The Wizard Of Oz

Even if this package wasn't stuffed to the gills with extras, you'd still have the film itself: the timeless tale, the memorable music, the fantastical art direction, the colourful costumes, the flawless choreography, and the vivid Technicolor cinematography, not to mention the then "state of the art" visual and audio effects that still look and sound astounding 66 years later. Such a venerable classic deserves nothing less than the best, and this three-disc DVD set includes over nine hours of bonus material, not including the historical commentary track and another four and a half hours of audio material. There's a feature length documentary that succeeds despite saccharine narration by Angela Lansbury, as well as featurettes on the art direction, the special effects, the music and the film's societal legacy, all peppered with archival interview footage. The Munchkins are a recurring theme — many of them are still alive and, bizarrely enough, are interviewed in their original costumes. Some modern day talking heads are included as well, like Peter Jackson and… John Waters?! Weren't they supposed to get Roger Waters instead? Yet all of these features were also on the previously available two-disc version. The new third disc features a doc about the book's author, L. Frank Baum, but the kicker is the inclusion of four silent films based on the Oz books — none of which bear any resemblance to the plot of the film we know and love — two of which were directed by Baum himself. The make-up and costumes are fabulous, if you can overlook the fact that the Scarecrow looks like he escaped from the Insane Clown Posse, and there are enough human-animal furries to give Wayne Coyne a hard-on. These films also feature remarkable special effects for their time, including dramatic stunts, ghost images and an underwater sequence. The only thing missing in this otherwise completely satisfying package is a comparative analysis to Wild At Heart. Oh, and the Pink Floyd synch-up. (Warner)