Home Opinion Midweek Mouth-off: Your favourite special feature

Midweek Mouth-off: Your favourite special feature

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We know that many of the cinephiles who hang around on this site love watching films at home as much as, if not more so, than at the movie house… what with the latter’s many irritations: cellphone-wielding teens, sticky floors, overpriced snacks and malfunctioning sound systems.

So today we want to know from all the home theatre junkies out there, what is your favourite DVD or Blu-ray special feature? Director and cast commentaries? Deleted scenes? Making of featurettes? Music videos? Or something more unique? Weigh in.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Critical Hit as an organisation.

Last Updated: May 9, 2012

13 Comments

  1. Kervyn Cloete

    May 9, 2012 at 10:45

    Everything. Honestly, I’m a behind-the-scenes whore. (Dam, that sentence doesn’t read well.) Generally the first thing I do, after getting a new blu-ray/dvd is watch every single extra on there.

    I have a whole bunch of movie, that after purchasing them, I have never actually watched the film again, but have seen the extras multiple times. 

    Reply

  2. Tracy Benson

    May 9, 2012 at 10:56

    Definitely deleted scenes or alternative endings, always interesting to see what could have been in the movie and try figure out why they cut it. Sometimes they don’t add much, other times you say “Oh NOW that makes sense” if it was something more integral. 

    I think the DVD with the best Easter Eggs has to be The Incredibles, there’s a lot hidden on there if you know where to look. The best one I stumbled on to was the production team redoing the plot of the movie, in 5 minutes, with sock puppets. 

    Reply

  3. James Francis

    May 9, 2012 at 11:01

    Commentaries. I even download the commentary tracks for DVDs I own that don’t have them, then play the one over the other. The incredible stuff you learn is priceless.

    Some of the best commentaries include Fight Club, They Live, Robocop and The Abyss. My personal favourite is Tom Savini’s commentary on Dawn Of The Dead, where he (like me) was shocked to realise he was narrating the British version, which has the exploding head scene removed. 

    Reply

  4. Gavin Mannion

    May 9, 2012 at 11:09


    cellphone-wielding teens, sticky floors, overpriced snacks and malfunctioning sound systems.” 

    Sounds like my house actually…

    As for special features I’m actually not the least bit interested in any of them, I think I’ve maybe checked the special features out once in all the years I’ve had a DVD and Blu-Ray.

    I just don’t see the enjoyment in it

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      May 9, 2012 at 12:23

      Gavin, why are your floors sticky?

      Actually, on second thought, I really don’t want to know.

      Reply

      • Gavin Mannion

        May 9, 2012 at 13:25

        I’d like to be crude in the response but it’s just that I have 2 smallish kids… the teenagers are the nieces and nephews

        Reply

  5. Noelle Adams

    May 9, 2012 at 13:02

    For me it’s all about the Deleted/Extended scenes and Director’s Cuts. Although you can often understand why some of the footage wasn’t included, typically the cutting room floor stuff makes for a much richer experience because motivations come through more strongly. Like Ripley’s grief in Aliens when she discovers she outlived her daughter. It explains why she bonds with Newt so easily.

    Reply

  6. Kervyn Cloete

    May 9, 2012 at 14:02

    If I really really had to choose, it would have to be the “Making of” stuff. I just love peeling back the layers and seeing the incredibly ingenuity of the filmmakers on display. I don’t think I’ll ever get over discovering how Kubrick pulled off the floating zero-gravity pen scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

    Reply

  7. Justin Hess

    May 9, 2012 at 14:13

    Commentaries tend to be my personal favourites. The wealth of stuff I’ve learnt from listening to commentaries has been invaluable, as well as just very entertaining.

    Two that spring to mind are Ridley Scott’s for Alien and pretty much the entire bloody crew for Seven (they even get the flippin sound designer in on it).

    Scott gives up a shitload and any film school student would learn loads from listening to the five (?) commentaries that came with the Se7en DVD

    Reply

  8. Wtf101

    May 9, 2012 at 14:15

    Bloopers…

    Reply

  9. Noelle Adams

    May 9, 2012 at 15:44

    In terms of director commentaries, definitely one of my faves has been Shrek – very funny discussion the whole way through between the directors and other senior decision-makers involved in the project.

    Reply

    • James Francis

      May 9, 2012 at 16:08

      The Incredibles also has fantastic commentaries. There are two – one with the director and producer and one with many of the animators. 

      Reply

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