We all love lists, mostly because we get to rip other people’s opinions, but still we love them. The good folks over at DVD Talk have just released their list of the Top 10 Hollywood mainstream DVD releases of 2005. I don’t totally agree with the order of the list… but it is an interesting one nonetheless and sure to spark some discussion.
So read over the list and leave your thoughts in the comments section about what you thought about it. What shouldn’t have been on there? What should have been there that wasn’t? My short thoughts are in the brackets. So now, here’s the list:
1) Serenity (Nice to see this hit the #1 spot)
2) Sin City: Recut, Extended, Unrated (meh, I wasn’t as impressed with this as most people… but LOVED the original film)
3) Cinderella Man (Still in my opinion the Best Film of 2005 hands down)
4) Star Wars – Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (Love or hate the new films, no one does a DVD like LucasFilm does)
5) Titanic – Collector’s Edition (I have to admit there are some GREAT new features on this otherwise boring film)
6) Batman Begins (One of my favorite films of 2005, but not thrilled with the DVD release)
7) The Incredibles (In my opinon, the best overall film on this whole list)
8) Frighteners – Special Edition (Peter Jackson getting some hidesight love)
9) Overnight, Murderball and Tell Them Who You Are (a threeway tie for docs)
10) Sideways (Once again… great film… but I wasn’t blown away by the DVD)
So there you have it. Your thoughts?
“Makes you wonder why any scifi movie is produced in full screen anymore”
Well my in-laws seem to be big purchasers of ‘full screen’ versions of films…Despite my best efforts to convince them otherwise. There still seem to be LOTS of folks who are willing to lose 30% (or more) of the movie to avoid getting the dreaded black bars on their TV set.
The Serenity Disc is very, very good.
I see the frighteners disc is up on that list…What the hell did they publish that SE disc as a ‘flip-disc’. Has Universal not heard of the ‘dual layer’ disc? And why wasn’t the entire film, which is over 2 hours in length spread across a full dual layer DVD, with the extras on a SEPARATE DISC…? It is supposed to be a “Special” Edition. Anyways, the images is still pretty darn good, and the Documentary ported over from the laserdisc is pretty compelling stuff, if a bit overlong.
People tried to get Serenity for me for Christmas and failed. I finally found one widescreen copy at a BestBuy today. The full screen copies are still on the shelves, but there aren’t many widescreens to be found. Must be doing pretty well. Makes you wonder why any scifi movie is produced in full screen anymore.
I just rewatched “Serenity” last night and it was even better than I remembered it to be. It’s one of those movies that can be watched over and over WITHOUT skipping over scenes. Although I loved “Batman Begins”, I really need some time in between viewings as it can be a a bit slow and ponderous.
“Serenity” is akin to “Aliens” for me. I could watch either one 50 times and not get tired of it. :-)
Vic
I am glad for Serenity. I loved firefly and wished all the best for serenity’s theater release, but it didn’t do that well after all.
oh, I forgot my ‘good idea’ award:
near the end of the year Ghosbusters, the Mummy series and the Jurassic Park series were rereleased with a cool looking box that holds all three movies. normally a lot of studios just make one bix bulky box that holds three regular dvd cases. if they want to sell more ‘trilogies’ that get kinda weak as the progress – *cough, Robocop, *cough, Karate Kid * – putting them together in a slim collection with a great look like these did is a good idea. i actually bought the Mummy one, it was only 19.99 and it came with a free ticket to King Kong. good value.
Sidways” has undersold, go to any Rogers and you see countless copies of it for 9.99. it makes me sad about peoples intelligence that they dont pick it up, yet you cant keep say, “torque”, on the shelves.
anyways, as a movie dvd, it doesnt deserve to be on there. very few features.
Cinderella Man is a decent DVD, and a movie that surprised me. but John, after initially being impressed with it I’d now discount it for oscar contention. have you tried watching it a second time? it feels so much hokier the second time, the dialogue really isn’t that good. only Paul Giamatti is still as amazing, which is why he’s the most likely to pick up an award. also, over the year its been revealed more and more that this film is riddled with just as many inaccuracies as Beautiful Mind was, which had more than a regular share of biopic ‘liberties’ taken. I was especially disheartened the more i learned about how Max Baer was villainized, and you can tell Howard must have felt bad about it, because Baer boxes with a giant white Star of David on his shorts, and he clearly toned it down to wehre you almost cant tell unless you already know its there. either he knew he was going overboard or he knew he woudl get outrage from Jewish groups… probably both.
the Frightners extended edition of the film blows the other version away so easily its not even funny. the 4 hour docuemntary is the same feature that appeared on the original laserdisc version.
The Aviator had a very very good DVD release and should have been listed here.
Murderball did a fantastic job with its DVD release, several commentary tracks, good ‘where are they know’ updates, interviews. its one of those cases where the special features arent just added value, they actually enhance the film.
I dont remember if Hotel Rwanda was released on DVD this year or late last year, but thats another good one.
Orson Welles’ F for Fake was released by Critierion this year, as was Hoop Dreams. these two older films’ DVDs are two of my favorites for the year. Hoop Dreams has a commentary track from the two young’uns, now older, one of the best DVD booklets of all time, a feature documenting Siskel and Eberts extended love affair with the movie. the Welles’ film is not for everyone – its such a freeform documentary with a really cool style where Welles narrates live from say, a restaurant with several women, or in a field with other people, or while doing magic, about art/book fakers, as well as about himself. while the documentary is interesting, its the innovative style that shaped the careers of Michael Moore, Errol Morris and so many others that makes it important. its special features include a more “pbs style” documentary of the same material, and a documentary about Orson Welles and his unfinished projects.
as for non-movie DVDs, among a sea of crap, this year we saw the release of underappreciated TV shows like Clone High, Mission Hill, Tom Green Show, Adventures of Pete and Pete, and Kenny vs. Spenny, which I just spent the past few days watching in full.
the best music DVD release overall for any music fan woudl be volumes 4 through 7 of the ‘work of the director’ series… Jonathan Glazer and Mark Romanek’s collections are the most impressive…
I agree that Serenity should be on the list but probably not at the number 1 slot. It’s a good movie and I own it but Star Wars III, Batman Begins Two-Disc Deluxe Edition And Cinderella Man should probably have rounder out the top three.
Serenity sucks. It√Ǭ¥s the kind of film nobody will remember… hey… what is Serenity???? I don√Ǭ¥t remember!!! LOL
As much as I liked Serenity, I was very disappointed by the DVD. Surprised that it made #1. That spot should definitely go to Sin City, which I didn’t like in theatres.
From this list, it’s only Sith that I own so far. I almost got the “Sideways” (which I saw in the cinema and enjoyed) DVD yesterday but thought otherwise.
I enjoy Firefly and I got Serenity for Christmas, but I doubt that there will be any more of that universe coming our way.
Nice to see Serenity maybe become very profitable as a movie via DVD sales.
Vic
I got the firefly first season boxset for christmas, and the more i watch, the more i love that universe. Hopefully we will be seeing more of it in the future.