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Stocking Stuffers: The Director’s Cut
By Sean Carruthers, posted 12/8/2003 4:21:53 PM

For one reason or another, motion pictures are often forced to compromise what goes in the final cut: the movie may be too long for the typical viewer, the studio may find some subject matter objectionable or pointless, or there may be licensing issues. Now that the longer-running DVD format is widely available, newer and longer versions of movies are being released to viewers, crammed with bonus materials, or in a “director’s cut" edition.

Unfortunately, due to space restriction in the print version of the DVD Stocking Stuffers feature in the December edition of HUB Digital Living’s Gift Guide, a lot of the original material was cut. We’re please to reinstate it in this Director’s Cut edition of the article!

All prices quoted are estimated, usually closer to the suggested retail price. Conscientious shoppers will likely be able to find these sets at lower prices if they shop around. Keep your eye out for sales!

TV Shows

Rocky and Bullwinkle, Complete Season One
http://www.sonywonder.com
Estimated price: $45
Dahhhlink, it’s the original Moose and Squirrel, out on DVD for the first time. This four DVD set has all 26 episodes from the first season, including the epic series on Bullwinkle’s rocket fuel. Of course, there’s also Fractured Fairy Tales, Peabody and Sherman, Dudley Do-Right and more. If you’re allergic to puns you may want to head out of the room while this is on. The set also includes promo commercials for the series, some previously unaired “Ask Bullwinkle" segments, and more!

The Simpsons, seasons one, two, and three
http://www.thesimpsons.com
Estimated price: $50 per season
Even if the critics are divided as to whether the new episodes are any good, there will always be the early seasons. The first three seasons of the Simpsons have now been released on DVD. Yeah, maybe you’ve seen all of these episodes repeatedly on television, but these sets feature commentary by Matt Groening and other members of the creative team on every episode (part of the reason why the sets are so slow to be released, no doubt) as well as other extras like sketches and various easter eggs.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sets, seasons one through seven
http://www.startrek.com
Estimated price: $150 - 200 per season
For many, Deep Space Nine was the most interesting of all of the Star Trek series. It was an ongoing story where something that happened in one episode was bound to come back in future episodes…none of this running off to a new planet every week and not having to think about what happened on the previous episode. There was a lot of political commentary, exploration of interpersonal dynamics, and even a look at spirituality and religion that wasn’t condescending or trivializing. Now, Paramount has released all seven seasons of the series Deep Space Nine throughout 2003. In addition to all of the episodes, each set comes with a number of “hidden" interviews, featurettes and behind-the-scenes looks at the creation of each season. Each set squeezes seven DVDs into an attractive and compact package that won’t take up much space on your DVD rack. (Similar seven DVD sets of all seven series of Star Trek: The Next Generation are also still available, at similar pricing.)

The Honeymooners
http://homevideo.paramount.com
Estimated price: $45
If you’re looking for something a bit more vintage, why not take a look back to the 50s at this sitcom, one which laid the foundation for many many programs to follow? All 39 episodes of the Honeymooners are included on this five DVD set (it’s become such a part of the culture that it’s difficult to imagine that the entire run of the show can fit on just five discs, but it’s true). In addition, the set includes the original series opening and closings--as they were first broadcast--and the Honeymooners Anniversary special, which includes interviews with members of the cast.

Futurama, seasons one and two
http://www.foxhome.com
Estimated price: $50 - $60 per season
When Futurama was first introduced, it may have seemed like Matt Groening was trying to bail out on The Simpsons; combined with the fact that the character of Fry sounded almost identical to Stimpy of Ren and Stimpy fame, a number of potential fans--including myself--never gave the series a fair shake; now’s your chance to give the show a well-deserved second chance, with the release of the first two seasons on DVD. Delivery boy Philip J. Fry falls into a cryogenic chamber, and when he wakes up in the year 3,000 AD he winds up befriending a one-eyed pilot, a liquor-guzzling robot, a crustacean doctor and his own great great great great (etc) nephew. There are lots of guest appearances from twentieth-century stars, generally as heads in jars, and each episode comes with commentary. As a bonus, there are animatics for many of the episodes, deleted scenes, and hidden yearbook photos of the creators.

