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Outstanding
Achievements in DVD for 2005
back
to Editors' Top 10 Choices
 BEST
DVD - OVERALL |
  |
King
Kong: Collector's Edition
(Warner Bros.)
We've all been through it. Some of us
more than once. A movie perches high atop our DVD wish list,
taunting us with its unavailability on the format. Finally, the
studio announces a release date. We get the prize in our hands
and, happy as we are to finally have it, there's still something
missing. For years, Kong
was the #1 most wanted title on disc for millions of fans and
for once, just about everybody was satisfied with the end
product. Warner's meticulous restoration ensures that the eighth
wonder of the world will be around for generations to come,
while the extra features incorporate a perfect blend of
appreciation, analysis and behind-the-scenes information. This
year was harder than most to pick a clear winner, with plenty of
DVD producers and studios delivering some of their finest work.
Ultimately, Kong rose to
the top for fulfilling our longest-standing DVD wish, for
revitalizing a classic, for its outstanding bonus content, and
because... well... it's Kong!
The big ape tends to tower over everything else anyway. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Filmmakers, if you must release an extended version of your
movie on DVD (and hey, you don't necessarily have to do so on
our account!), take a cue from Robert Rodriguez and Ridley
Scott. Do it the way they did with
Frank
Miller's Sin City: Recut, Extended, Unrated and
the
Gladiator:
Extended Edition, two outstanding special
editions that include the redux vision while preserving the
original theatrical version too. Meanwhile, Disney and Pixar, no
strangers to great DVDs, hit another one way, way out of the
park with
The
Incredibles: 2-Disc Collector's Edition. And
while it wasn't the be-all and end-all edition that its fans had
hoped for, the improvements made to James Cameron's opus in the
Titanic:
Special Collector's Edition were more than
enough to win it honorable mention status. |
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| BEST
DVD - OVERALL (READER'S CHOICE) |
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| BEST
DVD - SPECIAL EDITION |
 |
Frank
Miller's Sin City: Recut, Extended, Unrated
(Buena Vista/Dimension)
Now here's how you do a special edition
of a recent theatrical release: You make your bosses at the
studio happy by agreeing to release a bare-bones version
whenever they want. But at the same time, you announce to the
fans that a more elaborate special edition is on its way if
they're patient (complete with an actual time-frame around when
we might expect such a thing). Then you load that sucker up with
everything and the kitchen sink, so fans don't feel like
they've been played for chumps by holding out for the more
expensive disc. The deluxe Sin City
delivers. Man, does it ever, with stellar picture and sound
quality, innovative extras, and a handsome package that even
includes Miller's original Sin City
graphic novel, upon which the film is based. Very nice indeed. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Lots of great contenders in this category this year, with some
long-awaited reissues that gave the idea of the double dip a
good name. The best movie of the 1980s, Martin Scorsese's
Raging
Bull: Special Edition is finally a DVD
presentation worthy of the film's reputation. David Cronenberg's
The
Fly: Collector's Edition is a long overdue
double-disc edition with lots of great extras and, most
importantly, the first-ever proper presentation of the
widescreen cinematography. Ridley Scott's
Gladiator:
Extended Edition was a truly epic package
befitting the scope of the film itself. But running a very close
second to Sin City in this
category was Warner's stunning
The
Wizard of Oz: Three-Disc Collector's Edition,
with its eye-popping restoration and seemingly never ending well
of extras. Who knew there was that much Oz left to explore? |
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| BEST
DVD - STANDARD EDITION |
 |
Crash
(Lionsgate)
Paul Haggis' love-it-or-hate-it ensemble
drama about simmering racial tensions amid a wide range of
characters in Los Angeles is due for a two-disc special edition
upgrade in a few months. But Lionsgate's original release did
its job well, getting this fascinating and controversial film
seen by a much wider audience. It wouldn't be a stretch to
suggest that this disc helped win Crash
its multiple Oscar nominations, by keeping the film fresh in the
minds of Academy voters.
For the record, nominees in this category can't be released
with a special or collector's edition label, and they can have
no more than four special features (most legitimate special
editions have far more extras on average). |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Ghost
in the Shell 2: Innocence was technically
released in late December of 2004, but with only English
captions for the hearing impaired instead of the usual English
subtitles a Japanese language release would normally have. Kudos
to Dreamworks for acknowledging the omission and issuing a
corrected version early in 2005 with both subtitles and
captions. Once it was fixed, it was a damn fine disc. Also
worthy of note in '05 was Sony's DVD version of Mike Nichols'
Closer,
which the majority of its disc space over to Superbit video.
