You know the recent trend to include “documentaries” (I include scare quotes, though they do in fact document) on DVD’s about the making-of the movie you just watched? With the abundance of “Special Features” or “Extras” or “Bonus Features” or whatever you want to call them, DVD’s ushered in a new era of full-disclosure filmmaking that film geeks have come to relish. Personally, my favorite special feature is the commentary track. They were first included on Criterion laserdiscs, and they have become ubiquitous in the DVD era. Some of my favorite commentaries include Roger Ebert’s track on Casablanca, and the commentary by Kirk Douglas, Peter Ustinov, and restoration expert Robert Harris on the Criterion Collection release of Spartacus. Robert Rodriguez has to be one of the more user-friendly commentators because he always makes it so enjoyable and informative. Kevin Smith, too, solely for entertainment purposes.
But back to the documentaries. To be blunt: most suck. But some are actually quite good, and I will briefly discuss one in particular.
One of the best made-for-DVD documentaries is Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. The film takes us from George Lucas’s original vision through the release of Return of the Jedi and beyond. Told chronologically, the film includes some of the best archival footage one would hope for, especially for a movie released a few decades before the documentary was pieced together for the trilogy’s DVD release. It’s great for fans to see how the films were made. From major setbacks to major success, Star Wars invented a new way of filmmaking that continues to influence Hollywood to this day.
As for the “improvements” to the movies themselves? Digitally re-mastered? That’s fine. New digital effects? That’s fine. Hayden Christensen in Jedi? That’s bullshit.
Bullshit.
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