What are the best making-of type docs available on DVD?
 

I am getting ready to start building my media server. I am going to load my entire 800+ DVD collection, but the films only. The only exception will be for some of the better documentaries.

Which discs contain excellent docs? One obvious example would be the doc on the Phantom Menace DVD. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!
Doug

I assume you mean documentaries included as supplements and not as the main feature.

Citizen Kane
Lawrence of Arabia (LE)
Magnolia
Apollo 13

- Caligula (no really, it's a fascinating behind the scenes look at the making of the film)

- Brotherhood of the Wolf

- Brazil: 'What is Brazil?' and 'The Battle of Brazil: A Video History'

I'd say 12 Monkeys and obviously the LOTR EE's. The Abyss also has an interesting Making Of feature.

The Abyss

Another vote for 12 Monkeys and LOTR.

Yes Drexl, I definitely should have specified that I meant supplements.

Some great suggestions! So far we have:

Citizen Kane
Lawrence of Arabia
Magnolia
Apollo 13
Brazil CC
Caligula
Brotherhood of the Wolf (is this the 1 disc or the Canadian 3 disc?)
12 Monkeys
Abyss
LOTR:FOTR EE
LOTR:TTT EE

I have all of the discs mentioned except for Brazil and the Lawrence of Arabia LE. I have the LoA Superbit, is it worth picking up the LE for the doc?

Thanks, and keep the suggestions coming!
Doug

oh, why not, id thought i'd bump it to give a heads up about the great docs on dawn of the dead, and clerks x (and star wars as well.)

Full Tilt Boogie on the From Dusk Till Dawn dvd owns.


Naked Making Lunch - Naked Lunch
The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre SE has a great one.
Mysteries of Love - Blue Velvet
The Indy doc is Star Wars caliber
Taxi Driver SE and Cape Fear SE (most older Universal CE)
Fear of God: The Making of the Exorcist
New Panic Room DVD
I can't believe no one mentioned The Thing (Carpenter)
The French Connection SE has a couple of good ones

Just about anything by Laurent Bouzereau, the king of the 'making of' features because he concentrates on older movies, not today's trash.

Star Wars Trilogy: Empire of Dreams

Clerks X: The Snowball Effect

The ALIEN Quadrilogy
Behind THE PLANET OF THE APES
The Making of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (not strictly a 'Making of', but work with me, people...)
Terror Takes Shape (from THE THING)
The 2 documentaries on THX-1138 (I haven't seen them yet, but I've heard they're in the same vein as the INDY/STAR WARS docs)

No no no, most of you have it wrong, it's El Mariachi. That documentary is really about how they made a movie.

Well, off the top of my head...


The Adventures of Robin Hood - Glorious Technicolor
Amadeus: Director's Cut
Cleopatra - The Film that Changed Hollywood
Citizen Kane - The Battle for Citizen Kane
LOTR Fotr
LOTR TTT
Planet of the Apes - Behind the Planet of the Apes

I agree with many of the ones listed here, but I also love the documentaries on the Hitchcock movies, like Vertigo, Shadow of a Doubt, Dial M for Murder, the ones on the Universal and Warner Brothers titles. I thought all of those have been really good.

I really liked the documentary from the SE of Dances With Wolves.

All of Robert Rodriguez's movies...

El Mariachi/Desperado: Double Feature (10 Min. Film Schools)
From Dusk Til Dawn (Full Tilt Boogie)
Spy Kids 2, 3-D (& the upcoming SE of 1) ("How To" Digital Filmmaking)
Once Upon A Time In Mexico (Excelent "How To" Docs)

Still waiting for SEs of Four Rooms (doubtful, but maybe), Facilty (probably not) and hopfully a release of Roadracers

The Clerks X making of was really cool also. "Oh What A Lovely Tea Party" should be cool too when it comes out.

Making of Cannibal! The Musical wasn't bad either...

I found the 'Matchstick Men' docs to be fairly interesting and informative.

I forgot to mention that I enjoyed the docs on the Romero zombie trilogy discs, although some might be repetitive to hard-core fans.

I second the doco on the Cleopatra set. One of the best I've seen and an interesting look at how that film almost sunk Fox.

Also any of Fincher's discs have a great variety of extras! ;)

Lost in La Mancha is an entire documentary about the making (or unmaking) of a Gilliam film. It's excellent (from the same guys who did the doc on 12 Monkeys), and definitely worth a buy.

Agree with Star Wars Trilogy, Taxi Driver and Alien Quadrology docs.

Would add Russian Ark if you have it - that doc outshines the movie. For fun you should add the indian music video on Ghost World.

The Hitchcock documentaries on the Universal and WB releases (as well as To Catch a Thief) are all great and very much worth watching. Same goes for some of the WB 2 disc SE's like Adventures of Robin Hood, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, My Fair Lady, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest etc. And the documentary on the Wizard of Oz might be my favorite one ever. Also I found the documentaries on Stray Dog and The Lower Depths to be really good and informative. Disney has also done some pretty great ones for their 2 disc reissues like Snow White.

I personally don't agree on Star Wars. I mean there was basically NO making-of footage.


I think a very good one is the making-of FANTASIA, its a single disc and still its got a very good doc, better than most 2diskers