Extras are plentiful on this double-sided DVD. The movie comes with three separate solo commentaries. It's becoming increasingly common and annoyingly so given that each track is somewhat quiet. Why not just put everyone in a single commentary, especially given how long the film is? Ron Howard is the only recognizable name, the other two going to the writers.
From there, you'll flip the disc into a set of features that have a sense of familiarity to them. The deleted scenes are definitely of interest as Ron Howard offers his thoughts on what was cut. There's an extended opening that was wisely trimmed, and plenty of scenes showing the depression that ended up pushing the drama too far. There are seven in all and run for 20-minutes.
Fight Card: Casting Cinderella Man is what it says, explaining the characters while everyone is praised for their work. That carries over into The Man, the Movie, The Legend which is a basic, dull making-of piece. At 13 minutes, the enthusiastic crew becomes repetitive with their compliments. For the Record: A History in Boxing is apparently supposed to be a boxing history feature, and instead talks about Crowe's training and weight loss for the role. That doesn't make any sense.
Ringside Seats is a great feature, sadly cut short. It's the actual fight featured in the film along with discussion from those who made the film. They skip over 80% of the rounds and only show in full three of them. The remarkable quality of the video (given it's from the early 1930s) isn't enough to make up for missing so much of this 15 round battle.
Jim Braddock: The Family and Friends Behind the Legend is the final gasp for this disc, showcasing those related Braddock. There's also archival video and audio from Braddock himself. It would have been nice to hear their thoughts on the film, but they discuss the person, which is obviously more important. It's the most informative feature, and runs eleven minutes. The final extra is a shameless two-minute commercial for Kodak that's passed off as a picture gallery. (***)
It's bad enough the studio expects audiences to watch the film three times just to hear everything, but then they don't supply the stars of the film either. That's not right, and fans should have every right to be disappointed or complain. It's great film, but there's no excuse to provide awful extras.
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