By the year 2000, all major studios were finally embracing the DVD format.
New independant studios were emerging from left and right, releasing long forgotten gems.
We also started to see some very stylish and unique packaging.
I compiled a list of the 10 best genre DVDs released in 2000.
The rating is based on the quality of the image, audio, extras, packaging and new availability of the film.

Another great Platinum Series release from New Line. FINAL DESTINATION is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and features a perfect image transfer. The colors are dead on and beautifully rendered with no compression or artifacts. The English 5.1 Dolby Digital track sounds amazing and makes great uses of the 5.1 capabilities. There's loads of extras on this disc; the first commentary track features crew members James Wong, Glen Morgan, James Coblentz and Jeff Reddick while the other track features cast members Devon Sawa, Kerr Smith, Kristin Cloke and Chad E. Donella. There's the 5.1 isolate score with commentary by composer Shirley Walker. We get an alternate love scene, a pregnancy test scene and alternate ending which didn't make it in the final film. Cast and crew bios, a look at test screenings, 'Premonitions' which takes a look at well... premonitions in real life. There's also the theatrical trailer and dvd-rom features. The menus are superbly well done and features animation and music. The film is separated in 19 chapters and comes in the usual New Line snap case which features a nice silver artwork.
Certainly one of the most anticipated horror blockbuster screaming for a DVD release. Universal delivered a very good treatment of Steven Spielberg's classic as a 25th Anniversary Edition. The film is presented in a stunning 2.35:1 aspect ratio, for a film that old the image looks great with rich and vibrants colors. The remixed English 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track gives a great atmosphere to John Williams' magnigicent score and features pounding bass whenever the shark attacks. There's a very informative and nicely put together documentary called 'The Making of Jaws' which is a trimmed down version of the LD edition, 10 deleted scenes, Outtakes, a trivia game, a look at the history of sharks, production photographs, storyboards, trailers, production notes, cast and crew bios, screen saver and a dvd newsletter. The main menu features animation and music. The film is separated in 20 chapters, comes in a keep case, with a 4 pages booklet and a nice looking silver cover.
SCHRAMM was filmed in 16mm back in 94 so it's normal that the film looks a little grainy and has some scratches and spots every now and then but it's nothing alarming. The film sure never looked that good.Since the original audio track is in German we have the option of watching the film with newly done and easy to read English subtitles. The original mono audio track is available but the big surprise is that a new stereo track was done and it sounds quite good.This disc is loaded with extras! First of all there's two commentary track. One by Jörg Buttgereit himself with co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen and the other is with actors Florian Koerner and Monika M. There's a pretty cool 35 minutes Making of SCHRAMM documentary in which we get to see pretty much how everything was done along with some interviews with the whole production team and cast. The DVD also contains two short films from Buttgereit, CAPTAIN BERLIN and MEIN PAPI. These are some of his early shorts shot on Super 8. There's also a very poor videoclip for the band Mutter in which actor Florian Koerner plays drums. We can also see a gallery of over 100 stills in motion with the creepy soundtrack to SCHRAMM playing in the background, theatrical trailers for the other films from Buttgereit. The main menu has some animations and music. The film is separated in 32 chapters, it comes in a keep case along with a cool 4 pages booklet.

