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Order this DVD from
Amazon.com
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Spider-Man
(Widescreen
Special Edition)
(Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment)
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| DVD
Release Date:
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November
1, 2002
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Length:
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121 mins.
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| Rated:
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PG-13
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| Format:
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Widescreen (1.85:1)
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Languages:
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English & French 5.1 (Dolby Digital)
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| Subtitles:
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English, French, Spanish
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| Extras:
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Weaving
The Web: Subtitled Factoids, Commentary, SFX Commentary,
Branching Web-i-sodes, Music Videos, TV Spots, Theatrical
Trailers, Filmographies and Character Files, HBO Making of
Spider-Man, Spider-Mania: An E! Entertainment Special, Director
Profile, Composer Profile, Screen Tests, Costume & Makeup
Tests, Gag/Outtake Reel, Conceptual Art & Production Design
Gallery, Historical Documentary, Comic Archives, Rogues Gallery,
The Loves of Peter Parker, Comic Book Artist Gallery, Activision
Game: Hints & Tips, DVD-ROM Features
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After 20 years in the making, Spider-Man
hit theatres this summer as one of the most anticipated movies of all
time. It didn't fail to disappoint, setting box office records
worldwide. It would be redundant for me to review the movie itself, as
it has already been done 5 times on this site alone, including my own.
I do, however, want to give special mention to JK Simmons' role of J.
Jonah Jameson as my favorite performance of the year so far. He nailed
that one out of the park.
Spider-Man is a 2-disc DVD. The first disc contains the movie itself,
presented in widescreen 1:85. There are 2 commentary tracks, one
featuring the special effects people and the second featuring director
Sam Raimi, producers Grant Curtis and Laura Zisken and Kirsten Dunst.
They tried overlapping to separate commentaries pairing Dunst/Zisken
and Raimi/Curtis. They both ended up unentertaining and with large
uncomfortable gaps switching to each pair. I was amused by Dunst
making fun of her own ditziness though.
There were your standard cast & crew filmographies, music videos,
TV spots, and movie trailers. I was disappointed that the trailers did
not contain the World Trade Center teaser, but oh well. The first disc
also has a feature called web factoids, which is kind of a pop-up
video style viewing of the movie with all-Spidey facts (like how
Freddie Prinze Jr. almost landed the Peter/Spider-Man role---ahhhh!!!!).
Probably my favorite feature of the DVD.
The second disc is divided into 2 sections, the movie section and the
comic section. The movie section has profiles of composer Danny Elfman
and Raimi, as well as brief making-of featurettes by E! and HBO. They
seem to really try to emphasize to us how big a Spidey fan that Raimi
is, as if they need to justify his selection as director. There's also
some bonus outtakes/gag reels, art galleries and screen & costume
tests, all of which are not that interesting. Strangely, the DVD
features no deleted scenes.
The second part of disc 2 contains bonus material about the Spider-Man
comics. There is a documentary about Spider-Man and his mythology in
the 21st century. This features interviews with a lot of the people
who have contributed to the Spidey comics over the years, including
co-creator Stan Lee. I really enjoy it when Stan appears, as his
excitement and energy when he talks about Spidey really translates
over the viewer. It always makes me perk up. Some other great features
in this section include a gallery of Spidey's villains with a brief
synopsis of each, a gallery of the loves of Peter Parker, and an
archive of past Spider-Man comic covers over the last 5 decades. These
features are a true treat for any Spider-Man admirer.
Not only is Spider-Man the true blockbuster and one of the best movies
of 2002, it is also a great DVD. With a mixture of both movie and
comic book featurettes, it should provide a wealth of entertainment
for any fan of Spider-Man.
| The Movie: |
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9/10 |
| The Extras: |
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8/10 |
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| Recommendation: |
One
For The Library |
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Sean Cullin - Senior Editor
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