Spider-Man 3 (2-Disc Special Edition) DVD Review

I still don't understand why people slammed Spider-Man 3 so much. Sure, it wasn't the greatest film ever made, but its comic book cheese through and through and to be honest, I've found I've enjoyed it more each additional time that I've watched it.

The film is less plot heavy than its predecessors, but the main focus is really the triangle between Peter, MJ, and Harry, and going into the final film, we already know what these characters are like. Peter's the yutz, Harry's bitter, and MJ is a (Kirsten) Dunst. Get, it (insert canned laughter). The film dives right into the meat of them since we've already seen the build up in the previous films, and though its a bit convoluted, so are real life relationships.

But seriously, I did enjoy Spider-Man 3. The comic-styled action and effects were great, it generally, if not perfectly, tied up the loose ends, and it had the symbiote/Venom, one of my favourite Marvel characters. The last 20 minutes are some of the best comic-themed action ever set to film, and when viewed as a whole, the Spider-Man trilogy is the best comic book feature film trilogy ever made, and Spider-Man 3 is a solid conclusion to the story of everyone's favourite dork.

You can read my original review of the film here to see what I thought of it in detail, however the main purpose of this review is to cover the DVD.

I purchased the 2-Disc Special Edition from Future Shop, and they have an exclusive were it comes in a great Steel Book case for a limited time, and honestly, this is the nicest DVD case I've seen since the Halo 2: Limited Collector's Edition case.

The pictures shown are the image on its front, and the interior. The discs reside over the black-suited Spider-Man, obscuring him while they're in there, and the entire case is the size of a traditional DVD case, so it fits perfectly in your collection.

For the additional $3.00 that it costs, the 2-Disc Special Edition is worth the extra cost for the case alone. The bonus features themselves, however, are quite disappointing.

The main disc, aside from general commentary, has a music video and a bloopers real, all of which don't amount to much. The second disc comes with a bunch of mini-docs going into details regarding the films different villians, the relationship between Peter, MJ, and Harry, a few effects, and the musical score. It also boasts the trailers and commercials (though it repeats first trailer twice, mistakingly replacing the final trailer for the film), as well as some concept art.

All in all, the documentaries are forgettable and their content deals with issues that anyone could figure out on their own simply by watching the films. The special features included in Spider-Man 3 are completely lacking from the scope and detail seen in the other two films, and for that reason, if you're unable to pick up the Steel Back case from Future Shop, I recommend you save a few bucks and get the single disc version, as the only thing you'll really want is the film itself.

While I still wanted to know things like why they didn't do the traditional looking black suit, why the Stacey's were even involved in this picture, and why they didn't feature a bit more JJ and Hoffman, Spider-Man 3 is a fun and enjoyable conclusion to a great trilogy of films, and with the Steel Back case, it makes a fine addition to any Spidey fan's collection.