Smart Discs

by Chris Raley
Summer/Fall 2002

Many DVDs and CD-ROMs have enhanced and interactive features that range from multiple endings and behind-the-scene footage to Web site links and director's commentary. Here's our sampling of some smart titles.

Chocolat
Miramax
DVD
[www.miramax.com]
$29.99
Chocolat is the tasty movie about a woman who opened a chocolate shop in a small village in France. The DVD features seven scenes that were deleted from the original big-screen release. Unlike a lot of deleted material, these scenes actually enhance the development of the movie and make you wish you could view them in sequence with the rest of the film. Apart from these scenes, however, the features are pretty standard fare.
There are three featurettes: one about production design, one relating to the costumes and one concerning the general making of the film. You also have the option a choosing an audio commentary from director Lasse Hallstrom and producers David Brown, Kit Golden and Leslie Holleran.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Warner Brothers
DVD
[www.warnerbros.com]
$24.98
Now you can trip out on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in DVD. It packs some features that will really blow your mind. You can watch the original 1971 behind-the-scenes featurette or "Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," the new featurette. You can also watch the film with audio commentary by the Wonka kids or you can peruse a photo gallery. There's also a sing-along feature. The DVD plays songs from the movie and highlights the words on the screen. Sing "I Want it Now," "Pure Imagination" and more.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Columbia Tristar
DVD
[www.cthe.com]
$27.96
Unfortunately for Ang Lee's mythical action tale Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the DVD features don't quite live up to the film. In addition to the usual commentaries, the DVD contains "Bravo Making-of Special: Unleashing the Dragon" and "Conversation with Michelle Yeoh Featurette," both of which offer insights into the film. You can also choose to see a photo montage or the international or U.S. trailers. For DVD-ROM users, there is a link to the Web site.

Freddi Fish 5
Humongous Entertainment
CD-ROM
[www.humongous.com]
$19.99
Kid alert! A giant sea monster is scaring the visitors out of Coral Cove Park. Help Freddi Fish look for clues and hunt down the culprit. Freddi Fish 5 is an entertaining, interactive CD-ROM that will test and develop your child's thinking skills. As you use easy navigation tools to help Freddi and her pal Luther find clues, you encounter a colorful cast of characters, including Nick, the beatnik owner of Nick's Nacks, and Laren, a one-man jug band. Many of these characters have problems of their own and as you help each one, you get closer to solving the mystery. Freddi Fish 5 changes each time you play, with different puzzles to solve each time. Freddie Fish 5 also includes a mini-game called Messhall Mania.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Universal Pictures
DVD
[www.universalpictures.com]
$22.99
O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Coen brothers film loosely based on Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, features two storyboard-to-scene comparisons. Using the multi-angle button on your remote, you can switch between the storyboard, a scene or both. Director Joel Coen and his producer (and brother) Ethan provide a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. There's also "Painting with Pixels," which details the digital process used to create the film's Academy Award- nominated cinematography.