HOME | << PREVIOUS | 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | NEXT >>

VOTERS' VOICES: -"Features the best on-set making-of and a great as always commentary by Gilliam." -"An early standard bearer with informative supplements that really, to me, enhanced an already accomplished genre film." -"The DVD material isnt the best ever, but the movie is."

60) 12 Monkeys: Collector's Edition Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys is a brilliant film and even more accessible than his earleir work Brazil. This Collector's Edition DVD from Universal includes the 90-minute documentary "The Hamster Factor" which illustrates how Terry Gilliam can make a Terry Gilliam film within the Hollywood system, covering all aspects of production, from set design and shooting on location to poster art proposals and test audience screenings. It is one of the finest first-hand fly-on-the-wall documentaries, and is the result of the clashes with studio execs that Gilliam experienced in previous works, most notably Brazil. While the video transfer doesn't hold up to the quality seen in today's DVD releases, the 5.1 DD track is quite serviceable, and with a price drop enacted in the past year, the great movie and great documentary are well worth a purchase.

BUY THIS DVD

1995, Universal. / 1 Disc / DVD Release 3/31/98 / SRP $19.99 / LAST YEAR: NR

59) Mulholland Drive With a high price and no chapter stops, one might be surprised to find David Lynch's Mulholland Drive on a Top DVDs List. It's no mystery that this DVD is here for the film, as the only extras are a trailer and cast bios. Nonetheless, voters find this film intriguing and engaging, and the audio and video quality are first-rate. Then again, if you're not a big fan of Lynch's films, you probably won't like this one.

2001, Universal / 1 Disc / DVD Release 4/9/02 / SRP $32.98 / LAST YEAR: N/A

BUY THIS DVD

	58) Spider-man: Special Edition The top-grossing film of 2002, Sam Raimi's live-action production of Spider-man is pretty difficult to not like. Columbia/TriStar's two-disc set pales in comparison to other high-profile studio releases like Attack of the Clones, but it does present the film in first-rate digital glory as a sensory delight.
BUY THIS DVD	2002, Columbia/TriStar / 2 Discs / DVD Release 11/1/02 / SRP $28.99 / LAST YEAR: N/A

57) Tombstone: Director's Cut - Vista Series Kurt Russell is Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer is Doc Holliday in Tombstone, a highly-praised Western from last decade. This Vista Series re-release offers anamorphic enhancement over the initial barebones DVD. The 134-minute director's cut included here extends the theatrical cut by nine minutes. Explosive DD and DTS tracks accompany the film, as does an audio commentary from director George P. Cosmatos. Highlights of Disc Two include three major documentaries on the film.

1993, Buena Vista / 2 Discs / DVD Release 1/15/02 / SRP $29.99 / LAST YEAR: N/A

BUY THIS DVD

VOTERS' VOICES: -"I love this movie and I don't think it gets better than this. Great video, great sound and great commentary track."

56) The Last Temptation of Christ: Criterion Collection Martin Scorsese's controversial adaptation from Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name presents the human side of Jesus of Nazareth as an individual with a great mission to face up to. Criterion's DVD includes an audio commentary from the director, script writer Paul Schrader, and star Willem Dafoe. In addition, there is an interview with the film's composer, Peter Gabriel.

BUY THIS DVD

1988, Criterion / 1 Disc / DVD Release 4/25/00 / SRP $39.99 / LAST YEAR: NR

55) The Simpsons: Complete Second Season After an 11-month wait, the second season of TV's longest-running animated series, The Simpsons, finally arrived on DVD. The payoff was grander than the delays, though, as Fox proved again that they know how to do TV on DVD. The twenty-two episodes are presented over four discs, and every episode offers an audio commentary from the creators. Not only did the second season of The Simpsons offer a considerable amount of improvement, but the extras on Disc 4 are certainly more interesting than Season 1's offerings. Best of all, with a retail price of $50, the set could be found in stores for a fraction of the cost that many other studios offer their TV programs for. Just makes one look forward to Season 3's release even more.

