The Missing (Special Edition) (DVD)

The Missing received mixed reviews when it was released theatrically, but I found the character development and the focus Ron Howard placed on those characters to be quite intriguing, and I never really realized it until after I left the theater. With that said I will also say that although I gave it an "A" in my earlier review of the theatrical release, I can also say that many will find it slow and boring, which is where reviewing the DVD becomes important to you, the consumer.

This special edition of The Missing is packed with just about everything you would expect from a special edition, minus the commentary tracks, but the focus seems to be more on Ron Howard's attempt at directing a western, which I don't really think The Missing is, rather than on the movie itself. This focus can be a downer at some times, and at others quite intriguing.

Starting with the featurettes you will get stories of the origin of the script, a "making-of" featurette, an Apache language section along with information on the scoring and casting of the film. Out of all these features the "making-of" featurette is easily the best I have seen on a DVD in recent history, and the other features are merely 5-6 minute features that pretty much speak for themselves.

Back to the "making-of" featurette, what you have here is 30 minutes of listening to several of the people involved in the production discussing the ins and outs of what went on during filming. This is a pleasant surprise as many of the "making-of" featurettes on DVDs now days are usually only about 5-10 minutes long and offer up no more than a few words from the cast and the director, and then good bye. With this feature you have a much more in-depth, yet fast-paced, look at the production of The Missing.

Also on the disc you get 11 deleted scenes and three alternate endings, and I feel very confident in saying that watching these is a complete waste of time. The deleted scenes should have been deleted and the alternate endings are so similar to the actual ending that the areas they differ are of little, to no matter.

There is also a short outtake reel, which is quick and not a bad feature, especially when Tommy Lee Jones is working with an eagle and it drops a deuce before flying off, quite comical.

With all that, the unique portion of the disc is the section called "Ron Howard On..." where Ron Howard discusses everything from the filmmaking process down to John Wayne. With everything he discusses the best portion of the section is his discussion on his early western home movies, and then the ability to watch the movies in their entirety. Now the home movies are really not all that great, and you shouldn't expect them to be, but it is really cool to get a chance to see something extra about one of the better filmmakers in recent history.

All-in-all, The Missing is a total judgment call and I would recommend that if you have not yet seen it, you rent it before buying to see if it is a movie you think you would watch over and over again. As for those of you that have seen it and enjoyed it, as I did, this is a very good purchase with good special features, which, for the most part, you will enjoy watching.