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Del Toro Makes DVD “Worth Every Penny”
Author: ENRIQUE RIVERO
VideoStore Magazine
About a half-hour into his commentary track for the Blade II DVD, director Guillermo del Toro says he set out first and foremost to make a movie that was “totally, absolutely fun.”
He could have said the same thing about what he did for the double-disc Platinum Series edition of the film coming Sept. 3 from New Line Home Entertainment (prebook Aug. 6, $29.95 suggested price).
Del Toro mixes technical information, anecdotes and jokes throughout his commentary and interviews without missing a beat. Besides injecting plenty of humor -- and perhaps more off-color comments than we’re accustomed to in DVD supplementary material -- del Toro covers every conceivable aspect of the making of the film, a sequel to 1998’s comic-book-based horror/action film, which also starred Wesley Snipes as the tortured half-human/half-vampire hero.
“I wanted to pack as much information and kind of didactic material, if you want, into the making of the film,” said del Toro, a former makeup effects artist. “It’s a no-holds-barred look behind the scenes of the thing. I think it’s actually incredibly thorough.”
Disc one includes a commentary track with del Toro and producer Peter Frankfurt, another track with Snipes and screenwriter David S. Goyer, and an isolated score.
The second disc contains “A Pact in Blood,” a documentary with a branching feature which, by clicking on a special icon, takes you to more in-depth information about the subject being addressed; “Director’s Notebook,” an interactive reproduction of del Toro’s notebooks; an art gallery; deleted and alternate scenes; the original theatrical press kit; a Blade II video game survival guide; a Cypress Hill and Roni Size “Child of the Wild West” music video; theatrical trailers; and DVD-ROM content, including script-to-screen and the original Web site.
The DVD was produced by David Prior, who also did Ravenous and Fight Club, among others, for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Del Toro is proud of the Blade II content, much of which he had a hand in getting onto the DVD, right down to “a very obscene Easter egg,” the whereabouts of which he wouldn’t disclose.
He wanted the supplements to cover everything about the production, keeping in mind everyone who’s interested in the nuts and bolts of moviemaking. Among other things,del Toro wanted the set to serve as a film school on disc that budding filmmakers could turn to.
“I wanted to make it very educational,” he said. “A DVD has to be put together with that kind of audience, people who really want to learn with the view of making their own films.”
That education includes learning both what works and what doesn’t. For instance, the deleted scenes include those parts of the film that del Toro thought didn’t come off, the reasons for which he explains in the accompanying commentary.
He also makes a joke of it in his video introduction to those scenes: “I want to apologize, because what you will see is mostly crap,” he says. “But for some reason, we geeks like to buy DVDs and watch this stuff, so go ahead.”
What he wouldn’t label as “crap” are the color and sound, which he and the producers fussed over to get just right for the home-viewing environment.
“We took about a month and a half just directing the color and light on the DVD,” he said. “It was done extremely carefully.”
The Dolby Digital and DTS sound on the disc was scaled in such a way that it reproduces the theatrical experience for home sound systems, he said.
“It was incredibly active theatrically,” he said. “We went to great pains to ensure that when you watch the movie in your home theater, you have that reproduction. We said we would scale down the theater for your home.”
His only regret is that he couldn’t include the thumbnail storyboards that he produces every morning before shooting (they didn’t arrive by deadline), which he said represent what’s on the screen more accurately than do the initial storyboards.
This won’t be the last del Toro-helmed film to receive respectful treatment on DVD. He said Lions Gate Home Entertainment is giving the “royal treatment” to Cronos, his 1993 feature film about a vampiric gold bug. That film, which he said would be released on video in November, will include a new transfer, “huge excerpts” from his short films, interviews and commentary, and, in the limited collector’s box edition, a replica of the Cronos device and soundtrack.
Meanwhile, del Toro is happy with the Blade II DVD.
“I think this is a bitchin’ DVD, that’s all that has to be known,” he said. “It’s one of those DVDs that’s worth every penny, and we tried to make it fun for you.”
