Last week I bought myself a copy of THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON on DVD.

Many of you fine folks probably weren’t reading this piddling space when I reviewed it back in the Christmas of 2008, but to sum it up I found the film slightly…lacking. So much so that despite it being on dvd for well over a year, and despite it being directed by one of my favorite directors, I only just now picked it up. Even then, I was more prompted by the fact that it was half off than I was by a burning desire to watch it again.

For reasons I can’t completely explain, I decided to dive into the extras of this very feature-heavy dvd rather than start by watching the film itself. To my slight surprise, the features are somewhat endless! After hitting ‘play all’ on the supplements disc, I was amazed to watch the counter on my dvd player get up over the two hour mark, and still know that there was quite a bit to come. Seeing the amount of work that went into the film is enlightening to say the least.

Funny thing. When dvd’s first became my vice of choice seven or eight years ago, i used to always insist on buying the most dee-luxe edition I could find. Then, as time went on and those thick spaces on my shelf went less and less reached for, I began to stray away from these “special editions”. I mean after all, how much did I really need to know about THERE WILL BE BLOOD anyway?

But in watching what went in to BENJAMIN BUTTON, I find myself with a bit more of an appreciation for the film. Perhaps even enough to watch it again and write a new piece on it. I guess this begs two questions…

Do you actually find yourself watching some or all of the features on the special edition dvd’s and blu-rays you buy? And has going through these features ever made you gain a further affinity for a movie you might not have loved??