THE BEST ON DVD 2004
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Written By: John H. Foote
With DVD being a business onto itself, it seems only right that there be annual best list for the digital realm as well. New films and old made it to DVD this year, some of them loaded down with special features that are often more entertaining than the film itself. For the record, here are the DVD’s I enjoyed most this year.

1 . THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING…The final installment in Peter Jackson’s massive trilogy is the best of the series, and for the DVD extended edition he added nearly fifty minutes to a film already close to four hours long. The result is improving somehow on a piece of perfection, which I did not think to be possible. When Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson) turns to Gandalf and whispers “For Frodo” before charging into battle he has become the king we knew he could be. Full of passion and great power the film is among the greatest ever made. Winner of eleven Academy Awards including best picture and best director, this collection contains directors commentary, countless documentaries about the making of not just this film, but all three, and wonderful behind the scenes footage which includes goodbyes from the cast and crew. Simply astonishing, and one for the ages.

2 . THE STAR WARS TRILOGY…Finally, the original three Star Wars films come to the digital real, or do they? These are not the films I first screened in 1977, 1980 and 1983 respectively as George Lucas has jiggered around with them for the last few years improving what he felt was not up to par and could now remedy digitally. Despite my complaints about the fact I will never be able to see the original three films as I first saw them in theatres, this set is wonderful as the three films, Star Wars (1977;*****), The Empire Strikes Back (1989;*****) and Return of the Jedi (1983;***) provide thrills and excitement throughout. I still get chills when Vader announces t Luke that he is his father. The extras are substantial including a fourth disc with a two and a half documentary about the making of the trilogy including early screen tests, visual effects tests and the making of a pop culture phenomenon.

3 . THE ULTIMATE MATRIX COLLECTION…This action packed trilogy from the brothers Wachowski has become one of the cinema’s most popular trilogies and certainly among the most financially successful. Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has put together this massive ten disc collection that answers all questions Matrix related and believe me after wading through the information herein one will never again have a query about the series. The films, The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) are presented in superb widescreen transfers, with each film coming with its own making of disc. Also included are The Matrix Experience, and The Animatrix; explored in depth are the inspirations for the film, the philosophical debates presented after seeing the picture, and the extraordinary visual effects created for the film.

4 . SAVING PRIVATE RYAN COLLECTOR’S EDITION…Steven Spielberg’s magnificent war epic was among the first of the early releases to the digital format, and now four years later gets the deluxe treatment it deserved the first time out. The main attraction of course is the presentation of the film, in crisp widescreen images, bolstered by re-mastered audio. The picture remains the finest war film ever made, and collected five Academy Awards, but not the best picture award. There are tons of extras here including interviews with Spielberg and his cast, a making of documentary, and interviews with actual veterans who give the film their stamp of approval. A masterpiece.

5 . SCHINDLER’S LIST…Spielberg won his first Academy Award for best director for this Holocaust film dealing with Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi Party who took it upon himself to save the lives of eleven hundred Jews marked for extermination at the hands of the Nazis. Filmed in grainy, beautiful black and white which matches the known archive footage we have seen of the time, the director made the wise choice to shoot the film as though he were shooting a documentary the result being a film that plunges us into the world inhabited by Nazis sent to kill you because of your race. Still extraordinary, still powerful and forever brilliant. Slim with extras, but the film is after all the main event in any and all DVD purchases.

6 . ANGELS IN AMERICA…This spectacular television event dominated the Golden Globes Awards last year and set records for wins at the Emmy Awards collecting eleven awards in all including a clean sweep of the major categories, best film, best director (Mike Nichols), best actor (Al Pacino), best actress (Meryl Streep), best supporting actor (Jeffrey Wright) and best supporting actress (Mary Louise Parker). Tony Kushner adapted the screenplay from his Pulitzer Prize winning play about AIDS emerging as a crisis in the eighties. The cast is superb, the direction powerful and the film is full of unforgettable images such as the angel coming to the young man ill with the terrible disease. Pacino is electrifying, Streep solid, but best of all is Wright as a gay health care worker. Stunning on every level.

