Wishlist: Episode VII DVD/Blu-Ray extras

What would you want to see most in the DVD/Blu-Ray release (besides the actual movie)?

I'll start.


What I would give for transcripts of the story sessions for Episode VII. Similar to the legendary Raiders of the Lost Ark brainstorming meetings.

 

Blooper reels are always my favorite, because every now and then there's an outtake that makes you laugh no matter how often you see it.

Aside from that, I liked the "Making of a Scene" feature from the RotS DVD on the Mustafar Duel. Really good job showing how thirty seconds of action takes countless hours to produce, and I like seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff in pre to post-production.

 

Commentary with Abrams and, perhaps, Lucas, if he'd be up for it.

Any and all BTS documentaries that they see fit to give us.

And maybe some docs/featurettes about the expanding mythology.

 

John Williams scoring sessions

 

Interviews, commentaries, deleted scenes, hm.... that's all I can think of atm
Maybe Englsih subtitles

 

What I would NOT like to see in the special features is ANOTHER "anatomy of a scene" breakdown, (showing special-effects process and what not). Every Blu-ray I have has something like that, and in my opinion it's gotten a little "been there done that". I am also somewhat tired of seeing interviews simply talking about the historical and cultural influence the movie has had on the world. I want to hear about the nuances of the filming process! I'm well aware of the effect it has had on culture. I could easily learn about that by walking into my local Target store.

I have always enjoyed seeing insights into the various parts of filmmaking – the editing room, location scouting, set design, sound mixing and effects, (like for example what sounds were used to make what effects), process of acting and scene takes, And especially the writing/development/recording of the score.

I also enjoy other little tidbits like early drafts of scripts, tours of set pieces and on-location spots.

I never really bothered to listen to the audio commentary while watching the movies. In fact I have never listened to commentaries on any of the movies I have, with the exception of perhaps ROTS and LOTR the Fellowship Of The Ring. Maybe I should look into that...

I would say if I had to choose a couple of movies that have the best overall collection of special features IMO would be ROTS, and any of the Lord of the rings movies. Lots of great things to see, and very comprehensive.

Above all, I would say the thing I would be most interested to see would be deleted scenes. Finished preferably, but I'll take what I can get!

 

VERY unlikely, but I'd honestly love an audio commentary with George Lucas. I'd love to hear his thoughts on how it's all tying into the saga, where it potentially deviates from his story treatments, etc., etc.

 

Scenes with Mark Hamill and Andy Serkis using their Joker and Gollum voices.

 

Deleted scenes, first and foremost. But beside the obvious (the aforementioned deleted scenes, extras like commentary tracks from Mark Hamill, George Lucas and JJ Abrams), there are a few other things I think I'd rather like to see:


- A featurette hosted by George Lucas; a kind of master class on the history of Episodes 7, 8 and 9, ranging from how it was first envisioned by George, and how that vision changed throughout the years, morphing into what eventually became the ST.

Now, I realize this might be the kind of thing which may not be feasible until after we have Episode IX (no one wants to give away any future surprises from Episodes 8 and 9), but I would love to see it, nonetheless.


- Another featurette which fills us in on the state of the GFFA during the thirty-plus year gap between OT and ST.

As a lot of stories set in the time gap simply haven't been written yet, this one might not be all that possible, either, but, hey, this is a wishlist, right?

Anyway, even if it's just bullet points of a few of the larger events in the time line, as conceived by by the Story Group, I think we'd all be interested in learning how we got from ROTJ to Episode VII.


- "Becoming Jedi Master Luke Skywalker."

Enough said.

 

I'll be happy with ever they come out with, as long as the movie doesn't stink.

 

I'm not a big extras guy; I'll be perfectly fine with a ten-minute "making of" featurette, an audio commentary, and deleted scenes.

 

Anyone remember the Episode I 'making of' DVD featurette? I remember Rick McCallum liked to say the F-word a lot, even in front of little kids in the theater. Did that guy *ever* say "George, this idea sucks, let's try something else!"

 

He cursed in the featurette? I don't remember that at all.

 

It was on the original DVD bonus disc...I found it on Youtube under the title "Star Wars Episode I The Beginning: Making Episode I"

Watching that is kind of a trip back through time! To see the part I'm talking about, go to 1:04:00...I can't tell if it's poor video quality, but on the actual video it was pretty obvious he said to the excited crowd: "this is f-ing awesome!"

 

Yup, and there are other times in PT behind the scenes features where he's dropping F bombs quite a bit, too.

 

I'd like commentary with JJ and with some of the cast (cast commentaries are always my favorite because they usually are the ones telling the funny stories), bloopers, behind the scenes footage... the usually DVD extras. The more the better!

 

I know I said it already when the thread was initially made, but I'd love to see Lucas return in either a documentary or a commentary track and discuss the film with Abrams and company.

Beyond that, I'll take everything and anything they give me. Making of features, commentaries, documentaries, discussions on the writing process, evolution from George's notes to what we have, set videos, a look inside the model shot and the animation studios, concept art, something with Williams on composing the score, etc.

 

So did Ewan McGregor, but the actual word was muted out whenever anyone said it.
I definitely want some backstory on how and when Lucas decided to go with an Episode VII and trilogy (along with jumpstarting the whole thing with other movies), and how the actors felt about it and decided to do it. Did it come out of trying to get a live action series going? Did it come out of the deep involvement and storymaking process of The Clone Wars, that kind of thing.

 

Something like this could honestly be its own fantastic documentary. In fact, once the trilogy finishes, I'm sure we will get at least one documentary (be it from Lucasfilm themselves or a third party) tracking the history and development of the sequels and how things changed between 1983 (and even earlier plans) up to and perhaps beyond Episode IX's release in 2019.

 

The story of how the sequel trilogy was born documentary (at least 45 minutes)
Making of documentary (very long and extensive)
Commentary with Abrams
Commentary with the new, young lead actors
Commentary with Hamill, Fisher, and Ford (group commentary, not paste together)
deleted scenes

 

YES. I want interviews with George, Mark, Carrie, and Harrison talking about how this all came together.

 

I'm just glad there'll be no Rick Mick!

 

A documentary called "Discussing the Dream", all about the users and discussions of TFA on these forums.

 

I would like to see some sort of featurette about how the story came together:

examples of the original incarnation from George Lucas and his treatment-and how it might've changed or developed since 1983, Michael arndt's writing, and the eventual changes made to the script/screenplay and why they decided to make those changes in the end.