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What?? Another year gone by already?
It seems like only yesterday that we were listing our Best DVDs of 2006. Well,  certainly can't stop the march of time, and we wouldn't want to! Another year means another batch of movies to enjoy on DVD (or Blu-Ray if you're one of those fancy pants HD types) and once again, we have the lowdown on the year's best!
Last year the DIMP staff threw down their picks for the best releases of '06. This year we opened it up to our ever amusing forum community and in their usual quirky style, they picked and wrote about the releases that they felt stood head and shoulders above the rest. Some of the picks are obvious, some not so much, but one thing is certain; is always a great resource for film and home theater fans of all sorts. So, check out our top ten list and let us know if you agree or disagree with our choices. Join the forum and join the fun!
1) The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
So, I saw The Departed late in the Summer of 2007 and I wrote the following immediately afterwards (paraphrased):
"The Departed was no Infernal Affairs. Nicholson was barely par and he was lucky to have Mark Wahlberg and Leonardo DiCaprio there - both of whom are superb."
Now, here it is, January 2008 and I have watched this DVD multiple times since the July viewing (more times than I imagined I would). So what I am telling you? That I am converted? That I am a changed man? Hardly. But if you missed this DVD in 2007, it would be a crime to not buy it - just don't forget to get Infernal Affairs at the same time.
-- John 'Pender' Zarate-Khus
2) Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition)
Since DVD came on the market, every fan of Blade Runner, and there were certainly a lot of them, wanted a re-release of the film. The wait has not been easy. For longer than DVD has been around, many younger fans knew the so-called Director’s Cut as the only version of the film but everyone knew that other footage existed that has never been seen by anyone. Fans of Blade Runner are more hardcore than most and they wanted satisfaction. Speculation and rumors flew left and right about a better release for years, but it wasn’t even close to a reality for most until packaging and content details were revealed shortly before this year’s ComiCon in San Diego. The theatrical cut, the international cut, the well-known but rejected Director’s Cut, the rarely seen workprint and the all new, all definitive Ridley Scott approved Final Cut. You get all of this on your choice of regular DVD, Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD. Oh, and I neglected to mention the three and a half hour documentary, the awesome extras including deleted scenes and the toy replicas of the spinner car and origami unicorn all housed in a goddamned Voight Kampff briefcase. Overkill? Maybe, considering my holographic paperweight. Even still you’ll be hard pressed to find a fan holding this beauty in his hand and not either have a shit eating grin, or crying like a little bitch. This is the ultimate release of the ultimate movie. Watching it is a revelation. Watching it in high-def is a religious experience.
-- Shawn McLoughlin
3) Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Who would have thought that a film based on a series of thirty-minute toy commercials from the 80’s could redefine summer spectacle so thoroughly? Forget Spidey. Dethrone Shrek. And Jack Sparrow? Please! Summer has a new king and his name is Optimus Prime.
Producer Steven Spielberg’s announcement that Michael Bay, master of high octane, summer action entertainment, was his personal choice to direct the live action Transformers movies left Internet fan boys with their jaws agape and their collars smoking. While even Bay’s toughest critics would have to admit that he has a painterly eye and a prodigious talent for action set pieces, crafting strong human relationships has never been considered his strong suit. Luckily, Spielberg is the most successful filmmaker in history largely because of his ability to tell simple, touching stories with heart. The pairing of both sensibilities was a serendipitous one and the final result was a film that won over fans and newbies alike: an undeniable bright spot in a summer filled with disappointing sequels.
While the action and special effects not surprisingly set new standards, we still got the kind of engaging story filled with lively and likable characters that we’d expect from a Spielberg film. Shia LeBeouf is an enormously appealing actor and hits just the right notes as the loveably dorky Sam Witwicky. His girlfriend, Mikaela (the aptly named Megan Fox) is a smart and sassy heroine and the relationship between Sam and Autobot warrior Bumblebee packs a surprising emotional punch. Here, finally, is a summer blockbuster that doesn’t allow its hardware to overwhelm its humanity. If you don’t get a bit choked up when Bumblebee is captured and tortured, then you probably don’t have a soul. All this explanation is really pointless, though. If you need someone to explain the appeal of Transformers to you, then you're not the intended audience to begin with.
