Gunning for greatness

On the best DVDs, the movie is just the beginning.

Yes, top-shelf picture and sound quality are important. But great DVDs reach way beyond that, providing artwork, background material and behind-the-scenes information that bring viewers closer to the filmmaking process.

Consider what I experienced this year as the Daily Herald's new DVD writer:

• I listened to playwright/filmmaker David Mamet and magician/actor Ricky Jay discuss the various con games used in Mamet's 1987 directing debut, "House of Games."

• I got a quick tutorial from Robert Rodriguez on the digital effects he employed to equip Rose McGowan with a machine-gun leg in "Planet Terror."

• And from the comfort of my couch, I toured the New York locations used in "Taxi Driver," comparing how they looked then to how they look now.

Pretty cool, huh? And those are just a few examples of the ways in which DVDs connected me with directors, actors, screenwriters, set designers and everyone else involved in making movies.

What follows is a list of my 10 favorite DVDs among those I reviewed for the Daily Herald this year. It's not an absolute "best of the year" list, as I didn't start reviewing until July, and I haven't even gotten to every major release since then. But the list offers a nice snapshot of what the DVD format can do, and what some of the format's best moments were in 2007.

Gold standard

I figured I'd start by naming my favorite overall DVD package of the year. It was an easy decision -- Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box Edition (Paramount, $108.99).

This 10-disc set holds both complete seasons of "Twin Peaks," the stylish and influential TV show created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. It also includes the American version of the feature-length pilot, which hadn't been available on DVD before.

Any DVD release that calls itself "definitive" better have some solid bonus features. This set passes that test. The highlight is a two-hour documentary that explores just about every aspect of the show, from the creation of the pilot to the wildly popular first season and up through the polarizing second season.

Another gem is a long conversation between Lynch and actors Kyle MacLachlan and Madchen Amick about the show and its lasting influence. There are also a few deleted scenes and some vintage supplements, like MacLachlan's 1990 appearance on "Saturday Night Life."

Happy anniversary

Two of my favorite DVDs in 2007 commemorated big anniversaries. Both sets put their films into historical context and stand as definitive home video presentations.

"Robocop" appeared to be just another testosterone-fueled Reagan-era action movie when it came out in 1987, but it surprised everyone with its biting satire and "Frankenstein"-like story of a man transformed into a steel monster. The "Robocop: 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition" (MGM, $22.98)two-disc set contains the theatrical cut of the film and the superior unrated cut, which is both darker and funnier. There are a number of nice featurettes included, and everything is housed in a nifty steel case.

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was Steven Spielberg's follow-up to "Jaws," and it cemented his reputation as one of America's best directors. The "Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition" (Sony, $39.95) three-disc set brings together all three cuts of the 1977 film, as well as a fold-out "map" that shows exactly how the versions differ. This great box set also includes a commemorative scrapbook.

Excellent extras

Just about every DVD has some kind of bonus feature on it these days, but most of this material is boring fluff. Three of the DVDs on my best-of list illustrate how substantive, informative bonus content can make a DVD into something special.

Fans of Robert Rodriguez's DVDs are probably familiar with his "10-minute film school" featurettes. He picks a certain scene or filmmaking technique from the movie and explains how he accomplished it. On the "Planet Terror: Extended and Unrated" (Genius Products, $29.95) two-disc set, he focuses on some of the digital tricks he used in the film, particularly how he gave Cherry Darling, the character played by Rose McGowan, a prosthetic leg that doubles as a machine gun. (In the film, her leg had been chewed off by zombies.) It's a fantastic look at his filmmaking process.

"The Host" was one of the best horror films of the year, a creature-feature in the tradition of "Jaws" and M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs." The movie centers around a man-eating monster that emerges from the Han River in South Korea and terrorizes the locals. On "The Host: Two-Disc Collector's Edition" (Magnolia Home Entertainment, $29.98) DVD, director Bong Joon-Ho narrates a fascinating featurette titled "Why Did He Do That?" He takes you through all of the scenes in the film with the monster in it and explains why the monster behaves as it does -- what the monster is thinking, why it saves some of its victims to be eaten later, why it's more aggressive in some scenes than in others. It sounds bizarre, but it actually deepens the viewing experience when you watch the movie again.

There are so many extras on the "Knocked Up: Two-Disc Collector's Edition" (Universal, $30.98) that it would take a whole weekend to go through all of them. One of the most entertaining is a featurette titled "Finding Ben Stone," a mock casting session in which writer-director Judd Apatow talks about all the different actors he tried for the lead role, ultimately played by Seth Rogen. The actors include Michael Cera, James Franco, even Apatow himself. In every case, the choice ends in disaster, usually a profanity-laced screaming match with the director. It's all fake, of course, but hilarious.

Best in show

Television shows are a hot attraction on DVD. One of the best collections to appear in 2007 is "Saturday Night Live: The Complete Second Season" (Universal, $69.98). This eight-disc set includes all 22 episodes from the 1976-77 season in their entirety along with a handful of bonus features.

"SNL" changed television when it hit the airwaves in 1975. It was the first show geared specifically to the youth of that time, and it brought a new frankness and attitude to TV. The cast was a miraculous mix of talent and personality, with Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner the standouts. The second season brought back the same cast -- Chase left about a third of the way through, eventually being replaced by Bill Murray -- and paired it with a stellar collection of guest hosts, including Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Buck Henry and Eric Idle.

Do these 30-year-old episodes hold up? Absolutely. Some of the topical/political humor relies on dated references, of course, but most of the sketches remain funny to this day. And the discs include all of the music performances; rock 'n' roll giants such as The Band, the Kinks and Brian Wilson perform along with lesser-known talents like Kinky Friedman. It's a great showcase of the music of the day.

Rest of the best

We finish with three DVDs that stand as excellent all-around packages. Let's start with the "Taxi Driver: Limited Collector's Edition" (Sony, $24.96) set, a two-disc, in-depth study of one of the best American films. Martin Scorsese's classic 1976 look at an alienated Vietnam vet (played with visceral force by Robert De Niro) trying to find his way in contemporary New York looks better than it ever has on home video. The bonus features are superb. We get interviews with Scorsese, De Niro and writer Paul Schrader. We get a look at the film's influence, with comments from fellow filmmakers Oliver Stone and Roger Corman. We get two enlightening commentaries, one from Schrader and the other from Robert Kolker, film expert and writer of "The Cinema of Loneliness."

The Criterion Collection always puts out stellar DVDs, and "House of Games (Criterion, $39.95) is no exception. This 1987 film was the directorial debut of David Mamet. Not surprisingly, it's about a con man (Mamet regular Joe Mantegna) who may or may not have chosen a psychiatrist (Mamet's then-wife Lindsay Crouse) as his next mark. The DVD includes new interviews with Mantegna and Crouse, a short documentary about the film and a booklet with excerpts from Mamet's introduction to the published screenplay. What makes this DVD, though, is the commentary from Mamet and actor/magician Ricky Jay, who served as a consultant on the film.

I didn't love "Inland Empire," David Lynch's latest film. The three-hour, shot-on-video epic is one of Lynch's most labyrinthian and disjointed films, a surreal nightmare. It wouldn't appear on this list, except for the fact that the "Inland Empire: Two-Disc Special Edition" (Rhino, $29.98) is such a knockout. In addition to a gorgeous presentation of the film, the DVD offers 75 minutes (almost another whole movie!) of deleted scenes under the title "More Things That Happened." We're also treated to an in-depth discussion of the movie by Lynch and a wonderful behind-the-scenes documentary that shows Lynch working with actors, production designers and executives at various points during production.