VOTERS' VOICES: -"This is how you do a TV season boxed set. Great show, great extras. Everything a Simpsons fan could want." -"Great commentaries plus one of my all-time favorite episodes: 'Lisa's Substitute'."

1990-91, Fox / 4 Discs / DVD Release 8/6/02 / SRP $49.99 / LAST YEAR: N/A

BUY THIS DVD

VOTERS' VOICES: -"The greatest film ever, my very first DVD. Includes the best interview-based making-of, that makes up for the missing Criterion LD commentary."

54) Taxi Driver: Collector's Edition Martin Scorsese's dark and fascinating character study is presented in a great Collector's Edition DVD from Columbia/TriStar. It's unfortunate that the director's commentary from the laserdisc wasn't included, but the 90-minute documentary (featuring interviews with Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Scorsese, and others) is enlightening. With the low retail price, this is a fine purchase to observe two highly talented artists in perhaps the most powerful of their many collaborations.

BUY THIS DVD

1976, Columbia/TriStar / 1 Discs / DVD Release 6/15/99 / SRP $19.99 / LAST YEAR: 48

53) Shrek Taking a big dive in this year's list is DreamWorks' 2-disc DVD set for Shrek, released the day that Monsters, Inc. happened to be hitting theaters. While the DVD (and movie) may pale in comparison to the Monsters, Shrek does have a lot going for it. The direct digital transfer is not surprisingly, remarkable, and although the sound mix isn't the work of Gary Rydstrom, the DD and DTS tracks are effective. Shrek is also notable for featuring some of the best DVD-ROM extras we've seen thus far. The highlight is the Revoice Studio, which has since been imitated, allowing you to voice the characters in several scenes (no $10 million paycheck, though). Even though the supplements might not go into the depth that other animated releases do, they are interesting viewing, and Shrek is overall, more fulfilling than many animated films on DVD.

2001, DreamWorks / 2 Discs / DVD Release 11/2/01 / SRP $26.98 / LAST YEAR: 12

BUY THIS DVD

VOTERS' VOICES: -"Criterion did a great job with this, but what gets me every time is the documentary on the Hollywood Ten blacklists."

52) Spartacus: Criterion Collection Kubrick's gladiatorial epic drama, highly influential on Gladiator, is offered here in a pricey-but-good 2-disc set, the Criterion way. Star and producer Kirk Douglas contributes to an audio commentary, accompanied by co-star Peter Ustinov. This is the only anamorphic DVD version. Disc Two includes deleted scenes, the trailer, 1960 promotional interviews, a 1992 interview with Ustinov, vintage newsreel footage, behind-the-scenes "Gladiatoral School" Footage, original storyboards, galleries of production stills and promotional art, and the 1960 documentary The Hollywood Ten with archival documents on Hollywood's blacklist.

BUY THIS DVD

1960, Criterion, Universal / 2 Discs / DVD Release 4/24/01 / SRP $49.99 / LAST YEAR: 73

51) Twin Peaks: The First Season - Special Edition The first season of "Twin Peaks", David Lynch's short-lived but much-adored television series, is presented in this 4-disc set from Artisan. Seven episodes (but not the pilot) are presented in DTS and Dolby Digital sound, with extensive supplemental material. Mysterious secrets of a small town, sounds like "Eerie Indiana". Speaking of which, when is the next volume of THAT coming out?

VOTERS' VOICES: -"An exceptional edition of the best (most stable, at least) season of one of the best shows in the history of TV. Aside from the extras, which are quite interesting, the bitrate applied to all episodes in the set is comparable, if not better, than that found on Superbit DVDs, making for some crystal clear transfers.

1990, Artisan / 4 Discs / DVD Release 9/24/02 / SRP $39.99 / LAST YEAR: N/A

BUY THIS DVD

HOME | << PREVIOUS | 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | NEXT >>

Alphabetical Index
Statistics & Info