Downfall

The picture quality is as excellent as you would expect from a recent film. The sound quality is equally good, with perfectly apt use of the rear speakers throughout. There are, of course, subtitles on the main feature and the extras. Apart from one minor spelling mistake on one of the extras, there's nothing wrong with them.

Downfall's extras are near perfect. Its weighty subject lends itself perfectly to hearing about the actors' motivations in their roles. It's fascinating to hear how everyone balanced the quandary of portraying abhorrently evil people, without simply portraying them as one-dimensional. There is a certain amount of crossover between the Making Of featurette and the interviews, but both are lengthy enough with sufficient variety to not feel like a total rehashing.

The biographies and Virtual Tour of the bunker are packed with information. They might not be the sort of thing that everyone watching the film will want to read through from start to finish, but it's nice to know they're there.

Whilst I enjoy films in their original language (with subtitles), I tend to prefer extras when they're dubbed into English, as they generally don't warrant your undivided attention. Downfall's extras are good enough for this to not be a problem, but I wouldn't have turned my nose up had such an option been available.

If only all DVD packages could be as good as this.