The Special Edition is worthwhile if for nothing else but the improved picture quality. But the additional bonus items are nice, too.
Michael Clarke Duncan plays John Coffey, and the fact that the Academy nominated him for a Best Supporting Actor award is pretty much self explanatory. The actor I most remember, though, is David Morse as Edgecomb's friend and sympathetic fellow guard. As officer Brutus Howell, Morse is the epitome of kindness, understanding, and simple decency. Of equal importance in the film are Doug Hutchison as the sadistic Percy Wetmore, Bonnie Hunt as Edgecomb's patient wife, Gary Sinese as Coffey's defense attorney, and veterans Harry Dean Stanton as a prison trustee (there is even a character in the film named Dean Stanton coincidence or inside joke?), James Cromwell as the prison warden, Graham Greene, Michael Jetter, and Sam Rockwell as prison inmates, and Dabbs Greer as the older Edgecomb.
As good as the supporting players are, though, my favorite character is Mr. Jingles, a darling little mouse that befriends and entertains some of the men. I told you this thing was sentimental.
Video:
Warner Brothers again present the film in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, only this time they have divided it up between two discs, allowing for a higher bit rate. The older, more-compressed edition of a few years back looked only average, the image moderately well delineated but with a slight blur to people and objects, especially at a distance. I even noticed a narrow, horizontal bar of light-pastel haze occasionally flickering across the screen in the film's first half. Fortunately, you won't find much of that in this new, less-compressed transfer.
In this new edition the colors are deeper and richer than before, and the detailing is better, probably as close to the original print as standard definition can get. Although the image remains a touch soft and gritty, it's a definite step above what we had earlier.
Audio:
The sound appears to be the same as ever, which is to say very good. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is smooth and natural and beautifully well balanced. The sound was nominated for an Oscar, and one can understand why when one hears its realism. I should remind you, however, that while it conveys a wide stereo image in the front speakers, it doesn't throw a lot information into the rear channels except that which reinforces a truthful ambiance--thunder, music, background noises, material of that sort. This is a film that doesn't try to wow an audience with special sonic effects for their own sake.
Extras:
Disc one contains part one of the film, which takes up most of the space. In addition, you'll find an audio commentary by director Frank Darabont. Maybe three hours is a long time to listen to one fellow talk, but Darabont gives it his best shot, saying at the end that he recorded it over a period of many months. There are also a couple of deleted scenes totaling about three minutes with optional director commentary, Michael Clarke Duncan's screen tests, about eight minutes Tom Hanks's makeup tests as the older Paul, a part that eventually went to Dabs Greer, "A Case Study," a five-minute explanation of a teaser trailer, the teaser trailer itself, and a conventional widescreen theatrical trailer.
Disc two contains the second part of the movie, of course with the audio commentary continued, and two documentaries. The first documentary is a repeat of the one from the previous edition, "Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile," about twenty-five minutes, which, I'm afraid, doesn't really provide a lot of information we don't already know. The second documentary is newly made and more satisfying. It's called "Miracles and Mystery: Creating The Green Mile," about 102 minutes, and divided into six parts. It will even tell you more than you probably wanted to know about the mouse.
To conclude the extras, the movie comes with fifty-three total scene selections (1-33 on disc one and 34-53 on disc two) but no chapter insert, English and French spoken languages, and English, French, and Spanish subtitles. The two discs come housed in double, slim-line keep case, but be careful of what you read on the case. It says the film is 169 minutes long. It's not. It's 188 minutes. I have no idea how they came up with the shorter timing. Maybe because the film is divided between the two discs, somebody added up the numbers wrong.
Parting Thoughts:
If the Academy Awards were a pissing contest, "The Green Mile" would win hands down. You'll see more people relieving themselves in more different ways than in any film around. Along with a particularly grisly execution, viewers might prepare themselves for some small discomfort.
The Special Edition is worthwhile if for nothing else but the improved picture quality. But the additional bonus items are nice, too.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]19607[/release]