First off, I didn't know all that much about Watergate. I knew enough to be able to contribute a tiny amount to a casual conversation. However, after watching All the President's Men I think I would be a bit more useful in that conversation as the film focuses on the two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), as they dig, and dig, and dig into the story through all the doubts, denials, dead ends and threats. The intriguing thing about the film is that it isn't about Watergate directly, it is about the journalists who brought the story into the light, a story that without these two gentlemen would have never seen page one.
As for this DVD and what is so great about it you won't have to look far, there are only a few special features, but what is there is worth it, that is except for a couple of clunkers. Let's get the bad out of the way first...
There are two features that you may as well skip over completely, they are the vintage featurette Pressure and the Press: The Making of All the President's Men and the equally "vintage" interview with Jason Robards by Dinah Shore. It is not that these two features are exceptionally bad, it is just that they aren't any good and don't really shed any new light on the film or its production that isn't satisfied by the other goodies, let's talk about those instead.
First off is the brand new commentary by Robert Redford. I don't need to say anymore than that. As you watch the included featurettes and listen to Redford you will learn that he was the driving force behind getting this film made and the reason it focuses on the journalists and not Watergate itself. He adds a lot during his commentary and it is no secret that Redford was quite the innovative filmmaker.
Beyond the commentary there are three fabulous featurettes: "Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of All the President's Men", "Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat" and "Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire".
All three of these features are pretty much self-explanatory based on their titles, but the best thing, or worst thing about them depending on how you look at it, is when it is mentioned that if Watergate happened today it would most likely never have gone as far as it did back in the '70s! "Why?" you ask. Well, even though our news media is "bigger and better" now there are several checks and balances that would not allow a story of this magnitude make it as far and most of it resides around the clandestine character... Deep Throat. The commentators on the featurettes basically say that considering the numerous amounts of anonymous sources used in Woodward and Bernstein's stories they would have quickly been asked by the Supreme Court to reveal their sources and when they would have declined they would have swiftly been thrown in jail, thus stopping the story in its tracks.
Yeah, if you want to be pissed at our government's control over our media pick up this disc, watch the movie and get energized and then watch the special features and find yourself backing journalists' first amendment rights to the fullest extent.
This DVD is entertaining and thought provoking all in one. I heartily recommend it and I am surprised my college professors never played this in any of my classes; it is the ultimate film to encourage young journalists to get out there and make a difference.