Notting Hill (Ultimate Edition)

Notting Hill (Ultimate Edition)
by Roger Michell

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Movie Reviews of Notting Hill (Ultimate Edition)

Movie Review: DVD - Ultimate Edition
Summary: 5 Stars

Disc 1 -

Widescreen version of the film. Choice of English or French language, English captions and Spanish subtitles. Since I can't read Spanish I don't know what the difference between captions and subtitles is.

Feature commentary (subtitles available) - The Writer, Director and Producer talk over the whole film, providing a wonderful glimpse behind the scenes. Non-stop anecdotes about filming, props, sets, stars and supporting cast. The history of the blue door and the fate of garden benches. Why the entire production crew had to dress up in jackets and ties. Which of those locations were in fact sets on a sound studio and loads of other stuff that makes you view the film with a fresh eye. If you are still in love with Anna Scott and Wil Thacker, don't watch this as it does, to some extent, take away the magic of the story.

Spotlight on location (subtitles available) - 14:00 minutes - Scenes from the film with chat from the writer, director, producer, Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Emma Chambers and Hugh Bonneville.

Seasonal walk down Portobello Road - 3:30 minutes - Disappointingly short but very interesting. The Special Effects Supervisor explains just how they filmed Hugh's one minute walk through six months of London's weather changes.

Deleted Scenes - 6 scenes cut from the finished film. Many others are mentioned during the feature commentary but these are entertaining enough although personally I am glad they didn't make it to the final version. William tries to tell his parents, another blind date at the dinner table, Spike serves Anna pepperoni pizza, Spike messing things up even more after Anna leaves, Spike giving wedding day interviews to the media and an alternative ending set in Tony's prospering restaurant.

Music Highlights - Direct jumps to nine songs from the movie

Recommendations - Just a trailer for Erin Brockovich

Travel Book - About three pages of text from a (very poor) travel guide to Notting Hill with a map and list of restaurants. I felt very cheated as I was expecting a live tour of the real Notting Hill; hoping for something like a thirty minute documentary you might see on the travel channel.

Production Notes - About a dozen pages of text, much of which is mentioned in the commentary.

Cast and Film Makers - Brief Bios of the main actors, the writer, producer and director.

DVD Newsletter - Web address to register for on-line newsletter. It didn't inspire me to register so I can't tell you anything about it.

DVD-ROM - If you have the hardware on your computer there 'might' be access to wallpapers, screen savers and internet sites. It doesn't say exactly what and since I don't have a DVD-ROM I can't tell you anything else.

Disc 2

Full screen version of the film - Language and subtitles the same as disc 1

Feature Commentary - Same as disc 1

Music Highlights - Same as disc 1

Travel Book - Same as disc 1

Production Notes - Same as disc 1

Cast and Film Makers - Same as disc 1

DVD Newsletter - Same as disc 1

DVD-ROM - Same as disc 1

Hugh Grant's Movie Tips - 4:00 minutes - Disappointingly short. Meet his parents and some of the crew.

Elvis Costello video - Elvis Costello singing his version of 'She'. This video gave me a headache. There are only four verses but I lost count at 50 camera jumps from Elvis in the theatre, Elvis sitting down and Elvis standing outside. Some clips from the film included

Shania Twain video - Cute video of Shania singing 'You've got a way' with some clips from the film. Nicely done.

Photograph Montage - 4:45 minutes - This I thought was going to be another space filler but I was very pleasantly surprised. Stills from the film and a few behind the scenes shots set to the Anna and Wil music score by Trevor Jones. I found it amazing how much more I saw in a still that I missed in the film. Very well chosen pictures and beautiful music.

US Theatrical Trailer - 2:45 minutes - As seen in American Theatres
International Theatrical Trailer - 2:10 minutes - As seen in English Theatres - These two trailers are totally different and really bring home the cultural differences between England and America. I was surprised to see clips from a deleted scene here.

There it is. If you got this far, thanks for reading. By the way, I loved the film. Like Four Weddings and a Funeral it is just so English. Being English myself, from London, with a crush on Hugh Grant, I am of course extremely biased.

Summary of Notting Hill (Ultimate Edition)