Spider-Man 2.1 on DVD

[Bill Williams]

Andy, I've got to agree with you, "Spider-Man 2" is definitely one of the best superhero films of recent years, quite a lot better than (dare I say it) "Superman Returns", which I enjoyed a whole lot. (My wife, however, is sick of it, she told me! )

As for the new 2.1 DVD release, I'm overall impressed with the production and the preparation of new bonus features for the upgrade. The pop-up commentary is all too reminiscent of the Michael Okuda commentaries on the different "Star Trek" DVDs and "Are You Not Entertained?" on the "Gladiator" extended cut. Menu options are exactly the same as on the previous release, so it's a nice complement to the first release.

Of course, with "Spider-Man 3" just around the corner, we have the full theatrical trailer, the video game trailer preview, and a preview of 3, which I'm hyped about already. I'm surprised that they didn't include the really interesting teaser trailer, which my stepdaughter and I saw at the head of "Superman Returns" last year, which got me stoked for the new film.

In addition, Wal-Mart has an exclusive bonus third disc with its release, a 13-minute featurette called "The Villains of Spider-Man 3", which takes a brief look at how Venom, Sandman, and the new Goblin play an important part in the new film. It's got interviews with Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, Kevin Feige, Topher Grace, Thomas Haden Church, and James Franco, among others.

How do I know all this? Because my local Wal-Mart streeted 2.1 a full week prior to next Tuesday's release date for the low cost of $12.88.

[AndyDursin]

Bill,
Agreed. It's always hard to review these "double dips" because they are increasingly being aimed at the hard-core crowd, intentionally leaving off features from the first-go 'round now so people who bought the 1st edition don't feel ripped off.

I was not blown away by the image quality, though I admit to being spoiled by HD lately. Still, the transfer was not fantastic by any standard.

I just hope Part 3 lives up to Part 2, or at least approximates it.

[Bill Williams]

I gotta agree with you on some points, Andy. Granted, a double-dip is not always the best way to go, though it's only worth it when the content is definitely more than worth the upgrade - i.e., the LOTR 4-disc sets, the Gladiator 3-disc extended set, and of course the more than wonderful 14-disc Superman set, most notably. Some of the Star Trek upgrades were interesting - basically getting more potatoes and vegetables to go with the meat, so to speak.

In the case of Spider-Man 2.1, I have to say that having a longer cut of the film and different features doesn't necessarily supplant the original version, though with the increases in DVD technology I do agree that the picture quality could have been greatly increased. And the 13-minute "Villains of Spider-Man 3" could have easily been included on Disc 2 of 2.1. Oh well...

With the Ultimate and Extreme versions of T2, I don't know if Extreme was quite worth the upgrade, since Ultimate got everything all out of the way in one colossal smack. Then again, since I live nearly an hour away from Cinram, which did the pressings on Extreme, it was worth holding onto for a while - until my wife made me get rid of it and Ultimate, not to mention a whole lotta loving other ones (i.e. Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica).

Don't worry... I held onto Superman, Spider-Man, LOTR, and Gladiator, so there is some victory in my house!

[AndyDursin]

What's odd, though I guess understandable, is that they're now making a point of LEAVING OFF supplements from a first DVD release when they do the inevitable 2nd Special Edition follow-up. It's as if they want to keep the original disc "valuable" and not totally tick off everyone who bought the first edition.

Of course, they end up ticking off people who missed the first release and now have to own BOTH to have all the extras.

Sigh. lol