So, having been totally blown away by Shaun of the Dead when I watched it on Thursday, I spent my few, precious spare moments over the weekend watching all the extras, and two of the commentaries.
The extras are excellent. I think Shaun of the Dead has the best extras I've seen on a DVD in ages.
Missing Bits
Extended bits, outtakes, The Man Who Would Be Shaun, Funky Pete, plot holes.
Obviously the outtakes are hysterically funny – Simon Pegg corpsing is a sight to behold, and one that gets me giggling repeatedly every time. Extended bits are, as you'd expect, scenes that were cut. Mostly, the material is good and was cut for pace not because it was crap. The Man Who Would Be Shaun is just hysterically funny, and I'm not going to tell you what it is because that would ruin it. Suffice it to say that Pegg can't hold it together at all. Funky Pete is a 'cleaned up' excerpt of the version made for airlines with all the fucks turned to funks, which includes the immortal line “Why don't you funk off!”. Plot holes is great too – it explains what happens to some of the characters off screen.
TV Bits
T4 with Coldplay, Fun Dead, Trisha – Your Nine Lives Are Up, Trisha – I Married a Monster, Jeremy Thompson interview.
These are the bits that were filmed to be shown on Shaun's TV at the end of the film. The T4 slot, with Vernon Kay interviewing half of Coldplay about their work with the charity ZombAid. Fun Dead is It's A Knockout with zombies. The two Trisha slots are, well, pretty much what you'd expect from two Trisha slots, but the really cool bit is the Jeremy Thompson interview. That man is just fantastic – not just a news anchor but an actor too.
Raw Meat
Diaries from Simon Pegg, Lucy Davis and Joe Cornish, Edgar and Simon's Flip Chart, SFX comparisons, make-up tests and a 'making of' featurette.
The diaries are great – if you like getting a sneak peek behind the scenes, then you'll love them. The Flip Chart shows you just how little has changed in the structure of the film since they first put it together. To me, that just indicates firstly how long they must have been talking about this project and working it out before they committed it to flip chart, but also what a great writers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are. The SFX comparisons and make-up tests are so-so. The featurette I love, though. Again, it's those little peaks behind the curtain that fascinate me so much.
Trails of the dead
Fright Fest 2003 trailer, official teaser, official trailer, TV spots.
Standard fare, although for once the trailer doesn't give away all the best bits. That had been my fear, originally, that having seen the trailer I would have seen the highlights, but SotD is packed full of more highlights than a hairdressers in Watford.
Commentaries
Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright; Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Kate Ashfield and Lucy Davis; Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton; The Zombies.
I've only listened to the first two commentaries, but they are great. Simon Pegg, when he's not telling you how lovely everyone is, is full of trivia and point out stuff in the background that you would never otherwise have noticed. These commentaries are what commentaries should be – funny, insightful and interesting. They keep your interest right to the end of the credits.
Easter Eggs
I looked online for a list of easter eggs, but couldn't locate any. That said, I did find an egg all by myself. Wow, do I feel smug now!
I was listening to the second commentary and around the time that Simon talks about the lawnmower with an arm attached to it (around 40 mins in), and accidentally pressed play when it was already playing. This took me to a storyboard of a deleted scene. This works without the commentaries on, but if you find any other eggs, please leave a comment for me!!
Also, if anyone out there has a copy of the script, please email it to me! I am dying to get a hold of it, but it's not on any of the usual sites.
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