The Revenant

At first glance this is an impressive DVD with a good collection of extras. The film doesn't lose much on a small screen and those who enjoy it are likely to find it's something they can watch repeatedly.

Unfortunately, some of the features are very poor quality. The making-of documentary is just a loose assembly of clips from the filming process, few of which will be of any interest to people not themselves part of the production team, introduced in a deep, soulless voice probably intended to sound like that of a zombie. If the idea is to convince us that the narrator doesn't care about anything - including the film - it's effective. The director's commentary gives it a run for its money in the monotony stakes but becomes strangely compulsive as it becomes clear just how slapdash his approach to the film was, and how little he is aware of this.

Things pick up with the actors' commentary, which involves a drinking game and gets more entertaining as tongues are loosened by alcohol. There's also an entertaining moment when one of the actresses sees a scene starring her infant son (as a child who has just been hit by a truck) for the first time. Then there's the visual effects commentary, which is hit and miss, as for long stretches of time they have nothing much to talk about and seem uncertain what they should say. It's not a particularly useful one for those with an interest in technical work (although their work is good), and the dismissive way they treat the film is all too understandable.

As for the deleted scenes, it's easy to understand why they were deleted. This is one for die-hard fans only.