Favorite DVD

[Joker85]

Due to a recent topic I know that quite a few of you have a LOT of DVDs. I was just wondering, which one is your absolute favorite? Mine would have to be either Gladiator or Independence day. Both are good movies and have some excellent features. :)

[NewMaxFranklin]

I'd say American Beauty was my favorite. It's my favorite movie and there are some cool features. Like, you can look at storyboards, read the screenplay, and watch the movie (in widescreen) at the same time.

[Calhoun07]

Gee...do I only get to pick ONE??? How about favorite from each genre?

Favorite animation: Cowboy Bebop
Favorite action/sci fi: Matrix
Favorite comedy....this one is harder...hmmm...Meet the Parents right now.
Drama: Blue Velvet, always.
Other: Crumb, which is also the DVD I have watched the most number of times.

[James Harvey]

Fight Club. The ingenuity behind the DVD packaging and the DVD itself is just amazing.

[Calhoun07]

Why do people pick favorite DVDs based on the merits of the DVD alone? I notice that people who review DVDs often have more to say about the extras and packaging than the movie itself. I've seen horrible movies get good reviews because of extras and packaging. Supergirl, for example. Puhlease, a bad movie is a bad movie no matter how many bells and whistles you put on it.

That's not to say Fight Club or any of your choices are bad. I am speaking in general.

[Clayface]

Yep, Fight Club for me too.

[mxyzptlk]

seven, my brother has it for dvd

[Calhoun07]

If I was to pick DVDs based more on packaging and extras, I'd have to say that the Black Adder set deserves mention, though I think the Simpsons set will soon replace that.

[James Harvey]

FIGHT CLUB is just a great disc with great features and an all around great packaging. I reall ylike th emovie, also, so everyone wins here. It's one of the best DVDs quite possibly ever. I don't think I see any flaws in it, and the FIGHT CLUB CATALOGUE just makes the disc all the more enjoyable, as do the PAs by Pitt & Norton.

[mxyzptlk]

fight club is a great movie but i have not seen the dvd.

[James Harvey]

Whenever you get a player I recommend you pick it up. There's just hours worth of extra stuff there that makes it very enjoyable. Plus the film ain't half bad, either. :)

[Calhoun07]

One that gets overlooked too often is 1941. While the packaging is a keep case (and not a cool cardboard box like Fight Club!), it has a butt load of extras on it, more than I've seen on any single disc. I think there must be at least 4 hours worth of video on there, and stills and photos, and even a complete soundtrack.

[Vigo Sprax]

I'll go with Fight Club also.

[D-Mono]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, definately. :)
D-Mono.

[SC_]

Hey, my first post here. Good for me. Anywayz...

Favorite DVDs:

Animation: "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki!" OAV Boxed Set and "ReBoot", season III. Vol. 4.

Non-Animated stuff: "Star Trek: Generations", "The X-Files Movie", "Silence of the Lambs" and "Last of the Mohicans".

[Joker85]

Welcome to the boards!!!:)

[Bird Boy]

I think X-Men is a great DVD...it's on the only real "special" one I own. my bro has about 140 DVDs though..out of the ones he has..I would say.. hmmm...ID4...

-BB

[James Harvey]

Welcome to the boards, SC_! I thought the X-MEN DVD wa ssorta standard. For all the trouble Fox went through to make it fancy, I figured they'd through in a bit more stuff, actually. If that rumored 'Singer Version' happens, then I'll definatly get that...

[Vigo Sprax]

I agree, X-Men is standard in every way but the packaging. I've decided its really not worth it for me to buy, I would buy that Singer version though.

My favorite packaging is the kind Fight Club, Unbreakable, & Walking with Dinosaurs comes in. Least favorite? The thick double DVD cases.

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by D-Mono
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, definately. :)
D-Mono.

I like that one too. I think from now on, when I watch the movie, it will be the version on there that they first intended people to see, where it starts out in black and white then goes to color. That version is so effective, I think everybody who loves this movie should see it that way. The only reason they didn't get that version out is that the studio was stupid, but the creators of the movie would have had it that way if they could. I am glad that version is on the DVD.

[Trent Lane]

Best animation DVD: Clerks Uncensored or BB: ROTJ
Best Action: Black Mask (Jet Li)
Best Comedy: Charlie's Angels (I guess that could be action, too.)
Best Drama: Thirteenth Floor

If you've never seen 13th floor, i highly recommend it. it didn't get much press because it was out at the same time The Matrix and SW: Ep 1 was out...

[Brian Cruz]

My favorite is the Toy Story "Ultimate Toy Box". Great movies, perfect picture quality, extensive extras, cool packaging. It's everything anyone could ask for.

[Colin]

I think my favorite is the Sixth Sense. While already an excellent movie, the features do add to it, from the directors commentary, to the deleted scenes, and then how the Director even explains how he virtually gave away the entire movie but no one even noticed (y'know, when Cole tells Malcom that the dead people don't even know they're dead while the camera is on him... :X ). The way they also explained the continuity of the movie (i.e. why Malcom always wore the same clothes, the color red, Good vs Bad dead people). Definitely one of my favorites...