Alexander Payne's
Sideways
was one of our favorite films of 2004, and it was gratifying to
see that its pleasures more than hold up on disc. And be sure to
check out
Downfall,
one of the most gripping and chilling foreign language films of
recent years. |
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| BEST
DVD - CLASSIC RELEASE |
|
King
Kong: Collector's Edition
(Warner Bros.)
This was a tough call, but if Kong
is our choice for Best Overall DVD,
then how could we not acknowledge it in this category as well?
It was the one classic we've all wanted on disc since the DVD
format first appeared, and Warner made the release worth every
agonizing second of the wait. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Why was this category so close? Well, Warner's original DVD
release of The Wizard of Oz
seemed pretty good at the time. But any speculation as to why
this title actually needed another upgrade were put to rest by
the extraordinary
The
Wizard of Oz: Three-Disc Collector's Edition.
In fact, Warner's respectful treatment of their vast library of
classics continued to put other studios to shame throughout
2005. Of particular interest were the stunning restoration of
the wonderful
Easter
Parade: Two-Disc Special Edition and what must
be considered the definitive edition of yet another classic with
the
Ben-Hur:
Four-Disc Collector's Edition. As for the rest
of the studios, Universal did right by a real American classic
with the handsome, reverent
To
Kill a Mockingbird: Legacy Series. |
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| BEST
DVD - BOXED SET |
 |
Batman:
The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997
(Warner Bros.)
Just about everybody wanted special
editions of Tim Burton's Batman
and Batman Returns. Joel
Schumacher's Batman Forever
and Batman & Robin?
Maybe not so much. So it's a real testament to the quality of
this set that you're actually glad to own all four Bat-films on
DVD, nipple-suits and all. Far from being just a quick buck
tie-in with Batman Begins,
real thought was put into these discs, their presentation and
their extras, with the franchise given a clear-eyed examination
of both its strengths and weaknesses. Bat-fans couldn't have
asked for much more from this outstanding set. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
One thing about Warner Home Video, they know how to package a
boxed set. You could buy the films included in
The
Warner Gangsters Collection and
The
Errol Flynn Signature Collection individually,
but most fans will want all of these featured titles. These sets
make it easy and more than satisfy. Universal collected some of
the best films of all time, correcting a few technical problems
in the process, in the handsome and surprisingly affordable (on
a per-disc basis)
Alfred
Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection. And one
of the greatest silent film comedians got some long overdue
respect paid to him in New Line's
The
Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection. |
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| BEST
DVD - FOREIGN FILM |
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Ran
(The Criterion Collection)
The third time proved to be the charm for
Akira Kurosawa's 1985 masterpiece. But once the film was placed
into Criterion's hands, we expected nothing less. Ran
is one of the most beautifully photographed films ever shot, but
if you tried to prove that with the film's previous DVD
releases, people looked at you like you were blind, stupid or
both. Criterion gives the film the transfer it deserves and
gilds the lily with a second disc of extras that includes Chris
Marker's excellent feature-length documentary AK.
Even with this to tide us over however, we can hardly wait for
Criterion's two-disc upgrade of Kurosawa's signature classic,
Seven Samurai. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
As we mentioned earlier, Oliver Hirschbiegel's
Downfall
is a terrific foreign-language film, a mesmerizing look at the
last days of Adolf Hitler, brilliantly played by Bruno Ganz.
2004's Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Alejandro
Amenabar's
The
Sea Inside, was introduced to a wider audience
thanks to New Line's disc. Tartan's
Oldboy
amply demonstrated why Park Chanwook is taking Asian cinema by
storm. For something a lot more low-key than Oldboy,
check out Paramount's
Schultze
Gets the Blues, a charming, funny and poignant
comedy from director Michael Schorr. And Wong Kar Wai's
long-awaited
2046
returned to the world of his brilliant In
the Mood for Love. |
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| BEST
DVD - PSYCHOTRONIC |
 |
The
Devil's Rejects: Two-Disc Unrated Director's Cut
(Lionsgate)
Take a trip back to the heyday of 70s
grindhouse exploitation with Rob Zombie's Rejects,
a superior follow-up to his underbaked House
of 1000 Corpses. Packed with top-notch extras,
including a lengthy documentary, a pair of enjoyable
commentaries, and assorted other goodies, The
Devil's Rejects is one great DVD. And the movie
itself is one of the few recent horror entries that deserves to
be remembered alongside the greats that provided its
inspiration. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Grindhouse Releasing gave
Cannibal
Holocaust, one of the most notorious movies
ever made, a two-disc special edition treatment that regular
moviegoers may find hard to stomach but will delight hardcore
fans. Blue Underground produced one of the best Dario Argento
DVDs to date with its excellent
The
Bird with the Crystal Plumage: 2-Disc Special Edition.
