Deer Hunter Legacy Edition is an absolute joke IMO. There's no commentary from Cimino and the material on Disc 2 could have easily fit on Disc 1. Plus, there's no extensive Making Of Documentary. I know the British R2 release has Cimino commentary, why weren't they able to import that to the R1 release?

Yes, going from fullscreen to widescreen is a completely worthless upgrade. :rolleyes:

Universal had previously released a bare-bones edition of Fletch on DVD that had gone out of print for quite some time before the "Jane Doe" edition was released.

Oh, I don't think the commentary was bad. I was just comparing the entire package of what was released here compared to what was released in the UK. :)

Stand By Me - Deluxe Edition

It's the same disc packaged with a booklet and a soundtrack CD. If it weren't my favorite movie, I wouldn't have double-dipped. Some kind of retrospective on River Phoenix would have been nice, such as what was done on the Stripes disc with John Candy.

I'm still hoping for a better Special Edition of this movie.

As has been said, there was an earlier release, which commanded big bucks on eBay and such. I and others managed to snag it in October 2005 when it showed up in a WalMart $4.88 assortment.

I thought the version included in the 3 disc set was the same as the explosive extended edition? At least, that's what I was lead to believe.

The same can be said for the Rudy - Deluxe Edition. They throw in a soundtrack disc, new coverart and expect people to flock to the NEW super edition.

I would've said that one, too. But at least I didn't already own the original version when I bought the DE. It is still a pretty poor excuse for a Deluxe Edition.

At least Shawshank got it right with the soundtrack, book, and an upgraded disc.

Gotta disagree on the ESCAPE FROM NY: SE.

Not only is the picture re-mastered from the (previously believed lost) original camera negative, but the "one" deleted scene is the legendary original opening of the flick and lasts about 10 minutes long!! Factor in another great Carpenter commentary and you've got yourself a worthy double-dip there IMO...

^ And since it's popping up in the $5 bin at Wal-Marts everywhere, it's definitely worth the plunge. This was a blind buy for me thanks to WM and I actually enjoyed it.

The EFNY disk is overall pretty good but i think that what the majority of people are trying to say is that their isnt enough material to justify 2 disks in the set.

i believe it's a new pressing that combines different aspects of both releases. it has the special features of the explosive extended edition, but it also features the commentary from the original collector's edition. it is missing the DTS track from the original collector's edition. i think those are some of the main differences.

What was upgraded on the Shawshank disc (I mean between 2 disc one and this one with the soundtack included)?

I believe it was a new transfer, plus a commentary, trailer, two retrospectives, The Sharktank Redemption parody short, an episode of the Charlie Rose show featuring Robbins, Freeman and Darabont, stills and storyboards.

The original disc was almost barebones, though I can't recall exactly what was on it. None of the above mentioned features, I don't believe.

^ I think he meant the diff between the LE and the 2-disc SE. There was no different content on the discs themselves -- just added a book, CD and a thin slipcase. Went OOP fairly quickly, but nothing worth spending big bucks on.

My worse undoubtedly goes to the The Cutting Edge: Gold Edition. The original disc was anamorphic and the SE was not. Even worse it ended up being a sped-up PAL transfer for some reason (even the 5-minute shorter runtime reflected this). I don't think I've ever seen that done before. The only new extra was an introspective interview with the rest being fluff crap for the shitty sequel.

Wow, that's harsh. I think you win! :D

I nominate <i>Office Space</i>, which was pretty underwhelming...especially since much of the material Mike Judge planned to include wasn't approved by the studio. :down:

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, the discs were the same.

My initial point was that in relation to the Rudy and Stand By Me DE, Shawshank was much better because it included the new 2-disc edition and not just the same old disc with the book and soundtrack.

Just remembered another one. The re-release of The Transporter.

I thought they were going to put back Corey Yuen's uncut original versions of the fights and it just turned out to be the same crap release as the one previous with the sole exception of the French making of.

-The original transformers the movie dvd. all it had on there was an interview with the composer.
-Halloween Night. All the special features suck even though there are a lot of them.
-All the movies that are released by asylum. (ie supercroc and transmorphers).
-All the generic releases of martial arts movies. They alot of times have no special features and a crappy picture, but are called special editions none the less

I bought The Criterion Collection's Vengeance is Mine and found out thet there was no commentary. The added features were bare. A big letdown for a Criterion DVD.

Re: Not so special editions
 

The Dark Knight

Re: Not so special editions
 

I can see The Dark Knight getting a big box double dip like 300, I am Legend, etc. sometime near the holiday season.

Re: Not so special editions
 

Quantum of Solace : 2-disk "SE"

Re: Not so special editions
 

You can add the original release of Casino Royale to that.

Re: Not so special editions
 

The R2 MoC has a Tony Rayns commentary, as well as a video introduction by Alex Cox.

Re: Not so special editions
 

At least CR had over 2 times the amount of extras and didnt cost as much and CR was actually a good movie to top it off...

Re: Not so special editions
 

The Dark Knight "special edition" was B.S. Even though it was on sale at Borders for only an extra $4 (the regular DVD was $19.99) I still felt cheated. A big WTF reaction when I put that second disc in. I hear the blu-ray DVD was good though...

Re: Not so special editions
 

yes, but didn't those both not include too much extra in terms of content?

Re: Not so special editions
 

So I Married an Axe Murderer SE is probably the worst I've experienced.

Re: Not so special editions
 

I am Legend had a substantial upgrade in content. Besides, the Dark Knight is a much bigger and more popular movie.

Re: Not so special editions
 

Seconded. That one made no sense why they placed a "Special Edition" tag...

Re: Not so special editions
 

I can't believe no one has yet mentione the one disc SEs of Disney's Tarzan & The Emperor's New Groove which were preceeded by full blown 2 disc Collector's Editions. They were not only inferior to the original CEs but they were both supposed to be 2 disc & cut to 1. I had to buy the Tarzan SE because I lost my Tarzan CE in Hurricane Charley & it was oop. At least my Emperor's New Groove survived the Hurricane. Disney has put out other SEs just to promote an upcoming movie where the previous release was superior (like the upcoming pair of Witch Mountain releases).

Re: Not so special editions
 

So I Married An Axe Murderer definitely