The Full Monty

The picture quality is fairly poor, as there are a huge number of scratches on the print throughout. There can be no excuse for not remastering a film with as high a profile as this. Could it be that they're trying to cash in with a Special Edition this year and a remastered 10-year anniversary version next year?

It's not the sort of film which has an opportunity to make use of its surround mix. My set-up doesn't play DTS tracks, but on this occasion, I can't imagine that I'm missing out on much. There is also an American version of the soundtrack, which replaces particular British phrases, such as "top yourself," which becomes "kill yourself." Subtitles are available on the main feature and on all the extras.

The two commentaries are fairly average. Both lack any sort of spark to engage the audience. If you absolutely must listen, pick just one and watch that. There's no need to cover both, as there's a lot of repetition between them.

You'd be far better served watching the featurettes. They're more like one large feature, split into chapters. With over an hour and a half of interviews and discussion on the making of the film, its success and long-term effects, this is exactly the sort of extra that a Special Edition should include. The wide scope of these featurettes, also considering British films in general, give a level of depth that is often lacking on DVD extras. Very highly recommended.

The deleted scenes haven't been cut together at all, rather they're a take from all the available angles in turn. It becomes a chore to sit through them on their own, but it does allow Mark Addy and Peter Cattaneo ample time to provide commentary.

I don't know who would use the Music Machine feature, allowing people to jump directly to the songs within the film, but it's there and works fine.

Usually I'd turn my nose up at trailers, particularly eight of them. However, they're so bad and do so little to get across the fun of the thing that I was intrigued to see how anyone even considered paying money to watch the film.

With two discs to fill, it's no surprise the extras are extensive. Most of them don't hit the mark, but amongst the quantity, there is still enough quality in the lengthy featurettes to warrant considering a purchase. The picture quality should give pause for thought, though.