Deep inside DVD

the special Features and hidden secrets

If you're at all like us, you've swapped your VCR for a DVD player to get better sound and picture quality and, best of all, bonus features. Movie studios promised that DVDs would include cool interactive elements you could access on your PC. There are also restored scenes, making-of footage and audio commentary tracks that run concurrently to the movie, so the director can explain what he was thinking in each shot.

But so far, Criterion, a company that has made bonus features its business since the laser disc era, has been the only company to reward us for going DVD. The company's Criterion Collection releases only what it considers to be treasures of cinema, such as The Last Temptation of Christ, Brazil and Seven Samurai, as well as a modest selection of recent films, such as Chasing Amy. The Silence of the Lambs and Armageddon. Each release has plenty of extras, and often they are issued in limited edition, earning these DVDs high regard among movie buffs and inflated prices on eBay. Unfortunately, some of our favorite movies, such as Pulp Fiction, Scarface and Good Fellas, didn't make the Criterion cut. Determined not to feel cheated, we hunted through our must-have flicks for special features that would fulfill the promise of DVD.

No movies are better suited for exploiting DVD than effects-filled films such as The Matrix and Fight Club. Like the stop-frame special effects of The Matrix, the DVD release pushes technology to its limits. Aside from several audio commentary tracks, the DVD includes a Making The Matrix documentary that shows how Keanu Reeves ran across walls and describes other special effects. If your PC is equipped with a DVD-ROM drive, you can access games, web links and an interactive script.

The second disc of Fight Club's two-DVD set has 17 behind-the-scenes shorts that explain how the airplane explosion and other computer-rendered scenes were done. There are also plenty of Brad Pitt and Ed Norton outtakes---some from multiple camera angles. The movie includes (concluded on page 162)DVD(continued from page 100) four separate commentary tracks by director David Fincher, author Chuck Palahniuk and the actors and crew.

Although it lacks bullet-dodging special effects, the stoner road-trip comedy Detroit Rock City comes with as many over-the-top extras as you'd expect from a movie featuring the ultimate music showmen---Kiss. Aspiring Ace Frehleys will benefit from the interactive Rock and Roll All Nite guitar lesson. And even non---Kiss Army members will appreciate the commentary that features members of the band. Viewers can even control the camera angle in the concert footage.

Would-be directors can dissect every frame of Martin Scorsese's work on Taxi Driver: Collector's Edition by flipping between the movie, the original screenplay and the director's hand-drawn story-boards. For total camera control, the Men in Black: Limited Edition two-disc set has an editing workshop that lets viewers rearrange their favorite scenes while director Barry Sonnenfeld offers commentary to explain his editing choices. For further film-school training, the DVD also contains several scenes with multiple camera angles, extended and alternate scenes as well as character animation studies that show the work behind the movie's special effects.

Good movies generate the best behind-the-scenes footage. Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds: Collector's Edition and the horror classic The Exorcist: 25th Anniversary Special Edition both include lengthy making-of documentaries. For a rare glimpse at Hitchcock behind the lens, The Birds' 90-minute documentary includes three Tippi Hedren screen tests complete with Hitch's off-camera voice offering guidance.

Some of the best DVD bonus features are cleverly hidden. Referred to as Easter eggs, these extras are usually concealed within a menu screen. They often feature anything from trailers of forthcoming movies to music videos and DVD production credits. When watching The Matrix, click the flashing red pills camouflaged within the menus to access the secret special-effects documentaries What Is Bullet Time? and What Is the Concept? Let the special-features menu on Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me sit idle until Dr. Evil's phallic ship cruises across the screen, dropping an illuminated letter E. When clicked, it grants access to two glorious Dr. Evil and Mini-Me duets---One of Us and Just the Two of Us. Our favorite? Highlight the robot on the bonus menu of Mallrats: Collector's Edition and get treated to a video of director Kevin Smith calling you a loser for looking for Easter eggs.

Five Favorite Extras

1 Enter the Dragon: Special Edition The grainy backyard-practice video of Bruce Lee delivering a vicious beat-down to a punching bag secures his top place in the pantheon. 2 Detroit Rock City Plug in and learn Rock and Roll All Nite by Kiss in an interactive guitar lesson. Please, no pyrotechnics in your bedroom. 3 American Pie: Unrated Collector's Edition Main character Jim's romantic moment with a fresh-baked pie is even steamier in the restored scenes of this unrated version. 4 Rushmore: the Criterion Collection More of main character Max Fischer's school-play adaptations of movies are featured, including parodies of Armageddon and The Truman Show that director Wes Anderson created for the 1999 MTV Movie Awards. 5 Jaws: Anniversary Collector's Edition Steven Spielberg's home video footage shows that Bruce the mechanical shark, though technologically advanced, was still a bite in the ass to operate.

Where and How to buy on page 172.