The film never looked this good! Since it was filmed in Super 8mm and later blown to 16mm and 35mm, the film is presented in a Full Screen format. The transfer was mastered from producer Manfred Jelinski's 16mm inter-negative. We can watch the film in it's original German language or with removable English subtitles which are way easier to read then the previous versions, plus more of it is translanted this time! The audio, while in mono, is loud and responsive and sounds great! There's a cool commentary track with Jörg and co-author Franz Rodenkirchen. Other extras includes; Jörg short film HORROR HEAVEN, outtakes and interviews with the crew and cast of NEKROMANTIK, A Making of the film, a huge still gallerry of well over 100 photos, trailers to NEKROMANTIK 1 and 2, DER TODESKING and SCHRAMM. The DVD comes in a very nice red keep case. The film is separated in 24 chapters. The menu's presentation is awesome! There's animation and music on it! There's a very nice 4 page booklet. Really cool stuff. NEKROMANTIK was also released on DVD in Japan years ago. Another great release from Barrel Entertainment.
Yet another great Platinum Series edition from New Line. The film is presented in a gorgeous and amazing 2.40:1 aspect ratio. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the image. All colors are perfectly rendered and well saturated, pure eye candy! The English 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track is loud and responsive, it makes great uses of the 5.1 capabilities. The bass is pounding and effective. There is also a nice 2.0 Dolby Surround track also in English. There's a very interesting commentary track with director Tarsem Singh and another one with the production team. There's also the possibility to listen to the film with the isolated score. We get 6 deleted scenes, 2 extended scenes, two behind the scenes segments, two theatrical trailers which one of them is the International one, cast and crew bios, two interactive game 'Empathy Test' and 'Brain Map'. There is also a dvd-rom demo, script to screen, original web site. The menus are very stylish and features animation and music. The film is separated in 22 chapters and comes in the usual New Line snap case.
This was the second time Dimension released FROM DUSK TILL DAWN on DVD. Their first edition was a lame bare bone disc while the LD had tons of extras which was a shame really. This Collector's Series edition is the real deal. First of all the film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the image is simply perfect in every aspect. The kick ass English 5.1 Dolby Digital track is one of the loudest ever! It makes great uses of all directional speakers and the bass is kicking! There's also a good 2.0 Dolby Surround French track. There's a very interesting commentary track with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, Outtakes, theatrical trailer, tv spots, stills gallery, two videoclips, 'Hollywood Goes To Hell' featurette, 'The Art of Makign the Movie' which takes a look at 4 scenes, deleted scenes, on set segment, cast and crew bios and most importantly the awesome FULL TILT BOOGIE documentary! The menus features animations and sounds, the film is separated in 26 chapters, comes with an inlay card and in a keep case. This is an awesome edition for a great film!
20Th Century Fox released THE OMEN serie separately and as a box set. Its the box set that wins this spot in the list. All films have never looked or sounded better! THE OMEN is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with the original Mono audio track and a newly mixed Stereo track. There's a very good 46 minutes documentary called "666: The Omen Revealed". Commentary track with director Richard Donner and Stuart Baird. Jerry Goldsmith talks about his favorite parts of the score and a 6 minutes short film. DAMIEN THE OMEN II is also presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and a Dolby Surround audio track. We get a commentary track with producer Harvey Bernhard and theatrical trailer. OMEN III FINAL CONFLICT is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with a Dolby Surround track, commentary by director Graham Baker and theatrical trailers. There is also the direct to tv OMEN IV THE AWAKENING on a fourth disc. All film are separated in 20 chapters, comes in a keep case with an inlay card and features stylish animated menus.
One of the year's most anticipated release! Still today, this is the ultimate edition of Dario Argento's masterpiece, PROFONDO ROSSO. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and features a stunning transfer with vibrants and bloody reds. Never has the film looked so good! The newly remixed 5.1 Dolby Digital English and Italian audio tracks sound great. Take note that if you watched the film in English some scenes will be in Italian because the source material of these scenes were not available in English. We get two theatrical trailer, one for the American version the other for the Italian version. Talent bios and a '25th Anniversary' documentary with cast and crew which is very interesting. The film is separated in 32 chapters, comes in a keep case with a nice 4 pages booklet. One thing that I can't stand about this otherwise superb package is the awful artwork used for the cover especially since there is so many cool ones available.
Lucio Fulci's classic gets a top class treatment. First of all the film is presented in a stunning 2.35:1 aspect ratio and its 16x9 enhanced. There's a little grain from time to time but nothing alarming... I have never seen this film looked so good. The newly remixed English 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track is loud and sounds great. There's also the original Italian Mono track for purist. This one is loaded with extras, first there's a very interesting and informative commentary track with David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl, an on-set interview with Fulci, International trailer, German trailer, US re-release trailer, still gallery, the German pre-credits sequence and main title, a music video by Necrophagia directed by Jim Van Bebber. The menus feature animation and music. The film is separated in 53 chapters (!), comes in a keep case with an inlay card. This was also released by Anchor Bay in a Tin case. There are two easter eggs; the original US opening as 7 DOORS OF DEATH and a trailer to A CAT IN THE BRAIN.
New Line re-release of David Fincher' SE7EN was without a doubt the most impressive disc set of the year. Unlike the first edition which was a flipper were you had to turn side of the disc to continue the film, this is a 2 disc edition with the film on one disc, one side. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio featuring a gorgeous and lush transfer. The image almost feels like its actually on film! The newly remixed Dolby EX 5.1 and DTS ES 6.1 audio tracks are both amazing and atmospheric. They give a proper ambience to the dark themes of the film. There's also a very good Stereo Surround track. We get 4... count 'em, 4 commentary tracks featuring Fincher, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman amongst others. The first disc also features dvd-rom materials. The second disc features deleted and extended scenes, alternate ending with animated storyboards, an indepth look at the great opening sequence with multiple angles and optional commentaries. There's lots of still galleries taking a look at production designs, crimes scenes, John Doe's notebook and more! We also get the theatrical trailer, the electronic press kit and more dvd-rom features! The film is separated in 37 chapters, comes in a superbly design unfold package and features great animated menus with music. This is yet another must have edition from New Line!
 

