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Order this DVD from Amazon.com
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Spellbound
(Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment)
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| DVD Release Date:
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January 20, 2004
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| Length:
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97 mins.
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| Rated:
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G
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| Format:
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Full Frame (1.33:1)
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| Audio:
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Dolby Digital English 2.0 Stereo, French 2.0 Stereo
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| Subtitles:
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English Captions, French Subtitles
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| Extras:
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Filmmakers' Commentary, Bonus Footage, Where Are They Now? - Updates on all 8 Profiled Spellers, Interactive Hangman Game - Deluxe Edition, Educational Guide, Theatrical Trailers
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Spellbound. Did I spell that right? I've always fancied myself a decent speller, but after seeing some of the kids in this movie, I'm not so sure anymore. If this movie did anything, it made me feel like I'm not as smart as I think I am.
Spellbound is a documentary which follows 8 children as they compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee championship. It's an intriguing and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the hard work that these kids put into being America's best. As the movie opens, we're introduced to the 8 subjects of the movie and learn a little bit about each - where they are from, how they became such strong spellers. I found it interesting how they all seem to come from different social and economic backgrounds which made for a balanced look at the competition.
From the beginning, I kept trying to guess who would win. I'll say this - much like my spelling of most of the words in this movie, I was completely wrong. This made the movie that much more entertaining. Every time one of the kids I was rooting for got the boot, it was like seeing your favorite team lose the Stanley Cup. Alright, maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but it certainly was edge-of-your-seat entertainment.
There are some decent features on this disc. First up, there's a great filmmaker commentary featuring Jeff Blitz (director, producer, camera), Sean Welch (producer, sound) and Yana Gorskaya (editor). The three are genuinely interesting and have a lot of input into the making of the movie. There are moments of silence when it seems like they've run out of things to say, but for the most part, the commentary is worth a listen.
Also available, there's a brief introduction of all the spellers as well as a "Where Are They Now?" feature. Since the movie was actually filmed in 1999, the participants have grown up a lot since. I found this feature great since, watching the movie, you really feel attached to the participants - you want them to succeed - and it's nice to see that they all have. In addition to learning about the participants, there's also some biographical information about the filmmakers.
Throughout the audio commentary, the filmmakers reference the number of hours of footage that was shot for the film, even though the final cut ended up being just over one and a half hours. Some of the the extra time was dedicated to some additional spellers that the filmmakers followed - and that's included here as bonus footage. Frankly, I didn't really care for any of the people featured here, which is probably why they didn't make the final edit.
There's also some DVD-ROM content included here. First, there's an Interactive Hangman Game (the best I managed was 2 correct answers in a row) and an Educational Guide, featuring some history about the spelling bee, some frequently misspelled words and word lists for the beginner, junior and advanced spellers in all of us.
Finally, there are trailers for Spellbound as well as Winged Migration and The Endurance.
It's funny how a movie like this could be successful. Say for example that Haley Joel Osment gets cast in a movie where he participates in a spelling bee. I guarantee that movie would be a yawn. A bore. A box office bomb. Yet you cast these kids in this real-life drama and it makes for one of the most entertaining movies I've seen in a very long time. It's like a season of Survivor wrapped up in a two hour movie. Riveting. You want a successful reality television series, follow around a bunch of kids competing for this title.
Wrapping this up, I will recommend watching this DVD. There aren't enough words to describe what an entertaining experience it was - actually, I'm sure there are enough words, but I probably couldn't spell or pronounce half of them. Now, I'll have to go over this review - I'd hate to look foolish by making a spelling mistake.
| The Movie: |
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8/10 |
| The Extras: |
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7/10 |
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