Transformers is a staggering technical achievement and, most importantly, a great piece of entertainment. Even if the DVD weren’t packed with features and boasting top shelf audio and video quality it would be a mandatory addition to your DVD collection. Not surprisingly, however, Transformers is primo demo material for any home theatre and the 2-disc edition packs enough extra material to satisfy even the most rabid Autobotophile.
-- Trevor Griffiths
4) The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky
Simultaneously gruesome, beautiful and enigmatic, the films of Alejandro Jodorwosky posed many challenges to viewers. The greatest of which was their legendary unavailability. Due to a dispute between the Chilean-born filmmaker and his financier (former Rolling Stones and John Lennon manager Alan Klein), these films had previously only seen the light of day in bootleg editions that Jodorowsky himself had facilitated. After over thirty years of rancor, the two reached reconciliation, resulting in the theatrical re-release and legitimate home video release of El Topo and The Holy Mountain.
Anchor Bay’s box set The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky presents both films, along with a bevy of extras, including a documentary, two earlier films and soundtracks to El Topo and The Holy Mountain. The spaghetti western tableaus of El Topo and the dizzyingly surreal journey of enlightenment featured in The Holy Mountain have never looked better and, thanks to subtitled audio commentaries recorded by the director, have never been more accessible. He may not explain what it is all supposed to mean, but Jodorowsky does an admirable job of communicating what he was trying to say. By agreeing to bury the hatchet and unearth these films for a new generation, Jodorowsky has created one of the most unexpected and most satisfying box sets released in 2007.
-- Gerry Donaghy
5) Casino Royale
Casino Royale reinvented the Bond franchise - by returning to the source! Contrary to some assertions, Fleming’s Bond novels were arguably no more realistic than the films they spawned (In Fleming’s Dr. No, Bond actually kills a giant squid with a wire!). The Fleming Bond, however, could bleed, feel fear and even fall in love. There’s a reason that we remember the laser scene from Goldfinger. Bond was truly in danger there. When Roger Moore jumps out of a plane and survives, there’s simply no tension.
Needless to say, Casino Royale returns that element of danger. In fact, it does more than that. I confidently proclaim it the best James Bond movie ever made. This comes from someone who has read all the Fleming books, seen every Bond film and loves the Connery era. Yes, there’s that heightened suspense, but we also have Daniel Craig‘s Bond. He’s tough and hardened (No sensitivity training here, thank God!) and can also be hurt. Eva Green provides a sexy, intelligent love interest - one of the all-time best Bond girls. Mads Mikkelson portrays a chilling villain. This is a Bond movie that fires on all cylinders and actually packs an emotional wallop! Casino Royale adapts and updates Fleming’’s first novel, and the updates even make sense. Admittedly, there’s some padding (the first forty-five minutes or so is a complete addition.), but the film always holds your interest. I’ve talked to people who don’’t like Bond movies, and they loved Casino Royale!
Casino Royale debuted in a handsome two disc dvd edition. Some copies included officially licensed playing cards - a pretty cool collectible, if you ask me. Let’s be honest, though: The extras aren’t really the draw. We’re talking about a stunning relaunch of filmdom’s most successful and long-running franchise. Surely, that alone is worth the price of admission!
-- Bob Garrett
6) Planet Terror
When a biological warfare agent is unleashed in the atmosphere around Texas, the population begins to mutate and hunger for the kind of meat you can’t get in your average barbeque joint. It’s up to pint-sized badass El Wray (Freddie Rodriguez) and his go-go girlfriend Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) to save a handful of survivors, and possibly the human race.
While it’s not as good as the movies that inspired it, Planet Terror has a lot going for it: a great cast (including Michael Parks, Michael Biehn, and Jeff Fahey), a propulsive ersatz John Carpenter score and Rose McGowan shaking her moneymaker in the first reel. The Weinstein Company’s DVD release of Planet Terror is fully satisfying even divorced from Grindhouse companion flick Death Proof. The additional scenes and bonus gore go a long way in assuaging whatever anger you would feel knowing that you’ll only wind up buying this again when the theatrical version of Grindhouse is eventually released.
