Anyone else finding extras less important? (1 Viewer)

[Jerome Grate]

Count me in, I find myself not looking through the extras as often. I only look for the outtakes if there are any. Once in a while I'll listen to the commentary and see why the director did what he or she did. But I prefer my interpretation of the movie or a scene, sometimes finding out what the director had in mind kind of ruins the scene for me.

 

[Darcy Hunter]

Extras were why I originally got into laser disc back in the day (along with OAR), but I agree that lately I have less and less time to just watch the film. I do still like extra features if they are done right (NO EPK!!), a case in point is the recent release of True Romance (the QT commentary is great). However I passed up the 3 disc version of Brotherhood of the Wolf in favor of the single disc one because ,while I liked the movie alot, I couldn't justify $40 on features I would only watch once. It all comes down to the film I guess, because the 4 disc FOTR and 2 disc AOTC releases have me foaming at the mouth.

 

[Chad R]

I would like to see someone really jazz up the extra features to get me excited about them again. For the most part, commentaries are better at telling you which days the craft service tables ran out of doughnuts rather than anything remotely interesting about the movie. They're far too filled with anecdotes from the set rather than a good discussion about the film.

So for me it would be interesting to have critics do the commentaries. And not just ones like Ebert on "Dark City" but also from a critic who DIDN'T like the movie. That would be interesting to hear. Commentaries should be informed discussions about the movies, not a rehash of the making of (as evidenced by the above "Love Story"). Usually directors don't have enough time between finishing shooting and recording the commentary to have the proper perspective to really analyze a film that a third party like a cirtic will have. That's why some of the old criterion LDs that had commentaries from film historians in place of the deceased filmmakers were so interesting.

 

[jacob w k]

It seems as though every disc has the same extras just with different titles inserted in. The making of is always cast praising the movie, the director, the cast, the importance of their role. Like Chad said, I need to see some innovation in the stuff. However, I always like trailers.

 

[Scott DeToffol]

I usually watch the deleted scenes and the "making of" piece, but hate the EPK fluff. I agree that PQ and good auido quality are much more important. Put the fluff on a second disk and max out the bitrates!

I like some commentaries, but they take too much time and are so hit and miss. I almost always check out the reviews here and other places to see if its worth it to listen.

But we are in the minority. J6P wants the EPK and gag reels more than high end audio that they can't use anyway.

 

[Ruz-El]

I'm a pretty big fan of the extras and would hate to see them gone. Of course, quality matters, just like the films themselves, when counting how many times I watch them. For the most part, I've never been dissatisified with picture quality or sound of the film, irregardless of how many extras have been crammed onto a disc.

What I hate is when an item (deleted scene, out take) is discussed in a commentary or documentary, then not included on the disc.

 

[DeathStar1]

I was thinking this very thing.

There are some DVD's that are going to have Great Extras. Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Probably Back to the Future. But others... I mean, for CGI films like Monsters Inc. All this stuff has been covered on other CGI films, so why bother watching it again?

The extras need new areas to cover, no matter how fun they may be...

 

[Mike Broadman]

Stupid question: what is EPK?

 

[Matthew_S]

Actually, I was just thinking the other day that extras have become even MORE important to me lately. With there being so many dvd's that i'd like to get, i find that just a commentary or doc will usually put one dvd over another for me. Personally, a good doc or just a plain old commentary are enough extras to me. Other features are just icing on the cake. Just my quick two cents.

 

[Steve_Tk]

I just don't have time to enjoy them right now. But I do love most of them. Half the stuff, like story boards, I never pay attention too. But I love commentaries. I'd say my favorite setup of extras is TPM. All their making-of featurettes are just the kind of stuff that I like.

 

[Chris M]

If I could get movies like Muppet Christmas Carol in anamorphic widescreen, with no extras I'd be happy...

get the point?

Chris.

 

[Ruz-El]

EPK = Electronic Press Kit. Basically a bunch of material designed to promote/sell the movie to the critics and audience.

Usually refered to as "puff pieces" or "Bull S**T"!

 

[Michael St. Clair]

If all of my Collector's Editions had been available as bare-bones releases for 5 bucks less, I wouldn't have bought 95% of them as CEs.

 

[Ricky Hustle]

I've grown tired of extras myself. Occasionally, I'll watch a trailer or outtakes, but that's about it.