7 . THE CHARLIE CHAPLIN COLLECTON VOLUME ONE AND TWO…How perfect that this generation is given the chance to see this sublime film artist’s greatest works cleaned up for digital and presented with images and sound as clean as the day they were initially released. Two fat volumes of Chaplin films bring to DVD The Kid (1920), The Gold Rush (1924), The Circus (1927), Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940) and his masterpiece City Lights (1931). The extras include commentary from noted film historians, and the added bonus of film critic Richard Schickel's documentary Charlie, which played the festival circuit last year. A miraculous set of collections that brings to the viewer a taste of the beginnings of the cinema.

8 . THE TEN COMMANDMENTS SPECIAL EDITION…Master showman Cecil B. Demille’s last great film gets the special edition treatment from Paramount Home Entertainment. A meticulous transfer of the film brings back the lush colours that video cassette could never capture, and the crisp, clean images of the film as superb as anything ever presented on the big screen. Charlton Heston is the only actor alive who could ever portray Moses, and he superb anchouring the film with a confidently, strong performance. The parting of the Red Sea is still among the great moments in film history. The extras include a six part documentary abut the making of the film, which takes us from early pre-production right through to the film’s opening. A knockout of a DVD.

9 . GOODFELLAS…Martin Scorsese’s greatest film had been previously available as a flipper meaning that you had to turn the disc over halfway through the film, and with not a single extra. This special edition, double disc presents the film gloriously in widescreen with director’s commentary and loads of extras. Very likely the most authentic and realistic study of the mafia ever put on film, the picture is based on the book Wiseguy by real life criminal Henry Hill, now living in the Witness Relocation Program. Superb performances from Ray Liotta, Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci dominate the film, which is often very funny, and always very violent. One of the greatest films of all time.

10. THE UNIVERSAL MONSTER LEGACY COLLECTIONS…Known for making their money on monster movies in the thirties and forties, Universal Studios brings them all together in these wonderful collections, aptly titled The Dracula Collection, The Frankenstein Collection, The Wolfman Collection, The Mummy Collection, The Invisible Man Collection and The Creature from the Black Lagoon Collection. We get all of the classic originals remastered, along with the many sequels and offshoots of the originals giving us great insight into how Universal kept these films going as long as they could. Watching these old chestnuts one is reminded of how artistic they really are because there is not a drop of blood to be seen in any of them and yet they are often terrifying. The names of my childhood, Karloff, Chaeny and Lagosi live forever on DVD.

11 . THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION…One of the most beloved films of all time gets the special edition double disc treatment from Warner Brothers reminding audiences of how tremendous a film this is. With little or no reaction when first released, the picture was re-discovered on video and eventually earned seven Oscar nominations including best picture and best actor for Morgan Freeman. Quickly, oh so quickly it became an American classic. Based on a Stephen King novella, the film explores life in a tough prison over twenty five years using the prison as a metaphor for the world. Superbly acted and directed the film is an American masterwork. Among the extras are director’s commentary, interviews with Freeman and co-star Tim Robbins and a massive documentary about the film’s creation.

12. GONE WITH THE WIND…Arguably the most famous of all time gets the four disc deluxe treatment from Warner Brothers Home Entertainment making this a must for movie fans and collectors. In addition to a superb print f the film, beautifully restored to give audiences the look of the original print, there are many extras including an exhaustive study of the making of the film and the subsequence reaction to it by audiences through the years. There are interviews with Olivia de Havilland and countless historians about the impact of the picture.

13. FREAKS…Todd Browning’s long lost horror film about side show “freaks” taking their revenge on so called normal folks from circus in which they all work. Atmospheric and genuinely creepy the film contains images that are stuff of nightmares. When first released the film was banned by the censors and has rarely been seen over the years, usually only on old 16 mm projectors. Restored perfectly for the digital real, the film looks terrific and is as frightening now as it ever was. Stillness was never this terrifying or disquieting…a gem that richly deserved this type of release. The extras include a documentary on Browning, a special message added for the theatrical release of the film, and an all new documentary entitled Freaks: Sideshow Cinema. Bravo to Warner Home Entertainment for this dark fantasy.










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