other actor would.

There's nothing wrong with that.
 
I like it when its different people watching a movie together they worked on, had fun and act like normal people while taking about the making of the movie.

Observe and Report's is basically this, plus it's picture-in-picture so you can see them having fun watching the film. For such a dark comedy, it's a nice contrast especially with Anna Faris and Rogen goofing around.
I just recently rewatched the 2002 Ben Affleck movie The Sum of all Fears with the DVD commentary.

The movie was trashed by critics when it came out but it's one of those guilty pleasures of mine.

Anyway, the commentary is by the director and Tom Clancy himself and it's fucking amazing.

Clancy clearly doesn't want to be there and is slightly racist/sexist so it's a bit awkward but at the same time he keep telling great CIA and Pentagon stories and anecdotes. A ton of "Oh yeah, I've been to that place" everytime they introduce a new cia/pentagon location.

It's fucking great.
Right winger with slightly bigoted views, not even surprised at Clancy :p
 
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