No one's talking about the DVD extras?? Hilarious stuff, it's like getting a comedy double feature with the movie. My favorite bonus was Shane the deleted 3rd character (sorta like a mix of Bevis & Butthead & the French chick in the DaVinci Code whose only purpose is to explain everything to the audience).
shareTaking my cue from you, I finally got the DVD/Bluray of "Resolution." And yes, SHANE IS HILARIOUS!
The alternate, soul-crushingly lame ending also made me chuckle. I quite enjoyed seeing the isolated footage seen throughout the completed film.
However, I really REALLY hated the first director commentary. Couldn't even make it through 20 minutes and then switched to the cast/crew commentary, which didn't seem much better (I quit that one after ten minutes, but I'll give it another chance later). The film poses so many neat ideas, and yet the commentaries offer no discussion of anything substantial.
The outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage is pure drudgery to watch. I'm not even sure why they included it, because combined with the half-assed commentary, the footage makes the filmmakers seem like a bunch immature frat goons who accidentally made a decent movie... and that's a disappointing conclusion for me to arrive at, given how much I enjoyed "Resolution."
I'm willing to chalk off the lamer aspects of the DVD to indie inexperience -- and I'd still VoD their next project without hesitation. But I'm not sure if "Resolution" is a must-have on DVD... except for Shane, of course.
OK, allow me to revise my remarks about the commentaries...
I finished the actors/crew commentary. An interesting piece of insight was eventually revealed at the 1:10 mark. Then the commentary pretty much turned into a puddle of audio barf that felt like some sort of sadistic Tom Waits karaoke festival exclusively for alcoholics.
As a huge fan of this film, I have to admit the first two commentaries were confidence-smashers that struck me as so bad they made me reconsider my affection for this movie.
Thankfully, the third commentary featuring the dog is making up for all the missteps in the first two commentaries. She really does have great ideas!
The dog commentary track makes the "Resolution" DVD a must-have. Confidence restored!
Hahaha yes the "alternate ending" was pure magic!
Of the commentaries I only saw the first (writer/director). You're right; it fell short of expectations considering how highly I thought of the movie. But in their defense, they did mention that they had never listened to a director's commentary before (for real??), so they were admittedly stumbling. I was entertained by the on-set trivia they talked about, but I agree that they could've talked about the film's thematic elements more.
I'll know to skip commentary 2 and go straight to the dog.
As someone who always listens to the commentaries (yeah no life here), I've noticed most commentaries are excruciatingly boring, with the filmmakers merely grunting a few words here & there almost as if they never bothered to watch their own movie. So in a way the fratboy babble was kinda refreshing, just because it showed their enthusiasm for the project. The best commentary of all time is of course Spinal Tap, where they all talk in character for 90 mins, almost funnier than the movie!
I almost think the first two commentaries are deliberately bad, because the third with the dog is truly outstanding! It answers every question and affirms every stylistic choice that I had noted in my many viewings.
Sitting through two bad full-length commentaries to get to one magnificent commentary is a bit of an interesting mindf!%k that I don't believe has been perpetrated by any other filmmakers!
Either way, it's a great extras package.
I must thank you, rooprect, for finally giving me the butt-kick I needed to buy "Resolution" on DVD. "Resolution" and "Upstream Color" are films I rented on Amazon and then watched 50 times or more once they landed on Netflix (No, really: I've probably watched "Resolution" 50 times). Both DVDs have been in my shopping cart since Christmas, but their availability on Netflix made me lazy about completing the purchases.
Both films are totally worth owning on DVD/Bluray if you're a dedicated film geek.
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