 

 

 

 


So there you have my personal list of the 10 Best DVDs of 2000. This is by no mean a definitive list as even if i own hundreds and hundreds of DVDs, i always stumble on some i missed. New Line once again took the number one spot with their excellent release of David Fincher' SE7EN. They also had two other Platinum Series disc, FINAL DESTINATION at number ten and THE CELL at number five. Anchor Bay continued to release excellent package, THE BEYOND and DEEP RED were their best. Still i'm not much of a fan of their Tin case. Dimension rerelease of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN was one of the best release of the year... especially considering the previous bare bone edition they had for this great film, a special edition was much needed. And finally, a quick mention to Barrel Entertainment for releasing two films from Jorg Buttgereit on DVD and getting the number 7 and 8 spots!

There were other DVDs released that year that are worth mentioning and owning that almost made the top 10 list and here they are:

ILSA
Anchor Bay release 3 of the 4 ILSA films on DVD... ok THE WICKED WARDEN isn't an official ILSA flick but sure looks like it! Each film are presented in a very nice 1.66:1 aspect ratio and feature a Digital Mono audio track. The ILSA serie has never looked or sounded better! The disc also features a commentary track, theatrical trailer and bios! Its great to hear Dyanna Thorne talk about these "classics" almost 3 decades later! One more point to Anchor Bay for the cool covers and inlay cards!

SCREAM box set
While each films were released before this box set, this was the best options for those like me who waited, also the second film got a Collector's Series treatment and the set features a bonus fourth disc! The first film features a good commentary track with Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson, production featurette, theatrical trailers, tv spots, behind the scenes footage, Q&A with the cast and crew, fx gallery and bios. The second film features outtakes, theatrical trailer, tv spots, bios, Master P's music video, Kottonmoth Kings' music video, commentary track with Craven and crew members, delete scenes and a featurette. The third film features a commentary track with Craven and crew, outtakes, behind the scenes on all 3 films, deleted scenes, alternate ending, theatrical trailer, tv spots, Creed's music video and bios. Finally the fourth disc features the nice 'Behind the Scream' documentary, outtakes from SCREAM, the cutting room where we can "edit" scenes with our remote control, screen tests and loads of dvd-rom features! A great package with stunning transfers for each film, it also comes with a very good booklet.

CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL
The best DVD from Troma, we can enjoy Matt Stone and Trey Parker's great film. The image and audio aren't demo quality but still pretty good considering how low budget this was filmed. As expected there's a shitload of extras on this disc from Troma. First Stone, Parker, Jason McHugh, Dian Bachar and Andy Kemler deliver the funniest and wildest commentary track ever! They do talk about the film but also about going to strip clubs and drinking beers while recording this! There's some cool behind the scenes footage, their Hermaphrodite clip they did with Lemmy from Motorhead, CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL live on stage and the usual Troma goodies.

EVIL DEAD TRAP
The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is quite nice especially considering that this 15 years old film was shot on 16mm. The colors are beautifully rendered, there's no signs of compression or artifacts. The mono audio track sounds great, it's loud and punchy which help Tomohiko Kira's very Goblin-esque and atmospheric score. The film is in Japanese but we can watch it with easy to read yellow English subtitles. The film is separated in 16 chapters. The DVD comes in a keep case along with a inlay card. The disc's presentation and some of the menus have animation and music. We also have a trailer presented full screen. One of the highlight of this disc is without a doubt the unique commentary track with director Toshiharu Ikeda and Special FX manager Shinichi Wakasa. This has to be the most spontaneous and weird commentary track ever recorded. Sometimes they don't say anything for a while then they talks about anything like the actress getting herself a cofee (as it appears onscreen) or that the lead actress got the role because she looked like Sigourney Weaver, but she doesn't! It sure sounds like they had lotta fun making this. Another funny and interesting bit is the fact that Synapse actually have a warning on the DVD that the commentary track is not up to their quality standard. I don't think it was a good idea to add this since it might turn people away from what has to be one of the funniest commentary track ever!

INFERNO
Another very good release from Anchor Bay, INFERO is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and boots a great looking transfer. The newly remixed 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track sounds pretty good and gives a good atmospheric feel to this gothic tale of witches and witchcraft. We also get animated menus, an interview with Dario Argento, the theatrical trailer, still gallery and bios. The film is separated in 20 chapters and comes in a keep case with a nice 4 pages booklet.

So there you have it, soon i will be taking a look at the Best DVDs of 2001 and 2002.

Kim Dubuisson.