Digital effects abound in this week’s slate of DVD releases, headlined by Paramount’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and New Line Cinema’s Blade: Trinity. Both get the two-disc deluxe treatment with plenty of bonus goodies including behind-the-scenes looks at how the effects were accomplished.
Combining elements from the first three books in the popular kid lit series by Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket), A Series of Unfortunate Events follows the misadventures of the Baudelaire children, whose parents were killed in a fire. The fun starts when they are sent to live with a distant relative, a failed actor named Count Olaf (played with relish by the mercurial Jim Carey). Olaf sees an opportunity to inherit a lot of money but finds offing of the kids much more of a challenge than he ever imagined.
The film was shot almost entirely on sound stages in Los Angeles, Calif. and features visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) under visual effects supervisor Stephan Fangmeier (Master and Commander: The far Side of the World, The Perfect Storm).
The special collector’s edition of Snicket’s includes four special effects featurettes, commentary by director Brad Silberling and Lemony Snicket, 11 deleted scenes, outtakes, a series of three featurettes titled Bad Beginnings, five featurettes titled A Terrible Tragedy, three sound design featurettes and three still photo galleries. The edition lists for $38.99
In Blade: Trinity, Wesley Snipes reprises the role of Blade, a vampire hunter who is himself half vampire. Wanted by the FBI, the half-breed warrior must join forces with the Nightstalkers to take on the most powerful bloodsucker of all, Dracula. Kris Kristofferson returns as Blade’s pal, Abraham Whistler, in this latest entry, which was given a luke-warm reception at the box office but should do well on home video.
Blade: Trinity is available in the R-rated theatrical version and also an unrated edition featuring 10 minutes of additional footage. DVD extras include commentary tracks by writer/director David Goyer, co-stars Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds and other crew members. There’s also a 16-part behind-the-scenes documentary titled Daywalkers, Nightstalkers & Familiars: Inside the World of Blade: Trinity, a Blooper reel, an alternate ending, featurettes on the film’s visual effects and weapons and an interview with Goyer. The New Line Home Entertainment release can be had for $29.99.
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