Eye For Film >> Movies >> Crash (2004) DVD Review
Despite the involvement of all the film's major players, these extras are somewhat disappointing.
The filmed introduction - all 16 seconds of it - leaves writer/director/producer Paul Haggis barely enough time to thank us for buying his DVD, and seems to have no real point.
The full-length audio commentary affords Haggis, co-writer/producer Bobby Moresco and actor/producer Don Cheadle ample opportunity to give greater insights into the production, but instead they spend most of their allotted time clucking about how much they like this scene, or that, and how "fabulous" all the cast members are. This may be true, but it is hardly interesting, and sounds like the kind of material expected in a promotional package, rather than a commentary. There are, however, a few gems of information, concerning Matt Dillon's difficulty portraying Ryan's hard racism, the use of essentially the same set for Ryan's low-rent house and Cameron and Christine's upmarket apartment, and the sampling of the Welsh song (used in the car rescue scene) from a postal worker in Washington D.C.
The Making Of featurette (10min) comprises banal on-set footage, interviews with Haggis about his intentions in making the film ("No one leaves this movie unscathed... I want to polarise people") and a series of impressionistic sound bites from stars Thandie Newton, Sandra Bullock, Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, as well as Moresco (on trying to address race without being PC) and co-producer Cathy Schulman.
Finally, there is a disposable music video of the song If I by Kansascali, featuring scenes from the film, and also - wait for it! - a trailer.
Not exactly bad, but the film deserves much better.
Reviewed on: 03 Dec 2005