X-Files season eight
http://www.foxhome.com
Estimated price: $170
The idea of continuing the X-Files without the Mulder character might have seemed like a huge mistake, but the eighth season of the show managed not only to keep many fans interested, but some actually considered it a step in the right direction after flagging interest in the previous seasons. (To be fair, many found season eight a complete waste of time; if Mulder was the only reason you watched, you may want to skip this.) Set up in almost exactly the same package as the previous seven seasons on DVD, this six-disc set includes all of the episodes from the eighth season, and features commentaries, a featurette, a huge number of TV promo spots, deleted scenes, character profiles and even a video game for your PC.

Spongebob Squarepants, Complete Season 1
http://homevideo.paramount.com
Estimated price: $50-60
Spongebob! Spongebob! Yes, it’s the complete first season of this weird children’s favourite (and adults’ guilty pleasure). That’s forty episodes spread out over three discs, with extra featurettes, music videos, karaoke and more. There are even commentaries from cast members! Hours of fun for the kids…even the big ones.

Dark Angel, seasons one and two
http://www.foxhome.com
Estimated price: $85 per season
Dark Angel, James Cameron’s entry into the world of TV, lasted two seasons, and both are now available on DVD. The show follows Max, a genetically-enhanced human who escapes from the military, befriending a number of rebels and mutants along the way. Both seasons feature commentaries by members of the cast and production staff, as well as featurettes on the creation of the show, and behind-the-scenes looks at the cast, blooper reels and audition tapes. Each set comes with six discs.

Battlestar Galactica
http://homevideo.universalstudios.com
Estimated price: $120
Some think that Battlestar Galactica was nothing more than a cheap attempt to cash in on the sci-fi craze started by Star Wars, but the movie (and TV show) went on to gain their own devoted followings. And really, what’s not to like? Potato-chip spaceships, chrome-plated alien bad guys, lots of laser guns and cheesy disco sequences on far off planets…sounds good to me! The newly-released six-disc set features the entire original run of the series, and it includes deleted scenes, bonus featurettes, and commentary for the pilot episode. And if that wasn’t enough, the whole thing comes in a box with a molded Cylon head on the front!

The Big Screen

Alien Quadrilogy
http://www.foxhome.com
Estimated price: $140
Leaving aside the issue of whether “quadrilogy" is even a real world, some fans may be questioning the need for yet another release of the Alien movies on DVD, as special editions were just released a couple of years ago. Users who just upgraded to those issues may be tempted to stay away from this set on principle, but it would mean missing out on a ton of bonus material. How much bonus material? Enough to swell this package--which only contains four actual movies--to an astonishing nine DVDs. Each of the movies is available in original version and extended versions. These extended versions are not necessarily “director’s cuts", for a couple of reasons--in some cases because the directors liked the movies as they were originally released, or as in the case of Alien 3 because the director’s cut would have involved going back and redoing the entire thing with complete director control--but in any case it means extra material to feast your eyes on. On top of that, each movie comes with a lot of “making of" material, separated into pre-production, production and post-production sections, giving you a look behind the scenes at the creation of each of the movies in the series. There are also design and artwork galleries, trailers and things like Sigourney Weaver’s original screen test for the first movie. The wealth of material may seem overwhelming--one report says there’s 45 hours of extra material!--but look at it as a long-term investment rather than a binge. Even if you weren’t such fans of the third and fourth movies, the extra material will give you a much better insight into why the movies failed to live up to the promise of the first two. (If you believe that, anyhow. Personally, I like them all in different ways.) The biggest downside is the packaging; though it’s designed to take up minimal space on your DVD shelf, the fold-in packaging is a bit unwieldy, requiring you to unfold nearly the whole thing to get to the first and last disc in the set. A bit of package wrestling is a small price to pay for having a package this comprehensive, though.

007 Gift Sets 1, 2 and 3
http://www.mgm.com
Estimated price: $157 each
Bond…James Bond. The 007 movie franchise has been around for decades now, with a total of twenty movies released so far. All of those films have now been boxed up in these new DVD gift sets from MGM, each film with bonus features like commentary, documentaries, music videos and more. It’s worth noting that the boxes aren’t set up chronologically; instead, each set features selections from all of the Bond eras, which means you get a sampling of the different Bond actors in each set. (Yeah, it’s a bit frustrating if you’re a fan of the Sean Connery era only, or the Roger Moore era, but it does mix things up a bit for the fans that love it all.)

