This reissue, a "Special Collector's Edition," of The Hunt for Red October is a vast improvement, in every way, over the initial release. For starters, the widescreen image (framed at 2.35:1) is anamorphic this time, and the transfer has never looked better. Granted, some grain is evident, especially early in the film, but it's never intrusive. The distinct color patterns are far more clear and the detail more exact. Equally, the blacks are very strong and solid. Also an upgrade is the sound. The earlier disc had a 5.1 Dolby Digital track, but this one includes that and a new DTS track. While the Dolby Digital track is good, the DTS version is noticeably stronger. Basses are deep, and surround effects are utilized in just the correct moment. As for supplements, while this disc is far from supplement heavy, it offers far more than the original disc. Along with the theatrical trailer, also on the first DVD, there is a fine half-hour documentary, covering many elements, from the story to the visual effects. As good as it is, it really begs for more. Also included is a commentary track from director John McTiernan. Despite significant gaps, he does offer some interesting insight into the production, but simply doesn't cover enough ground. Maybe not a perfect disc, this one is such a step up from what was offered initially that it's difficult to find anything to complain about.

Sam Mendes' multi-award-winning movie has become a superb DVD, with upwards of six hours of good viewing for anyone who cares to look beyond the movie itself. The bonus materials run almost twice as long as the feature itself, and give a massive amount of value. The movie elicited all kinds of profound analyses from writers who feel most secure when they're showing off how many big words they know -- in fact, it's well crafted and acted, and beautifully shot by Conrad Hall. This is one of the most beautifully transferred movies to show up yet on DVD, and shows signs of having been painstakingly mastered to the most minute specification. There's not a shot here that isn't a delight to the eye, and the audio is its match, a mix of very carefully mastered realistic onscreen sound coupled with a lyrical score by Thomas Newman. The film is broken up into 28 chapters that break the movie up handily, all accessible through a multi-layered menu. The disc offers a choice of DTS or Dolby 5.1 before a single frame has run, and then the menu set-up pops up. The most rewarding of the special features is the audio commentary track by director Sam Mendes and writer Alan Ball -- Mendes has a good enough sense of history to acknowledge Sunset Boulevard as part of his inspiration for the film, and he freely acknowledges making major modifications in the content and structure of the movie and the story right up through the final edit. The discussion would be a good jumping-off point for any would-be filmmaker at the high school or college level, and more than a few professionals could learn a thing or two from the director's free-ranging narrative. Alan Ball doesn't do much more than amplify what Mendes is saying most of the time, but his little interjections add enough variety to keep Mendes' remarks from ever even seeming monotonous (which they're not). The 21-minute "American Beauty: Look Closer . . ." incorporates much of the same information contained within the commentary track in a more superficial manner, intercut with remarks by Ball and the various actors. Much more rewarding on its own terms is the hour-long "Storyboard Presentation," in which each sketch is presented with the resulting shot and all are accompanied by Mendes and cinematographer Conrad Hall. In the midst of all of this bonus material, the inclusion of the two trailers seems like an afterthought. The "Cast & Crew" material is an onscreen version of the kind of raw publicity copy that used to go exclusively to editors and feature writers -- it's difficult to imagine too many fans of the movie taking the time to go through it all, especially as it's the only part of the supplement that is awkward to manipulate and the most overtly self-serving in its content.