Dorkgasm Gonzo Is God

So, I suppose you may be wondering why this review of The Mist on DVD was relegated to a blog entry. Well, since I had already reviewed the theatrical version before, I thought that this would be appropriate. Plus, it just gets it into your grubby hands faster.

As I mentioned before, I personally thought that The Mist was one of the best films of 2007. It was the Stephen King adaptation that made almost every other one pale in comparison. The film told the story of a small town trapped in an otherworldly nightmare that they could not escape from. That's enough summary, though. Let's have a look at what the new DVD offers.

As usual, the movie is offered in a single disc version and the balls-out two disc fuck-off special edition. As I usually suggest, do yourself the service of buying the bigger and better of the two. Not only do you get copious features, but one of the most innovative extras ever. Some of the extras include some Frank Darabont commentary which is really interesting. As he talks, you can really feel what it was like to get this movie put together in such a short amount of time. Watching this makes me long for what might have been if Darabont's 60 million dollar version was shot instead of the 20 million version. Also on the first disc, you get the almost requisite deleted scenes with optional director commentary. The scenes aren't too important in themselves, but they do give a little more backstory. The first disc finishes out with a selection of behind-the-scenes webisodes which were originally broadcast during the making of the film, a trailer gallery, and a mini-docu about Drew Struzan, an artist who has painted some of the best album covers, movie posters, and comic book covers of our time. He did all the artwork seen in the movie, as well as some promotional art for the movie itself.

The second disc, though, is where you really get the payoff for paying the extra money. You get the huge "making the movie" special, plus looks at the creature effects by KNB artist Greg Nicotero. Both of these are incredibly educational and interesting. There's an even more in-depth look at the making of one of the scenes in which the creatures begin to attack the supermarket. All of these, while exceptionally cool, pale in comparison to the big enchilada. For one of the first times that I can remember, there is a different version of the movie as a special feature. Well, it is not completely different, but it plays differently. When Frank Darabont first got the rights to King's novella, he wanted to shoot it as an old-school black and white movie. Of course, color is more profitable, so the studio heads won on this decision. However, with the after market DVD quickly becoming a dumping ground for extras, Darabont decided to show his preferred version of the film. Not only is it black and white, but I swear that it is a bit grainer than the theatrical print. This version plays like a horror film from the 50's, while the color version feels more like a mid-70's horror romp. I cannot explain it, but they both feel completely different, even though they are the same movie...

Well, this is pretty much all of the reasons that you should check The Mist out on DVD. I know I raved about it when it hit theaters, but WTF. It's still one of the best movies of the past year, and you would be a sucker if you missed out on this one today.