Best DVD Extra's

Guest 34256 · 09-10-2006, 22:44

When looking for what classic movie to purchase next i was thinking of what dvd's have the best extra's.
By that i mean stuff with substance, good retrospective documentaries always help, such as some of my favourites , The Thing, Psycho (R1), From Dusk Till Dawn, Jaws, Frighteners and Close Encounters.
I was thinking of buying the King Kong (1933) Tin or the original Frankenstein (but not sure which version to go for).
So any help or recomendations will be much appreciated!

R-T-C · 10-10-2006, 08:11

For Frankenstein (1931) I would probably still recommend the 'Legacy Collection' set. There are less "special features", but for about the same price you get 4 extra films which are far more enjoyable than a couple of extra documentaries and an extra commentary track. The Legacy set still includes a documentary on the making of Frankenstein (1931) and a good audio commentary, and the same for Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Guest 3159 · 10-10-2006, 10:34

Two discs that stand out for me, extras wise, are Easy Rider SE, which has the brilliant Easy Riders, Ragings Bull documentary (plus a book on the movie!) and the Bullitt SE with a really good documentary on Steve McQueen (The Essence Of Cool) and a really informative and fascinating look at the world of movie editing (Cutting Edge The Magic Of Movie Editing)

Guest 53572 · 10-10-2006, 19:30

You can't beat having a whole film as an extra, especially if it's as good a film as Mystery of the Wax Museum which is on Warner's House of Wax disc.The mix of risque pre code dialogue and situations, the antique visual charm of the two strip process and of course Fay Wray means the extra gets watched a lot more than the main feature for me.

Guest 29 · 10-10-2006, 21:35

The R1 tin of King Kong is a lovely set and highly recommended.

Taxi Driver has a splendid making-of documentary, accompanied by the original screenplay which you can access while watching the film. Scarface is pretty good too and there are nicely detailed extras on the Carrie disc.

Although they're out of our remit, the Special Editions of Oliver Stone's Salvador and Platoon are marvellous, with some of the best making-of documentaries I've seen.

Guest 29 · 10-10-2006, 21:39

Further to Dave's post, there is also the Warner disc of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which includes the brilliant 1932 Rouben Mamoulien film and the 1941 Victor Fleming version.

Alan George · 11-10-2006, 11:40

The two hour Documentary with "Cleopatra" must be the best extra.

Guest 44239 · 12-10-2006, 10:56

The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938) double disc set is my favourite release of any film, absolutely jam packed with great stuff. A 65th anniversary documentary, a comparison doc with the earlier versions, vintage short films, Looney Tunes cartoons, "Warner Bros. Night at the Movies 1938" and more. The 60mins film about Technicolor is an especially outstanding extra!

The documentary about editing on the Bullitt (1968) SE dvd is great. I believe it was released individually in the US so to have it as a bonus feature is cool. Essential viewing for anyone interested in film making.

The R1 Laura (1944) has good documentaries on Vincent Price and Gene Tierney. I've lent the disc to people who only wanted to see the Price doc and the disc was worth the $s just for that extra.

The Wizard Of Oz (1939) 3 disc edition is one of the most extra heavy releases I've seen. Too much stuff to list but there's lots of good stuff to find on it.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) SE has a very entertaining Tarantino/Rodriguez commentary and the feature length Full Tilt Boogie, one of the best making of docs I've seen.

The Wild Bunch (1969) SE has an excellent 2nd disc containing the three good documentaries Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy Of A Hollywood Renegade, The Wild Bunch: An Album In Montage and A Simple Adventure Story: Sam Peckinpah, Mexico And The Wild Bunch.

Nathan

R-T-C · 12-10-2006, 11:01

The 'Harryhausen Chronicles' feature, included in full on the 'Earth versus the Flying Saucers' (1956) DVD is a very interesting, 60 minute documentary about the animator and his work - very well illustrated with clips from his films.

John Hodson · 12-10-2006, 11:16

The That's Entertainment box set contains a fourth disc - Treasures from The Vault - which contains a wealth of genuinely interesting extras.

I've really enjoyed the old 'Parkinson' interviews on a couple of Criterion discs; with Alec Guinness on Kind Hearts and Coronets and Henry Fonda on Young Mr Lincoln; I'm amazed the Beeb hasn't licensed out more treasures from their vaults, not only the Parky stuff - and I'd love to see his James Cagney / Pat O'Brien interview again - but the Mark Cousins 'Scene by Scene' interviews, Woody Allen and Sean Connery in particular.

Step away from the console · 12-10-2006, 15:57

I found these insightful:

Sunset Boulevard (1950) The making of SB featurette.
North by Northwest (1959) Destination Hitchcock: The Making of NbNW documentary. I like trailers presented by Hitch; in addition to the Psycho (1960) trailer, those for NbNW (on R1) and The Birds (1963) are excellent.
The Magnificent Seven (1960) Guns For Hire: The Making of The Magnificent Seven documentary.
The Wild Bunch (1969) The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage documentary.
Patton (1970) The Making of Patton documentray and Audio Essay on the Historical Patton.
Taxi Driver (1976) Making of documentary.