Schindler's List [Blu-Ray]

The 20th anniversary edition of Steven Spielberg's landmark drama about the Holocaust is a disappointment. Consisting of a Blu-Ray disc, the film spread over two DVDs, bonus features on one of the DVDs and a downloadable copy of the movie, this so-called "deluxe package" merely stretches this award-winning film thin, offering no new material. The bonus featurettes (80-minute documentary "Voices from the List" and the shorter "Behind the Shoah Visual Foundation") are recycled from the 2004 DVD release. "Voices" is a good documentary, full of testimonials from the real-life Jews Oskar Schindler rescued from the death camps. It's certainly worth watching, but again, it's not new. The Blu-Ray transfer sparkles on HDTV and sounds beautiful, but does it make this package worth picking up? I don't think so. I wanted to hear a feature-length commentary from Spielberg or any of his co-creators, like the cinematographer, screenwriter or stars. There's also no behind-the-scenes documentary. After all, Spielberg filmed Schindler in Poland right after the Berlin Wall fell, with the country finally opening up to the world after decades of Communist hibernation. Surely there were challenges to filming there. Also, there's no 20-year retrospective, as found on so many Blu-Ray packages of classic films (like the recently released Cabaret). For those who have never seen or don't own Schindler's List, this package is much more attractive. Oskar Schindler was a real-life German businessman who risked his life to rescue 1,100 Jews from the concentration camps by hiring them as cheap labour. The script, directing, performances by Liam Neeson (Schindler) and Ralph Fiennes (the Nazi camp commander), and beautiful black-and-white photography by Janusz Kaminski make this is a powerful film, — certainly the pinnacle of Spielberg's prolific career. This is all the more reason why this reissue is a disappointment.