Am I the only one who could care less about extras? (1 Viewer)

[David Ruiz]

"For all intensive purposes" I just want to state, that I watch *EVERY* single extra on every on my DVDs, because I figure, that the extras are there for a reason. They wouldn't be there, if they didn't want you to see them. There must be something special about the extra, or else, they would have left it off the disk. That's why I watch them. I really don't care if they are there or not, and they certainly do not pursuade me to buy a DVD of a movie that I don't like.

 

[Carl Johnson]

And I am sure I am in the extreme minority here but I really could care less about commentaries.

If given a choice I'll take an SE over a bare bones release but with the exception of theatrical trailers I watch most extras mabye once, and I've never listened to a commentary track. If a film is one of my top five all time favorites then I just might look forward to a commentary but otherwise it wouldn't be worth my time.

 

[Scott Petoff]

I agree that the extras aren't at all important for me. Mostly because I don't have nearly enough time to watch the movies themselves, how will I ever find the time to watch the extras. I probably have close to 100 movies on my "To Watch" list, and personally my time is better spent watching the actual movies I've never seen, as opposed to taking time to see the extras on movies I have.
However...Extras are an important decision making issue when purchasing a DVD. For me, they are like the free toys in cereal, or give-away at a sporting event for example. It's good marketing to have lots of special features and it makes it more likely that I'll buy a movie that isn't a must have for me. It makes the movie and DVD product itself seem that much better, so when I'm at the store it does influence my decision from time to time. As opposed to a bare bones title, a special edition with lots of extra features (that I'll typically never watch) will be a more fulfilling purchase for me. I'm getting more for my money

 

[JonZ]

For me it depends on the film. Some of the Making Ofs have been really excellent(The Thing,Tron,12 Monkeys).

But I agree the still galleries, 3 commentaries,isolated scores blah blah and such is going way overboard. I put off buying Fight Club for I dont know how long becuase I just wanted the movie and could care less about the other stuff on the SE.

For movies like Star Wars, Spiderman and such, I do like the Behind the FX stuff(Ive always been interested in such things).

I remember in the early days of DVD, disc were being held up forever for extras and it made me crazy. Shawshank Redemption was held up for over a year for a Darabont commentary until WB gave up and just released it anyway.

The only extras I have any interest in are Deleted Scenes and a good Making Of(when necessary-I dont need a making of on Bugsy or Leaving Las Vegas)Again, its case by case for me,when Mulholland Drive came out I would have liked a Making Of that went into how it was cancelled as a TV show and made into a film,how that came about and so on.

And I REALLY would have loved those extras scenes for Twin Peaks FWWM

 

[TheoGB]

I love extras. I buy movies with extras over anything else and if there's not an 'extras-laden' version I am loathe to part with my cash - usually because they charge the same amount of money and with the SE tag a studio rarely seems to feel they should bother making the print all that good, etc.

Frank:

I barely have enough time to watch the movie once much less listen to one or more commentaries as well.

So why buy the movie if you only have time to watch it once? I'm serious. There is a tiny minority of movies in my collection I've only seen once. Usually I put the movie on and then I stick it on a second time immediately with the commentary while do some cleaning or other fairly menial task so I can pickup on the cool stuff in the commentary. The amount of times the stuff in commentaries has made me laugh or interested me is uncountable - they're great.

 

[Dan Keefe]

I'll tell you what:

Except for trailers, I really don't watch any extras. I like to see the way they promoted the movie but that is about it. I tried to watch some movies with commentary on them but found it annoying. I might watch an interview with a director or an actor/actress. I have bought all the special editions of movies I like, but still didn't watch them.

Given the current battle between OAR and P&S I would gladly give up the extras to get both formats on the disc, rather than miss out on a widescreen version of the movie.

just my too sense

dan

 

[RossH]

I really enjoy extras from films I love, Good Will Hunting and The Matrix come to mind, I've watched everything on those discs.

However, I don't find myself watching the same extras over and over. Most features, to me, are pretty much watch it once (if at all) and that's it. Personally, I really like sound design features, since that's what I want to do career-wise. I rarely watch commentaries.

Bottom line: The most important thing is the quality of the presentation. Like Thomas T said:

A good clean print in its OAR with well balanced soundtrack and I'm happy!

Ross

 

[Frank Anderson]

Theo,
It was more of an expression. Granted I have many movies in my collection I may not watch again, but I will watch most of them again... hopefully.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Put me down as one who could skip most of the "extras". The trailers and talking-heads promotional featurettes I usually find to be full of those annoying disk skips, anyway. Who can watch them in peace?
I do like extra (deleted) or alternative programming footage. Always! I like to see what was left out and figure out why. (Supernova is an example of a movie for which the alternate beginning and ending give a wholly different, more serious cast to the film and tells me that they should've left it the way it was.)
I sometimes like commentary from the directors or writers (e.g., in John Boorman's fantastic films: Excalibur and Zardoz, and Exorcist II: The Heretic, for that matter, if it ever makes it to DVD) just so I can have answered the question: "Man, what were you thinking at the time?"
Almost anything else is boring, or, at best, of interest for only one brief viewing. I don't need them.