They also shined a light onto an obscure and underrated part of
Eurohorror history with
The
Blind Dead Collection. And Panik House
introduced American audiences to the wild side of Japanese
cinema with
The
Pinky Violence Collection. |
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| BEST
DVD - VIDEO (NEW FILM) |
 |
Star
Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
(20th Century Fox)
Whether you thought the way George Lucas
chose to wrap up his prequel trilogy was inspired or insipid,
there's no arguing that the image quality on this DVD is
spectacular. Taken directly from the movie's high-definition
digital master files, Sith's
video was the demo disc material of 2005. Picture quality can't
get much better on this particular format, folks. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
The death of traditional animation has been greatly
exaggerated, thank the lord, but you can appreciate the
dominance of computer animation when you're watching Disney and
Pixar's spectacular
The
Incredibles: 2-Disc Collector's Edition. The
new wave of digital filmmaking was well represented with the
thoroughly enjoyable
Frank
Miller's Sin City: Recut, Extended, Unrated, as
well as the visually gorgeous but narratively-challenged
Sky
Captain and the World of Tomorrow. And lest you
think all movies these days are shot on digital video, the
Batman
Begins: Deluxe Edition demonstrated that even a
movie shot on old-fashioned celluloid can still look amazing on
DVD. |
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| BEST
DVD - VIDEO (RESTORATION) (TIE) |
 |
King
Kong: Collector's Edition
(Warner Bros.)
Bambi:
Platinum Edition
(Disney)
It's hard to believe that a film made in
1933 can look this good in 2005, but King
Kong is the proof in the pudding. We wondered why it
was taking so long to produce this DVD, and now we know. You
simply can't rush good restoration work. Our own Robert A.
Harris (himself an accomplished expert in this field) even
dedicated
one
of his regular columns here at The
Bits to Kong's
restoration recently, and it's well worth a read.
Also a salute-worth achievement in 2005 is the amazing effort
of Lowry Digital Images for their meticulous clean-up and repair
work on Disney's 1942 classic, Bambi.
Working frame-by-frame from the original negatives, Lowry
brought out the painterly, pastoral beauty of Disney's early
animated masterpiece. The work done on Bambi
isn't simply a restoration. It's a revitalization. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
These have been touched on in earlier categories, so they
should be no surprise. Warner's Ultra-Resolution restoration for
The
Wizard of Oz: Three-Disc Collector's Edition
was exceptional, giving the transition from black-and-white to
color the same jolt it must have had back in 1939. Criterion's
Ran
gave this incredible looking film the long-overdue image quality
on DVD it needed and deserved. And for a more recent film, the
improvement in image quality to
Titanic:
Special Collector's Edition was infinitely
superior to that movie's previous DVD and home video
incarnations. |
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| BEST
DVD - SOUND (TIE) |
 |
Star
Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
(20th Century Fox)
War
of the Worlds: 2-Disc Limited Edition
(DreamWorks)
Recent movies almost always have an edge
in this category and this year is no exception. The Star
Wars universe would be nothing without the lavish
soundscapes of sound designer Ben Burtt and composer John
Williams. Episode III
continues that tradition with a 5.1 mix that places you smack
dab in the middle of a galaxy far, far away. Just watch the
film's thunderously active opening space battle over Coruscant,
or the engrossing sonic subtlety of its fiery and climactic
lightsaber duel, all set to Williams' best score since The
Empire Strikes Back.
