A wonderful animated fable for the whole family to enjoy, Director Brad Bird's The Iron Giant receives a belated but welcome special-edition release from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. It may have been a long time coming, but this feature-packed disc undoubtedly deserves a place on the shelf of any fan. The feature is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and it looks better than ever -- sporting a remarkably clean transfer with bold, vivid colors that seem to leap from the screen. English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio offers a clean mix of music and dialogue with the occasional, effective directional effect, with an alternate French Dolby Digital 5.1 also included. A commentary track with director Brad Bird, story-department heads Jeffrey Lynch and Steven Markowski, and head of animation Tony Fucile provides the filmmakers a chance to discuss their motivations with the film, and the track is alternately entertaining and informative. Journey further into the world of the Iron Giant with eight additional scenes, which even half-finished offer a tantalizing look at what the filmmakers could have accomplished given a little more time and a bigger budget. There's some truly inventive stuff here, and a dream sequence with the giant proves especially intriguing in its potential. It's too bad many of these scenes didn't make it into the film because as opposed to most deleted scenes, one really feels like these moments would have added great character depth while also entertaining the viewer. No less than 13 branching featurettes offer viewers the opportunity to interact with the feature by selecting a nuts and bolts icon that appears on the screen from time to time, and unpredictable storyboard-department animator Teddy Newton delves into the creative process in a pair of insightful featurettes. Fellow animators will no doubt relish the opportunity to take a peek at the actual animation process in additional featurettes, and viewers can join Vin Diesel behind the microphone as he and director Bird discuss the creative process. A trailer lovingly cut by director Bird himself gives greater emotional impact than the also included theatrical trailer, and DVD-ROM features will have viewers exploring and enjoying this wonderful release for many hours after they have taken in the main attraction.

There can only be one, and for DVD fans it may as well be Anchor Bay's "Immortal DVD Edition" of the sci-fi action classic Highlander. This 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer appears solid and well-produced, though small imperfections (including dirt and edge enhancement) tend to show up during the viewing. However, this transfer is miles above Anchor Bay's previous DVD edition from 2000. The audio is presented in two newly created DTS 5.1 and Dolby 5.1 Surround soundtracks. Each of these soundtracks feature a new barrage of directional effects that sometimes sound manipulated, though often work well in the confines of the film. All aspects of these soundtracks are free and clear of excessive hiss or distortion. Also included on this disc is a Dolby 2.0 Surround soundtrack in French as well as English closed captioning. The extra features on this edition of Highlander start with a commentary track by director Russell Mulcahy and producers William N. Panzer and Peter S. Davis. The three men seem to have a lot to say about the production and story, including some funny anecdotes about co-star Sean Connery. Two trailers for the film and a still gallery featuring images from the film and the band Queen are included, as well as a few talent biographies on the stars and director. Finally there are three entertaining music videos by the rock group Queen, a bonus CD with three songs by Queen, and a THX optimizer to help you set up your TV and stereo. This entire package comes inside of a handsome fabricated metal slipcase.

Bill Murray is having one of those days -- over and over and over again -- in the comedy hit Groundhog Day, released a second time by Columbia in a new "special edition" DVD. The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer looks very good with only minor imperfections hindering the picture. A small amount of edge enhancement and grain show up during a few scenes, though overall this is a very nice-looking picture with bright colors and even black levels. The audio is presented in a newly created Dolby 5.1 mix as well as a DTS 5.1 Surround soundtrack (in French, Portuguese, English, and Spanish). Both of these soundtracks feature some nice surround utilization by both the front and back speakers, as well as clear and distortion-free dialogue, music, and effects. Also included on this disc are subtitles in English, French, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Spanish, and Portuguese. Whereas the original DVD release of Groundhog Day only included a few scant extras, this new Groundhog Day: Special Edition DVD features a few more substantial extra features. Included on this disc are the typical theatrical trailers, cast and crew filmographies, and production notes. Newly produced for this disc is a 25-minute documentary titled "The Weight of Time," which includes new retrospective interviews with director Harold Ramis, actors Andie MacDowell and Stephen Tobolowsky, writer Danny Rubin, and producer Trevor Albert. This is a very nice documentary that includes funny anecdotes and stories about the production. Finally, there is a new commentary track by director Harold Ramis, which features the director chatting about the difficulties in making the movie, how it was working with star Bill Murray, and other tidbits about the movie. Taken as a whole, this new Groundhog Day: Special Edition DVD is a great disc for fans of the movie to own (though Bill Murray's non-participation in the new extra features is a bummer).