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Outstanding
Achievements in DVD for 2006
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to Editors' Top 10 Choices
 DVD
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - THE LIEBERFARB |
 
|
The
Criterion Collection
Every year, we have a hard time awarding
The Bitsys without having
it turn into The Criterion Collection Awards. This year it was
harder than ever, as Criterion stepped up their A-game to
produce some of the finest discs the format has seen. Take a
look at these titles:
3
Films by Louis Malle,
The
Complete Mr. Arkadin,
Dazed
and Confused,
Equinox,
A
Canterbury Tale,
Eric
Rohmer's Six Moral Tales,
Brazil,
Seven
Samurai,
The
Double Life of Veronique,
Pandora's
Box. And those are just SOME of the highlights
of their year.
|
| Ten
years into the DVD format, we decided it was high time to create
a special achievement award honoring those who have made a
significant and lasting contribution to DVD. We call it the
Lieberfarb, named in honor of Warren Lieberfarb, the "Godfather
of the DVD" himself. And who better to receive the
inaugural Lieberfarb than Criterion? For years, they have quite
simply set the standard for special edition work. From film
selection to restoration to production of special features to
their often beautiful artwork and packaging, Criterion DVDs are
in a class by themselves. For consistently raising the bar and
creating a truly indispensable collection of important classic
and contemporary films, we're proud to award the first Lieberfarb
Award to The Criterion Collection. |
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| BEST
DVD - OVERALL |
  |
Superman:
Ultimate Collector's Edition
(Warner Bros.)
This was a tough call this year, which is
too bad because what this massive 14-disc set does right should
have made this award a no-brainer. Unfortunately, the initial
pressing of the set had a couple of major problems: An incorrect
audio track slipped onto Superman:
The Movie and the wrong disc of Superman
III made its way into the box. To their credit,
however, the folks at Warner stepped up to the plate and quickly
worked to correct these mistakes. Once those are taken care of,
this set truly lives up to its name, and the unintended errors
can hardly be counted against all that's great here... and
virtually EVERYTHING here is great. |
There's enough content included on these 14 discs to keep the
most rabid Superfan busy for days. Virtually every stage of
Kal-El's career is represented, from all of the beautifully
remastered Max Fleischer cartoons, to all of the Christopher
Reeve films (including the legendary, long-awaited Richard
Donner cut of Superman II)
to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.
Along the way, you get more extras than you can rattle a
kryptonite necklace at. Thanks to Warner's quick response time
on those initial problems, the Superman:
Ultimate Collector's Edition deservingly flies to the
top of the heap. |
|
| BEST
DVD - SPECIAL EDITION |
 |
Kingdom
of Heaven: 4-Disc Director's Cut
(20th Century Fox)
It's become commonplace to see movies
re-released with additional footage as an "extended"
or "unrated" version. Ridley Scott's Kingdom
of Heaven is one of the few cases where the new cut
makes a significant difference, turning a pretty but hollow
movie into the sweeping epic it was always meant to be.
Bolstered by terrific video and audio quality, an engrossing
audio commentary, an epic, six-part documentary on the making of
the film and much more, the Kingdom
of Heaven: 4-Disc Director's Cut defines what a good
special edition DVD should be. This set trumps its predecessor
in every way, and belongs in the collection of every good DVD
fan. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
If you upgrade only one movie in your Superman
collection, make it the
Superman:
The Movie - Four-disc Special Edition.
Criterion's
Seven
Samurai is one of the best movies of all time
and now has a 3-disc DVD worthy of it. Disney's
The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -
Extended Edition gives the fantasy epic a
comprehensive look. Tartan's
Oldboy:
Ultimate Edition serves up Park Chan-wook's
cult classic with a ton of extras and a cool tin case. And while
it isn't quite as complete as its title suggests, Paramount's
Apocalypse
Now: The Complete Dossier still does an
admirable job upgrading one of Coppola's finest films. |
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| BEST
DVD - STANDARD EDITION (TIE) |
 |
Kiss
Kiss Bang Bang
(Warner Bros.)
Little
Miss Sunshine
(20th Century Fox)
Ah... the joys of the standard edition
DVD. They're not loaded up with bonus material, but they're
still perfect for discovering movies you may have missed and
don't even realize you love yet. Movies like Shane Black's dark
comedy throwback to classic film noir, Kiss
Kiss Bang Bang. Movies like the surprising ensemble
comedy Little Miss Sunshine,
by newcomer directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. Both
movies hold up nicely to repeat viewings and play just as well
at home as they did in the cinema. The discs even toss in a few
choice extras. Not bad for a couple of "standard"
DVDs. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Other movies worth discovering this year sans special edition
DVD included the Oscar-winning
Capote,
George Clooney's
Good
Night, and Good Luck, Woody Allen's
Match
Point, and
A
Prairie Home Companion, the late, great Robert
Altman's final film. |
|
| BEST
DVD - CLASSIC RELEASE |
 |
The
Searchers: 50th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition
(Warner Bros.)