Spielberg's War of the Worlds
remake was no slouch itself, with a powerful sound mix equally
adept at scenes of big action and quiet suspense. If this film
was at all effective, it's in large measure to its deeply
unsettling surround mix. That foghorn-like warning call of the
alien tripods still creeps us the hell out. And the sound (sans
visuals) of the jetliner crash scene? Amazing. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Matching its eye-popping look beat for beat, the lively
Sky
Captain and the World of Tomorrow was at the
cutting edge of audio technology. Is that a Tumbler in your
living room or are you just happy to be listening to
Batman
Begins: Deluxe Edition? And James Cameron's
Titanic:
Special Collector's Edition was given an
extraordinary sonic update whether you choose the Dolby Digital
or the DTS mix. The worst thing you can say about it is that it
still ends with Celine Dion. |
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| BEST
DVD - "MAKING OF" FEATURETTE OR DOCUMENTARY (TIE) |
|
Strength
and Honor: Creating the World of Gladiator
Gladiator:
Extended Edition
(DreamWorks)
RKO Production 601
King
Kong: Collector's Edition
(Warner Bros.)
Let's just say it right up front: The
seven-part Strength and Honor:
Creating the World of Gladiator is just about as good
as a "making of" documentary can get. Running a
whopping 200 minutes (that's right - nearly a half-hour longer
than even the extended cut of the film!), Strength
and Honor is thoroughly comprehensive, features new
and archive interviews with virtually everyone involved in the
production, and even offers you unique glimpses of alternate
takes and angles of scenes from the film itself - footage that
otherwise would be lost to the cutting room floor. Add to that
its fascinating look at how the producers dealt with the
unfortunate death of actor Oliver Reed, and this is an absolute
achievement by any measure.
On the other hand, with its impressive range of interviewees
and rare production photos and artwork, RKO
Production 601 would probably be a contender here no
matter what. But the real clincher is incredible indeed: Peter
Jackson's team of effects wizards at WETA set out to recreate
the deleted Spider Pit sequence from the classic film (perhaps
second only to the London After
Midnight as the most famous lost footage of all
time). Not only did they produce a great recreation, they
documented the process of doing so in such a way as to perfectly
illustrate the effort and techniques involved in creating the
special effects for the original film. Now that's going the
extra mile. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Fear of the Flesh from
The
Fly: Collector's Edition is one of the most
comprehensive documentaries ever devoted to a Cronenberg film,
even if Dave himself saves his own participation for his audio
commentary. Rob Zombie and friends show us how it's done in
painstaking detail in 30 Days In
Hell: The Making of The Devil's Rejects from
The
Devil's Rejects: Two-Disc Unrated Director's Cut.
And although it's the shortest of the five documentaries here,
there's a lot packed into The Sky is
Falling from Paramount's 1953
The
War of the Worlds: Special Collector's Edition.
Finally, while it's not quite a "making of"
documentary, the half-hour interview The
New Language of the Old West between Keith Carradine
and David Milch featured on
Deadwood:
The Complete First Season was fascinating,
delving deep into the series' signature dialogue and style. |
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| BEST
DVD - PACKAGING |
 |
I,
Robot: Limited Edition
(20th Century Fox)
Yeah, yeah... we know. Like Fox's Alien
Quadrilogy from 2004, and its limited edition "Alien"
bust packaging, the I, Robot
"Sonny" bust was only available internationally. Sure,
that's lame (and thankfully Fox has decided to change that trend
with its Planet of the Apes: Ultimate
Collection "Ape" head packaging, which will
be available everywhere this year). So sue us. Did you see a
cooler DVD package on American shelves this year? Didn't think
so. Neither did we. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Though not quite as cool as old Sonny there, we also loved the
design of the
Invader
ZIM: House Box Complete Set. The metal
collector's library box for
Ghost
in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Volume 7 Limited Edition
was also very slick. And back on Skull Island, Warner produced a
nice tin case for the
King
Kong: Collector's Edition, while Universal
housed
King
Kong: Peter Jackson's Production Diaries in a
cool limited edition gift box designed like a travel trunk.
Anchor Bay revisited their Book of
the Dead concept, adding a screaming twist with
Evil
Dead 2: Book of the Dead 2 (a little too
similar to a design that already won this award a few years ago
but still neat). Blue Underground housed
The
Blind Dead Collection in a coffin-shaped
collector's box. And Fox deserves credit for the classic library
box of its massive 40-disc
Buffy
the Vampire Slayer: The Chosen Collection.
Finally, speaking of Fox, we thought very seriously about
nominating the character head packaging from
The
Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season and the
Seventh
Season too. What stopped us? Well, a lot of
people hated 'em. Passionately. But the problem wasn't so much
the cases themselves, as the fact that Fox didn't release all
the seasons like that from the beginning (so the packaging
didn't match previous seasons). We still think the head cases
were, in principle, a neat idea. So our hats off to Fox for
trying. |
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