DVD Movie Special Features

Last night I watched Blood Diamonds which is a movie about the civil war in Sierra Leone when diamonds were discovered there. I will write another blog about the movie but I want to write about the special features. I don't know how many of you take time to watch the special features that the technology of DVDs offer which are not usually on videos. They usually are interviews with the director or the actors and sometimes discuss how scenes of the movies are filmed. For me it is quite fascinating.

Now you can watch the movie all over again with the director commentating on every scene. I started to do that with Blood Diamonds last night. I have to say that I was rather disappointed to hear that most of the scenes were filmed in other countries than Sierra Leone. But I understood this in some sense as this country is far from settled or restructured since the civil war. To hear scene after scene being said - this was in Mozambique, we added the mountains, palm trees, water to make it look like Sierra Leone was quite discouraging. I decided I preferred to let the special features be and leave my memories of this powerful movie untainted by commentaries.

I have also watched a few times The Last Sin Eater which is a powerful movie based on a book by Francine Rivers. The Christian message of Jesus forgiving our sins is so strong and very clear. The courage of the young girl to spread this message is inspiring. The interviews at the end are with Michael Langdon Jr who directed the film - a strong Christian who desires to produce Christian movies. It was encouraging to know there is someone out there who is making a stand in Hollywood. Also striking were the non-Christian actors talking about how good it was to act in a wholesome movie and how they were touched by this message of forgiveness. This is definitely a must-see for everyone.

I also watched Breach which is based on the true story of an American FBI agent who sold secrets to the Russians. It is not a real high action movie but is very intense as the spy and the junior man trying to trap the spy duke it out in a battle of the minds. The special features reveal that the junior FBI man who was in the real life situation was actually the screen writer and consultant for the movie. This showed that there was real validity in the movie. It also discussed how the actors were able to act the characters and develop this intensity between them which added to my appreciation of the quality of the movie.

So I will continue to watch the special features despite my disappointment with those of Blood Diamonds. I appreciate movies and am fascinated to hear how they have been made and what goes on behind the scenes.