Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this review was provided for review purposes. The review itself has not been prescreened and is solely the opinion of the reviewer.
Welcome to SpoilerTV’s newest feature. We will be looking at new and upcoming releases of Movies and Television sets. This feature will focus on the extras for upcoming releases of movies and television box sets. You will not find movie or television reviews in this feature. Here we will dissect the special features to help you make an informed decision on whether or not a DVD or Blu-Ray set is worth owning over its digital counterpart. A certain point has been assigned for each special feature, so at the end, we will provide a detailed scorecard so you can see how each point was earned. The stars this set receives will be based on that point scale to aid in assuring that there is no bias in the rating it gets. So, without further delay here is the very first review of this new feature.
Disc(s): (20 points out of 20)
This set provides both a DVD and a Blu-Ray along with a code for the digital version of the movie. It is a great value especially with that digital copy included. It is the best of all worlds being able to have a tangible physical copy as well as the digital copy that you can take with you no matter where you are at. The overlay on the discs is a rather boring blue with the name of the movie showing through in silver. There is a clear lack of creativity, but since consumers don’t spend much time looking at the discs it was likely used to save cost. Given how brightly colored the movie is I expected more from the disc design.Audio: (6 points out of 6)
This set sports a wide range of audio options which is nice to see. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 in English, Spanish, and French. Perhaps most notably it also has DVS (Descriptive Video Service) which is really nice to see. That means that the movie is very accessible to all that want to enjoy it. There are also subtitles in English SDH (Subtitled for the deaf & hard-of-hearing), Spanish, and French. I would have liked to have seen additional language options, but the fact they offered more than just English was a nice added touch. The audio is crisp and clear with very little feedback or crackle in the audio.Menu: (1 point out of 3)
To get to the main menu you have to first fight your way through a handful of promos for other movies. Once you get there it is a rather boring, unimaginative and annoying menu. They play a single song from the movie on repeat, so if you spend more than a few seconds on the menu be prepared to have to hit mute to protect your sanity as you look through the menu. The menu has four main categories: Play, Scenes, Bonus, and Setup. Each option leads to a separate sub-menu each with a different single static image. The one saving grace is that the annoying song doesn’t play on every sub-menu. It only follows you to the Bonus menu. The menu is one of the most disappointing parts of the set.Video: (3 points out of 6)
The DVD offers Anamorphic Widescreen (2.40:1) and while the image is good enough the colors aren’t quite as crisp as its Blu-Ray counterpart. The Blu-Ray disc has 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.40:1) and the image here is vibrant and crisp. If you have the choice, I highly recommend watching the Blu-Ray disc because you get by far the better image. Not to say the DVD one isn’t watchable, it definitely is, but the Blu-Ray offers a far superior image.Extras: (12 points out of 15)
There are a plethora of extras with some more impressive than others. It was only really lacking a Gag/Blooper Reel. Some of the extras are on the short side, but it was still impressive the sheer number of extras they managed to cram into this set.Deleted Scenes/Deleted Song:
There is just a single deleted scene and a single deleted musical number. This extra felt very skimpy. There were surely more deleted scenes that they could have included. The deleted song (00:03:05) was actually quite nice and would have worked well in the final version. The deleted scene (00:01:38) was nice, but it is understandable why it was cut. Both are available with commentary by Director/Screenplay Writer Ol Parker.
Feature Commentary:
This is perhaps one of the best features on any set as it gives direct insight into every aspect of the movie. This set has not one, but two feature-length commentaries. The first is just Director/Screenplay Writer Ol Parker. The second is just Producer Judy Craymer. Both commentaries are worth listening to, but in my personal opinion, Ol Parker’s commentary was the more entertaining of the two.
Feature Sing-Along:
This is basically an extension of the Enhanced Sing-Alongs extra. My personal preference would be to play the movie in its standard form and enjoy the individual songs. But this is a feature that some will probably really enjoy especially for those that will watch the movie multiple times.
Enhanced Sing-Alongs:
There are ten musical scenes from the movie played in an enhanced version with the words of the song bouncing on the screen. It’s a rather nice feature for those that just want to go back and watch one of these musical numbers again. By my count, this should represent every musical number from the movie.
The Story (00:05:33)
A behind-the-scenes look at what made the story work and how it came to life. It’s very insightful and a lot is packed into feature considering its short run time.
MAMMA MIA! Reunited (00:03:33)
This feature goes into what it took to reunite the cast and what they all felt about coming back after nearly a decade since the last movie. It also dives into the experience they all had working together again.
Playing Donna (00:02:28)
Lily James discusses what is like to take over the iconic character of Donna from Meryl Streep. Judy Craymer (Producer), Ol Parker (Director), Meryl Streep, and other various cast members weigh in on their impressions of the way Lily James portrayed Donna.
Meeting Cher (00:03:44)
The Producers, Director, and Cast all discuss what went into getting Cher and how it was working with her on set. Needless to say, everyone thought the world of her. It’s a short feature, but a nice one for fans of Cher.
Costumes and The Dynamos (00:04:59)
Michele Clapton (Costume Designer) discusses her thought process behind creating the costumes. Various cast members and Ol Parker discuss their thoughts on the costumes and the impact they had on the production.
Curtain Call (00:04:00)
The Cast, Producers, and Ol Parker discuss the creation of the final closing number of the movie. They also discuss how they settled on Super Trooper for the song. It is a nice behind-the-scenes look of how this complex final scene came together and all that went into creating it.
TODAY Interview with Cher and Judy Craymer (00:04:35)
Kathy Lee has a sit-down interview with Cher and Judy Cramer to discuss what it was like for the superstar and super producer to work together on this project. Surprisingly it is a fun and informative interview, but not exactly exclusive to the set, so it doesn’t add much value. It is, however, fun to have it included so that all great tidbits relating to the movie are in one place.
Final Thoughts: (Final Score: 42 points out of 50/4 stars)
This is a strong set with lots of great Bonus Extras. It would have been nice if some of the features were a bit longer, but they did use what space they had for extras to pack in the maximum amount of content. The menu is the weakest part of the entire set and it’s pretty good that this is the only real negative. Is this worth your money? It definitely is. This set is jam-packed full of great features.★★★★☆
Here is the full scorecard for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again:
This Combo Set releases on Tuesday, October 23rd.
