1st dvd with REAL special features (1 Viewer)

[Ryan L B]

not a trailer or production notes, but morely like what was the first one with a commentary, featuretts, documentary and so on. I think it was the Martix but I am not sure.

 

[ChrisP]

I know Contact had a significant amount of making of stuff well before the Matrix, but i think there may have been ones even earlier.

 

[Chad Gregory]

While I am positive that there is a thread on this topic somewhere...

It was The Mask...(w/Jim Carrey)

You can't honestly believe that The Matrix, which came out in September 1999, was the first DVD with special features. That's two and a half years into DVD.

-Chad

 

[Guy Martin]

Contact was one of the earliest SEs. In fact it was so popular there were huge shortages at retailers and online stores when it first arrived.

Apollo 13 was a pretty early DVD and had a terrific making-of documentary, a Ron Howard commentary and a commentary with the real Jim and Marilyn Lovell. Plus it was mastered in HD. Psycho and Vertigo were pretty loaded as well, although I believe they were straight LD ports as were Dante's Peak and 12 Monkeys all by Universal. Lost in Space was another early SE as was Austin Powers. There's probably dozens more I haven't thought of. In short Matrix was far from the first SE.

- Guy

 

[Ryan L B]

Hey, I gotinto DVD when the PS2 came out and all of the major magazines were braging about how the Matrix was very feeature packed and the best DVD by far.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Help!

A 1996 DVD with all of the Criterion extras (plus a better transfer of the film). The real star of the DVD is the behind-the-scenes footage shot by Ringo Starr on 16mm. (and the Running Jumping Standing Still Film by Richard Lester.)

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Help!

A 1996 DVD

Where? In Japan? Certainly not in the U.S., as DVD did not debut here until 1997.

The Mask sounds right, although I don't have the disc in front of me. The first Universal titles were not special editions (remember, they were predominantly pan&scan and in jewel cases). Contact and Amadeus came in December of 1997. Contact set the early standard for DVD special editions, with its multiple commentary tracks and behind-the-scenes documentaries.

- Steve

 

[Doug_L]

Not for nothing, but there were many laserdiscs with tons of additional features before the advent of DVD.

I know that this doesn't really answer your question, but it is directionally correct.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Commentaries date back pretty far on DVD, 1997's Thelma and Louise had one, including the alternate ending. Making ofs were also on discs way back. The Man Who Would Be King had one. For an SE, probably the earliest I have is Lawnmower Man, but Mask is probably in there somewhere as well. Contact definately raised the bar.

 

[Dan Brecher]

There were many titles prior to the Matrix that beat it in terms of supplements in my mind. Contact is most certainly one of them, along with many of Universal's Collector's Edition releses which, back then, were ports of their Signature Selection LD box sets.

Dan

 

[rutger_s]

The Mask looks like the first DVD with an audio commentary and deleted scenes. Many of the earlier released of this DVD did not even have the New Line Platinum Series banner since it was not even concieved yet.

 

[Ike]

Hey, I gotinto DVD when the PS2 came out and all of the major magazines were braging about how the Matrix was very feeature packed and the best DVD by far.

But no where was it said it was the first. I had several DVD's that I owened before The Matrix that I still think are better.

 

[rutger_s]

Just some of the fully packed DVDs before the Matrix...

The Lawnmower Man

Lost In Space

Contact

Blade

Lethal Weapon 4

U.S. Marshals

 

[Chad Gregory]

The Mask looks like the first DVD with an audio commentary and deleted scenes. Many of the earlier released of this DVD did not even have the New Line Platinum Series banner since it was not even concieved yet.

My copy of Austin Powers has a gold colored Special Edition banner on it, no mention of Platinum Series. I don't remember what the first Platinum Series disc was. Anybody remember?

As for The Mask, it was released on 3/25/1997. Good luck finding a SE released in Region 1 before that.

-Chad

 

[rutger_s]

The first DVD with the New Line Platinum Series banner might have been Lost In Space.