Volume One: Dr. No, GoldenEye, Goldfinger, License to Kill, The Man With the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Tomorrow Never Dies
Volume Two: From Russia With Love, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds are Forever, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, The World is Not Enough
Volume Three: Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Live and Let Die, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, Die Another Day

Once Upon a Time in the West
http://homevideo.paramount.com
Estimated price: $25
Take the wide open spaces of America’s old West, and the frontier mentality that goes with it, and then replicate it all using Italian directors, writers and even actors…strange though it may seem, the “Spaghetti Western" has definitely become an integral part of the history of cinema. While The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is probably Sergio Leone’s best-known Western, Once Upon a Time in the West--C’era una volta il West if you want to be accurate--is also critically acclaimed, though much, much darker. When it was first released to theatres, the movie was pretty savagely cut, from 165 minutes down to 140; here, it’s restored to its full runtime, with long tracking shots and scenes that unfold in their own good time. Of course, Ennio Morricone provides the score. Filling out this two-DVD set: a series of documentaries with interviews with some of the stars and creative team; featurettes, stills galleries, cast profiles, and commentary tracks from cast, crew, and even other directors who have been influence by Leone, like John Carpenter, Alex Cox and John Millus.

Escape From New York (special edition)
http://www.mgm.com
Estimated price: $45
In this John Carpenter cult classic, the entirety of Manhattan has been turned into a prison full of violent criminals--hey, it was the 80s, it certainly seemed feasible enough at the time--and our anti-hero Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is on a mission to save the president, who is caught inside. This special edition set comes with two DVDs worth of material, including an extended version of the movie, including the original opening sequence (which was cut from the theatrical version) and two audio commentaries. There’s also a trilogy of featurettes, deleted scenes with additional commentary from Russell, and photo galleries. There’s even a limited edition comic book in the package…what more could you want?

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
http://www.lordoftherings.net
Estimated price: $30 (2 DVD), $45 (4 DVD), $100 (collector’s edition)
Part two of the trilogy is now out on DVD, and it’s available in three different versions. The two-disc version comes with the movie itself and--if the nearly three hour runtime wasn’t enough for you--there are also behind-the-scenes programs and eight featurettes. If you need even more, there’s also a four-disc set that also contains 40 additional minutes of footage, multiple audio commentaries, and a number of documentaries on the making of the film (from effects to adaptation). If you’re a real LOTR junkie, there’s the collector’s edition, which comes in a box large enough to accommodate a special collector figurine of Gollum, as well as an additional DVD on the making of the collectibles associated with the movie series.

Music

We received a grab bag of EMI music DVDs just in time for the Christmas season! Here’s a quick overview of some of them. Check out http://www.emimusic.ca for more information!

Duran Duran: Greatest
Estimated price: $35
If you were around in the early 80s when videos were just starting to come into their own, no doubt you remember Duran Duran’s early--and sometimes scandalous--videos. This new two DVD set collects many (but not all) of the band’s videos, spanning all the way back to the beginning. Even better, you’ll have a lot of fun searching for the hidden videos and interviews throughout. (There’s an explicit content warning here because of a few racy videos, so best not to watch it with the kids.)

Simple Minds: Seen the Lights, a Visual History
Estimated price: $35
Like Duran Duran, Scotland’s Simple Minds were one of the staples of the early 80s, bringing a more experimental electronic feel to pop music. The band didn’t get much attention until about four albums in, and indeed, there are no actual videos on this compilation from before that point; there are a number of early live performances and TV appearances with some of those earlier tracks, for the truly devoted. Disc one features videos of most of the hits, plus early footage from The Old Grey Whistle Test. Disc two features a 1989 concert from Verona, plus live television footage from 1982. There’s also a DVD-ROM section with screen saver, wallpaper, discography and bonus web features.

Daft Punk and Leiji Matsumoto’s Interstella 5555
Estimated price: $25
For electronic music fans, France’s Daft Punk make some of the more interesting new music out there, blending a retro pop sensibility with modern noises. Following the release of the Discovery album, the band got in touch with famed Japanese anime artist Leiji Matusmoto to create a movie based on the music found on that album. Four aliens are kidnapped, brought to Earth, and turned into a pop supergroup. There’s no clunky dialogue to deal with here, just the music and the animation, and if you’re a fan of Daft Punk, anime, or both, you’re sure to find this one a lot of fun. (There’s even a guitar-shaped spaceship!) The limited edition version comes with a bonus enhanced CD titled “Daft Club", which features remixes of songs from the band’s two album, as well as additional web material.