....is total crap.
WARNING!!! Long rant ahead.
Don't get me wrong. I adore The Dark Crystal. But this latest DVD for it is total crap. I got the single-disc edition from my mom this Christmas, and thought it was superb for what it was. The deleted scene and the alternate language work print scenes were cool, as was the isolated music score and the original 80's World of the Dark Crystal documentary, but the lack of a commentary track and the poor excuse for concept art galleries (especially where the Skeksis were concerned) left me wishing for a more definitive DVD release.
So you can imagine how excited I was when I saw the 25th Anniversary Edition two-disc set while blowing my Christmas money at Wal-Mart (yeah, I'm cheap). I figured a commentary by Brian Froud and two brand-new documentaries would be worth buying the movie a second time so soon after my first DVD of it.
Boy was I wrong. To anyone who wants to get The Dark Crystal on DVD, if you already have the single-disc edition stick with that, save your money; if you don't own the movie on DVD period, go with the single-discer which is still available in stores. The so-called 25th Anniversary Edition is the single most disappointing DVD I've had the misfortune to be suckered into purchasing in a good long while.
First of all, Froud's commentary is mostly worthless. Others may feel differently, but this is just my own opinion. You'd think the guy who designed the entire world Jim Henson filmed would just be positively bursting with inside info, but the majority of the stuff Froud gives us is stuff that any fan of The Dark Crystal already knows good and well (much of which was already covered in The World of the Dark Crystal). He doesn't go into any detail about why certain Skeksis were assigned certain jobs and how this helped develop their character design, he doesn't touch on any of the weird creatures in the swamp and their unique biology, and in perhaps the biggest goof-up I've ever scene he at one point gets the General and the Chamberlain mixed up. He just breezes through everything and sounds bored and eager to get the commentary over with. Case in point, he says that the Skeksis Emperor's crumbling face was a special effect, but doesn't elaborate on how it was done, moving on to the next train of thought.
I'd hoped the two documentaries would be more insightful, but they're not. The "newly discovered test footage" touted as one of the new additions to the DVD is only shown in very brief snippets and repeated over, and over, and over again throughout both way-too-brief documentaries, which otherwise consist of the kind of fluff I'd expect to see from pre-release Access Hollywood specials. There's a handful of interesting stuff but it's drowned out by he excessive use of clips from the film, and talking heads basically just kissing the movie's ass; Froud in particular just repeats everything he said in his commentary. I'm fine with them kissing the movie's ass, it's a great movie, but when an old 80's TV special is a more thorough behind-the-scenes look at it than TWO brand-new documentaries, then your big special edition DVD is in deep doo-doo.
Everything else on the DVD is ported over from the last one: the World of the Dark Crystal, the deleted funeral scene, the alternate language scenes and finally the worthless seen-these-already concept drawings (at least one of which, that of SkekTek, isn't even a drawing but clearly a doctored photograph of the puppet head and costume!).
So, uh, yeah, I really hate this DVD. Anyone else as disappointed as I was? Or have any other "DVD disappointment" stories?
I don't believe I've had the pleasure of seeing Dark Crystal yet, but I'd have to say THE most disappointing DVD yet is the "Special Edition" of ON THE WATERFRONT. The disk was only a 2001 release, so it may theoretically be excusable, but what this "Special edition" contains is a commentary track by Elia Kazan and some random critic (Most impressive thing on the disk), and interview with Kazan, a featurette, and a photo gallery...
What has happened since this release? Rod Steiger has died, Elia Kazan has died, and of course, Marlon Brando has died. Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, and the writer Budd Shulberg are still alive, opening the possibilty for a less-pathetic re-release in the future, but it just is not enough to make up for the fact that the "Special edition" of one of the most classic American films made does not feature the star of the show, and the fact that now it NEVER WILL.
Also disappointing are films that could include deleted scenes, but don't for the fact that the owners of these scenes keep them to themselves for no damn reason! Dr. Mabuse The Gambler, Dr. Strangelove, Little Shop of Horrors.....