Friday the 13th - From Crystal Lake to Manhattan DVD: Review By fredtopel

These movies are all pretty much the same. I is the one with his mother, II is the first one that's actually Jason, III was 3D but now just looks weird, IV introduced Tommy, V has the best nudity, VI was the best overall story, VII had the cool telekinetic girl, VIII was the boat and NY which didn't live up to either potential.

Usually with these big boxes sets, I go right to the bonus disc to watch all the extras. But for some reason, I wanted to hear the commentaries this time. The films that had commentary seemed the ones with the biggest questions.

First I listened to part VI, which is my favorite of this set because it has the best sense of humor. Jason X is my overall favorite for the same reason. The writer-director talks the whole length of the movie with no noticeable gaps giving anecdote and insight one after another.

Then I listened to part VII because it had Kane Hodder. This too is a fun track as Kane is a cool guy. They talk about some deleted scenes and changes, and sometimes they fall into just praising the action on screen, but it's a good balance.

Then I listened to part III which I don't even remember, because it had the cast. I was not disappointed. What I didn't expect was Peter Bracke, former editor of DVDfile, to host this track. I've never heard a commentary with somebody I've worked with before. I knew he was researching a Friday book, so he knows his stuff, and he keeps this track moving interview style. He asks the questions any fan would want to know about and gets everybody talking.

I saved part VIII for last because I think it's the most boring and the biggest waste of potential. I figured we wouldn't really get an explanation as to what went wrong, and I didn't. It's a respectable commentary with some behind the scenes tidbits, but also a lot of describing the on screen action.

Not that good actually. Movies are average quality for the source materials.

Hey, it's Jason, it's gore, it's nudity and it's fun.