[James Harvey]

Originally I said FIGHT CLUB but that was before I picked up the DIE HARD DVDS. The six disc box set is absolutely amazing. Everything you can think of is piled onto this set. The menus are amazing, the transfers are stellar. Plus the 3 movies are actually pretty damn good. DIE HARD is the best, followed by DIE HARD WITH A VENGENCE, then DIE HARDER. A great little trilogy of flick. I recommend to everyone to get this set.

[Clayface]

Originally posted by Colin
then how the Director even explains how he virtually gave away the entire movie but no one even noticed (y'know, when Cole tells Malcom that the dead people don't even know they're dead while the camera is on him... :X ).

That's exactly why I didn't care for the Sixth Sense - I figured it out as soon as Cole said that!

[Calhoun07]

I figured it out as soon as he got shot! But I kept on hearing the ending was something you didn't expect, and since I expected he was dead, I kept looking for some other clues. So in that way the end was kind of a surprise, cuz I was surprised that it wasn't a surprise for me!

And the ending of Unbreakable is also very much foreshadowed in that movie. Same with Men In Black. It was so obvious the aliens were looking for that ball around the cat's neck, I was wondering why they kept on making it seem like a mystery what they might be talking about. If you pay attention in these movies, you can figure out most of the stuff ahead of time.

[Joker85]

I was very disappointed in Unbreakable. The movie was kinda boring and, like calhoun said, the ending was predictable.

[Calhoun07]

I liked Unbreakable far more than Sixth Sense. After watching Sixth Sense a couple times, it loses it's punch. It's still a good movie, but I think Unbreakable was much better. And while you could see the foreshadows of the ending in there, the ending was't such a big twist to people that is all you remember about it, or at least it isn't the biggest thing you remember about it. The movie is worthy of multiple viewings, IMO.

And I think he made it slower because it was setting up a trilogy. That's my guess, anyway. But I have heard people complain it didn't have much action in it. Why were people renting this thinking it would be another Die Hard movie? I just didn't quite get it. The trailers never suggested it would be an action flick.

[Joker85]

I never thought it would be action, I just thought it would be mpre interesting. JMO

[Calhoun07]

I can understand people saying it's boring. But I've heard people say that they wanted more action in it. These are the customers who give me their feed back at the video store I work at.

[Craig Crumpton]

You really have to be a comics fan to truly appreciate UNBREAKABLE. Even though it's not based on any existing comic book property, it's by far the best comic-themed movie I've ever seen in terms of story and acting.

It's not an action movie - I'm sorry to hear that anyone found it "boring", but then most negative comments I've read were either from those expecting "The Sixth Sense" all over again, or some sort of action movie, when word got around that it was a "comics movie". If action movies are what you like to see, then "Unbreakable" isn't for you.

However, if you want to see a drama which offers what I believe is realistic portrayal of a "regular guy" discovering that he's a superhero, in a very realistic way, then "Unbreakable" will be very entertaining to you. For me, it gets better every time I see it. It's got even more symbolism than "Sixth Sense" had - the color themes, the chessboard floor, lots of little details that you just don't pick up on the first viewing.

The ending did not catch me by surprise, but the direction was far from "predictable". The score, the script, the acting, the dramatic tension - it's an all around great movie.

My complaint about the DVD is that it doesn't include a director's commentary. Sure, it's got ample additional features (3 of the deleted scenes are outstanding), but because Shyamalan's commentary on "Sixth Sense" was so interesting, for them not to record one for "Unbreakable" was a real disappointment (for me anyway).

As for my favorite DVDs, for the ones I currently own:

- Toy Story: Ultimate Toy Box
If every animation fan who also happens to be a DVD collector could have his/her dreams as reality - this is the DVD package they would wish for. Now, if only other studios would follow suit in producing DVDs packages like this one for other high-qual animated films.
- Gladiator
Great movie with tons of additional material.
- Princess Mononoke
Light on features, but the quality of the animation, the high-qual picture, the story, the score - are all so exceptional, so superb, that it makes the lack of additional features seem insignificant.
- The Matrix
I honestly hated this movie the first time I saw it, because I can't stand Keanu Reaves. But it didn't take much for it to grow on me.
- Powerpuff Girls: The Mane Event
Because this is how all DVDs for an animated series should be done, if they aren't going to produce them in order as a season or box set. It also rules for the bonus features - especially the Mojo Jojo commentary.
- Ghostbusters
Great movie, great DVD package.
- Chicken Run
Another great movie with abundant features.
- Batman Beyond: ROTJ
If it hadn't been edited, it would have been a nigh-perfect animated DVD package.
- Terminator 2: Collectors Edition
By far the most creative menus of any DVD I've ever seen, and it contains not 1, not 2, but THREE different versions of the movie on the same double-sided disc.

I'd list a few more, but I'm kinda tired right now.