DVD extras go the extra mile

It's a slow news day so I thought that this might be interesting to us DVD fanatics,

'DVD extras go the extra mile
By Thomas K. Arnold, Special for USA TODAY

Robert Vlasaty isn't an actor, but the Marine from Yonkers, N.Y., stars in a documentary that's one of the extras on Jarhead, new to DVD this week.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in Jarhead, based on the first Gulf War. The movie comes out on DVD this week with lots of extras.
Universal Studios

"It was such a rare and honest opportunity to educate the public and the younger generations," says Vlasaty, 24. "I wanted to let people understand that life is so much bigger than your daily, local routine."

The Semper Fi: After the Corps documentary on Jarhead Collector's Edition (Universal, $50) is just one of a growing list of increasingly inventive DVD extras.

The old standbys of deleted scenes and director commentaries remain, but as the DVD business matures and sales level off, studios are looking for ways to get fans excited again. One way is to beef up the movie with extras they can't get anywhere else.

"DVD consumers increasingly demand special features that extend and enhance the experience of a movie or TV show," says Universal's Ken Graffeo.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Jennifer Anderson agrees. "Movie fans and DVD buyers have increased expectations for the DVD they purchase," she says.

For the DVD release March 28 of Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony, $29), 11 special features were created, including a documentary on sumo wrestling and a cooking segment in which chef Nobu Matsuhisa discusses his role in the film and shares his recipes.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's Steve Feldstein says the trend in DVD special features "is more isn't always the best thing. Cool and interesting and provocative are what works."

Other innovative extras:

•Walk the Line (Fox, $30) which arrived in stores last week, comes with an exclusive documentary on Johnny Cash's pivotal Folsom Prison concert, plus interviews with a prison guard and prisoner who were at the concert.

• On Lady and the Tramp (Buena Vista, $30), kids can put the disc in their computers and "adopt" a puppy from a virtual pet shop.

• The celebrated 1972 television special Liza With a Z (Showtime, $30) arrives April 4 with backroom footage, including Liza Minnelli interviewing John Kander, who with the late lyricist Fred Ebb composed Cabaret and Chicago.

•Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (DreamWorks, $30), a film about a horse trainer and his daughter nursing an injured horse, arrives March 21 with a "how to" segment on horse grooming.

•King Kong (Universal, $31, March 28) includes a "documentary" from director Peter Jackson on Skull Island, filmed as though the fictional island exists.

It's not just the big studios that are pushing the proverbial envelope when it comes to DVD extras.

For the Asian psychological thriller A Tale of Two Sisters ($29), due March 29, Tartan Video hired a psychiatrist to analyze the sisters in the movie.

"We are so used to hearing from the director, the writer or the producer about how great the film is, but to hear from an outside source about the validity of the film's message makes it all the more powerful and, in this case, scary," says Tartan president Tony Borg.

For the French film Tous les Matins de Monde ($35, Koch), a 1991 biopic about the great 17th-century composer and viola player Marin Marais, out this week, there's a 65-minute documentary on Jordi Savall, who performed and conducted the best-selling classical soundtrack.

"It's these kinds of distinctive, one-of-a-kind additions to a film's DVD release that make them more than just a movie on a disc," Koch's Dan Gurlitz says. "They become sophisticated experiences."'