 

[Thomas T]

Count me in as one of those who couldn't care less about extras! I want an excellent print and clean balanced sound and I'm happy! I do like trailers though.

Personally, I wish all those 2 disc packed to the rafters special editions also released a bare bones edition for those of us who want the movie and don't want to pay more for the second disc.

 

[Michael Hall]

I'm definitely of the opinion that the quality presentation of the film is the most important thing, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the extra features. But the one thing it's important to say with this is that I'm one who appreciates "quality" over "quantity."

Some of my favorite discs are ones that don't have nearly the amount of extras others do, but what they do have is both interesting and entertaining. Documentaries like "The Hamster Factor" on "12 Monkeys" and "The Beginning" on TPM are probably the best supplements I've seen on a DVD. The Pixar discs (all of them) are informative and exhaustive without being boring. "Fight Club" is still on of my favorite discs of all time, just for the fact that it covers every aspect of the production possible and does so in an entertaining fashion. The Criterion "Silence of the Lambs" is simplistic by present standards, but the content is still some of the most interesting done on DVD.

For me, personally, outside of the trailers on the current edition of FOTR, I didn't care for any of that disc's extras. They all seemed very "puff-piece" oriented to me, and as such, were less than interesting. Same thing goes for "phoned in" commentaries, in which you get the impression that the director/stars/whoever would rather be doing anything but doing a commentary. The movies are on completely opposite ends of the spectrum, but give me the "Mallrats" commentary over the "American Beauty" commentary any day of the week. Mendes just doesn't sound like he cares too much for commentaries to be interesting. Same thing with the commentary for the second "Austin Powers" film, in which Myers and Roach literally give up with about ten minutes to go in the film! If you don't want to do a commentary, then don't do one!

All my rambling aside, the film is what matters; extras are just that: extras. But I'd be a liar if I said that extras didn't have some impact on my impressions of a disc.

 

[BrettB]

EPK = Electronic Press Kit

I always thought it was Everybodys Posterior Kissed

 

[JJR512]

I like to have lots of extras. I love outtakes and "making of" featurettes, especially. However, the ironic thing is that I usually don't actually watch the extras, because of time constraints. I'll put a movie on at 9pm or so and figure on watching it then going to bed. I don't feel up to getting into all the extra stuff at 11pm. But then later on (another day), if I do have some free time, I don't use it to watch extras because it's not connected to the movie, if you know what I mean. It feels odd or weird to take out a DVD just to watch the extras, separate from the movie itself.
Out of nearly 100 DVDs, I've probably looked at the extras on only a handful of them. But I still want them.

 

[Terrell]

I love extras. It gives you an insight into the filmmaking process when done right. There is no reason whatsoever that you can't have a reference quality transfer and surround track, and extras. So I don't see the need to cut back or get rid of extras. It's not an either or situation. Supply consumers with great extras and great transfer and audio, and you make everyone happy. So I don't see what the problem is with extras.
When Star Wars fans heard that a couple of their most wanted extras weren't going to be on the AOTC DVD, they collectively went apesh*t. Mainly because they believed all these bogus internet reports about what scenes would be included.
So I would say extras matter to a lot of people. If some people don't like them, there's an easy fix. Don't watch them. I'd be a bit upset if LOTR:EE was a bare-bones release.

 

[Mark-W]

I think it would HIHGLY unfair to clump all extras
together, even the same types of extras. A commentary
by a well-informed, well spoken individual can make all
of the difference. A commentary like the one on
Jurassic Park 3 is a pointless waste of
time.
A commentary like the ones on Bound,
Ghostbusters or The Goonies
makes a HUGE difference in my preceivd value of the DVD.
And, "important" films, or even brilliant ones are capable
of having superlative extras.
I know Bill Hunt was bummed that A Touch of Evil
did not have a commentary track, and I fully agree.
(But, it didn't keep me from buying the DVD either.)
Same for documentaries and featurettes and so on.
Some are utter crap, and some are better than the
film on the DVD.
Question:
How many of you "I'm sick of extras" folks are buying the
extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring?
I cannot wait, and neither can most of the people I know
who are just getting into DVD, and if you read all the
posts in here about the DVD, clearly people are VERY
excited about the extras on that 4-5 DVD set.
Mark