One of the very best collaborations
between John Wayne and director John Ford gets a spectacular DVD
upgrade. The movie itself had never looked better, with a
transfer that makes the film look as if it was shot yesterday.
The 2-disc set's bounty of well-produced extras includes
documentaries, vintage TV segments and an audio commentary from
Peter Bogdanovich.
The
Ultimate Edition version tosses in
reproductions of memos, the original press book... even the 1956
Dell Comics adaptation. It's a classic film given a classic DVD
treatment. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
After years of waiting,
Double
Indemnity finally returned to DVD, and
Universal's Legacy Series release proved to be well worth the
wait. Warner, one of the best studios when it comes to their
classic catalog, went above and beyond the call with A-plus
special editions of
The
Maltese Falcon,
Forbidden
Planet and
Grand
Prix just to name a few. And Paramount lavished
Bernardo Bertolucci's
The
Conformist with a level of attention that
belies the DVD's bargain price. |
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| BEST
DVD - BOXED SET(S) |
|
| BEST
DVD - FOREIGN FILM |
 |
Seven
Samurai
(The Criterion Collection)
Much as Akira Kurosawa's Ran
from Criterion blew us away in last year's Bitsy
Awards in this category, Criterion's three-disc
remastering of Kurosawa's Seven
Samurai on DVD hit us like a hurricane. With its
newly-remastered sound and video, a plethora of new special
features and the fact that it just happens to be one of the
greatest films ever made - maybe THE greatest - this is a DVD
set that no self-respecting DVD consumer should be without. Just
as a side note, this edition of Seven
Samurai lasted well into the discussion of our Best
DVD - Overall pick, with the Superman:
Ultimate Collector's Edition just barely edging it.
If you don't already own this set, do yourself a favor and pick
it up tonight. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Criterion simply owns this category this year, which is just
one of the reasons why we gave them the inaugural Lieberfarb. So
if you're a fan of foreign films on DVD, we suggest these
stellar sets from the company:
3
Films by Louis Malle,
The
Double Life of Veronique and
Eric
Rohmer's Six Moral Tales. Reading is
fundamental. Reading movies... well that's just good sense. |
|
| BEST
DVD - PSYCHOTRONIC |
 |
Dust
Devil: The Final Cut - Limited Collector's Edition
(Subversive Cinema)
Long-awaited by some of us at least,
director Richard Stanley finally got the chance to release his
preferred cut of his flawed but fascinating Dust
Devil. But Subversive's mammoth five-disc set doesn't
stop there. Not by a long shot. The set packs in three of
Stanley's best, hardest to find documentaries, as well as a work
print version of Dust Devil,
featurettes, audio commentaries... even the soundtrack on CD. If
this top-notch DVD doesn't broaden Dust
Devil's cult following, nothing will. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
The buzz is back. Dark Sky provided the definitive version of
Tobe Hooper's original classic with
The
Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Ultimate Edition
while the underrated sequel gets some long overdue respect in
MGM's
The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: The Gruesome Edition.
After 50 years, American audiences finally got to meet the real
King of the Monsters with Classic Media's release of
Gojira.
Criterion successfully put an obscure monster movie on the same
level as Kurosawa and Fellini with
Equinox.
It's Russ Meyer's and Roger Ebert's happening and you can find
out how much it freaks them out on Fox's
Beyond
the Valley of the Dolls. Synapse gets down and
dirty with the Troma-esque
Street
Trash: Meltdown Edition. But there's only one
real Troma and Uncle Lloyd and the Troma Team revisit one of
their best in high style on the
Tromeo
& Juliet: 10th Anniversary Edition. |
|
| BEST
DVD - VIDEO (NEW FILM) |
|
Kingdom
of Heaven: 4-Disc Director's Cut
(20th Century Fox)
Ridley Scott films are always a feast for
the eyes, and this is one of his most evocative to date. But at
191 minutes, a movie of this size needs room to breathe on disc.
Thankfully, Fox took this into account, spreading the director's
cut of Scott's Kingdom of Heaven
over two dual-layered discs to maximize the video bitrate. The
film's gorgeous cinematography can truly be appreciated in this
beautiful anamorphic transfer. Short of Blu-ray, it doesn't get
better than this. Hold that thought. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Computer animated films almost always look spectacular on DVD,
and Disney's
Cars
and Sony's
Monster
House are no exception. And while the animation
of Warner's
Corpse
Bride was more old school, the high-tech
digital photography looks spectacular on disc. Blockbuster
movies get blockbuster transfers too on Disney's
Pirates
of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and
Universal's
King
Kong: Extended Edition. And for something a bit
more low-key, New Line's
The
New World showcases the lush, painterly images
of Terrence Malick's latest film perfectly. |
|
| BEST
DVD - VIDEO (RESTORATION) |
|
The
Searchers: 50th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition
(Warner Bros.)