Author: ENRIQUE RIVERO
VideoStore Magazine
About a half-hour into his commentary track for the Blade II DVD, director Guillermo del Toro says he set out first and foremost to make a movie that was “totally, absolutely fun.”
He could have said the same thing about what he did for the double-disc Platinum Series edition of the film coming Sept. 3 from New Line Home Entertainment (prebook Aug. 6, $29.95 suggested price).
Del Toro mixes technical information, anecdotes and jokes throughout his commentary and interviews without missing a beat. Besides injecting plenty of humor -- and perhaps more off-color comments than we’re accustomed to in DVD supplementary material -- del Toro covers every conceivable aspect of the making of the film, a sequel to 1998’s comic-book-based horror/action film, which also starred Wesley Snipes as the tortured half-human/half-vampire hero.
“I wanted to pack as much information and kind of didactic material, if you want, into the making of the film,” said del Toro, a former makeup effects artist. “It’s a no-holds-barred look behind the scenes of the thing. I think it’s actually incredibly thorough.”
Disc one includes a commentary track with del Toro and producer Peter Frankfurt, another track with Snipes and screenwriter David S. Goyer, and an isolated score.
The second disc contains “A Pact in Blood,” a documentary with a branching feature which, by clicking on a special icon, takes you to more in-depth information about the subject being addressed; “Director’s Notebook,” an interactive reproduction of del Toro’s notebooks; an art gallery; deleted and alternate scenes; the original theatrical press kit; a Blade II video game survival guide; a Cypress Hill and Roni Size “Child of the Wild West” music video; theatrical trailers; and DVD-ROM content, including script-to-screen and the original Web site.
The DVD was produced by David Prior, who also did Ravenous and Fight Club, among others, for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Del Toro is proud of the Blade II content, much of which he had a hand in getting onto the DVD, right down to “a very obscene Easter egg,” the whereabouts of which he wouldn’t disclose.
He wanted the supplements to cover everything about the production, keeping in mind everyone who’s interested in the nuts and bolts of moviemaking. Among other things,del Toro wanted the set to serve as a film school on disc that budding filmmakers could turn to.
“I wanted to make it very educational,” he said. “A DVD has to be put together with that kind of audience, people who really want to learn with the view of making their own films.”
That education includes learning both what works and what doesn’t. For instance, the deleted scenes include those parts of the film that del Toro thought didn’t come off, the reasons for which he explains in the accompanying commentary.
He also makes a joke of it in his video introduction to those scenes: “I want to apologize, because what you will see is mostly crap,” he says. “But for some reason, we geeks like to buy DVDs and watch this stuff, so go ahead.”
What he wouldn’t label as “crap” are the color and sound, which he and the producers fussed over to get just right for the home-viewing environment.
“We took about a month and a half just directing the color and light on the DVD,” he said. “It was done extremely carefully.”
The Dolby Digital and DTS sound on the disc was scaled in such a way that it reproduces the theatrical experience for home sound systems, he said.
“It was incredibly active theatrically,” he said. “We went to great pains to ensure that when you watch the movie in your home theater, you have that reproduction. We said we would scale down the theater for your home.”
His only regret is that he couldn’t include the thumbnail storyboards that he produces every morning before shooting (they didn’t arrive by deadline), which he said represent what’s on the screen more accurately than do the initial storyboards.
This won’t be the last del Toro-helmed film to receive respectful treatment on DVD. He said Lions Gate Home Entertainment is giving the “royal treatment” to Cronos, his 1993 feature film about a vampiric gold bug. That film, which he said would be released on video in November, will include a new transfer, “huge excerpts” from his short films, interviews and commentary, and, in the limited collector’s box edition, a replica of the Cronos device and soundtrack.
Meanwhile, del Toro is happy with the Blade II DVD.
“I think this is a bitchin’ DVD, that’s all that has to be known,” he said. “It’s one of those DVDs that’s worth every penny, and we tried to make it fun for you.”
__________________
it's better to have loved and lost
than to live with the psycho
for the rest of your life
it's better to have loved and lost
than to live with the psycho
for the rest of your life
There are simply too many good movies out there that I have yet to buy, or even rent, to justify spending money on Blade II
i refuse to believe it was that bad