 

[Dave H]

I'm not real big into extras, but I do watch most of them beause I figure that I paid for them somehow in the total cost of the DVD purchase. However, I would be MORE interested in real, quality behind-the-scenes material instead "pluff" promotional featurettes. This kind of commercial garbage serves no interest for me since I have already viewed the film.
If I had my choice to save $5.00 on a disk and get no extras, I would do it in a heartbeat unless it was an exceptional film. I do like what Fox has done having offered bare bones editions of Castaway, ID4, etc. Only, I bought the special editions already. :frowning:

 

[Mike Graham]

Whenever I rent a disc, I don't bother with the extras because I usually don't have time for them before I have to return it.

However, whenever I purchase a disc, I always make sure to watch all the extras before I even think about buying another one. A strong set of extras can deepen your appreciation of a movie, like how much of "The French Connection" is accurate, or the troubles on the set of John Carpenter's "The Thing", the masterful documentary on the making of "12 Monkeys", or the frank, honest opinions of the cast members for "The Usual Suspects", or the effort and detail put into Martin Scorcese's "Cape Fear."

Most commentaries on my discs I don't bother with, unless I hear they're extremely well done (Fight Club)or I'm interested in the material (X-Files film); like many have said before, I'm definitely glad they're there for a rainy day.

First and foremost however, the film's soundtrack and video should be given primary concern; I would then recommend that all extras be placed on a second disc, but Universal seems to be able to load their discs like "Jurassic Park III" and "The Fast and The Furious" with extras without affecting the video or audio quality.

 

[James_G]

I'm kind of getting to be the same way. After I hit about 100 discs I started to lose track of which extras I'd seen and which were on deck. Right now I the only extra I really take advantage of is the commentary track.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Generally speaking, I don't care too much for extras. But, there is definitely an exception when it comes to some of my favorite movies. Then, I want as many extras as possible!

I love the extras on Lawrence of Arabia for example. But I could care less for extras on a movie such as The Fifth Element (which doesn't have any extras anyway).

 

[Mike_S]

I'm also in that camp that love the extras, but I'm in agreement with those that don't like those 'fluff' pieces that are barely disguised promotions for the movie. However, there are many that are very good or even outstanding 'making of' documentaries. An excellent example is on the BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID dvd. This 'making of' documentary was actually made in '68 and narrated by none other than GEORGE ROY HILL himself. It is one of the best if not THE best documentary I've seen on the making of a film. George Roy Hill's narration does not mince words either. He is brutally honest in describing the film making process and the actors that he worked with and his language is, shall we say... 'colourful', especially at the VERY end of the doc. I urge anyone who loves this movie to buy the DVD. It's worth it for this behind the scenes look alone. One can only hope that Roy Hill did a similar doc. on the upcoming (soon I hope) S.E. of THE STING.

 

[G Miller]

I like having Extra's on my DVD's. It 'value adds' to the dvd and makes me feel better about making the purchase. Sort of like I'm getting more for my money than if it was the movie on its own.

There are obviously good extra's (See Kevin Smith releases) and bad extra's. I love the good extra's, however, saying that, I can't think of too many dvd's where i've viewed the extra's more than once (the exception being the afore mentioned Kevin Smith DVD's).

 

[Cary T]

Extras are exactly what they are, extras. The film itself is most important. But what pisses me off about a barebone releases or prevent me from buying a barebone release is a year later these studios come out with the same title with the lettlers SE or UE on it. For those of you who have the barebone Almost Famous, wouldn't you rather prefer to have the Bootleg Edition. Or how many of you who own a copy of Jerry Maguire are going to double-dip the same title. For those who love the movie of course are going to do so. Like myself with my favorites, I don't mind owning all the verisons released(I would only do this to maybe 3 or 4 movies). But if we are to own one verison, the SE surly beats out the barebone.

 

[Timon Russo]

I watch everything on every DVD I have. Makes me feel like I'm getting the most from my purchase.

So yes, I could care a great deal less. Meaning I like extras quite a bit.

Do people really not realize that saying "I could care less" means the opposite of what they usually intend? Consider me peeved. And confused. Its not that hard, people.

 

[John_McKittrick]

This may be a little off topic but I'm really looking forward to that guided tour of Hogwarts on the upcoming Harry Potter DVD. That castle is truely and enchanted place, filled with all kinds of lore and visuals. To me that's better than any commentary.

John

 

[Steve Christou]

I'm an extras junkie, I've bought movies I wouldn't normally have bought because they were packed with extras, give me a 2nd disc full of extras and I'll be rushing home not to watch the friggin' movie (who cares about the friggin' movie anyway?) I wanna see the extras, deleted scenes, humongous documentaries, I even love the galleries especially if there are pages and pages of artwork, mmmmm!
Finally when I've spent hours viewing the extras comes the anti-climax, viewing the movie itself....
Yep sad I know, I even listen to some of the commentary on my FIRST viewing of a film, stopping the film at a good bit rewinding it and listening to a portion of commentary, spoiling the flow of the movie, madness I agree, there is no cure.

 

[Peter Rohlfs]

Overall
I LOVE Extras!!
Imagine Kirk beaming down without a red-shirt or 2 to get killed.
I admit I have disks I haven't filed yet because there is still a commentary to listen to, and not all commentaries (just like films) are equal. But sometimes I decide I'll never listen to the commentary and file the dvd into the collection.
Sometimes I don't play kiddy games included on discs.
But when the extras are there it is my choice to watch/listen or not.
You can just CHOOSE to ignore them and let the rest of us enjoy them.
Peter