The Magician

Filmed on a low budget with a hand-held digital camera, the picture quality was never going to be very high. The DVD transfer hasn't made anything worse. I didn't notice the rear speakers being used at all, but the audio quality is clear enough. There are no subtitles.

The Magician's extras are of a consistently high standard. The commentary from Scott Ryan, Nash Edgerton, Michele Bennett and Ben Walker is informative throughout. They are four people who struggled together to get a film made, and thus actually have worthwhile comments to make about it.

Magic Happens, Magic Tricks and Unmasking Max continue in this vein. They could all have been combined into a larger featurette, but as it is they're pithy, to the point and stop long before they would bore the audience. There's not a huge amount to write home about, but as extras go, they achieve a healthy average.

Deleted scenes are always fascinating and these are no exception. Credit to the director and editor though, as they're all better out of the film than in. They all sit comfortably on the DVD.

The Magician doesn't go above and beyond the call of duty with its DVD package, but it safely ticks every box with little fuss.