Now this is what DVD is made for. Special editions of two amazing special effects films are hitting the home video shelves on Tuesday, November 12, 2002, along with the complete first season of SOUTH PARK.
STAR WARS: EPISODE II "ATTACK OF THE CLONES"
Touted as the first major live-action movie captured and created directly from the digital source, the EPISODE II DVD promises to be a must for STAR WARS fans and DVD collectors alike. The EPISODE II 2-disc set is packed with over six hours of additional material, including feature-length commentary from George Lucas and the filmmakers, including ILM animation director Rob Coleman and ILM visual effects supervisors Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow; exclusive documentaries including the new, full-length documentary "From Puppets To Pixels," featuring the creation of digital Yoda, Dexter Jettster and more; and eight never-before-seen scenes. The special edition VHS will include selected deleted scenes and a "Star Wars: Connections" featurette hosted by R2-D2 and C-3PO, who explain the STAR WARS story. Suggested retail price: DVD US$29.98; VHS US$24.98.
Karl Cohen sat down with Rob Coleman, EPISODE II's animation director, ato learn how the ILM team combined many different techniques into one seamless digital world.
Also, revisit Bill Desowitz three part series about EPISODE II's amazing visual effects:
"Yoda As We've Never Seen Him Before"
"R2-D2: From Helpful Droid to Hero"
"Creating Clones Is Harder Than It Looks"
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (4-Disc Platinum Series Extended Edition)
Although the widescreen edition of Academy Award-winning epic THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING was released on home video and DVD in September, true fans and collectors have most likely been waiting for this 4-disc Platinum Series Extended Edition, which contains an extended version of the film with over 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage and 50 additional minutes of newly-recorded score. The first two discs contain the film and features commentary tracks from Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, the design team, the production/post-production team and ten of the actors, including Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen. The two other discs contain over six hours of original content, including adapting the book into a screenplay and planning the film; designing and building Middle-Earth; storyboards to previsualization; a visit to effects house WETA, featuring an up-close look at the weapons, armor, creatures and miniatures from the film; galleries of art and slide shows with commentaries by the artists; stories from the set; editorial and visual effects multi-angle progressions; multiple documentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING; and more. Suggested retail price: DVD US$39.99.
Greg Singer reveals who the Ring leader of the THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy really is.
SOUTH PARK: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
Finally, the entire first season of the irreverent Comedy Central hit series SOUTH PARK is available on DVD. The 3-disc collectors edition features all 13 episodes from the first season when viewers were introduced to Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny and watched them grow up in the dysfunctional little town of South Park. Additional features include "A South Park Thanksgiving," which was featured exclusively on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Jay Leno; Cartman's "O Holy Night" music video; Ned's "O Little Town of Bethlehem" music video and classic SOUTH PARK on-air promos. Suggested retail price: DVD US$39.98.
