Frost/Nixon

After winning Tony Awards for best play and best actor, director Ron Howard was faced with the difficult job of bringing Frost/Nixon to the big screen. With the theatrical leading men Michael Sheen and Frank Langella repeating their roles as the titular characters, Howard delivered an impeccable film that was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The DVD is equally impressive, with a wealth of worthwhile extras.

The half dozen Deleted Scenes each run several minutes in length, and flesh out the characters and plot more fully. They include unused footage of Langella's Nixon resigning the Presidency, his Farewell Address to the White House staff, Sheen's Frost doing an interview with Evonne Goolagong on an Australian TV, and Frost's team of journalists doing their research for the interviews. The scenes are excellent, with the only thing missing being a commentary track explaining why they weren't used.
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The Making of 'Frost/Nixon'" is a 23-minute in-depth look at all aspects of the production, revealing valuable insights into the challenges of bringing the play and the historical events on which it was based, to the big screen.

Howard, Sheen, Langella, David Frost, playwright/screenwriter Peter Morgan, and producer Brian Grazer each discuss their contributions to the project. Howard mentions the abuses of power during the Bush administration made the Nixon story seem especially relevant. He compares the movie to a match between two boxers -- each with a talented staff in their corners. "It's like the thinking people's Rocky."

The Feature Commentary during the movie by Howard is wonderfully insightful and his easy, folksy manner provides the perfect accompaniment. Knowing the material as well as he does, there's rarely a pause in this two-hour, one-man lecture on the film.

A six-minute featurette on the Nixon Library, has the director and staff of the presidential museum in Southern California talking about the former president and the collection at the library, which includes his birthplace, a replica of the East Room, and numerous exhibits on his presidency.

A seven-minute featurette on The real interview includes footage from the original Frost/Nixon interviews, and a comparison with the way it was reenacted for the movie. Langella, Howard and others praise the emphasis on accuracy that was a hallmark of the project.

The movie has audio tracks and subtitles in English, Spanish and French.

It's rare when it happens, but the extras on this DVD are just are marvelous as the film itself.