Director Rodriguez is always generous with the extras, and this release is no exception. In addition to a director’s commentary, he provides an audience reaction track, so you can get all of the hoots and hollers of an opening night crowd of Grindhouse Kool-Aid drinkers that is surprisingly entertaining. The cherry on top is the trailer for the imaginary revenge flick Machete, proving once again that Danny Trejo can do no wrong.
-- Gerry Donaghy
7) Death Proof
You may be asking yourself, why are Planet Terror and Death Proof getting separate listings in the DIMP Top Ten of '07? Weren't they part of the same flick? Wasn't Grindhouse really two, two, two films in one? Of course it was! But that's not how the Weinsteins chose to package them. Instead of offering a single Grindhouse release with both films and all the fake trailers that originally ran with them, they choose to break Death Proof and Planet Terror into two releases and dump the fake trailers altogether. That fact alone should probably disqualify both films from our list, but we love each title so much that we simply had to include them. After all, sometimes the quality of the movie is more important than how it's released or what extras come with it.
So, why Death Proof? For me it boils down to one thing: Zoe Bell. In an age of sterile digital effects, when practically everything you see on screen in most big budget films came out of a computer, it's indescribably refreshing to see an actual human being do amazing physical stunts. Zoe Bell does things in Death Proof that are nothing short of amazing. She's an old school stunt woman with abilities that rival the best in the business. Tarantino places the camera right on her, so you have no doubt in your mind that it's really her. It's thrilling in a way that movies haven't been thrilling for practically the last thirty years. If it's time for an analogue revolution that flies in the face of the digital establishment, then Tarantino has raised the battle cry and pointed the direction in no uncertain terms.
-- Chris Hughes
8) The Films of Kenneth Anger Volumes I & II
I was quite humbled by this appearing on our list as it shows that not only do people read my reviews for obscure stuff, but that the things that I do enjoy are also enjoyed by others on a level greater than camp. Fantoma doesn’t put out a great deal of releases, but what they do release is exquisite and the two volumes that collect all of Kenneth Anger’s incredible short films had exceptionally high production values and valued input from the director himself. All transfers are excellent and both releases have a glossy book with rare pictures and loads of information from a little known director who made another film on our list, Martin Scorsese. But all those extras aside, just finally having both versions of Rabbit’s Moon and other classics like Scorpio Rising and Eaux d’Artifice make the inexpensively priced volumes must owns. If you haven’t at least rented these DVDs, you’re missing out on some of the best examples of what the DVD format can still achieve.
-- Shawn McLoughlin
9) Twin Peaks - The Definitive Gold Box Edition
David Lynch and CBS Video have managed to do something that most found downright impossible, and that is to make their box set release of Twin Peaks not feel like a double-dip grab for cash from the most obsessive fans who were willing to shell out a ton of cash for the pilot. The team behind the release not only went back to remaster Season One, but also added a ton of archival footage and new documentaries of surprising quality. You might not sell off your previous releases, but even stacked against the previous season releases, this is an excellent set.
-- John H. Felix
10) The Monster Squad (Two-Disc 20th Anniversary Edition)
2007 finally brought us the DVD release of the 1987 movie The Monster Squad. The movie, about Count Dracula banding all the classic monsters together in attempt to take over the world, and the squad of kids who thwart his plan, is in the same realm as The Goonies. Anyone who remembers it from the 80s will be happy that it has aged pretty well. The special effects are somewhat silly, but have a sense of nostalgia about them. The make-up done on the monsters still holds up well and reminds you of a time when CGI creatures was unheard of. Although this release did not contain any of the , it did provide a bonus feature that is longer than the movie. It seems this overlooked movie has quite the fan base that you may not have realized. In addition, the actors who starred in the movie seemed to genuinely enjoyed their role and what they have been doing since. It was a bit disheartening to learn of what happened to one of the stars, but a Two-Disc 20th Anniversary Edition DVD like this let's you know what the future held for each actor. This release is an example of what studios should do with past fan-favorite films. Especially those that were quickly and quietly made in the 1970s or 1980s but have a strong, but seemingly silent and overlooked, fan base.
-- Jeremy Bloss
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