Spider-Man 2
2004 has been a banner year for superhero movies, and now the first contender for the prestigious title of Dave’s Favorite Hero Movie Ever has arrived on a fairly packed 2-disc DVD that will almost certainly be eclipsed by an even more special edition some time in the next twelve months. If you want to get Spider-Man 2 on DVD today, I have to say, your impatience will be rewarded. The extra features in this set are enlightening, entertaining, and often amusing. And the movie looks pretty darned great, too.
There’s a bit of promotional fluff on both discs, from the trailer for the Activision video game on the second disc to the four “Webisodes” on disc one. While the latter, including features on J. Jonah Jameson and fan reaction to a preview of the film, were probably useful content when they were posted on the official site, they seem dated now, with most of the movie footage involved coming from the first movie. (I did note that the fan reaction was captured at the 2003 San Diego Comic Con, further proof of the pop culture importance of that event.) Most of the material, however, is far more substantial. The first disc includes a blooper reel and a pop-up text commentary feature that provides production factoids and some context from the comics that inspired the movie - although I did notice one or two points where the commentary was slightly off in its facts, overall this was a good feature.
There are also two commentary tracks. One features John Dykstra and other members of the effects and technical teams, while the other features two sets of commentators: executive producer Avi Arad and co-producer Grant Curtis talk about the film’s development and production, while director Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire discuss story, performance, and even audience reaction - they recorded their track a few days after the film opened, and Raimi often asks Maguire how certain bits played with the audience. (Usually he does this with the bits that work well, but who can blame him?) The Raimi/Maguire segments were really my favorite parts of the DVD - these two have a good working relationship, despite whatever behind-the-scenes troubles almost got Maguire off the picture, and they talk throughout how the script and performance had to keep the character’s story moving forward. Raimi seems to have a real talent for making people feel like they have a stake in the project’s success and therefore getting the best from them. (That he also knows how to surround himself with talented people doesn’t hurt, either.)
The behind the scenes features on the second disc include a 12-part documentary called Making the Amazing that originally appeared on the official website. It reminded me of similar series done for the Star Wars prequels, and these are of equally high quality. The segment on costume design really brings home the improbability of superhero stories - it takes teams of designers and artists weeks to build the delicate costumes that Peter Parker supposedly makes himself. Three featurettes focus on Peter Parker, Otto Octavious, and the women in Peter’s life; these do an admirable job of balancing respect for the source material - including interviews with Stan Lee, John Romita, Joe Quesada, J. Michael Straczynski and others - with coverage of the different directions in which the film adaptations have taken that material. The material on the Doctor Octopus development in particular has a lot of fascinating information about the role of puppeteers in creating practical, physical versions of Ock’s tentacles. Sony certainly spared no expense when it came to lavish sets, props and location shooting, but I think that effort pays off in the finished film. A multi-angle feature called Enter the Web shows the on-set work and multiple takes required to get one 20-second action sequence for the film’s finale, and you really get a sense of the scope and effort 
involved.
There’s also a gallery of the Alex Ross paintings used in the film’s opening credits and a couple of Easter eggs that are well worth checking out. While this DVD is almost certainly going to be eclipsed in the not too distant future, right now it’s an excellent value and a great package built around a great movie.