Warner almost always goes the extra mile
when restoring their classic catalog titles for DVD release, and
that extra effort pays off handsomely on The
Searchers. Shot in VistaVision and Technicolor, the
2-disc release presents a crisp, lush image that will leave you
feeling like you've just seen this classic film for the very
first time. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Even if the new high-def transfer were all it had going for it,
Criterion's
Seven
Samurai would still be worth the upgrade.
Universal's
Double
Indemnity bathes your screen in a sea of rich,
inky blacks and high-contrast lighting. Fox's restoration
comparison shows just how far they came with the transfers on
the
Mr.
Moto Collection: Volume One. Warner's
Grand
Prix shows off the Cinerama racing epic at its
best. And newer movies need love, too. MGM's
James
Bond Ultimate Editions and Paramount's
Reds:
25th Anniversary Edition look better than ever. |
|
| BEST
DVD - SOUND |
 |
King
Kong: Deluxe Extended Edition
(Universal)
Have you ever wondered what a 30 ton
brontosaurus sounds like as it's about to step on your head?
Well, how about a whole stampeding herd of them? Ever wax
philosophic over the sonic qualities of a mutant-sized rampaging
gorilla, or a swarm of lead-spitting biplanes? Then rest easy
friends... you'll find out the answers to all of the above on
this three-disc set, thanks to a Dolby Digital 5.1 that will
rattle your bones to the marrow. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Disney gave home theater surround sound systems a workout this
year with the NASCAR din of
Cars
and the cannon fire of
Pirates
of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Fox's
Kingdom
of Heaven: 4-Disc Director's Cut provides an
audio experience nearly as good as its video. You don't need
super-hearing to be immersed in the soundscape of Warner's
Superman
Returns. And Fox's
Walk
the Line provides a top-notch musical audio
track worthy of the Man in Black. |
|
| BEST
DVD - "MAKING OF" FEATURETTE OR DOCUMENTARY |
 |
Acts
of Violence
A
History of Violence: Platinum Series
(New Line)
In an era when "making of"
documentaries sometimes run longer than the features themselves,
Acts of Violence proves
that sometimes less is more. An expertly-edited collection of
interviews and intimate behind-the-scenes footage, Acts
of Violence puts you on the set of David Cronenberg's
A History of Violence. We
see him working with the actors, blocking shots and spending
time with the designers and effects guys behind the camera. It
runs less than an hour, but packs more valuable information than
many documentaries twice its length. If you're a Cronenberg fan
(and if you're not, you should be), Acts
of Violence is an essential window into his creative
process. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Hell has frozen over. How else to explain Warren Beatty's
participation in the excellent Witness
to Reds from the
Reds:
25th Anniversary Edition? The
Path to Redemption is an epic and exceptional doc
befitting its subject from the
Kingdom
of Heaven: 4-Disc Director's Cut. Learn about
all things Kryptonian in You Will
Believe from the
Superman:
Ultimate Collector's Edition and the
outstanding Requiem for Krypton
from
Superman
Returns. The classic documentary of the year is
easily Shadows of Suspense
from the
Double
Indemnity: Legacy Series. You'll discover the
countless uses of the term "cocksucker" in Trusting
the Process with David Milch from
Deadwood:
The Complete Second Season. And special mention
is due the fascinating and moving Chasing
Planes: Witnesses to 9/11 from the elusive
United
93: Special Edition. |
|
| BEST
DVD - PACKAGING |
 |
Alias:
The Complete Collection
(Buena Vista)
Not only is this box set cool looking,
containing no less than 30 discs of complete Alias
goodness (every single episode, all the previously released
extras plus an exclusive bonus disc of new extras), it's compact
enough to fit on your video shelf without taking up silly
amounts of space, it's cleverly and elegantly designed, it
includes a hardcover book... AND it's meant to replicate the
most important prop from the series itself. At $200 it isn't
cheap, but if you're an Alias
fan, it's definitely the ultimate. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Sure, the
Essential
Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films is basically
a coffee table book. But it's a damn nice one and contains over
50 films on disc to boot. You've got to give Fox credit for
making its
Planet
of the Apes: Ultimate Collection "ape head"
packaging available here in the States. It's not a cool as the
I, Robot head from last
year, but still. HBO reserved a cool grave marker for its
Six
Feet Under: The Complete Series, and threw in
some turf too. Finally, it's tough not to like the
Trapper-Keeper memories evoked by Paramount's
Strangers
with Candy: The Complete Series. |
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