Jackie Brown, Quentin Tarantino's follow-up to Pulp Fiction, stars an all-star cast on the trail of a half million dollars in cash. A throw-back to the blaxpoitation film of the 1970's Tarantino cast blaxpoitation star Pam Grier in the lead role of Jackie Brown. Theatrically released on Christmas day 1997 Jackie Brown has finally been released on a two-disc Collector's Edition DVD.
Available from Alliance Atlantis, Jackie Brown is presented in a widescreen format that has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions and comes with an english 5.1 DTS Digital Surround audio track, an english 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround audio track and a french 2 channel Dolby Stereo audio track. Subtitles are also included in english and spanish.
The special features are spread over the two discs with the majority of them being on the second disc. Disc one features an introduction to the DVD by Quentin Tarantino, soundtrack chapters, an enhanced trivia track, a trailer for the Pulp Fiction Collector's Edition DVD, a soundtrack spot and some DVD-ROM content.
Disc two features the documentary "How It Went Down", an interview with Quentin Tarantino entitled "A Look Back At Jackie Brown", the complete "Chicks With Guns" video, deleted and alternate scenes, the Jackie Brown review from Siskel And Ebert "At The Movies", Jackie Brown on MTV, theatrical trailers and tv spots for Jackie Brown, still galleries, filmographies for Quentin Tarantino, Pam Grier and Robert Forster, theatrical trailers and radio spots for other Pam Grier films,theatrical trailers for other Robert Forster films and Jackie Brown movie reviews and articles.
The enhanced trivia track is a subtitle track that runs throughout the film. Since there's no audio commentary track you'd expect this to be its equivalent, but it's not. Instead what we get is a wealth of trivia that, for the most part, has nothing to do with the film. The trivia that does have to do with the film however is essentially comparisons between the original script and the final film and the mentioning of deleted/extended scenes. The majority of the track is spent on Pam Grier and Elmore Leonard, who wrote the novel Rum Punch on which Jackie Brown is based. There are some problems with the trivia track however, such as certain bits of trivia being listed several times while others may be listed a scene or two too early. Starting off with promise it soon loses its appeal. It may be informative but it's not a proper replacement for a missing audio commentary track.
Also included on disc one is soundtrack chapters which allow you to access any scene from the film by the song played in that chapter, an introduction to the DVD by Quentin Tarantino, a trailer for the Pulp Fiction Collector's Edition DVD, a soundtrack spot and some DVD-ROM content.
Disc two starts off nicely with the documentary "How It Went Down"(38:49), which is essentially nothing more than a promotional making of documentary. And like all other making of's it features a lot of cast and crew interviews mixed in with behind-the-scenes footage. It starts off by discussing the novel Rum Punch and its author Elmore Leonard then goes on to discuss Quentin Tarantino's influences before finally spending all but the last chapter on the casting of the main cast and what it was like working with them.
"A Look Back At Jackie Brown"(54:37) is an interview with Quentin Tarantino that is sure to please everyone that was disappointed that no audio commentary track was included on the DVD. For the better part of an hour Tarantino discusses the making of the film, what it was like working with Pam Grier, Robert Forster and Samuel L. Jackson, audiences reactions and lots more. It's not to be missed.
"Jackie Brown On MTV" is split into two parts. The first part is called "Jackie Brown Promotional Contest"(1:03) and it's a commercial for a contest in which Miramax films was giving away 25,000$ to promote the release of Jackie Brown. The second part, "MTV Live Jackie Brown"(14:21) features Quentin Tarantino, Bridget Fonda and Pam Grier being interviewed by Carson Daly and Ananda Lewis on MTV.
Tarantino also included theatrical trailers for other Pam Grier and Robert Forster films, perhaps in hope of getting more people interested in their work. The theatrical trailers for the other Pam Grier films include:"The Big Doll House", "Women In Cages", "The Big Bird Cage", "White Mama, Black Mama", "Hit Man", "Twilight People", "Coffy", "Scream, Blacula, Scream", "The Arena", "Foxy Brown", "Bucktown", "Friday Foster", "Sheba, Baby", "Something Wicked This Way Comes", "Above The Law" and "Original Gangstas". The theatrical trailer for the other Robert Forster films include:"Reflections In A Golden Eye", "Justine", "Stalking The Moon", "Medium Cool", "The Don Is Dead", "Avalanche", "The Black Hole", "Alligator", "Vigilante", "Walking The Edge", "Hollywood Harry" and "Night Visions". Also included are radio spots for other Pam Grier films.
Rounding off the remaining extras on disc two are the complete "Chicks With Guns" video, six deleted/alternate scenes, the Jackie Brown review from Siskel And Ebert "At The Movies"(two thumbs up), three theatrical trailers and 8 tv spots for Jackie Brown, nine still galleries with over 500 photos, filmographies and Jackie Brown movie reviews and articles. Also worth mentioning is the 16-page booklet and double-sided mini-poster that comes along with this two-disc set.
On his introduction to the DVD Quentin Tarantino revelas that the reason why he chose not to release Jackie Brown on DVD when it came out on video is because he wanted to make sure that he was releasing the ultimate Jackie Brown DVD, and aside from a missing audio commentary track I'm sure you'll agree that the Jackie Brown Collector's Edition DVD was well worth the wait.